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9/26/2006 What's up? I'm great. I'm happy, dude. Every day is a new conquest. We're really pushing to get the music out to support this tour with the Black Eyed Peas and our own tour. We couldn't be happier. It's been two years since your last album Heavy. What have you been up to? We've been in the lab for probably 22 out of those 24 months. This is such an incredible album. It's a roller-coaster ride of great things happening for us. We had to come home and reconnect with the family. We had to get our heads back and start making music that was our signature sound. We just started recording and we didn't stop until we felt we had recorded the best product possible. Are you completely satisfied with the new album Black Magic? Absolutely. When I speak about getting back to our signature sound, it's Madchild and I getting back to the abstract, lyrical expressionism and Rob getting back to the high-energy, uptempo beats with that dark fluid that we always try to have in our projects. Your last album, Heavy, was a departure from the signature sound. Were you disappointed in the fans' response to Heavy? It was definitely a departure from what we would classically do. It's a project we stand behind 100%. We couldn't have made Black Magic without making Heavy. We learned a lot about not only about ourselves as individuals but also about what Swollen Members stands for and should stand for. Never again will we sacrifice our artistic integrity. We stopped making music for ourselves on the last album and we'll never do that again. The hunger sounds like it's there on Black Magic. Yeah, it is. Swollen was on a great ride through Canada. When we got back from tour, Madchild called me the next morning and he said, Are you ready to go to the studio? We have to record another album. "Black Magic" was the first song we recorded. As soon as I put the pen down, I knew we were back. Mad had already laid his verse on it. We both felt that we were back to where we needed to be. What was your inspiration for "Black Magic"? It was the hunger coming back, the fire, the desire. When you put Mad, Rob (the Viking) and I together, the energy comes out and we push each other to be creative. On this album in particular, we had the opportunity to work in Bryan Adams' studio, The Wearhouse in Vancouver. We finished the rest of the project at Battleaxe Studios. It allowed us to bring in a children's choir. We brought in an opera singer, a pianist, a cellist and a flutist. That really opened up Rob's energy in production and I think that made Mad and I step up ten-fold lyrically. We also had a more complete vision of how we wanted our songs to sound instead of just putting lyrics on a beat. What do you want fans to take away from Black Magic? We wanted to be able to convey our dark, lyrical expressionism over high-tempo, melodic beats. We didn't want slow beats. We wanted people to be energized by the beats and still grasp the lyrics. How was it working with Rob the Viking this time around? He's learned so much over the last few years from working with Evidence and peeking over Alchemist's shoulder. On our MySpace page, we list our musical influences and they're all over the board. I know Rob was really expanding his musical repertoire over the last few years as Mad and I were, and it really shows in his production. Just to clarify, is Rob an official member of Swollen Members now? He is. A lot of that decision was because he paid his dues and he showed his true colors on the first tour across Canada. He was our merchandiser. He was out there slanging tee's. We wanted to put him out there on the road with us and see how his energy worked with ours. A lot can change on the road. He really proved himself. We're a triangle. That's the strength of Swollen Members. Why is Moka Only no longer a member? It's all good. We wish Moka all the best. He wanted to pursue a solo career. I've known Moka for quite a number of years and he's always been a creative, forward-thinking, solo individual. He has so many talents from singing to rapping to instrument playing. He picks up a trumpet and plays like he's been playing for 35 years. He wanted to explore his creative boundaries and we encouraged him to do that and it's all good. Now that it's back to the three of us, we feel that Swollen is back to its real strengths. Everything works out for everybody in the best way possible. It all happens for a reason. The album seems like it's split into two different sides with completely different vibes. Was that a conscious decision? I don't even think we realized it when we were doing it, but you hear the tape playing at the beginning, Rob was like, That's a great thing to put at the beginning of the album. Then people were saying that it really embodies that we went back to our style while being forward and progressive. We still have that classic, old-school feel to it. I think that's what that really embodies. It's become symbolical for what Black Magic is. How was it working with Ghostface on "Weight"? That was amazing. He's someone we have respected and looked up to for many, many years. He was amazingly supportive of us during the tour. He shouted us out every night and rocked our t-shirts. He killed his verse on "Weight." He really went to bat for us and we tip our hats off to him. What allows a group from Canada to sound cohesive with Ghost? I think it's indicative of the era we grew up in. We're definitely true heads and the mutual respect there is pretty evident. Evidence from Dilated Peoples has really been by our side from the get-go. The introductions he's made for us and the bugs he's put in people's ears about Swollen Members, we can't say enough about him and we're grateful for what he's done. We also keep building relationships with people like Ghost and Casual. We love making music with our friends and we hope to continue building friendships with people like that. Swollen has a lot of different styles, from "Deep End" to "Fuel Injected." What's your favorite style? For me, the standout track is "Black Magic." I think the reason for that is because it is the jump-off and it allowed us to do songs with artists like Casual. It also allowed our confidence to grow. We push each other to compete to the best of our abilities. Then you have songs like "Go to Sleep" which is a 180 from "Torture." That's what this album really embodies to me. There's a lot of honesty. We're talking about the good times we've had over the years while talking about the struggles. I don't think we've ever done that as competently as we have on Black Magic. Is this album for the fans or yourselves? The last album, we were making what we thought people wanted to hear. We realized from hearing from our fans that that wasn't what they wanted to hear. They want to hear Swollen Members at their best. Black Magic was for us but at the same time we knew our fans would embrace it. People who like us also like Sum 41 and Avril Lavigne. We're making music that our old fans can embrace again but also that our new fans can listen to and say, This is unique. Have your loyal fans from your first album, Balance, stayed with you through everything? I really feel that they have. We have an amazing fan-base. We always say that when people go to a Swollen Members show, they show up as fans and leave as friends and family. The energy that they give us when we step on stage is unbelievable. We try to really connect, chill afterwards, kick it, freestyle, have a couple drinks, sign things and just get into the memories. We've been lucky because our fans are honest. They tell us what they feel and what they don't feel. We take all that information for when we go back into the studio to work on the next project. We look at the feedback during the show to see what directions we need to go. What's a Swollen Members live show like? Come through on the Black Magic tour and check it out on our site. I also keep a blog on our MySpace. We get on stage and we live for that. It all goes hand-in-hand. The hunger's back and we're putting that energy on stage and we're so thankful that our friends and family stuck by us and are allowing us to get back into making the music we love and believe in. Your style can be all over the place at times. Where do you get your inspiration from? I read a lot and Mad watches a lot of cinema. We push each other to keep our creativity going. We feed off a lot from life. You get a lot of honesty in our music. I think this is our most honest album. You've done a lot of collaborations, from Del the Funky Homosapien to Saukrates. Who's been your favorite? They all rank on the same plane, but the best advice I got in studio was from Son Doobie. I had to record a track at 8am before I went to work. I remember Son saying to me, Every time you deliver a line, act like it's the first line in your verse. Keep that energy going through the whole verse and it will make all the difference. As soon as he said that, it all clicked. I really took that one to heart. What's Son Doobie doing now? Doobie's still out there. He's always putting out music. He's going to always be putting out projects. He's rocking it 24-7. What is your role in Battleaxe Records? I guess my role would be the ambassador. I'm the people person. I'm the guy who keeps it smooth with the people. Mad handles the business. I'm the ambassador, the liaison. There used to be a lot of releases coming off Battleaxe. What's going on? Battleaxe's focus is on Swollen Members and getting Black Magic out to as many people as possible. How did the TVT distribution deal go down? To set it off, TVT is an amazing hook-up for us. The story is great. We were playing at the South by Southwest festival in Austin. We walked into The Towers of London and we met this dude and three or four beers later, we started talking about distribution. It's natural. There's no red tape around it and no bullshit. It's just people who enjoy getting music out there. They're doing Ying Yang Twins, Lil Jon and Pitbull. The ball just started rolling and I know they're going to do everything they can to get our project out there. The beautiful thing is we maintain artistic freedom and integrity. Swollen Members is so focused right now. We have so much more music to get out. When we get to hotels we pull the beds off and put them against the wall and make a studio in the corner so we can make our demos and keep the juices flowing and stay creative while we're on tour. What are the challenges in getting your music out to fans in the States? Hip-hop is such a worldwide entity now. What we're building in the US is an incredible movement. We call it the Swollen Army. They're dedicated soldiers and they're great about putting the music in the people's ears and letting them know what's up. We have 56 shows in the US on this tour. We're not stopping until we get it out there. We're doing MTV2, the video is going to start playing soon, we have MTVU, Fuse is running a special on us and a lot of this is due to TVT. Swollen has a great work ethic and we realize this isn't an easy climb, but we're focused on making it happen. We're going to be the first Canadian rap group to make our stamp in the States. That's my word. Any plans for a solo record? No, not right now. We're focusing on Swollen Members. What do you want to say to everybody? Thank you. Thank you for your patience and for allowing us to get back into the mode of creating pure music. And cop Black Magic! http://swollenmembers.com http://myspace.com/swollenmembers

By Brian Kayser

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