Faygoluvers: Over the course of OPM’s history what has been your most memorable moments? (Good and/or Bad?)

Necro: I suppose hearing our music on the radio is one I’ll never forget. We were rehearsing in a Seaweed factory near my sister’s house in Santa Cruz. We were all meeting up outside and I had the radio on in my car. They started bumping our shit and we all freaked out.

Faygoluvers: In the beginning, what was life like shortly after the success of ‘Heaven is a Halfpipe’?

Necro: We just got caught up in a storm that swept us all around the world. It’s all been kind of blur since then. Once it’s all over I plan to move to Hawaii and recollect.

Faygoluvers: Once Sub. Noize offered you guys a deal did you feel like your Creativity could take a turn for the better than being on Atlantic?

Necro: Absolutely, but really it’s taken until now for it to really pay off for us on a creative level. It’s hard for people outside to really understand the process and what your question really means. Of course on Atlantic we didn’t have “full creative” control, but that was because we were working with so many other people. But we were working with the best people in the business and those people charge a ton of money. I personally had no experience recording before that so I was loving the process of working with these top guys. Constantly picking their brains for knowledge. When we signed with sub noize we had to figure out how to do records completely on our own. We had some help on “ForThemAsses” but “California Poppy” we did completely on our own. It has been a long learning process. For this record we gave up some of that creative control and got together with J&A productions to produce for us so that we could all focus on our specific talents and do what we do best. It was easier to give up that control now because we have so much more confidence in what the final product will be.

Faygoluvers: With the release of your sophomore album, “ForThemAsses”, what was it like with having Big B as a fixture in the group? Also how was it working with Eek a Mouse and Yellowman?

Necro: It was great working with B. He is so much fun to be around especially in a creative environment. We toured with him quite a bit then. When we got back we helped him make his first record, which he ultimately went on to tour and support. In the mean time we would cut Ca Poppy. We had always intended for him to come back and do more tracks with OPM on this new record. We hope that in the next year we will be able to get back on the road together again.

Eek is crazy. We were working in Michael Beinhorn’s studio in Venice and he came threw and layed it down on Perfect day. It was sick.

We never actually got to meet Yellowman. We sent him the sessions to Jamaica and he sent them back with vocals on it.

Faygoluvers: Why has OPM undergone a few changes over the years, concerning band mates and what-not?

Matt: Basically shit happens you know? Being in a band is hard work, especially for independent bands like us, some people realize how hard it is and bail. Some can’t hang musically, what are you gonna do? You have to move on and keep working.

Faygoluvers: Your guys’ sound is your own. A So-Cal style captured by few groups in today’s music scene. How do you feel knowing that you guys do what you do and it’s done better than most?

Matt: OPM definitely has it’s own sound, the new record “Golden State of Mind” is evidence of that. We combined a live band with beats, loops, and dancehall rhythms, used elements of punk, reggae, rock, and hip-hop to create something that feels classic yet brand new at the same time. We think it’s our best record yet.

Faygoluvers: What is it that pushes you guys to break the mold and want to keep making more underground sounds?

Matt: It’s way more fun to try something new and see what happens. We like so many types of music how can we pick just one? That would be like smoking the same strain everyday. Really we have never fit in to any mold, OPM has always been the black sheep.

Faygoluvers: I’m sure you have heard this a lot, but I’ve got to ask, what’s it like being apart of the Suburban Noize Family of subnoize rats?

Matt: I’ve been a part of Sub Noize/SRH for so long I don’t know anything else! I was first signed to the label in 2002 with Mix Mob, after a couple years with Zinger as our manager. I can’t believe how much it’s grown since then. It’s cool to have so many different types of artists within the same family; everyone collaborates and influences each other at the same time. OPM is proud to be at the front of movement to help take Suburban Noize to the international level.

Faygoluvers: With the upcoming release of “Golden State of Mind” which direction are you looking to take OPM’s sound to?

Matt: This album really refines the OPM sound, bringing all the influences together into each song instead of having 12 songs that have totally different styles. At the same time, we raised the bar on production and songwriting and basically took the rulebook and threw it out the window.

Faygoluvers: Will there be a tour in support of this album after it drops?

Matt: Definitely there will be a lot of touring to support this record, first we begin a fall tour with The Expendables and Rebelution, two months across the US. After that comes UK, Europe, Japan, Hawaii, and maybe even Australia. The best way to keep up to date with where OPM is in the world is to join the street team at opmden.com or check out myspace or facebook.

Faygoluvers: Off of “GSOM” can we expect there to be Big B backing it up on the vocals like he has in the past?

Matt: Almost half the songs feature Big B on this album.

Faygoluvers: Who all from the Sub.Noize line-up is featured on the album?

Matt: Sen Dog, Richter drops a verse on “Dub Op” and Dirtball gets 16 bars as well on “Like That”, even DJ Product from HedPE gets some cuts in on some shit. As well as guest appearances from Pato Banton, Jim from Dumbluck and Jamie Allensworth.

Faygoluvers: Over the years and the level of success you’ve achieved how do you guys manage to remain humble?

Matt: We just stay on the grind and work as hard as we can to bring OPM to the people across the globe. We are all just regular guys who happen to love playing music and meeting people who appreciate what we do.

Faygoluvers: Who is the most influential artist you guys have worked with?

Matt: Probably Pato Banton, he is one of the biggest reggae superstars ever and he has a Grammy!

Faygoluvers: If given the chance who would you guys want to work with (alive/dead) to put the bombest album together to leak to the streets?

Matt: I would want Joe Strummer, Bob Marley, and 2pac. Maybe Dr. Dre would produce the project and Dimebag Darrell could drop a solo or two!

Necro: I would love to do a record with Cee-Lo Green and Danger Mouse. But instead it would be called Gnarlos Boozer.

Interviewer: Whipstick

Interview Date:09/06/08

Websites:

• OPM @ Myspace