Busdriver is a unique rapper much in the vein of ultra-talented rappers like RJD2 and Blueprint. His previous albums were low budget affairs that highlighted Busdrivers freestyle talent. But for his new album, Roadkill Overcoat, Busdriver wanted a cleaner more produced sound and thats why he recruited producers DJ Nobody, Boom Bip and Bianca Casady of CocoRosie to help him out.
Buy Roadkill Overcoat
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?
Busdriver: Im recovering from shooting all weekend. Ive been shooting little video teasers for an upcoming album so now Im just laying low.
DRE: What happens in the video?
B: There are a few different sketches and I dont know what I did for most of them. For one scene I had to smash a guitar and then the production crew pieced it together. Then I had to play the guitar and lip sync outside in 40 degree weather in not much clothing for an hour. That did me in.
DRE: Whose idea was that?
B: [laughs] I think it was mine. But its okay, Ill suffer so that we can execute a halfway decent idea. Theyre going to go online.
DRE: Who was the director?
B: Hes a friend of mine named Ben Barnes. He has this funny TV series online, called Fish. Hes a personal friend of mine who I really like to work with.
DRE: What was the inspiration for Roadkill Overcoat?
B: Theres no specific inspiration for the album. We just took it one song at a time. The bands that I wanted to emulate were along the lines of The Flaming Lips or those groups that do that pseudo, psychedelic thing and we did that in a couple of songs. Thats really why I had DJ Nobody produce the majority of the record. But I also want to be a fun clubby-rap thing and Boom Bip satisfied that. The producers that I used were more than competent in those worlds so we just took a stab at it and it took only seven months to do.
DRE: How did you come up with the title, Roadkill Overcoat?
B: The title really refers to my on tour game face. My friend Matt came up with when we were driving between shows. We were probably in the middle of Ohio or some shit. Usually when youre driving cross-country, theres roadkill everywhere and I dont know what he was talking about but he said roadkill overcoat. I was searching for a title for the record and I had a bunch of bad titles so I figured if I had to pick a bad title, Id pick that one.
DRE: What made you feel you needed DJ Nobody and Boom Bip for this album?
B: Theyre friends of mine and working with my friends is something I genuinely enjoy. I really just wanted to use them because I dont feel like Ive always been involved and Ive always wanted some concentrated time with them and this record became an excuse to do that. I had to come to terms with peoples understanding of hip-hop because what someone like me should be doing in music isnt necessarily in accord with what I think of music. So it makes complete sense to use Nobody and Boom Bip.
DRE: Did you know Bianca Casady as well?
B: Ive known her forever. We went to high school briefly with one another in Arizona. Her and her sister, Sierra who makes up the other half of CocoRosie, went there for like a year. Bianca and Sierra have this really unique outer worldly warmth that has always been there since I met them 11 years ago. For the track Go Slow, we were hanging out in her apartment and we just stumbled upon the song and she knocked it out. I'm looking forward to doing more shit with them.
DRE: Roadkill sounds a lot different from your previous album. Were you looking to do something larger and more produced?
B: Well Im on a bigger label so I figured I better up the ante and act like I knew what I was doing.
DRE: How did you end up working with Epitaph?
B: Whats unusual is that theyre messing with somebody from LA and somebody like me who is below the radar. They scooped me up on the merit of the demo I gave them. I bugged their A & R for about a year and Im very happy because theyre an incredibly nice bunch of people. Theyre almost too nice. Im waiting for them to scream at me but it hasnt happened yet.
DRE: So do your producers come up with the music and then you rap over it?
B: Yeah, theyll give me a track and Ill write to it and Ill use the arrangement or Ill indulge the arrangement and record a song and then theyll go into post production and do more production after the fact. For the song Ethereal Driftwood I did some of the production and programming. Then I gave it to Nobody and he tooled with it and added a lot more stuff to it.
DRE: How was it working with a bigger label?
B: Way, way, way easier. I didnt even know labels worked like this. I didnt know that you can ask for something and then get it three hours later. Theres some perks with working with the small indie but right now working with the big indie is a lot more effective. But I enjoyed my years with Mush Records. They were very helpful and very hands on and I feel like if I hadnt had that time with them I wouldnt have known what to do with Epitaph, even though I still dont know what to do with Epitaph.
DRE: Youre a pretty young guy and I wasnt sure what to make of a young guy that raps about such intelligent things. Then I saw who your dad was and I realized that you must have been raised with a real awareness. Is that right?
B: I dont know how much that comes into play. I know that my dad having written Krush Groove was a big thing because I got to meet a lot of people like LL Cool J so that was a pretty pivotal point for me. But aside from that, I dont know how much of my music relates to my family. I keep it separate from them. Im sure I carry a similar ethic as my dad does. Im 28 and I dont think of myself as any brighter than anybody. I just find certain things interesting and think that it would be cool interjected in a quirky rap song. Im not afraid to do it because Ive been rapping since I was a kid and I feel like hip-hop is mine. Its the medium meant for me so I shouldnt feel afraid to wield it however I see fit.
DRE: I read youre going to be touring with RJ-D2. With him, you and other rappers out there in the same vein, is there a chance for good rap to become popular?
B: No, I dont think so. I dont mean to put down all the mass produced stuff thats out there now but the general sales of rap music have plummeted almost 40 percent this past year. I think the homogenization of rap and R & B music has been the cause of that. I hope that trends like that are offset by people wanting to spice up the marketplace with a little bit more variety. This year theres a lot of Indian underground groups coming out with a lot of records. Big players like LT, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock and whoever the fuck. So maybe that complimented with the plummeting sales of rap will cause the major labels to pick up some of these people, but who knows? I dont think it is necessarily a good idea for people to have songs on the radio. Instead of Chingy and whoever the fuck on the radio, do people want RJD2 and whoever the fuck? I dont think so.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy Roadkill Overcoat
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?
Busdriver: Im recovering from shooting all weekend. Ive been shooting little video teasers for an upcoming album so now Im just laying low.
DRE: What happens in the video?
B: There are a few different sketches and I dont know what I did for most of them. For one scene I had to smash a guitar and then the production crew pieced it together. Then I had to play the guitar and lip sync outside in 40 degree weather in not much clothing for an hour. That did me in.
DRE: Whose idea was that?
B: [laughs] I think it was mine. But its okay, Ill suffer so that we can execute a halfway decent idea. Theyre going to go online.
DRE: Who was the director?
B: Hes a friend of mine named Ben Barnes. He has this funny TV series online, called Fish. Hes a personal friend of mine who I really like to work with.
DRE: What was the inspiration for Roadkill Overcoat?
B: Theres no specific inspiration for the album. We just took it one song at a time. The bands that I wanted to emulate were along the lines of The Flaming Lips or those groups that do that pseudo, psychedelic thing and we did that in a couple of songs. Thats really why I had DJ Nobody produce the majority of the record. But I also want to be a fun clubby-rap thing and Boom Bip satisfied that. The producers that I used were more than competent in those worlds so we just took a stab at it and it took only seven months to do.
DRE: How did you come up with the title, Roadkill Overcoat?
B: The title really refers to my on tour game face. My friend Matt came up with when we were driving between shows. We were probably in the middle of Ohio or some shit. Usually when youre driving cross-country, theres roadkill everywhere and I dont know what he was talking about but he said roadkill overcoat. I was searching for a title for the record and I had a bunch of bad titles so I figured if I had to pick a bad title, Id pick that one.
DRE: What made you feel you needed DJ Nobody and Boom Bip for this album?
B: Theyre friends of mine and working with my friends is something I genuinely enjoy. I really just wanted to use them because I dont feel like Ive always been involved and Ive always wanted some concentrated time with them and this record became an excuse to do that. I had to come to terms with peoples understanding of hip-hop because what someone like me should be doing in music isnt necessarily in accord with what I think of music. So it makes complete sense to use Nobody and Boom Bip.
DRE: Did you know Bianca Casady as well?
B: Ive known her forever. We went to high school briefly with one another in Arizona. Her and her sister, Sierra who makes up the other half of CocoRosie, went there for like a year. Bianca and Sierra have this really unique outer worldly warmth that has always been there since I met them 11 years ago. For the track Go Slow, we were hanging out in her apartment and we just stumbled upon the song and she knocked it out. I'm looking forward to doing more shit with them.
DRE: Roadkill sounds a lot different from your previous album. Were you looking to do something larger and more produced?
B: Well Im on a bigger label so I figured I better up the ante and act like I knew what I was doing.
DRE: How did you end up working with Epitaph?
B: Whats unusual is that theyre messing with somebody from LA and somebody like me who is below the radar. They scooped me up on the merit of the demo I gave them. I bugged their A & R for about a year and Im very happy because theyre an incredibly nice bunch of people. Theyre almost too nice. Im waiting for them to scream at me but it hasnt happened yet.
DRE: So do your producers come up with the music and then you rap over it?
B: Yeah, theyll give me a track and Ill write to it and Ill use the arrangement or Ill indulge the arrangement and record a song and then theyll go into post production and do more production after the fact. For the song Ethereal Driftwood I did some of the production and programming. Then I gave it to Nobody and he tooled with it and added a lot more stuff to it.
DRE: How was it working with a bigger label?
B: Way, way, way easier. I didnt even know labels worked like this. I didnt know that you can ask for something and then get it three hours later. Theres some perks with working with the small indie but right now working with the big indie is a lot more effective. But I enjoyed my years with Mush Records. They were very helpful and very hands on and I feel like if I hadnt had that time with them I wouldnt have known what to do with Epitaph, even though I still dont know what to do with Epitaph.
DRE: Youre a pretty young guy and I wasnt sure what to make of a young guy that raps about such intelligent things. Then I saw who your dad was and I realized that you must have been raised with a real awareness. Is that right?
B: I dont know how much that comes into play. I know that my dad having written Krush Groove was a big thing because I got to meet a lot of people like LL Cool J so that was a pretty pivotal point for me. But aside from that, I dont know how much of my music relates to my family. I keep it separate from them. Im sure I carry a similar ethic as my dad does. Im 28 and I dont think of myself as any brighter than anybody. I just find certain things interesting and think that it would be cool interjected in a quirky rap song. Im not afraid to do it because Ive been rapping since I was a kid and I feel like hip-hop is mine. Its the medium meant for me so I shouldnt feel afraid to wield it however I see fit.
DRE: I read youre going to be touring with RJ-D2. With him, you and other rappers out there in the same vein, is there a chance for good rap to become popular?
B: No, I dont think so. I dont mean to put down all the mass produced stuff thats out there now but the general sales of rap music have plummeted almost 40 percent this past year. I think the homogenization of rap and R & B music has been the cause of that. I hope that trends like that are offset by people wanting to spice up the marketplace with a little bit more variety. This year theres a lot of Indian underground groups coming out with a lot of records. Big players like LT, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock and whoever the fuck. So maybe that complimented with the plummeting sales of rap will cause the major labels to pick up some of these people, but who knows? I dont think it is necessarily a good idea for people to have songs on the radio. Instead of Chingy and whoever the fuck on the radio, do people want RJD2 and whoever the fuck? I dont think so.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
Greatness. Busdriver. You are.