Madchild was recently interviewed by the Vancouver Weekly. In this interview Madchild discusses Swollen Members new album, relaunching Battleaxe Records, Moving to LA, his Solo Career and more.

You can read the full interview below.

From Vancouverweekly.com:

Vancouver Weekly caught up with Madchild recently to get the scoop on the new record and his reinvigorated state of mind.

Vancouver Weekly: Swollen Members’ new record, Brand New Day, is set to come out some time in the next couple months. What can we expect from this release?

Madchild: A lot of artists count on having a bunch of featured rappers on their albums. We sort of went the other way with this record. Not that we don’t like making music with our friends and other rappers we admire, which we’ve done in the past, but we decided it was a statement on its own to not feature anyone on this record. It stands strong on its own. I think that’s saying something about how confident we are with the album. For long-time loyal fans that loved our classic albums like Balance, Bad Dreams, and Black Magic, this is going to be right up their alley. It’s very much our classic signature sound. There are no curveballs. No experimentation. It’s just real, underground, experienced hip-hop.

VW: You guys are one of Canada’s most successful hip-hop groups of all time, yet at the same time you come with an underground sound. What does “underground” mean to you?

M: “Underground” to me means real art, first of all. True art. Not being concerned with what’s popular. Not being concerned with whether or not the music will translate to a mass, mainstream audience. Not necessarily being anti-successful, because you can be successful and be underground, but definitely anti-pop culture, mainstream, fabricating, or emulating sounds that are popular for financial business success. I think it just comes down to being real true artists. “Underground” has, over the last twenty years, gone in different directions as far as what people’s interpretations of it are, but I am an original underground rap artist. I come from the backpack era. We were one of the original true rap/hip-hop groups, period. So I still feel strongly about the statement that it basically means reaching from within, creating your own art, your own self-expression, being true to the actual culture of hip-hop, where we come from, and not trying to be something you’re not. Just making music for yourself, and hopefully the fans will appreciate it afterwards.

VW: So when you guys went back into the studio to record the new album, did you have some sort of overall vision, or was it something that developed in bits and pieces?

M: We just basically sat down and said, “Let’s just do us.” We don’t usually pre-plan things. We find it’s best to just come together as a triangle and say, “Let’s just be us and do what we do best.” I think we make the best music when we don’t put too much thought into it.

VW: What most often drives your creative process: the way words sound and fit together or an idea or central message that you’re trying to express?

M: It’s a combination of both. We’ve always sort of been poets. I call it “Abstract Expressionism.” That, to me, is our original style. There’s meaning in every line that we say, but you might have to decipher it and read between the lines. I kind of snatch words out of the air, especially from movies, whereas Prevail’s big with reading and know[ing] a bunch of big words that I don’t even know the meaning of. He’s a walking encyclopedia/dictionary/thesaurus, and I’m a big movie buff. I probably could do a little more straightforward rapping where it’s one particular thing from the beginning to the end of that song or verse, and I get a message across. I’m trying to do that a little bit more. The only reason I haven’t up until this point is that I find it extremely easy. It’s never been a challenge to me. To me, lyrical complexity – where I put words and where I don’t, how I pronounce words, and the strength of an individual word or a phrase – those are the things that have gotten my fire going. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t good and that I shouldn’t be as well-rounded as possible.

VW: Swollen’s coming up on its 15 year anniversary. What are some of the things that have allowed you to stay together as a group for that long?

M: Allowing each other to have our own social lives. We don’t hang out on a personal level anymore. Respecting each other, knowing how to be with each other. If we feel that someone is tense or something, we don’t sit there and poke at him. We walk away. It’s this whole family bond that’s tough for anybody else that’s not in a group that long to understand. And it takes work, just like any other relationship. The best thing is space. Always complimenting each other’s work. Still being there as real true friends, but we’re not going to hang out five nights a week and then go on tour. It’s just not going to work.

VW: Now that Brand New Day is set for release, are you working on any other projects?

M: Yes, I’ve got a lot of things on the go. We’re reopening Battleaxe Records this year. After the Swollen album, I’ll be releasing my third solo album. It’s going to be called Super Beast. I’m signing a solo deal with a major label, for Canada only, and we just got a distribution deal in America that we’re signing off on as well. I’m kind of stepping back up and becoming a business man again, now that I’m healed from my trials and tribulations. I’m the person that I was again, and I’m confident about it. Lots of touring, of course. I’ll probably do 200 shows this year myself, between my solo stuff and Swollen. We also have the Battleaxe Warriors movement, which is a positive movement and a family for all of our fans to join (battleaxewarriors.com). Just touring, videos, in the studio. I was in the studio the last four nights working on my solo album. Just work. I love it. Last night I took a night off and took my little dog, a Chihuahua, Lola, to the movies. We went to the movies.

VW: You snuck her in?

M: Yep, I sneak her into the movies. That’s my life. I try to exercise about four or five days a week for a half-an-hour, eat a little healthier, stay single, thank God, live life. And that’s it.

VW: On the topic of Battleaxe Records’ reincarnation, you have this one lyric on Dope Sick: “These days you don’t need a label, just a laptop.” Now that Battleaxe is back up and running, what are some pros and cons of running a label these days?

M: I think being in control, owning the actual masters. We own the first half of our catalogue, but the second half of our catalogue is not owned by us, because we did a record deal with Subnoize. To me, it’s really important to own the masters. Being in control of our own destiny, having full creative control. Whatever we put into it, we’re going to get out of it.

When I started Battleaxe, I had a really great vision for the sound and look that I wanted it to have. But then we had so much success with the group, and I was on tour all the time. So I had to put it in other people’s hands, and it definitely turned into something else. No disrespect to the people who were running my label, because they worked hard, but they weren’t me. They weren’t in my head. And I was not paying close enough attention because I was drinking twenty Heinekens, playing in front of 20,000 people a night, being a rock star. Remember, back then you didn’t have the iPhones to just say yes to everything and check everything. It’s different now. Even if I’m on the road doing 200 shows a year, I can stay on top of what’s going on creatively and pay attention to detail.

This time around it’s very important to me that I finish my legacy, so that when I look back on my life’s body of work, I’m confident it ended on a strong note. I want the saying for Battleaxe Records to be: “Where Legends Live.” I don’t look at it as I’m getting older. I look at it as I’m getting better, because I am. I really am getting better. And that’s in every dynamic of life.

VW: Where will Battleaxe be based?

M: It’s going to be based out of Los Angeles, but eventually we’ll have an office in Vancouver. I’m actually moving to LA in a month, but then as things go better I’m going to have a second place here again. So I’ll come back and forth. This will always be home.

VW: What’s it like being based (at least historically) out of a city that has a smaller hip-hop scene than cities like LA or New York?

M: That’s why I’m moving to LA – because I am the scene [in Vancouver]. I don’t mean to brag. I’m the scene. I mean, yes, there are talented young guys doing their thing, like Snak the Ripper or SonReal, and that’s great. But they’re not at a point where I can look at what they’re doing and push myself to be better. If I’m going to be the hometown hero – and I’m not saying I am, although of course I’d like to be – I don’t want this to be it. There has to be more. I have to achieve greatness if I’m going to take on that role and that responsibility. So I feel that Los Angeles makes the most sense for me to be. It’s where my partners are. It’s where my lifelong good friends are who are very successful in the type of music I appreciate and do myself. It just makes the most sense.

VW: What was the BC hip hop scene like back in the day when you guys were coming up?

M: It was young. It was fun. It was real. There’s not a lot of corniness here. The kids that were into it were really into it. We’ve created some incredible graffiti artists, some incredible B-Boys, some incredible DJs, incredible MCs. Just unfortunately not enough to have planted our flag yet. And I know there are kids out there who might read this and be like, “What? We rule!” But sorry, I’m just being honest. We need more success from here. It’s just what it is. Can it happen? Absolutely. Will it happen? I sure hope so. And I’m going to do my part.

Websites:

• battleaxewarriors.com