LVLRN (from left) - DC, Caleb, Crocker, Krosswordze
One night, I showed up at The Radio Room with no specific agenda. I walked in, and it was a totally different crowd in there than I was used to seeing. I started to listen and realized that the music is was totally different than I was used to hearing… but I liked it. I leaned in to ask the owner, David Raghib, who was performing and he told me it was The Lone Gunmen. It was a name and a sound that was unforgettable, so I did some research. As it turns out, The Lone Gunmen have been a staple in hip hop here in the Upstate. Aside from that, they’re also part of a crew who refer to themselves as The Bastards. Upon further research, I found out that The Bastards belong to a digital label called LVLRN RCRDS.
Recently, I was able to catch The Lone Gunmen and a few more of The Bastards crew at Projekt Lotus’ 10th anniversary show at the Handlebar. I made a point to introduce myself (one of the points I made in my editorial about seeing live music) and the guys gave me a mixtape and some other goodies to take home and listen to. Since I consider WATU to be of some journalistic merit, I am obliged to tell you about LVLRN and The Bastards. I recently met up with Crocker and Caleb, founders of LVLRN, to gather more info with the intention of sharing. Here’s what they had to say.
CM: Let’s start with your influences and how you got started in the hip hop game.
Crocker: Some of my biggest influences are The Notorious B.I.G., Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, early Xzibit (At The Speed Of Life, 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz), Black Rob, & AZ. I got started through writing shitty breakup poetry in high school after my girlfriend and I were split up by her father. I kept writing and writing, and I knew wanted to do something with it and that I wanted it to be in music. I wanted to front but I couldn’t nail a correct pitch with an over-sized Wiffle ball bat. One day, an older classmate saw some of my poetry and suggested that I should rap. From there, I stumbled upon a studio a couple months later and laid my first rap atop a posse cut with three other rappers. I’ve been recording ever since.
CM: Does it bother you for people to compare you to a Caucasian Detroit rapper named after some candy?
Crocker: All the time. He’s a talented emcee and one of the greats, but there are a multitude of white emcees out here and plenty before Eminem ever broke big… funny that I never get compared to those guys. Then again, who the hell is Cage or Brother Ali to the public?
CM: I love the mission statement for your net-label, LVLRN RCRDS, “We don’t want your money, we just want you to listen.” Can you give us some insight behind the concept?
Caleb: Honestly, I came up with the mission statement, more or less, on a whim. Not that that takes away from the sentiment, it was just what I was feeling at the time. From the moment we conceptualized the idea of a local, digital label, we wanted it to be about getting all the local artists and our friends here (and out of state) the attention we felt they deserved. That’s really all it is. It’s not for profit. People won’t listen if they have to pay, and we just want them to listen. More than that, it’s really about building a network of friends and musicians from all around to help promote their endeavors. It’s hard to get recognized in South Carolina, much less the Upstate. Really hard.
CM: Who are your artists and how do they fit intothe LVLRN family?
Caleb: That’s a good question… uh… Who are our artists? Hah, at this point, given we haven’t really had the time to recruit many new artists, but our artists are basically everyone in the Bastards family and their associated acts. We have Crocker of course, then we have The LoneGunmen (Krosswordze and Hafez tha Beast), Walter Kronkite, Hillary and Lindsay Keane, Feather Fly Focus, C. James, Pico 45… and there’s associated acts who don’t necessarily fall under our umbrella, like Prof. Logik, Jack Bandit, Jubbyfuk… It’s mostly the artists you can hear on “The Bastard Sessions Vol. 1″ for now. Which makes us seem like a hip-hop label, but don’t get us wrong, we’re open to all genres, it’s just the tight-knit family we had to work with from the get-go. Justin Poole (who goes by alias Jack Bandit as a producer) and myself don’t really do hip-hop at all, save for him making beats. Other than that, he and I have only done rock and electronic projects. To put it simply, I take care of the website, Crocker is our most active artist and takes care of business relations and coordinating the artists, and everyone else just works together to make music.
Crocker: The Gunmen bring experience, knowledge, understanding,and dexterity. Krosswordze has worked with a plethora of artists over his career and even funded, produced, and released a compilation that reached a lot of people some years back called “Operation:Killaville 85 South,” that brought together artists from all over the state together to represent for South Carolina. I run everything I do by Krosswordze and he influences almost every move I make. He’s always someone I trust to bounce ideas off of and I value his opinion. Lindsay Keane brings a hip-hop/soul look to our fold. Hillary Keane brings a raw acoustic singer-songwriter flare to us that’s very personal and emotive. Focus brings a more palatable offering to the mainstream public, but he’s still a viable threat on the microphone with his effortless flow and charisma. And as far as Walter Kronkite goes… He’s got a story to tell unlike anything I’ve ever heard. He’s still refining, but his potential is limitless.
CM: You gave me a compilation “The Bastard Sessions,Vol. 1” which seems like a sampler of all of your artists. Some of it is extremely raw, but I haven’t heard songs with that much soul and heart in a very long time. Can you talk about the compilation and when can we expect to hear newer volumes?
Crocker: It started off as me borrowing recording equipment from my label owner, Scott Godfrey (Sparkle City Records), to record a couple of tracks for someone else’s compilation. I recorded, and before I knew it, I had my friends coming by and laying collaborative tracks on a whim. We recorded almost everyday for three weeks straight. The only thing that stopped us from going any further was the fact that the Tascam recording device we were using filled up, and it wouldn’t let us add any new tracks. So from there, the trial and error exporting and mixing process began. After another two weeks of meticulous mixing… we had the tape, which sounds as raw as it does because we weren’t well versed at all in mixing. Hopefully, after I drop my solo album, “Catharsis,” we’ll start work on “The Bastard Sessions Vol. 2.”
Caleb: There were a lot of sleepless nights during those sessions… a lot of sleepless nights. The track that seems to get the most love is the “Pregnant Hooker Lament” which Crocker, Justin, and I came up with on a whim, layered it way too much, and then wrapped it together. Crocker wrote all the words, just for the record.
CM: I see that you’ve been releasing a new track every week part of the Underground Transmission Series. How long has that been going on and how long do you plan on keeping it going?
Crocker: That was all Kronkite’s idea. We’ve been doing them since the end of October, and I hope to finish up at Week 52. That’s the goal, anyway. I love doing them though… It’s almost always right there on the spot with Kronkite and I coming up with them in a couple of hours or so. I feel like I can play around more on those tracks — stretch my legs [artistically], if you will.
Caleb: As long as I keep making artwork for it, basically. Which… I suppose I have an obligation to see it through.
CM: Finally, can you tell us about upcoming events and how people can find out more about LVLRN RCRDS and the whole Bastards crew?
Crocker: Our next show is a double header on Saturday, August 6th. The first half is Saturday Night Flow (at The Showroom in Spartanburg), the monthly hip-hop series I help oversee with Justin Tripam & Stephen Long. The featured performers will be Ghani Gautama, Hott Gritz, & The LoneGunmen. The show starts at 9PM, ends at 11PM.
The second half is a show at WPBR The Radio Room from 11:30 until… with myself, Walter Kronkite, Krosswordze, & Lyrikal Buddah. There will be a $5.00 cover for each show. You can find us online at http://www.lovelornrecords.com/ http://www.facebook.com/lovelornrecords/ http://www.crocker.bandcamp.com/ http://www.myspace.com/cockingitback http://www.reverbnation.com/hillarykeane and of course… we have more coming in the near future.
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i know Crock personally, he is an awesome guy and amazing artist. loved the interview
Great interview! Keep up the good work Crocker! I’m proud of you! Oh and for the record, in my honest opinion, your better than Eminem and alot of these main stream artists…so keep it up!