“Word Is Bond” became “Slippin’” then “Halfway Crook” then “Sick Daze” and then a million other things before we settled on “Ash Rizin.” The basic story has stayed the same – a young influential Hip Hop kid who falls into the luster of gangsterism to the tune of a tragic fall from grace. As easy as that sounds, there has been countless manifestations of how this tale has unfolded. Characters changing or being added/withdrawn or possessing new or different humors, have all conspired to morph this story numerous times. I’ve never been so creatively frustrated, mainly because musicals are an ambitious, intimately collaborative process, such that I’ve never been part of before. Although I’ve been intimate with Michael P Northey several times on a personal level, it has never shaken down that way professionally… Jokes – of course it has. Seriously, I’m used to spending my creative time/energy in solitude trying to satisfy a theme or concept and when I have done that to my liking, my work is done. In a musical, story and character are the central nervous system and all forms of creation need to do them justice. Therefore, when a character or the story is changed, the musical narrative must follow suit and vice versa. Northey and I stepped into a beast of burden. Michael Northey IS a beast of burden, a highly sexual beast of burd… I’ll stop there.

The story initially was about Derrian (D-Skills) and Ash (Ash Rizin’) with a DJ named Jackie who didn’t speak. I think Mike kept it simple initially because it may have been another youth piece and the less hands on deck the easier to maneuver. It became evident that this was not just a youth piece and that Mike could open it up. The DJ Jackie became Clean which could make for a good triangle of sexual tension and another voice for music. We both thought Lauryn Hill and the Fugees dynamic with Clean being the missing element and possessing superior vocal/rapping/lyrical skills. I even wrote an audition piece for Clean called “Stereotypical.” That of course would change, as would the lyrics of the song but the song still stays in as a poignant part of our story. Mike then introduced Gat as the gangster counterpoint character to the now named “Sick Daze” rap group. “Sick Days” was actually a real alternative rock group and friends of mine, who are from my neighborhood and agreed to let us use their name. When I brought up the name to Mikey as a joke, he loved it and our rap group was born. Mike then brought in the character Angel to be the CEO of Gat’s gang to further flesh out this side of the story. Northey then created Dosha as a female counterpoint to Clean that would be Gat’s girlfriend. The cast of characters was born and (for now) Ash, D-Skills, Clean, Gat, Dosha and Angel are our Dramatis Personae. This could change though – my fingers are crossed.

I have written around 22 pieces of original music for this play. Some of my favorite shit is on the editing room floor but all of us have made sacrifices for the good of the overall production. I recorded 7 songs at Greenhouse with help from Doug Naugler (5 of those are still in use) and the rest were done with Stylust at All-In Studios. My brother Kevin has co-written nearly all of the material with me serving as musical accompaniment/melodic counterpoint to my lyrics and base melodic ideas. I’m particularly proud of his work on Loner and Moonshine, he is a beast in the lab. It’s been fun and less pressure writing with other people in mind as I’ve never written anything to be performed by anyone else except myself. Penning the lyrics for the forlorn female protagonist Clean on the track “Where Did You Go” was an interesting experience that came to life when Chantel Upshaw laid an immaculate vocal performance down. I had help laying down guides on these tracks from Dani Nelson (Dani and Lizzy) for Clean’s raps, Evil Ebenezer for Gat’s raps, Carly Campbell for everything sung by Clean aside from “Where Did You Go” and I handled Ash and Dee with different tones of voice.

Two years ago ATP agreed to partner with Greenthumb to develop our show. We went to Calgary with our draft and music last year, and had actors work on the material for a week. It became evident that our work wasn’t done and that the music and the book weren’t cross pollinating in an organic matter. Initially, Mike and I wanted this to be an ‘anti-musical musical.’ Translation: Characters don’t break into song on a whim to espouse their virtues of love on one another or asides to the audience. If Sick Daze was a rap group, we thought we would have plenty of natural settings for songs to break out in reality such as the studio, rehearsal space, the street, parties, parks etc. This of course changed and our music and story weren’t as seamless transitionally as we needed them to be. This was one of four key things evident in our readings with the actors in Calgary. The second detail was that our 2nd Act wasn’t moving with the same pace music/story as our first act. The third problem that was evident seemed to be the love story between Clean and Ash being thin. There didn’t seem to be any rational reasoning for her to stay with this guy. The other defining piece of evidence from this trip was the astonishing amount of professionalism, beauty, craftsmanship, and attention to detail the people at ATP provided. We were in good hands and the Martha Cohen Theatre was a monument to behold. We had our work cut out for us before the theatre presented anything mirroring it’s own prestige. Yes, I said it, Ash Rizin would become prestigious bitches…

On the music side of things, I set my course on blending scene dialogue with subversive musical interruption. I always wanted a scene in the studio illustrating the recording process and Mike always wanted a battle fortifying Ash’s superior rap prowess. I combined the two and solved a multitude of problems. The scene starts in the studio with Ash, Clean and Dee, after Dee Skillz has sought out Ash to join the group because of Ash’s profound literal graffiti content. Clean is laboring on laying down a tricky phrased verse when Ash offers help. Ash re-writes the verse quickly and spits it perfectly. Clean somewhat impressed and offended, challenges him to freestyle about the newspaper. Ash obliges, inadvertently offends Clean and a battle ensues with Ash mopping the floor with her in the end. Both Clean and Ash are upset, not thinking this collaboration will work when all of a sudden Dee Skillz presses play and shows them an edit of what they just performed, which he had been recording and mixing on the fly. This created sexual tension between the two characters, established Ash as an amazing MC, Clean as a great singer with things to learn, Dee as an enterprising producer capable of capitalizing on the moment, and all in the realm of a real studio setting that I so desperately wanted to capture. Mike had the brilliant idea of the newspaper that would have a gang related front page. Way to thread the needle Mikey!! This would lead nicely into our next dilemma of Clean and Ash.

I think that learning is an indescribable connection between people, especially when you are taught something that you are interested in. There is an inexplicable link between student/teacher and that bond is often breached romantically even in the classroom. We honor those who can do that which we cannot, ever more exceedingly if in a field that we respect. If Ash could teach Clean how to wield her artistry more effectively by giving insight into his own process, I felt we would be cooking with moonshine. He would show her how he views everything in terms of art/music. I felt his description could start a song organically with a beatbox that transformed into a song with the hook… I see the city in stories told, through cracks in the concrete and broken windows, lines in the road written down like it’s prose and I see the moonshine lighting it all. Here is a link to a video creating this piece of music… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB4FK47CxE8

The second act began to take shape as we strengthened all of our key plot pieces with music. Mike truly drove the bus and I took nearly all of my cues from him conceptually. I never wanted to write anything without knowing the stakes, objectives, motivation or reasoning behind the tune. I tried to approach the music as scenes to help with Mike’s story. The finale was by far our biggest challenge because there was so much riding on how this play would end. This play has also ended in every imaginable tragic way possible. Mike finally settled, (with much protest from me initially) but as usual, his idea was drawn from experience not just whim and he was dead right with the conclusion. He wanted to re-visit some of the tunes from the entire play in a canon of sorts with a showcase by the group. For whatever reason, this took me forever to wrap my head around. He requested a piece of music where Ash is frantically trying to make it to the showcase and I just never got it right. My brother Kevin arranged and wrote a beautiful orchestral string section with thickened pace. It took Stylust and I a long time to gel this piece of music with our new showcase song and all of the throwbacks. I honestly hated what I wrote for Kev’s piece so I never got too attached. The string song has since been abandoned (thankfully) but in all honesty it took the most work. Very frustrating that I couldn’t get that one right but it all worked out in the end.

After all of this time and work, the 12 show performance is finally upon us in the Martha Cohen Theatre at ATP, Calgary Alberta. From January 2nd -12th I had the honor of meeting and working with this tremendous cast and crew. I went to Calgary to offer my musical director version of Kyprios’ Hip Hop Bandcamp. The cast were given rhyme books and we started every day with a freestyle cipher. Rap, like many Italian conversations, is overtly physical and full of hand gestures. You can gain insight to a theme of a song just by watching an MC perform on mute. There is a physical narrative to this art form that compliments the aural form. My job was to help convince these actors that they were legitimate rappers. To rap is just slang for conversing so drawing on this fundamental aspect, we went to work at finding a natural conversational way of rhyming. I was devastated by the commitment this troupe showed and the immediate impact of their efforts. Luc Roderique (D Skills) had the only experience in performing live. He was the only actor that I had seen perform and his attention to detail is startling: RAP CAPTAIN. Allison Lynch blew me away with writing a double time rap on Day 2 and then writing/recording one of the best female rap songs that I have heard in Canada on Day 7 SONG BIRD CAPTAIN. Mike Wasco (Angel) will bring the fucking house down every time he performs “I Hate Hip Hop.” I relinquished all ownership of the song around Day 5 when I was getting goosebumps and feeling frightened. NAP CAPTAIN Kyle Jesperson (Gat) has emotional gears for days and watching him silently switch through them while executing faces of genocide, angst, power and an I don’t give a fuck attitude is awesome. SLAP CAPTAIN. Ksenia Thurgood is a bad ass. I never thought the version “Where Did You Go” would be touched but her levels of mourning and loss are shaded perfectly by her vocal performance. Rapping wise now she can only be explained through Top Gun. I am Ice Man and she is Maverick, now watch… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz_EnEx9m5g . BACK BALL CAPTAIN. Double A Aaron Hursch (Ash) is a beast and our leader. Dood just has a nice touch on stage. Very instinctual, attached inherently to character at all times, never straying from the misguided solitude and confusion of our protagonist Ash Rizin ACT CAPTAIN. Let’s not forget about DJ Burner. Tobi Berner picked up Serrato and made it his bitch quickly. Having a DJ as an orchestra is the shit and I’m very happy that Tobi is killing it on the ones and twos BRRAP CAPTAIN…

The process is nearing completion. In the beginning it was Ivan, Patrick (Greenthumb) Mike and I. Now there are many hands on it holding it up to share with an audience. Seeing our director Patrick McDonald is an inspiration as he guides us through each moment of narrative. I feel that he is the final channel of our stories communication and I’m happy to hear his voice on the piece throughout. He puts lights on dialogue or lyrics that illuminate the story in ways that I never even imagined or saw myself.

I had worried for my reputation as the only person who lives in the world of Hip Hop and the guy who would return to this world and have to answer for anything that wasn’t handled according to the culture of this music. My co-sign and pride are put on this musical now and that is a tribute to the people who have picked it up and lifted it to levels I could never have achieved through my own machinations. Thank you to Ivan for his continual support, Patrick for his limitless energy and enthusiasm for this project (and sports), all of the staff from Greenthumb, thank you to Vanessa, Vicki, and Diane, Marcy, Quinn, Ashley, Strilla, Laurel, Aldona from ATP and everyone else who has helped this production.

Finally, a big shout out to Greenthumb for imagining that this could be anything. No one from our side of the country has tried to do this at such a high level. It started with a seed that has blossomed into a powerful piece of art with a message that needs to be heard by young audiences. As this goes against the demographic of a perceived theatre society, I am proud to have the dice rolled on our behalf knowing that this is a long shot and by no means a financial slam dunk in the black. It is my sincerest hope that this musical transcends all boundaries of age, gender, race, creed, stereotype or musical taste and that is seen entirely on the virtue for what it is… A great story. As much as Northey could be a pain in my ass to work with, I acknowledge that his vision and motivation were the fuel behind my efforts. I’m proud to have worked with my friend again and I think this is his strongest work to date.

I put my life and career on hold in an effort to immerse myself in this project, I used to refer to that as a sacrifice and now it has become a privilege.

Support original theatre.

*kyprios12*

Wednesday. Hit the Big Apple and took a train into Bushwick which was my old stomping ground. The homey Al Rodger hooked up his spot there and we stayed with his friend/all around amazing dood Luba. Had a beer with Luba, hit the bodega grabbed a few more brews with brown bags and took the L train into the LES. Smashed some Japanese food at Takahachi, some sake, some Kirin and then grabbed a couple more Brooklyn lagers in their lovely brown paper carrying cases and were off to the Nuyorican. Place hasn’t changed since when I first stepped in back in 1998 for a battle that Prevail entered and Pumpkin Head ended up winning. I age myself but fuck you for bringing age into the equation – JERK! Hahaha. I ended up battling, performing and entering slams there when I lived in NYC and it was amazing to see the place hasn’t changed. Cat named Gaston hosted with a live band and there were some nice performances. Grabbed one more Brooknam sans paper bag because I was drunk enough not to care and gangster enough to keep it on the low. Beautiful New York night.

Thursday. Woke up early with the bang bang head. Stupid move because this was going to be our biggest day as I had booked a gig and it was our friend Julie’s wedding, which was the entire reason for our trip. Did a little voiceover gig in the east village and made my way up to Central Park. NYC was breaking records for heat during the time we were there and the weather couldn’t have been better. Wedding was immaculate. Just in from 79th E in a little crook off of the lake right beside a small spring where you could hear the water running during the ceremony. I took some shots of the champagne that the groom had put inside the little creek to keep it cool. Really beautiful considering that no one at the wedding was from NYC besides the JP and the photographer. There was a 4.5 hour layover from the wedding to the reception so back to Bushwick.

We made it back to the block to catch a nap before the reception, all good. Laid down with Luba’s cat Benny and heard a commotion. Looked down from our window and there was a massive brawl in the middle of the street. People honking, doods on cel phones, chains, some ill street shit talking and a couple good tilts. No one got hurt, just a couple of good little gangsters figuring their shit out. Ahhh, Bushwick Brooklyn I still love you. Napperoni, back up and out DT by City Hall to hit the reception.

Wicked ass reception!!! Stunning speeches, magnificent food plus an open bar, go time – round two ding ding. We had until 11:30 to drink as much as possible and the 31 gathered for the wedding did little to disappoint. Good little dance party to boot and we had ourselves one hell of a wedding. Off to Greenwich Village for the after party with those that could still walk.

Dave Scatchard (former Vancouver Canuck) was a good friend of the groom (Jason) and thought that a limo would be a good idea to get us to the village. It was a good idea until Dan started dropping yoga poses in that shit and doing front flips. Shit was hilarious. We lit up a spot after deciding that Terra Blues wasn’t ready for us and continued the party there. Ordered a hookah and heard amazing stories from one of the nicest doods to lace up skates in Dave Scatchard. Good to hear some insight on the concussion debate and role of the enforcer from a guy who played 600 plus in the show. He also has an amazing wife that was also super down to earth and grounded. What a night.

Friday. Did some tour guide stuff and rolled up to Times Square to try and get cheap tix to a show named “The Book Of Mormon.” No dice on the cheap or on the tickets. Lines were crazy so we decided on getting tix to see Clooney’s new film “The Ides Of March.” Lunch in Soho, blah blah blah, bottle of Jack Daniels, my dill pickle popcorn salt and back up to hit the AMC 25 in Times Square. Really good flick, Ryan Gosling is on fire right now and the story is brilliantly crafted. Nominations for this film guaranteed, I’m thinking Clooney gets a nom for directing and the writer wins for the screenplay. Film Criticrios is the new name bitches. We headed back to the village for a comedy show, got destroyed by a female comic, laughed our asses off and headed back to Bushwick. The L train stopped running for the weekend so we had to walk an additional 8 blocks and I was hoping to not run into our fun hearted block gangsterino’s. All good, neighborhood was the shit and New Yorkers are amongst the best people on the planet.

Saturday. Occupy Wall Street. Wasn’t going to hit NYC and not be a part of this or at least go down to show support. It’s real. I was very inspired by people from all walks of life sacrificing time and potential charges against them for the greater good of us all. As a person carrying a great deal of debt and vulnerable to fraudulent banking practices, I appreciate the knowledge and stand with the movement. It’s coming to Vancouver on the 15th but I will be out on tour, if you’re around hit the art gallery and support the 99%. Big shout to the homey Syd Woodward doing an amazing job of coverage for us all. I missed him down there that day but I have been watching all of his videos. Wicked.

There was a free show in Bud Stuy called Restoration Rocks that featured Mos Def with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Pharoahe Monch and Homeboy Sandman. Wicked vibe as everything was green friendly, positive enforcement of an amazing Brooklyn neighborhood and good, healthy food. Sound was shit but the show was wicked. Paharoahe has long since been one of my favorite MC’s and he was gnarly.

Hit up GoBo for dins with Luba later on, dope little vegetarian spot that I once saw Erykah Badu and M-1 at. Don’t know why I just dropped that fact there, like that gives credence to a vegetarian spot but fuck it, I’m a name dropper (see Dave Scatchard above for further proof). Gelato on a stick, off of Bleeker after for dessert? Yes please and that shit was amazing. Coffee gelato on a stick dipped in white chocolate with milk chocolate sprinkles and nuts in my mouth. I said it, nuts in my mouth. You’re nuts if you think there is anything gay about that deliciousness. Up to Luba’s club in Midtown and that was pretty much a wrap for that night except for losing the keys to the apt and fucking around trying to get home for 3 hours… that was fun. Lost Luke’s keys in Paris and now this? I’m officially a loser.

Sunday. Lolita, Tribeca, ChinaTown and caught a little bit of football to check in on how my fantasy squad was doing. Squad held me down as did the city that showered sun and awesomeness on us for our entire stay.

Great little trip to NYC and reminded me why I have such an affinity for the place. Met amazing people everywhere, on the train, at the wedding, in the park, on the streets… everywhere. What’s a city without good people? Shit. New York City re-affirms to me the bravado of the New York state of mind and it’s civic pride even though the Yankees lost. Always thankful for the time I have spent in that city and the lessons that I have learned there which I carry with me to this day.

Bushwickrios

So I partook in the greenery offered in the cafes along the canals to receive a creative outburst after a torturous bout of self doubt and self questioning (weed hasn’t agreed with me in 10 years). I snuck off to the bathroom to record an infectious melody I couldn’t get out of my head. Thought the drug thing that worked so well for the Beatles had worked it’s magic on me. Nope. Didn’t sleep that night thinking of what a mess I’ve made of myself and when I put on my melody from the night before it was to the tune of “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” with a shitty beatbox… haha, no more smokey for me. Off to Bruges.

Bruges was kind of a mini model of Amsterdam. Medieval town that has been around forever. Based around canals again (see the film “In Bruges” if you want to peep the aesthetics). There was a bar called “Beer Wall” and that spot is sooo much trouble. Belgian beer is number one, all day everyday and I will fight you if say any different. Literally bite your face off and speed bag punch your yarbles. I couldn’t sleep one night, wandered down the road and had an amazing sing along with a Kuba Ohms look -a-like from Casablanca in front of a small Turkish restaurant. The owner gave us free beer to keep playing. We sang drunken songs until the neighbors complained. Beer, chocolate, and beauty – I will be back Bruges, I will be back for all of that.

Nice, France. Nice is ridiculous. One main strip and there were wedding parties in cars going up and down the drag honking and carrying on. Tons of weddings as it was a beautiful Saturday in Nice. Wicked. We paid to hit the private beach and it was worth it. Felt foreign having to pay for a chez lounge and a towel but it was sweet to lay in the blazing sun of the Cote d’Azur in front of the Mediterranean. We took the train through Monaco and made it to Italy for our exercise regiment of the trip as suggested by Craig Northey – amazing advice Craig, thank you.

Cinque Terra Italy is the truth. It’s like a winding horizontal version of the Grouse grind atop paradise. It’s a 10 km hike above the Italian Riviera amongst 5 rustic towns and has yet to be touched by McDonald’s, Starbucks or a strip mall. I believe it’s one of the last places to have five towns without a Wal Mart. Go there. Shit is unreal, wish we would have stayed another night.

Venice. Venice is as beautiful as any picture ever taken of it can attest to. It’s that beautiful person who can’t take one bad photo. Super wasted, puking with hair in the toilet? Still charming with bravado as the porcelain reflects it’s astonishingly encapsulating perfect high cheek bones… but the tourists ruined that spot for me. It’s the hot broad who photos well that just wants your money if she doesn’t know you or you don’t know her. We didn’t really know where to go or what to do to escape the claustrophobia and ended up feeling hustled all over the place. One really good dood from a gelato spot that kind of made it all make sense for me and some pink grapefruit champagne drink with cold fruit cups were also the jump off.

Ibiza Spain. Didn’t go there to party, really just to chill by the beach and catch the R and R. Looked into the clubs and they were 60 Euros to get in plus 15 a pop for drinks. We decided to spend that money on co-ed strippers we ordered up to our room to dance for us and do our laundry instead. Jokes. We did go all inclusive and Evil Kyp did make an appearance. Why must the evil one always try to prove to vendors that unlimited alcohol is a bad move? He literally wants to drink so much that his entire trip feels vindicated through the amount of money he would have paid to drink all of that sauce. It doesn’t work that way Evil Kyp!! Good Kyp played water polo and lit up the competition with 11 goals and 8 assists in a game to 21. There was a pool boy at our hotel who looked like Roberto Luongo so I got him to take a picture with me and we posted it on FaceBook. People nibbled on it hook, line and sinker. Dood loved it and tried to steal my wife from me. He came close until Evil Kyp almost drown in the pool so he had to save my life and forget about Ingrid for a second… Evil Kyp, so smart with the fake drowning move, so smart.

Gay Paris. Paris is the best place ever… EVER. Here’s your map of the city, there are districts that wind around like a snail, ride bikes to your destination, drop them off and pick more bikes at your next destination – WHAT!!?? The best. Awesome way to get initiated into a city by riding around it seeing everything. So much fun. Unreal cuisine, best architecture and everyone we talked to was super helpful. Stayed with our good friends Luke and Lucy which made our trip so much better because they are the two coolest people in France. Literally. Both young fashion designers killing it out there with such wonderful attitudes and outlooks on life. I lived with Luke in NYC and he was in my wedding party so we caught some good jokes and had some good talks. We want Luke and Lucy to adopt us. Our homey Taylor is running a cake shop out there, so you know we needed to sample the wares and I wanted to add to my little pot belly like the chick in Pulp Fiction liked so much. We also had a Royal with Cheese. You can get them in combo’s with 1664. U kidding me? Beer at McD’s!!? Last stop, the motherland, jolly old Londontown.

We stayed with Luke’s sister Colleen who is this funky personal trainer/ physiotherapist running the neighborhood of Shoreditch. They took us to a radical karaoke joint that was a cross from neighborhood old schoolers and the new hipsters on this up and coming trendy little area. EPIC!!! Some priest came in, got wasted and tore the fucker up! Another old dood did Afroman “Because I Got High” and destroyed it as well. I did something Foxxy and something gay. Kanye’s “Gold Digger” and George Michaels “Faith.” So much fun. Did a Bealtes walk, crushed some of the best curry and wished I could have stayed longer. Best honeymoon ever. Back to realty and back to work.

Big up to all of our friends and family who contributed to our vacation. Couldn’t have done it without the generosity. Best experience of our lives, thank you all so much.

- Newlywedrios

If you don’t like to read, I’ll hip you to the goods right away and save you the agony of having to read ANYTHING so you can get back to watching senseless shit on your CPU screens (hockey theme songs perhaps?). Here is “How The West Was One” on Itunes in which we will be donating a portion of our proceeds to Canuck Place and I am working out those details now… http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/how-the-west-was-one-single/id430686754 If you want to personally donate to Canuck Place then here is a link to that… http://www.canuckplace.org/make_a_donation/index.htm

Still with me and want to hear about 15,000 legitimate spins in less than 24 hours? Good, let’s roll. I’ve been under a tireless amount of duress in the past couple of months in regards to my career and personal life (I’m getting married to an extraordinary woman but the politics/finances of planning a wedding are craze). I’m trying to finish music for an amazing musical (Ash Rizin’), finish writing/recording for my own album (The Midnight Sun) and bring a share of respectability into my solo career.

Come good days or bad years, sports is more than an amazing distraction for me whether playing or watching them (or simply smashing suckas in NHL11). I’m a Jets fan, a Knicks fan and a lifetime diehard supporter of my city’s club, the Vancouver Canucks.

I’ve been working closely with my brother KC who is also an avid Canucks fan in trying to finish all of my work. In a desperate attempt to bring some levity to our process, I suggested a Canucks tune with him before he left to Africa for a month. I phoned longtime producer/friend/hero Rob The Viking and our trio was formed. I came up with the line “how the west was one” and the idea of going Spaghetti Western because I knew it’s a genre that KC can murder for days. We tracked at a homeys crib in east van (the hideout) and I brought in my man Malcolm Aiken who plays in my band “The Chaperones” on trumpet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHns8h_5wak KC played guitars, bass, some organ, BG vocals, sang the lead line “this is how the west was one”, Rob sang the chorus slowed down which we pitched up, I wrote all of the lyrics, put on the Western twang vocal which we pitched down and Rob did the drums, engineering, mixing and mastering…

I played with T-Pain in Nanaimo on Wednesday night and I wrote this song hungover on the ferry Thursday. Since I’m always flipping people’s names from the NHL for jokes/wordplay/fun and have always watched the Nucks, the song truly wrote itself. We finished the song on Thursday and Rob had our mix Monday. My longtime friend Itchyron did the graphic and Jim Vanderhorst put my words underneath the song for YouTube… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSxH3lLlUEM

I put up a soundcloud link on my Twitter and FB pages and posted up with my partner PJ Worsfold in the war room to see what this bitch could do online (BAM). As soon as Cabbie (the homey Cabral Richards) retweeted the song to Bob Mackenzie and the Canucks it was a tidal wave that I couldn’t stay in front of. The Canucks posted it on their website, http://fortnucks.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-west-was-one.html, The Peak (my fam fam) played it, Dunner at the Fox played it, Virgin said they’ll play it and with the help of the Canucks faithful we are sitting at 15,000 plays online! We’ll see if it is adopted as an anthem for my beloved Canucks and hopefully Team 1040 will eventually give it a spin.

Longtime legendary Vancouver DJ’s, Jay Swing and Marlon J. English, have told me that they will crush the song pre-game which is a huge honor as a longtime fan of the VanCity Hip Hop scene. Jay’s support has been tremendous.

It’s been overwhelming, for sure there are detractors and haters but I’ve created something original from a good and honest place to share with my home team, so I feel no shame in any criticism of me or my song personally. It was created to relieve stress, not create stress from it.

I’d like to make a video for it proper but I’m leaving for tour with Moka Only (THE GOER’S!!!) on Friday so it may have to wait. Check this site for tour dates to see us on the road and hear – how the west was one…

Thanks to the people that still like to read out there, I know that I do.

Your Captain,

Kyprios

AKA
Clintrios Easton (like the hockey stick)

It’s obviously a play that utilizes hip hop music/culture and it was tremendously informative to have 6 actors that were not from that world. One of the questions that we needed answered was would the material stand up from the page on it’s own or would we need people with a hip hop background to make it work. Our cast had 20 hours and answered that question unequivocally, no. Good actors are brave enough to handle anything. 5 of the actors with zero rap experience all learned one of the songs that I wrote and they performed it live on Saturday for our reading of the play. They killed it and actually got applause from the crowd, I was truly proud of them. Actors are stupid enough to try anything if they trust the work and thank god they were stupid enough to me trust because they killed it!! Stupid vs courageous? Pretty sure it’s confidence, talent and courage but never the less it was exceptional.

The play will be opening next year in the Martha Cohen theatre and I was lucky enough to check it out. Amazing. Thrust stage that has a revolving centre piece to fly in different sets. Since the play is about a graf writer who pieces atop buildings, the height of the stage will also be fully utilized down the road. The acoustics are brilliant as well. It’s weird looking at theatre this way, I studied theatre, did a little bit of it and am truly blessed to have this opportunity. The time consumption can be crucifying but the prospect of this thing is inspirational and I can’t thank the good people from ATP/Greenthumb enough for being so stupid as to trust Northey and I with the keys to the kingdom. Hahaha. I do believe this will be special.

Obviously I lit it up in Calgary after I was off booze for February. Had a great Friday night with Justin Ellington, Northey, Amy, the cast and the good people from the ATP. Flew by and I can’t wait to get back there. Back in Vancouver now with a show 2morrow night (Saturday March 12th) at the Red Room. Get your asses out.

Bernsteinrios

     Ok, so here’s the song first if you don’t give a shit about the story…

http://bit.ly/gUD071

     Here’s the story if you don’t give a shit about the song right now (cause you should still help the kid out).  I’ve loved the song “Sweet City Woman” since I first heard it as a wee kypper in underoo’s and a batman cape.  I had the fortune of meeting the Stampeders at the WCMA’s in Calgary several years ago and watched them get honored there.  Rich Dodson wrote the original tune and has been of tremendous help in the last couple of months.  That song never left my subconscious, so 3 years ago I decided to flip the beat and had Rob The Viking help me.  I bought the CD, brought it to Rob (he already owned the record),  he sped up the song and we layered drums underneath the track which he filtered to create different segments of our song.   We listened to “Itsoweezee” from De La Soul’s album Stakes Is High and thought that a bridge like theirs would be cool.  We chopped that record up quick and I wrote to the beat as soon as I got home.  I recorded it with Doug Naugler shortly thereafter. The initial idea was to never release it commercially and just have something new and fun to perform live.

 Here’s a performance from 09 in Moscow, Idaho…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaiseWZ9grA

    All is good, song is fun live, people seem to like it but there was no way that I could afford clearing the sample and didn’t really know how.  No problem.  I enter into the Peak Performance Project where a Canadian cover is a mandatory part of the competition and I think why not?  Here’s one example of many that illustrate how fate and serendipity conspired to help me in that competition…

   I showed the band my version and they dug it.  I came up with a light hearted homage to Canadian songs at my showcase, where I pretended to dig through records until I found the perfect match and would eventually settle in to my version of “Sweet City Woman” for my cover (now known as “City Woman” for copyright reasons).  Good response to my version and the beautiful people at the Peak were quite complimentary.  Great.  No problem.  

    Serendipity and fate weren’t nearly finished with me but I’ll share one other instance of their collective efforts.  We were supposed to do a “grassroots campaign” for the Peak and I decided to bring it back to the days of demonstration, but kypper styles.

http://www.kyprios.com/videos/

 We would “demonstrate” until the Peak relinquished and played my new song “Sweet City Woman” (that Tamara Stanners, Carmen Cruz and Laurie Logan said they loved at the showcase).  Cool, the song gets played via demonstration, challenge complete.  No problem.  James Sutton the music director hears the song, likes it and now…  We’ve got a problem
 
     Problem was clearing a huge sample from a well known Canadian group that achieved international success with this song.  I would need to get a Master Recording Sample License (for lifting the sample from the recording) and a Composition Sample License (from the publishers of the song).  My lawyer, Patrick Aldous, reached the publisher and quickly worked something out there…cool, Goulet. Then he tried for months to contact the owners of the original Master and then we hit the wall (the ownership of the original Master had changed hands a number of times since it was originally released). Patrick did yeoman’s work but we needed a big burly saviour with a beard to take us home.
 
     The fabulous Saints fan Shawn Cole stepped in to put this bitch to bed for me.  Patrick had suggested re-recording the song as an alternative solution to sampling the original recording and that was sound advice.  We decided to re-track everything, removing the sample and alleviating the need to obtain a license for the use of the original Master.  We kept Rob The Viking’s drums, brought in Ian Lamont to play banjitar, used lead vocals sung by Ryan Dahle and Shaun Verreault, had my brother Kevin play lead guitar, bass, and sing BG’s and Shawn Cole implemented the rest of the percussion.  Shawn then mixed the new version amazingly and Joao Carval killed the mastering of it.  The song needed to be identified as something other than “Sweet City Woman” and “City Woman” was born.  I hope you like it, because I did it for you.
 
Here she is…
 
 

http://bit.ly/gUD071

City Womanrios

the midnight sun

the midnight sun

http://kypriosandtheydcallstars.bandcamp.com/

All funds will go to the charity PLEA to help at risk youth. This was just an amazingly focussed outpouring of creativity by these kids and I’m tremendously proud of what they achieved in such a limited amount of time. Imagine what they are capable of with even more help…

BreakOut West was an absolute blink of an eye and I wish I had more time to bask in the festivities. The brief time I had was potent and highlighted by jamming with Kuba, Siggy (Ben Sigston with an unreal freestyle!), Nathan (hilarious freestyle), Jillian, Adaline, Bodhi, and Lochlan, Thom Kolb and “The Jackhammer.” I had to drive back to Vancouver after the show and didn’t make it home until 7 am so that I could get ready for my show on Friday at The Vogue opening for Big Boi of Outkast. Well worth the pain as I nearly passed out from exhaustion post show, but managed to watch an absolute legend tear through a power house set. Pretty torturous to see the Twitter feeds of the BreakOut West shenanigans and not be a part of the fun. Couldn’t even have a drink after the showcase which was just offensive!
I decided to finish my set at BreakOut West with a spoken word piece called “Hate” that I wrote 10 years ago while living in NYC. The basic principle of the piece is a personification of racism and hatred with a quotient of love to overpower the negative emotion. I haven’t done the piece in 5 years except for a drunken effort in Jasper by a very pushy friend, due to the nature of language and emotion the poem conjures. The week leading up to BOW was difficult for me on many levels – at the forefront was my mother being assaulted by a homeless person near her work in Vancouver. I saw the man and my gut reaction was to inflict pain. The police had him and I was honestly thinking about this competition when the fury was running through me. Some time has elapsed, I now feel that the man is in desperate need of help and that the store housing the parking lot where this happened in mid day should claim some responsibility. The exercise of performing “Hate” was cathartic and I’m happy to have exorcised the internal beasts plaguing my well being by getting a little closer to my roots in spoken word. Good finishing note for me to hear Johnny sing “All You Need Is Love” to comfort a angered soul.
In the end, this has been great, the curtains have been opened on a future brightened by an amazing experience. From day one with Tom Jackson on the first beautiful day of the year to bootcamp to the Red Room performance to BreakOut West, it’s all been a pleasure. Maybe I’ll get a Peak tattoo on my chest too Matty… Hahahahaha, nah too much fur on me ole nips.

Love,

kyprios (the midnight sun)