A NOTE FROM THE EDITOROne specific battle in my own head over the Demencha effort since we released the last issue is the print vs. digital consideration. Don’t get me wrong, content in the print mag is better and more diverse than ever and will continue to evolve with writers like Phil Torpey, A:42 and others contributing more and more to future issues. But J Lee dropped an idea in my lap about three years ago at his last open mic weekly with a way to take Demencha Magazine digital, which I’ve added to with my own snowball of ideas since then. I don’t think this will be the last print issue of Demencha by any means, but I would like to begin slowly integrating this digital project while we’re doing the print thing simultaneously. I can’t talk about it much, but the whole digital prospect is tremendously exciting for me right now and I think it will be for you as well when it comes to fruition. But while you’ve got this print relic in your hands now, it’s only right to go over what you’re about to read. Our selected cover artists for the dual-sided covers wrapping our ninth issue are The Floozies and Nesto The Owner. The Floozies, a tandem of brothers originally from KCK, are set to release their first studio album on New Year’s Eve at the Bottleneck in Lawrence for their CD release party. If you like all things funky and danceable, you should make it a point to be there. The Philly-born, Nesto The Owner, is also gearing up to release an album, Manimal, after emitting a handful of mixtapes over the past couple of years. He recently opened up for J. Cole and we regard him as one of the chief hip hop artists in Kansas City. In predictable fashion, A:42 added his own piercing wit to a review on The Grisly Hand’s new album and some hilarious takes on what transpires at KC Wizards games, from the depths of the Cauldron. Among other things you’ll see in this issue, Phil Torpey’s review over Reggie B’s latest standout full-length album is sure to mop up any confusion or suspiciousness you have about it. Even I was prompted to throw on some headphones and really delve into the record after reading Phil’s interpretation of Reggie’s artistic vision. Some great events I went to since the last issue came out were Be/Non at the Record Bar in October, Rusko at Mosaic over the summer and The Floozies at the Jazzhaus in Lawrence for Halloween weekend. Which brings me to a point. If anyone out there has nightlife pictures they’d like to send our way for the next issue (February 2011), please do. I’m specifically looking for pictures of people enjoying friends, music, drinks and an overall nightlife experience in general. Until then, I’m signing off from my new apartment but don’t expect these new Bose laptop speakers to stop thumping anytime soon. As always, I would encourage all artists to send their music to us as frequently as possible.Digi-Demencha coming soon…

WWW.DEMENCHA.COMTo advertise with us, write for us, submit photos or give general feedback, please connect:

Chris MillsDemencha MagazineEditor-in-ChiefDemencha.comDemenchamag@hotmail.comfacebook.com/demenchamagazinetwitter.com/demenchamag

The Editor-in-Chief’s Music Picks

El Nou Mon - “Bummer Solstice”Deerhunter - “Helicopter” (Diplo & Lunice Remix)N.E.R.D. - “Perfect Defect”Rich The Factor feat. Les Izmore - “MidwestIZ”Julio Bashmore - “Around”Roy Davis Jr. - “Music Get’s U High” feat. D SmooveShaun Duval - Liquid Stars Drum ‘n Bass MixReggie B - The TravelerBig Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son of Chico Dustysoundcloud.com/bloodyknucklessoundcloud.com/djbstee

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8The Grisly HandSafehouse Reviewed

10Guerilla RadioKCDIY Interview12A42’s Soccer Support Starter KitStraight out of the Cauldron, A:42 breaks down the various crews that make up the Kansas City Wizards fanbase.

WWW.DEMENCHA.COM

14Reggie BThe Traveler Reviewed

16Photographic ReviewKansas City Nightlife

20Off the Top with The Floozies

24Nesto The OwnerFresh Prince of Kansas City

CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE

Lead vocalists Lauren Krum and Jimmy Fitzner, blend their individual idiosyncrasies into wild harmonies, rather than just doubling up on the same tune. Fitzner’s straightforward,

ThE GRiSly haND, wiNNERS Of ThE 2010 aMERiCaNa/fOlk PiTCh awaRD, RElEaSED ThEiR DEbUT albUM SafE hOUSE ON viNyl aND CD iN NOvEMbER.

The first thing I have to say about The Grisly Hand is that you’ll like them if you appreciate vocals. I don’t just mean the ability to sing, but the ability to write songs around your particular talents.

Written By A:42

ALBUM REVIEW:The Grisly handSafe House Unsigned 2010hEaR MUSiC fROM ThE GRiSly haND aT MySPaCE.COM/ThEGRiSlyhaND

like our singers are backed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience as they transition out of “The Wind Cries Mary” into a Mazzy Star cover. Something about the fourth song, “The Distraction,” makes me think it belongs on The Adventures of Pete & Pete. If you anticipate country, I suppose that’s what you’ll hear. Personally, I think this song smacks of ‘90s indie pop. The kind by one hit wonders with sweaters and shaggy hair on 120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield. Fitzner’s plaintive sincerity accents lyrics that are perfect if you’re a nervous romantic who finds yourself “actin’ like a god damn fool” around whoever “The Distraction” happens to be in your life. Krum’s chorus on “Good Wife” is solid to me just because she clearly alludes to Curtis Mayfield. It’s got a more aggressive, roadhouse feel. I’d throw a chair at a trucker to this song. The “thing” that Krum doesn’t want “put on” her is a conventional housewife role. “I don’t belong to anyone,” Fitzner chants, Cobain-style, behind Krum’s lung-busting soul. The vocals subside, and the band assumes an energetic round of solos. Commence redneck furniture toss. My only complaint is that Byrne’s fiddle finale makes you wonder why it took five songs to get to him. After that countrified romp, the next title, “Pickin’,” sounded like the obligatory bluegrass-tinged song to hit you in the mouth with banjo and fiddle. Well, it is. I’m pretty sure this song is about a fight-or-flight response to a love/hate rollercoaster relationship. Except the fight response here involves threatening some brand of voodoo wizardry at the hands of a soul merchant. Lauren tells me it’s something to do with Santiago Durango of Naked Raygun and Big Black. “Wait ‘til I tell Santi-Du,” they warn, “he’ll put a motherfuckin’ spell

colloquial tone resonates with such honesty you feel like he’s singing from inside your head, while Krum soulfully weaves a complementary key through the melody like the alto in a church choir. The roster boasts some of the most capable musicians in the area. The rustic bent comes from Kian Byrne on fiddle, Ben Summers on mandolin and acoustic guitar, and Mike Tuley on banjo and keyboards. The rhythm section includes Johnny Nichols on bass and piano and Charles Snyder on drums, both of whom contribute vocals throughout the album. Fitzner also plays electric guitar, and Krum lends extra percussion. I’d list each member’s current and former bands, but I’d surpass my word count. The quintessentially Midwestern storytelling on “Paris of the Plains,” kicks off the album. It’s an uptempo jaunt introducing you to The Grisly Hand’s brand of tough guitar and rhythm punctuated by Tuley’s pastoral banjo. It’s about leaving Kansas City for rural mid-Missouri to flee a failed romance, with questionable results. Everybody in the Midwest gets in GTFO-mode sometimes, if not perpetually, so it’s nice to hear someone say it might not solve anything. If you’re going to do Americana in Kansas City, you might as well name-drop Branson and the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia while you’re at it, so they take care of that in this first number. “Cherry Mash Waltz” is a misty-eyed ballad showcasing Krum’s gift for conveying a lonely bedroom sort of sorrow. It’s more in the category of solemn background music than it is an outright tear-jerker, though. This is your rainy day track. Your sleepy road trip track. If you’re a high schooler, this is your after-car-sex-under-the-stars-mixtape track. To me, it sounds

on you!” Damn... it’s like that? Our farewell from Safe House,

“Roll On, Little One,” builds layers of chorus atop a quaint mandolin melody. The tempo begins as a steady drum march mimicking the chugging along of a locomotive engine. It switches tracks in the final minute, and is broken down into plodding hammer-strikes, set to sparks by the friction of Snyder’s gritty wail. He’s not nearly as piraty (yes, pirate-like, add it to the dictionary) as Tom Waits, but he’s a good deal grislier, for lack of a better word, than your average Springsteen. As he howls “I’ll still be lonesome, at least you’ll be gone,” Safe House closes with the feeling of comfort that comes from a lessening of pain, rather than tangible reassurance. Your home-bound train finally pulls into the station, night having fallen on the prairie. Though they’re typically noted as an Americana/Folk act, this album subtly spans a spectrum of genres. Yes, you could say they aim for the 1960s Americana flavor. It becomes apparent, however, that they’re interpreting it through the scratched lens of a generation which spent the bulk of its formative years in the ‘90s. It’s still good for people who refuse to acknowledge that country and folk music continued to exist after 1972, but also for those unacquainted with what the hell I mean by that. I honestly wasn’t sure how I felt about this band until I really put my ear to it, stopped listening for what I expected to hear, and just heard it. It isn’t a smarmy attempt to resurrect a dead genre, it’s a cocktail of influences that can’t all be readily pointed out. While my inner vinyl nerd begs you to buy the wax, I recommend you somehow get it on mp3 or CD too, because it’s gotta be top-notch travel music.

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a:42 SiTS DOwN wiTh MikE TUlEy Of kCDiy.ORG aND JUSTiN bETTERTON Of kCDiy RaDiO. yOU CaN CaTCh kCDiy RaDiO ON kkfi 90.1 EvERy MONDay NiGhT fROM MiDNiGhT TO 2:00 aM.

42: How did the radio show come about?

JB: KCDIY Radio started in September 2008 with me and my friend Ben Smith. Ben started talking about how KC really needed a punk radio show that focused on not only classic stuff but what was going on around the world right now. Since I’m kinda fanatical about punk and always mail-ordering records from all over the world, we teamed up to pitch the idea to KKFI. He worked out the pitch to the station for the show and I put together most of the music for the demo. Ben, being such a suave guy, managed to win the station over. The show’s been on for a little over two years now.

42: When did the website start and who started it? MT: The original KCDIY website started in the late ‘90s. I believe it was KCDIY.com then. It only lasted a few years. It was re-launched back in 2005 by Laszlo [Toth-Medina]. Ben took over when Laz moved to NYC, but then Ben moved to St. Louis. I took

over as the moderator of the forums, but I don’t control any of the content on the main page.

42: What genres should we expect to hear on KCDIY Radio?

JB: It’s a punk radio show, so when you tune in you’ll hear all kinds of punk and hardcore, from classic ‘77 stuff like The Damned, Avengers, etc.; to first-wave hardcore like Bad Brains, Black Flag, Minor Threat; to “weird” punks past and present like Flipper, Cult Ritual, Saccharine Trust, NoMeansNo; to international stuff like Arab-language hardcore from Algeria, to Japanese burning-spirits style, to punk from Uruguay. Really, there’s something for everyone.

42: What do you consider the purpose of the website? What scene(s) do you feel that you serve? MT: This website is for people who listen to KCDIY Radio and are interested in punk shows in the KC/Lawrence area. It serves a pretty small amount of people, but many of those people are dedicated to the subculture they’re part of, and that makes the site useful and relevant for getting out info about shows and punk-related events.

On the forums, I’ve created an archive section, which is what interests me most. It’s still a small and pretty unorganized section, but it’s slowly expanding with more submissions from users - we have a local punk band discography section, flyer archive, photo archive, and a video archive. I’d like to collect stories relating to local punk shows or venues, and include them on the site, too. 42: How have the website and the radio show changed over the years? MT: If you use the Wayback Machine, you can still check out some of the content from the original site. That site was designed around promoting shows and radical political activism. It was a different era. Several of the people who ran the original site helped to organize The People’s Rally in May 2000. The newer site doesn’t serve that function. The function of the newest version of the site was to promote KCDIY Radio, which airs on KKFI every Monday night at midnight, and related punk-show culture. Unfortunately, the dudes at KCDIY Radio haven’t uploaded any new shows to the site for several months, but the live show list is still mostly up-to-date.

JB: The only big change is that Ben left after a year and moved back to St. Louis. Jordan Carr is now the co-host of the show. But, for the most part the show is the same. We have a format where every week we have a theme like “Women in Punk,” or “KCDIY Radio vs. God,” or something, where we try to fit in a lot of classic punk and hardcore from the past 30 years, then follow it up with new stuff from around the world. We’ve stuck to that since the beginning and it hasn’t changed.

42: So you come up with a new theme every week?

GuerrillaRadioWritten By A:42

10

JB: Sometimes the theme is based around a holiday like, we did a show during the last presidential election with all songs about Bush, Reagan, Thatcher, Kennedy, etc. Or, every Valentine’s Day we do all requests and dedications. Aside from that, it’s just whatever theme sounds like it would be fun to put together that week. 42: What are your day jobs? JB: My day job is pretty boring, I work an office job where I deal with the Department of Housing & Urban Development. It pays the bills though, you know.

MT: I work as a stagehand/audio engineer in a theater and I record bands at a studio as a side-job. I also study history at UMKC. 42: Are you in any bands yourselves? What do they sound like and what instruments do you play?

JB: Yeah, aside from doing the radio show I play guitar in a hardcore punk band called Dark Ages. What do we sound like? I’m not so good about describing it really but a review of one of our records said we sounded like early Die Kreuzen with melodic flourishes

that reminded them of early Hüsker Dü, which is awesome. Not sure that’s right, but I’ll take that. MT: I play in two bands right now, and neither is a punk band: The Grisly Hand and Ad Astra Arkestra. I’m a side-man in Grisly Hand. I primarily play the banjo, but I pick up keys, bass, shakers, whenever I’m needed. The Grisly Hand is a country band, but a fun country band. We don’t get too sad bastard-like. We’re Saturday-Night Country. Ad Astra Arkestra is a band my wife and I started with some friends. It gradually expanded to what it is now, a 9-piece. It’s just for fun. We play a lot of covers. It’s somewhere between Liquid Liquid, The Marching Cobras, Moondog, and any band where people sing harmonies. I mostly play guitar and percussion in The Ad Astra Arkestra. 42: Why do you think kcdiy.org maintains healthy traffic despite the popularity of all-pervasive web giants like facebook? MT: It’s a website for people with ties to the KC punk scene to come and get info on shows, bands, and related events. Not all these people know each other and probably don’t communicate with each other off the board. Plus you can download episodes of the radio show

and browse through the local band discography section or check out fliers, photos, and videos of shows. Most of the younger kids find out about punk through the internet now, so it’s a good resource for what’s going on in the KC/Lawrence scene. 42: What suggestions could you make for other websites that struggle holding interest? MT: Keep it simple, keep the site up. Make it relevant. Don’t rely on kitschy internet surveys or weird news to drive traffic. KCDIY goes through stretches of inactivity, sometimes no one posts for a couple of weeks. That doesn’t bother me. As long as the information on the site is useful or relevant to the kids who are using it, I feel the site performs its function. 42: Any plans for the future of the website? MT: I plan on expanding the archive section by adding more band listings, fliers, photos and videos. Otherwise I plan to keep the board exactly the same. 42: Top 5 songs you’ve been jamming to lately? MT: 1) “Blood Dries Darker” by Woods. Kevin Morby on the bass. 2) “At the Bottom” by The Clean. I saw these old New Zealanders play at the Granada the other week, it ruled. 3) The US Americans recording I just did. Sick riffs, sick drums.4) “The Hawk Relaxes” by Coleman Hawkins & “Looking Ahead” by Cecil Taylor. I read a lot for school, these are my reading jams. 5) The new EP by Muscle Worship. Tasty riffs, tumbling drums and depressing lyrics.

JB:1) Red Dons - “Superficial”2) Kriegshog - “Kriegshog”3) Vaaska - “Derecho A Vivir”4) Criaturas - “Hay Viene La Muerte”5) The Jam - “A-Bomb In Wardour Street”

bEN SMiTh, MikE TUlEy, aND laSzlO TOTh (lEfT TO RiGhT), PhOTO COURTESy Of ailECia RUSCiN

I’m a Kansas City Wizards season ticket holder. I wasn’t always a football die-hard, but now apparently I’m the guy that calls it football just to annoy you. I went to a few matches at Arrowhead, but since I grew up with Chiefs games in the ‘90s, it seemed lackluster in a rather empty NFL stadium. That was until I decided to sit in the Cauldron on a whim a few years ago. The Cauldron is the section for more serious, loud (read: intoxicated) fans. They bring a concentrated dose of the noise and raucousness of a Chiefs defensive 3rd down stand. Plus, they’ve got drums and flags and stuff you couldn’t sneak into Chiefs games if you got the biggest coat at Gen-X. It’s the best party in town. Don’t expect to sit. This season, we played at the CommunityAmerica Ballpark, or the Boneyard for T-Bones fans. Which makes you a T-Boner, while I’m designating

nicknames. Comedic genius. Next year, the Wizards get a new stadium and become “Sporting Club Kansas City.” This would be a good time to jump on the soccer train if you’ve been sleeping. I promise I won’t blow a vuvuzela in your ear. Anyhow, here’s a primer on the Cauldron’s constituents, at least from my perspective from my squad, the Yardbirds.

la baRRa kC La Barra is the Latino delegation. It was primarily Argentine originally, and most of their chants from the Arrowhead days came from songs for Argentinean team Boca Juniors. They’ve gone through some name and personnel changes over the years and now they’re pretty diverse in their loyalties outside of Kansas City. Now they focus their support on KC as a unifying factor among their varied fútbol allegiances abroad. Their Capo, Hector, is

a great diplomat to other groups. You’ll be able to find them pre-game near the main gate blasting Tejano from the big green La Gran D 1340AM van.

ThE hillCREST SyNDiCaTE The Hillcrest Syndicate is named after Hillcrest Road, which passes through the Bannister complex once intended to house the Wizards’ new stadium. The official Wizards blog, even, is at hillcrestroadblog.com. Surely they’ll change it someday, but personally I want them to keep it to remind everyone of that fiasco. I’ll spare you my opinions on our mayor’s role in moving us to Legends rather than Bannister, but it should suffice to say that I have been making animal sacrifices to Baal for months, imploring him to turn Mark Funkhouser’s dick into a coked-up, rabid, eight-armed opossum. HS is our largest supporters’

A:42’s soccer support stArter Kit

Straight out of the Cauldron, A:42 breaks down the various crews that make up the Kansas City Wizards fanbase.

group. You can spot their Capo, Jeff, on a stand in the middle of the Cauldron next to the drum, leading most of the chants. They also try to alternate English chants with La Barra’s Español to keep things from getting too repetitive and to make sure no one shuts up. They have an RV and a couple tents for a pretty sizable tailgate on the West end of the parking lot. Dave Matthews and John Mayer have gotta be passé by now for average, innocuous, college-graduate white folks, so you’ll probably hear Kings of Leon or something at their tailgate while drinking Fat Tire or Boulevard.

SOUThERN vOODOO Southern Voodoo hails from Springfield, MO and thereabouts. From what I know, they’re just football fans who make the trek from Damn-Near-Arkansas, MO to come to matches. That demands respect. Socially, they do stand out a bit from their urban counterparts to me. I can’t put my finger on how, exactly, but a city-boy like me can tell SV probably doesn’t hail from Northeast KC or the Filthy 50s. Or even Brookside or Johnson County. In the parking lot, look for the guy in the rainbow afro wig, or the beer bong hanging from a van hatch, or whatever those bean bag games are called. You’ll probably be drinking Coors Light, high-fiving, and listening to Kid Rock. Fuckin’ A, man.

aMERiCaN OUTlawS These guys are actually supporters of the U.S. Men’s National Team. AO has chapters around the nation, but the KC chapter comes to Wizards games repping both the Wiz and the USMNT. They usually have their AO T-shirts on, and U.S. Flag bandanas on their faces. Some people are fans of a professional club over their national teams, but this is the group for definite nation-first fans. So, if you can say “America! Fuck Yeah!” without an ounce of sarcasm, these are your guys.

ThE wall This one is brand new, but gaining momentum. Probably named after either Pink Floyd or Phil Spector, the Wall is recruiting hard for proactive, organization-minded people. I have a hunch HS might merge into the Wall and get rid of the Hillcrest name. They seem to be aiming for the same non-specific demographic anyway. They want dedicated Wizards fans, but otherwise there aren’t many other characteristics

that unite them. Or, since I hate tiptoeing around shit, I’m gonna say it’s bound to be a lot of average, white, suburban guys

just like HS.

kiNG CiTy yaRDbiRDS We’re named after Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, Kansas City’s most influential jazz musician. The English rock band is also named after him, so that too if you like them. We may have been the first group to split from the body of the Cauldron since moving to KCK, which is probably why they’ve never really taken to us. Or because we Yardies tend to have poor physical boundaries and no brakes on our tongues. I guess we’re the misfits of the Cauldron, consisting of a bunch of rudeboys, punks, skinheads, hip-hoppers, etc. But we really just started a group because we’re friends already. We stood together and tailgated together, so we just gave it a name. We’re the ones with the Wu-Tang “W” on our flags and Drinky Crow on our bandanas. Luckily, a few of our members cook at Jack Stack and OK Joe’s, so at most of our tailgates we’re grilling. The beer’s usually Red Stripe, Guinness,

or some cheap yard beer (pun intended). The s o u n d t r a c k ’ s usually ska, rocksteady, and reggae; although we’ve got plenty of punk rock, soul, metal, and hip-hop to round it out. We’re probably the only crew bumping Brotha Lynch Hung while we drunkenly kick

the ball around with somebody else’s little kids, at least.

A:42’s soccer support stArter Kit

13

Review

ALBUM REVIEW:reGGie bThe Traveler Innatesounds, 2010 hEaR MUSiC fROM REGGiE b aT iNNaTESOUNDS.COM

Traveling is a door to growth both within and outside of ourselves

because there’s a strange magic possessing unfamiliar places that results in a sort of euphoric confusion. It takes a certain person to choose travel as a constant, however, and not as a fiction of the archetypal vagabond but as a working man, funking around in the dark bars down the way, finding that strange magic within them. Reggie B’s newest offering to the world outside of Planet H, The Traveler, is a record of such a soul, a series of planted flags, an “I was here and here’s what I learned.” A song cycle of such personal breadth is ambitious, but Reggie tackles it with a constant: pure musicianship baptized in futurism. Beginning with “Planet H,” a sort of Constitution to his mythological methodology smoothed out over knocking congas and a flamenco run, Reggie moves quickly into an inter-album suite of love in four dimensions. The title track and “Little Momma” find Reggie indulging a player’s freaky tales, traveling from girl to girl as the bass bounces along in time, but Reggie is quick to admit that “She Knows” – a tinge of regret for those indulgences, an apology with an honest ultimatum: “You’ll forgive me and stay with me or just go.” This song’s beat, produced by Busy, is a standout with its skittering drums and multilayered synth lines. “This Pain” cops to just that and the depth and soul of Reggie’s vocals are acutely synced with the mood. “Space Dance” is not only the first of the three instrumentals on the album, but also the most intriguing because Reggie subtly shows his jazz fusion

hand on it, punctuating with a scorching electric guitar riff. Both “Hypnotic” and “Consumate” are different expressions of the same loverman sentiment, but while the former features notable sax work from Donald Hayes, the latter wins because Reggie and his co-producer Kevin Johnson lace a track that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on your finer R&B stations in the early 90s. “Cold Cold World” is the centerpiece of The Traveler, track and music-wise. If Reggie’s stock in trade is the “future music” that he aims for, then this track is a potential calling card. Frenetic and oddly harmonious keys fly over a bar-snapping snare, plus there’s a little laser tag for the headphone wearers. Reggie encourages the working class out there “dying for some money man” but in the end living “a life of shame,” closing with the exhortation “people out there, I will help you find a way.” While some might scoff at it having any tangible effect, music can be a lot of things to a lot of us, a salve among them. “Meaning” could be the sub-headliner, as it’s a summation of Reggie’s motivation for a lot of the topics examined on this record – essentially, that honesty is the difficult but necessary policy when it comes to building and maintaining. It’s a groove that again showcases Reggie’s ability to move between styles within a

single track – the choral sample, especially at the start, is reminiscent of a rap beat, but by the time the song breaks into the key flourishes of the extended bridge, it’s another swing altogether. Speaking of swings, “The Celeste” is propelled at cruising speed by a wonderfully deep-distorted bass wah wail, answering the mysticism of the instrumental “Khemetian Temple” lyrically. “Fall In Love Again” is another rap-tinted production, due mostly to the intermittent scratching and the West Coast clap of the drums. Reggie ends the travelogue with two pairs in hand – “Forever And A Day” and “Secrets” find him in woo mode, exploring the responsibilities that come along with serious commitment. The instrumental “Space Jayed” and the stepping, expressive “Elevation” find Reggie B’s address coming to a close – Planet H isn’t far in the distance. Transposing sponged-up nightclub glitz and game over lessons learned both musically and personally, Reggie is an artist of steady and varied hand in every aspect of his craft. Although it feels like The Traveler may be too lengthy to be able to keep the listener enrapt, it works as a cohesive and representative document of what Reggie seems to be aiming at – music comprised of bare and sometimes distant influences yet not once sounding dated, even current. An artist’s longevity and their share of “genius moments” seem to transpire when that artist is able to create an inner world built on the mythos/ethos/pathos trifecta and then let the listener in; to unmask one’s self and throw that mask to the masses. If The Traveler veers off, it’s slight and in the spirit of throwing it all in anyway – honesty rides again. Put simply? It’s a repeat burner, the sort of aural challenge that the world outside of Planet H might just be up to.

reGGie bThe Traveler(Innatesounds, 2010)Words by Phil Torpey

hEaR MUSiC fROM REGGiE b aT iNNaTESOUNDS.COM 15

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By Chris Mills and Dillon Gatewood

H e a r M u s i C f r o M T H e f l o o z i e s a T f l o o z i e s D u o . C o M

TheFlooziesoff THe Top

wiTH

Brothers Matt and Mark Hill, originally from Kansas City, KS, now collectively known as

the live-looping, jamtronica, tag-team “funk orchestra,” The Floozies, have a phenomenal grasp on what inspires their own music and music theory in general. Enough to make this awful DJ/decent music writer a bit uncomfortable. “I feel like I don’t really mimic anybody,” Matt Hill (26) stated within the first several minutes of our interview. “But if you can just get inside someone else’s head and get their perspective you can really learn a lot and you can probably figure out new things that you can do. Sometimes I’ll be listening to Pretty Lights or something and get an idea but (it might not) sound anything like Pretty Lights, but that’s kind of where it came from. You know what I’m saying? It gets you in the mode and you just start thinking about music. Musical diarrhea.” Mark Hill (22) insists, “I don’t know that anyone could really describe to me how they write music because I don’t think it’s really about that. It’s about being open and channeling everything you take in out in a direction that you choose to take. Everyday when I wake up to the time I go to bed, I’m listening to music. Musical consumption all day long. Then when it comes time to sit down, I’m comfortable enough to where I can just let it all come out. And it comes out in my own way because I listen to so much different stuff.” “A sponge…” Matt offered. “Yeah, you soak it all in and then you puke it all out in your own way.” The musical vomit, or diarrhea that comes out in a Floozies live show

looks like a line outside Crosstown Station stretched with fans who can’t get in because it’s one in/one out, and sounds like 600+ Lawrencians chanting for them to do an encore at the Granada. These brothers have been creating a dynamic, free-flowing fusion of space funk and highly acidic jazz since early 2008. Since then, festivals and cities all over the Midwest have felt the ad-hoc wrath of The Floozies, including

Lawrence, KS, which they now refer to as their musical home base of sorts. Their live shows, which are revealed in complete freeform with no samplers or Ableton, ooze the awesome, dancey randomness that you could expect from a jamband with a following as sizable as The Floozies have. From Blackstreet to Montell Jordan to “Thriller,” no one is safe from their grasp of flawless electro renditions. Torrential synths and tuneful guitar played and looped live by

Matt in addition to a drummer in Mark who’s more heavily influenced by the RZAs and ?uestloves of the world than you might think, add up to a couple of our areas rising “funk samurais.” Their upcoming full-length album, which is yet to be titled, will surely see the duo hunkering down in the studio in their constant pursuit of perfection, an effort that their legion of fans have been foaming at the mouth for. They repeatedly asserted throughout our interview that all of their 150+ outings over their first two-and-a-half years as a band have unfolded in “one hundred percent improv.” Much like a finger print, no two Floozies shows will be the same (though they

are becoming more comfortable with performing previously recorded works). This is the main aspect of their musical effort that keeps themselves and their fans constantly engaged. Instead of seeing a band that has a set list of original songs they‘re chained to, the Floozies can do that and play just about anything else you’d want to hear…on the fly. And they do make it seem very easy, even with no vocalist in the group. “You could take guitar lessons and keyboard lessons and drum lessons but as far as an improvised, live-looping duo…” Matt started. “…There are no books for looping entire beat symphonies on the fly at one in the morning with your brother,” Mark interjected. “That’s definitely been educational. We’ve had to write our own book through listening to ourselves.” When The Floozies do a live show, they don’t even talk to each other. Rather, they use backgrounds equally nurtured on acts like Parliament and The Commodores, in addition to relying on E.S.P., apparently. “We’ve had a brotherly connection,“ Mark says. “I don’t need to say a word to him. I can just look at him. And I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s telepathy, but it damn sure feels like it. I’ll be thinking we should go into the dubstep thing, and it’ll happen. I don’t say that, but it’ll happen. I’ll be thinking that and he will too…It’s real natural, I mean we’re brothers so he knows what I’m about to do and I know what he’s about to do all the time. Improv comes so easy to us that it’s almost not improv anymore. I think it’s just from the brother thing, that’s why it’s so easy.” At one point, the two were actually getting booked as DJs by venues and promoters who thought they were using samplers or software to trigger loops, or that they were pre-recording music and bringing a flash drive with

“There are no books

for looping entire beat

symphonies on the fly at one in the morning

with your brother.”

- Mark Hill

H e a r M u s i C f r o M T H e f l o o z i e s a T f l o o z i e s D u o . C o M

TheFlooziesoff THe Top

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them. This caused Matt to get rid of his laptop during their live shows altogether just to make sure no one thought they were faking the funk, even though they were still playing every note live prior to then. Matt likens his brother and himself to “reverse-engineered DJs.” Mark maintains, “A DJ takes parts away and adds parts on the fly, just like we do. But we play every note. We do covers, for instance. We can take a cover and do it in our own way and we can actually do that by playing every note. We don’t need to sample that song and then throw a bassline from another song in it. We can just sample that song with our hands.” Whereas a DJ might mix a variety of music live (which very well may sound like shit or puke), The Floozies believe they actually have more flexibility than your average DJ, even in

this digital, mp3 mixing era. They can play big-room hip hop beats at a venue all night, but they’ve

also played odd-gigs like wedding receptions in the past. “We could play in here. If we wanted, we could play in this coffee shop,” Mark said as he scanned our interview setting through his glasses. Both brothers repeatedly stressed throughout our interview that they can adapt to any venue or setting, big or small. Matt says that what

they’re shooting for is to become “this super-capable human sample library,” and cites artists like Vibesquad, who have a sample library of over 100,000 sounds. He also went on to say that he would like to be able to play that much material as a human sampler of sorts, and if that happens “then the possibilities with The Floozies are just kind of infinite.” As a tandem of ferocious learners and students of music, the sky very well may

“The possibilities with The Floozies

are just kind of infinite.” - Matt Hill

be the limit for The Floozies. Much like a superstar basketball player in his prime, learning how to work through a double or triple-team defense, The Floozies are extraordinarily adept at modifying and improvising to unforeseen circumstances, as well. “I’m inspired by basketball quite a bit,” Matt shared. “Basketball stands out in my mind as a very funky sport. It’s really improv heavy but at the end of it, it’s just improvising…like Michael Jordan. Somebody at the Bottleneck at a Homecoming show came up to me and said, “Do you play a lot of basketball?” I said, “Yes.” He’s like, “I can tell man. Your music sounds like basketball.” I thought that was one of the most insightful things that somebody has said to me at a show.” Mark then noted before his brother finished his sentence for him, “Compliments like that are a verification that we’re doing it right. You take inspiration from everywhere and everything, not just music and you just…” “…Puke it all out.”

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“iN wEST PhilaDElPhia bORN aND RaiSED/ ON ThE PlayGROUND iS whERE i SPENT MOST Of My DayS/ ChilliN OUT, MaxiN, RElaxiNG all COOl/ aND all ShOOTiNG SOME b-ball OUTSiDE Of SChOOl…” - fRESh PRiNCE

wORDS: ChRiS MillS PhOTOS: TODD ziMMER

hEaR MUSiC fROM NESTO ThE OwNER aT www.DaTPiff.COM (SEaRCh: “NESTO ThE OwNER“)

THE FRESH PRINCE OF KC

NESTO

THE OWNER:

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Whereas the fictional Fresh Prince character got bullied out of his

hometown of Philadelphia to a more cushiony LA neighborhood, Nesto The Owner relocated from his West Philly stomping grounds to Kansas City about six years ago due to an ailing family member who was living in the area at the time. To kick off our interview, he said about living in Philadelphia, “Basically, (I was) a normal kid growing up. At first I wanted to be a basketball player. I was real good in basketball. But my brother started beat-boxing…” Similar to a young Fresh Prince, Nesto’s move has had him feeling a bit like a fish out of water, only in a much different local music environment. He went from a city that’s bred highly successful hip hop and r&b acts like The Roots, Kurupt, Musiq Soulchild and Jill Scott, to a place that has just one underground rap success story. When Nesto moved to Kansas City, local acts like Tommy Lift, Shadow and Heet Mob helped him out and contacts snowballed from there. He quickly learned that being a battle MC wasn’t going to work for much longer and transitioned into song writing. In 2009, Nesto released the Haterfree Mixtape and his Flight School Mixtape, both of which drowned in autotune and materialistic subjects, putting his own immaturity on blast (Manimal should be available by the time this issue is printed). However, the leaps he made between 2009 and his Career Killer and Career Killer 2 mixtapes (2010) showed tremendous growth in his artistry. Career Killer 2, specifically stands out as one of the top hip hop releases out of KC during 2010, showcasing his agile, edge-of-your-seat raps (“Who Dat“), a

victorious, self-exalting vibe (“You’re Welcome”) and a kind of charisma and guise in the booth that cannot be taught. Other local artists like Tech N9ne, Ubiquitous, Rondoe and Cash Image have all taken note and

collaborated with him at one time or another. Career Killer 2 specifically boasted what we’re billing as the most important rap song to come out of Kansas City in some time, “Man In My City,“ which saw quite a bit of play on Hot 103’s Underground

Heat show over the summer. Nesto’s first verse began like so, “This Philly boy in KC so it must be a blessin’/ Say I’m not from the town so I’m feeling neglected/ So all you dumb dumbs let me teach you a lesson/ And list the

rappers who ain’t from the city they reppin‘.“ He then went on to call out industry giants like Ludacris, Wacka Flocka, Nelly and many others. Who would’ve thought that Snoop was originally from Mississippi? If

you live in Gladstone or Lenexa and are fed up with people questioning the KC logo on your hat, this song will strike a chord. Nesto would say a few days after our interview that even if someone is from a specific neighborhood in his hometown of Philly, “they rep the whole Philly” still, and that Kansas Citians like to slice up KC-cred into different sections and set boundaries, literally block by block. Another reason why Nesto seems to believe that not many artists have made it out of Kansas City is because of the dysfunctional DJ/rapper relationships. In a town where

there is a surplus of rappers but not near enough DJs to back them up, a lot of people are going to go to extremes, Nesto included, as he directed both Career Killer mixtapes towards local DJs. “What’s the point of going to the DJ if they don’t want to be DJ

Khaled,” Nesto sounded off. “My brother always said, if you want to be somebody, you have to believe you’re them. If I wanna be the next biggest Jay-Z, I gotta believe I’m Jay-Z when I get on that stage because Jay-Z thinks he’s somebody when he gets on stage. But you gotta believe that you’re somebody because you’ve gotta learn from the greats. If you get behind the DJ booth (you have to believe) you’re gonna be the next Kay-Slay, the next DJ Drama, the next DJ Khaled.

These guys take artists and take their records and spin them every week until they blow up. That was my issue with DJs, you know? It’s not about me hating on them. I just tried to help them. Like, hey, you gotta

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think bigger than just going to the club, getting paid and going home. What do you want to do? We all have to work together to make the bigger picture happen.” The DJ-to-rapper ratio in KC leans heavily towards the guys with the microphones in their hands, whereas in some other cities there are many more DJs per maxi-single released, so to speak. Furthermore, this is not a DJ town. “It goes both ways,” Nesto recognizes. “The artists don’t believe they’re good enough. And the DJs don’t see an artist that believes they’re good enough. DJs are mad that they had to help too many artists down here. The artists don’t want to do their part. The DJs are mad that the artists always want a hand out, and you can’t blame them for that. In other cities, the people support each other. Down here, it’s everybody for themselves. And sometimes you have to be like that, too.” Nesto grew up admiring artists like LL Cool J, Big L, Jay-Z and Biggie on the East Coast. He too wishes that more DJs in KC had idols, artists they aspire to be like when they step behind the turntables. “Don’t you want to be a DJ Khaled and break a record and have your own CD and sell a million records? It’s just all about who’s behind the DJing, and what they want to do with their career. A lot of people are comfortable with going to the club five days a week, walking out with $200 and going home. If I was a DJ, I wouldn’t be comfortable with that.” One thing Nesto does seem to be quite comfortable about is himself. One interlude at the end of “Be Yourself“ from his first Career Killer featured an audio snippet

from a youtube video someone uploaded wherein they spoke about individuality. “I don‘t know how you do it. I don‘t know how you go through life being someone else just to please them. I don‘t know how you can‘t take off the mask and just be yourself. I don‘t know how you can go through life appeasing them and hiding who you are. I don‘t know why you can‘t just be true to yourself. Because when it comes down to it, if you don‘t take care of yourself who do you think will? And if that‘s selfish, then I don‘t care. Call me a selfish little bitch.” Many artists say that they feel as though they become someone else when it comes time to lay down a verse or step on stage, an alter-ego they try to live up to. Well, Nesto The Owner seems to take that ideology to a completely different stratosphere. For a rapper with no deal, Nesto can come off extremely self-righteous in his music, further proof of his persona-transformation when he steps into the recording booth. This, in the context of confidence, is a good thing. Though he may be living on his own planet, sitting on his imaginary throne as the Fresh Prince of KC, the charm, allure and pure entertainment that suffuses Nesto’s rap style makes for an artist that you really can’t deny. A former neighbor of mine, who’s quite a bit older than I, once told me a story about playing Pacman while under the influence of LSD years ago. “I was Pacman,” I distinctly remember him saying. It may all boil down to the old adage, “believe and you will achieve.“ And surely, Nesto The Owner is already a hip hop monarch in his own mind weather he’s receiving any royalty checks or not.

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Friends at czar bar (august 2010)

tWin shadoW (brooklyn, ny) and merch girl at riot room (october 2010) Photo by chris mills

bUMMER SOUlSTiCEby chris mills

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bUMMER SOUlSTiCE 2 by chris mills