Hip hop’s old school revival of the last half decade has had few groups ride the wave of success as well as Long Beach’s Ugly Duckling. Hailing from Snoop Dogg’s LA neighbourhood, these hip hop-loving white boys utilised a whole different recipe for their musical dish, but ended up with a similar end result; global success. Following the funk sample and good time rhyme approach to hip hop has led to sell out shows across the planet, including a recent few in China, and they’re soon to be back, yet again, at the end of the month. We caught up with them via E-mail to pick their lil’ eighties brains…
It took you a few years together as a group until your first EP came out, and then it went and received critical acclaim in far away places like Europe/the UK. Did this surprise you?
We are suprised when anyone who is anywhere likes our group. We’ve always made the kind of music that we love for the sake of doing so and never depended on other’s acceptance, so it’s great to find people who dig our stuff. To be completely honest with you, I am still in shock when I see a decent-sized crowd lined up for our show. I’m always thinking, “there must be NOTHING else to do in this town.”
Do you find you have had more success outside of the U.S.?
We have toured extensively in the U.S. and in other countries and we’ve had great support in every situation. The U.S. is a much more difficult egg to crack because it is so big and culturally diverse. Also, America is commercially dominated by major record labels to a greater extent than in other countries (at least that has been our experience) making it more difficult for independent artists to prosper.
Making hip hop in Long Beach in the nineties, did you find it hard to get anywhere due to your anti-G-Funk brand of hip hop?
It was difficult to get started in the g-funk era, but it is hard for any new group at any time trying to make a name for itself. If anything, the gangsters were good for us because they provided motivation to be different and a backdrop from which we could stand out. There’s nothing worse in art than being typical.
Your music harks back to hip hop’s ‘golden age’. Do you prefer eighties hip hop?
Of course we prefer 80’s hip-hop. Anybody who was listening back then feels that way. It was a time of progressive exploration in the art form; where the groups were making up the rules as they went in order to entertain real fans and not a commercial market. Plus, everyone sampled and so the music was funky and the artists competed creatively, not economically. But, alas, every great movement has a golden age and, unfortunately, ours has passed.
So guys, there’s a new album on the way. What should we be expecting?
We made this album as exciting and powerful as we could. We wanted this to feel more like a good, live show with tons of energy and spirit. It’s more up-tempo, with loads of horns and percussion, and less complicated ideas. After making our last album (an in-depth, concept record) we went back to the basics and it felt really good. We can’t wait to get out there and perform some of this stuff live because that’s the purpose for which these songs were designed.
You’ve hooked up with those other Californian funk-sample freaks, People Under The Stairs, how did this come about, and who’s on production?
We’ve known P.U.T.S forever and we’ve toured together and worked on little, silly stuff but never a proper song. We (Ugly Duckling) produced the track and it, in a strange way, sounded like “The Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest. So we decided we wanted to do an old-fashioned “posse cut” and called the closest thing we have to a “posse”. We don’t usually like working with other people because we strongly believe in doing our own thing but this track seemed to warrant a larger effort. I think it came out really well.
Apart from PUTS, which other (hip hop or other) acts would you be keen to work with?
We always talk about working with old school people like Parrish Smith or Mild D. but it’s not something we worry about. Again, we want to do our own thing and have our own sound. We’re foolishly prideful that way.
Please, please, please tell us how on earth you came up with the idea of the Meatshake!
For “Taste The Secret”, we wanted to do a concept record (like Leaders Of The New School’s, De La Soul’s or Pharcyde’s first albums) and we needed a subject. We just so happened to have met each other at a local soup shop called, humorously enough, “Meatshake” and we decided to make it into a nightmarish fast-food spot where carnivores and vegans do battle. Like most of our bright ideas, it seemed funny and clever at the time.
I read a few years back that you guys are fairly strong believers in Christianity; does this inform your music/careers at all?
I’m the only Christian in our group (I don’t know how you would categorize Dizzy and Einstein) but we’ve always made it a point to keep religion and politics out of our music. I think my faith influences the positive nature of our band but I have no interest in being a stupid rapper who stands on a soapbox and tells other people how to live. I am happy to discuss what I believe but that is not something I want in our music (or anyone else’s).
You’re coming to these shores yet again! Be honest, do you get as much love anywhere else?
Australia has treated us really well. Again, I am shocked that anybody likes us but I am extremely thankful for the support and I love your country. We’ve never felt anything but good vibes down under and I hope we can visit for the rest of our short-lived careers. In fact, I think Aussies have made it too easy on us and should give us some crap this time; just to be fair.
You recently performed, as only the second US hip hop group ever, in China. That must have been a hell of an experience. Who organised it, and how did it all go?
It was amazing to visit china but it wasn’t what I pictured before going. To be honest, most of the crowds were westerners or western-influenced Chinese elite, but what was happening in the country was unbelievable. It seemed, to me, like an old-west boom town where everyone was moving so fast that it made my head spin. They put up gigantic sky-scrapers in 6 months with cheap labor and little regard for safety. The market places were organized chaos with bootleg DVDs, CDs and name-brands going for less- than-dirt cheap. Pretty cool.
Give Australia a good reason why they should get out in force to support Ugly Duckling later this month…
Why should Oz support U.D.? Dizzy desperately needs extensive dental work. Einstein is hopelessly single and requires money and prestige to impress even the most homely young lady. I have severe, mental slowness which requires expensive, around the clock medical attention. Also, my cat’s dieing and we owe the mafia money we lost betting on netball. I know our music stinks, but please, for the sake of struggling, white hip-hoppers everywhere, help us out. PLEASE!
Be sure to check out Ugly Duckling on their Australian tour:
Fri Sep 23rd – Boogie Down, Sydney (Young Einstein DJ Set) [BUY TICKETS]
Sun Sep 25th – Parklife, Perth [BUY TICKETS]
Thu Sep 29th – Revolver, Melbourne
Fri Sep 30th – Revolver (2nd Show), Melbourne
Sat Oct 1st – Parklife, Brisbane [BUY TICKETS]
Sun Oct 2nd – Parklife, Sydney [BUY TICKETS]
Their new album, ‘Bang For The Buck’, will be out on Earshot/Inertia October 3rd.
