Marisa Williams from Examiner.com recently had the chance to interview the demented duo, Twiztid. In this interview Madrox and Mono discussed a plethora of topics including The Darkness, meeting ICP, future plans, collections, and much more. You can read the full interview below.

From Examiner.com:

With a new album, The Darkness, which debuted at #29 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and #3 on the Rap Chart, new custom shoes available for purchase, and a new movie in the works, Twiztid has been busy in Detroit. Their music videos feature famous horror movie stars, and this horrorcore duo will be at the Days of the Dead “Culture Shock” convention in Indianapolis on February 28th. Of course, not to be missed is their 3rd Annual 420 show at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac, MI, on April 20th, which will feature a slew of surprises.

Author Marisa Williams: How did you first get started in music? Did you come from a musical family?
Paul Methric, aka Monoxide, of Twiztid: Musical family, I think yeah, nothing major, but guitar players, drummers, bass players and a general love of music. I was not influenced by it. I never paid attention to, because of the type of music they played, I had no interest. I had a hate of rock and country, because the way I grew up. It didn’t relate to me as a person. My parents would blaze it loud through the neighborhood. I hated Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and I got into fights because of them, but that’s where Jamie comes in. Jamie (Spaniolo, a.k.a. Madrox) was the complete opposite. He loved it. It was his life, had the t-shirts, cassettes, and through our friendship, he’d keep me up-to-date in rock world. I let my guard down. Parliament Funkadelic and Rick James is more of where I came from. I do have a cousin in a band. He’s on TV and whatnot in a band called The Muggs. He’s like a guitar prodigy, and he looks like he’s still in the 70’s. He was my super close cousin back in the day, so it’s awesome to see him doing what he loves. He looks like old school Eric Clapton, and he has a genuine love of music. The rest of my family is awesome in a whole ‘nother way, but not musically.

Marisa: So far, what has been the most influential moment of your life?
Twiztid: I’m in fl…
Marisa: I’m sorry. Did you just say you were in Florence? Like Italy?
Twiztid: No, no, influenced… I was influenced by an ending. There was an end. I was influenced by that, thinking I would not be alive by the end, thinking this was as good as it gets. There was no moment where it was like look what they’re doing; I want to do that. It was more like if I don’t do something, I’ll be dead or in prison. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a musician, didn’t dream of being a rapper. This was a last ditch effort, either it works or the world is going to know my name for a whole ‘nother reason. I still draw influence from that. I’m afraid of the end in all shapes, forms and sizes. I have an immense respect for an ending. Who knows? It could all end in Florence. Who knows? I’m not there yet.

Marisa: They say that you hail from Detroit, but nowadays that can be a vague term, so for those of us who are from Michigan, whereabouts more specifically?
Twiztid: From the East Side of Detroit, like 7 Mile and Gratiot, two blocks off of 7 Mile. Jamie grew up two blocks from me. I lived there 27 years, but you know when it’s time to leave and when we got that call, we left. Now, I live about 10 minutes outside of the city. Where did you say you were from?
Marisa: Oh, I’m further south.
Twiztid: You’re from the South Side?

Marisa: Yeah, the way south side. South like by the Ohio border almost, right on Lake Erie. I grew up in Monroe, which was like cow country growing up… Getting back to the music though, many people remember you from touring with the Insane Clown Posse during their Great Milenko tour. Can you describe how you first got involved with ICP and how the relationship has evolved over the years?
Twiztid: We actually met ICP when House of Freaks dropped. It was me, Jamie and ROC. Psychopathic Records had interest in ROC, and they brought him out to shows. He said that he’d bring us out with him, and we did shows like that. We met them, thought they were cool, funny, and we went on tour with them. We left tour, because there was not a good situation, but they continued the tour. After the tour, they hit us up, we hung out, played them two songs we recorded, signed on dotted line with the record label. We got signed because of the people we were, not the talent. It’s more personable. It’s not always about you as a rapper, but you as a person. You coulda been the most talented person in the world, but if you’re not liked, it didn’t matter. If not that talented but were cool, they would guide you. It took a minute to play that game, but we learned it, and it is what it is, but through the label like that, we were always together. A friendship and respect was built, and we still rest on that today.

Marisa: When I listened to your latest release, The Darkness, I saw the song Boogeyman and was curious if it was a throwback to ICP’s song, but it was clearly an original creation. I love the introduction to that song, by the way, as it goes from so innocent to so dark. Is that something you like to do as a band, twist innocent concepts into darker ones?
Twiztid: Innocence is built on darkness. Everything is built on darkness. It’s in every emotion, in everything we do. Is it the most present in everyone? Maybe not, but it’s there. You look at a song title and think one thing, but if it’s what you thought of, we didn’t do our job. Not everything is cut and dry. That’s like speaking in the fifth person. Nothing is what it seems to be. When people can expect something, you’re losing the creativity battle. People can expect whatever, but if we can shatter that illusion, we’ve done it. Rap is a small part, but every piece of it, we take extreme caution and care into it.

Marisa: With your music highlighting some of the darker things in life, how do you find your inspiration?
Twiztid: Just like you said, life is stuff we’ve grown up through, things we’ve seen, things we are going through as a whole. If go into social media, these kids pour their hearts out, and we try to keep it related to that. Ninety five percent of the time, we are all going through the same shit. Even Jay-Z, he’s still talking about things we experience, just different levels. We try to touch on every level, not just a perpetual dark. People may find humor in it, the idiocies of it and being angry. We try to be that release, so you can live your life and not make an immense mistake. Hopefully, that’s what we’re doing.

Marisa: Are you into haunted places at all?
Twiztid: Yes and no. Yes, it’s cool to read about it, but I’m not trying to find no ghost, that story never ends well. I’ll live life vicariously through the people who do that. Knowing that it exists, immensely into it, but I’m not trying to fuck with no ghost. Nobody is ever like like, “we got haunted, the ghost brought me money and chicken, and then we had sex.” It’s more like, “we found a ghost; the fucker’s trying to kill me. I gotta get him out!” If they start talking about the happy endings, I’ll seek it out, but until then I’m good. I’m not looking to get possessed. I love the paranormal though. Also, I have a weird fascination with things that cannot be proven either way like religions, politics, and ghosts. You cant’s tell me that it is, but can’t tell me that it ain’t.

Marisa: How did you get involved with the Playstation video game Backyard Wrestling, and do you find yourself playing your character in the game in your spare time?
Twiztid: The wrestling thing, me and Jamie like wrestling, but right about 9th grade, I kinda got out of it. When we came into their family, they were into it. Like they were backstage at WWE, hanging out with Stone Cold, things like that, big shit. When it came time to video games, I’m a big gamer, so they put me on it. I don’t play it though. I got them all sealed still. I’m weird like that. We’re unlockable characters. Stuff like that never woulda happened if wasn’t for them, so we continue to have undying respect for them. They know this is the seed they planted. It’s like watching the seed they planted just keep growing and growing into the biggest in the neighborhood.

Marisa: At the 420 show, since Michigan is now a medical state, is there going to be a smoking area for people with a medical card, or do you have any interesting sponsors with that show?
Twiztid: I don’t want to blow the sponsors up yet, but it is fucking amazing. Our marijuana here is as good as you can get anywhere. We have strains now. It’s come so far in Michigan. I will put our pot up against anyone’s now. We get it up. This is the third one. They got the designated areas, and we’re gunna get fucked up. Hopefully, our rolling papers are out by then. Got any flower blankets?

Marisa: High Times hosted an exclusive first listen of The Darkness. How did that come about?
Twiztid: Because, we’re always trying to get in them, want to be with them, us and them, synonymous. Switch it, but though we kinda got away from pot aspect of it, got away from putting it in the music, but we’re still smokers. Let everybody know that we’re still here, nothing has changed on our end. We’re still down with High Times and Revolver. All those who have fallen by wayside on record, it’s now rekindled. Everyone wants to be a part of it. It’s not the same old thing. It’s the usual attention put on our genre of music; 95 % of the time, it’s painted in a crappy fashion. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but we’re watching that number change. We’re watching media give it a second look. Some were not sure if we’re not with ICP anymore, but these guys been here 20 years, that’s impressive. We’re still touring, try to do a good interview, very humble. People are starting to see that, because we’re not a couple pieces of shit. We have a focus, we have a goal, and it’s almost becoming undeniable. If you deny it, you’re close minded, and if that’s how you want to be, who are we to judge? More people are giving us a shot. These are the guys? I don’t know, kinda want to see for myself, listen to the music, and most of the time, it’s not what they expect. They thought would be shittier. Kinda going around and accepting everyone’s second chance. Twiztid is big, bigger than me and Jamie. We are a miniscule amount of what it really is, and if you spend a day with us, you’ll find out.

Marisa: You’ve shocked fans throughout the years, and been generous enough to hand out free mixtape releases, but with your Family of fans, have you ever been shocked by them, and if so, how?
Twiztid: They shock us daily. They are the most talented and genius motherfuckers you ever met in your life. You’ve never seen people do more with less than the Fam. They get such a bad rap from parents, teachers, and people who are supposed to be positive influences, so we shine a light on it as much as possible. The drawings of us that they drew that are beyond belief. They make their own clothes and jewelry, ingenious. It makes us proud. See? This is what the world is missing out on. People are missing out on the wrong aspect of what these kids are all about. They’re no different from everyone else. You disrespect them or treat them unjust, they will handle it, just like everyone else. Go to a Marilyn Manson concert and talk to them bad, then that’s your problem. Try to corral them and treat them like shit, and you will have a nightmare on your hand. Sure, they paint their faces and sing songs in line, but it’s not different. People say I don’t know what the hub bub was about. People have fun; people are cool. You set the tone Mr. Security Guard, Mr. Police Officer; if you’re not cool, then deal with it. They’re already disrespected by their parents and coworkers. Demand them to pay $30 to escape that, only to have someone else put that on them, and it can be your worst nightmare if not handled correctly.

Marisa: At The Days of the Dead Indianapolis Culture Shock convention, you will be joined by Malcolm McDowell, Roddy Piper and George Romero, amongst others. How did you come to be involved in that, and what started your love of horror?
Twiztid: Horror is what we are. That’s something that we’ve grown up. Since 7 or 8, all we watched was horror movies. When it became time to do the music thing, our concepts are real everyday life. People consider it gangsta rap. We’ve done it all, seen it all, and been through some things. We went through our love, something we’re passionate about. Gangsta stuff, we don’t love it. We’ve just been through it and can talk about it, but talking about horror, we love that. There’s, passion there. It felt new, different, felt natural, like this is it. This is what we are. Always wanted to cross over into horror movies. From inception, we always wanted to be a band associated with horror movies. We wanted people to think of us. On Psychopathic, some of those doors were closed, but now they are open. I’m so glad they’re there. Everybody at convention, they all come by, say hey. There’s a genuine love, and we’re accepted. At wrestling matches, half were cool with it, but the other half was not down with it. It’s different for us. People are saying, “holy shit, where have you guys been? Who the fuck are these guys?” Everyone found out really quickly. We’re always guna be there. We’re there. These are people we watched growing up. We had the guy from Friday the 13th at our video shoot. That’s a whole different level for us. We were flabbergasted, sitting back with wicked boners. We’re drinking it in, just me and him. We surrounded ourselves with the best of the best. Our management, our street team, we went through and picked everyone from different labels. Our goal is to be the biggest independent label in the world. We’ve seen labels open up and fall apart. Majik Ninja is about the feeling. Thank you to everyone who disbanded and fell off. We were just going to do Twiztid, but it’s bigger than Twiztid. Let’s make a mark. Let’s do it. We procured distribution, a warehouse, studio, and now we’re a machine. “And you will feel us like a gust of a thousand witches.” I quote that show whenever I can. They did a juggalo episode, and did it well. Some people don’t get it, see it as pop culture. Always Sunny, they get it. Good job. Sure as shit, they did it.

Marisa: What scares you in real life?
Twiztid: All kinds of stuff. Birds, flying, aluminum foil, small pieces of colored plastics, untied shoes; that shit is terrifying for me. Maybe not for others, but nothing is no more terrifying than ending. I hate birds. They look at you like I’m gunna peck your eyeballs out of your skull. If you took a bird and made a coat with aluminum foil and small buttons, I’d have a heart attack. Small buttons talk, if only to me.

Marisa: When you’re performing and sweating, do you ever have makeup issues?
Twiztid: No, a lot of makeup is oil based, so water falls right off. When it’s on your shirt, even if you get it off, it leaves an oil residue; once it’s on there, it’s trashed. You’ll see me wear a t-shirt. I will order a bunch of blank t-shirts and let it fuck that shit up. Same way I put my glass and china up, I put up the good shit. Don’t want oil stains.

Marisa: What’s your biggest musical fantasy?
Twiztid: I would have to say a song with Tupac, studio session. He’s there, we’re there, Tupac with Dimebag Darrel shredding to get the rap rock, but wig flipper, bring in Frank Sinatra to do the chorus. People would be like hold on. You got Tupac, Dimebag and Sinatra in that? I gotta hear it. It would be good. We actually met with the guy who did the Easy E and Tupac holograms. With that guy, we would have some shit planned. Fucking crazy.

Marisa: I have three random questions that I ask everyone. First, if you were a unicorn, and you could be any color buy white, what color would you be, and would you have any special powers?
Twiztid: I would be green, and I would be able to come invisible. Unicorns can fly. Crust out the horn in black diamond, but then he’s green – and can be invisible whenever I want – and also fly. What’s weird is that I subconsciously knew you were going to say unicorn. It didn’t even throw me. I was in your mind.

Marisa: If you were a yogurt, what flavor would you be (keep in mind this does not have to be a traditional flavor), and how would you be served?
Twiztid: I would be blood flavored, served out of the mouth of a severed woman’s head, more like a Chobani, like a Greek, but you’re really going to taste that iron. It’s like vitayogurt, vitagurt. We just got that. Me and you. First launch is blood flavor. Throw some B12, maybe C, but for most part, the first launch is blood. The seniors and blue birds will be having it for breakfast, as we want to make sure the seniors get their vitamins. I want everybody to feel a part of it, not just me and you. We will get the check, but they will feel our love in their hearts. That’s how it happens. If we were out in LA, they’d already be drawing up our prototypes, but I’m in Florence, so…

Marisa: Would you ever consider doing what a lot of the carnies I know do and homeschool your kids?
Twiztid: I have kids, but no homeschool. They need to integrate with other human beings like we had to. Play the political game that is school, learn it, because as it plays out in life, you will use the experience more than any science class. Will you ever have to tell someone what x plus y equals? Probably not. But you need to know the difference between rich people and people without money, black people and white people. I thought about home schooling, like if I had a little bastard attacking other kids, then maybe I’d home school, but they need to experience people in all shapes and forms. Where we grew up, it was all black. Of about 3000 people, 5 were white. I got a different experience out of school for the first 25 years of my life. I’ve seen both sides, so it exists in all forms of people. Not just white people are racists. I saw police brutality for being white and for being black. People think you’re a crackhead, because you’re white. But if you’re black and go across 8 Mile, you get same thing. I’m not depriving my kids of that. See what it’s like. There’s different kinds of anger. There’s different ways to prepare you, so you know what’s going on, and not just sitting with your thumb up your ass.

Marisa: Describe yourself as either a dog, a cat or a cartoon.
Twiztid: I think I’m more like a dog. I’m extremely loyal if you’re good to me, but if not, you will feel that bite. I’m a survivor. I’m a loner if I need to be. Dogs do that, they adapt. I’m cartoony, because I’m hung like a whale, but no I’d say a dog, without out a doubt. I have a little intimidation to me. I see videos of me, and I’d think I wouldn’t let that guy into my house. We’d be doing that interview on the porch, nope. Never judge a book by its cover. First impressions are not everything, but they are a lot of it. America was built on second chances. Shorty, you’re killing kids, molesting kids, whatever unfathomable thing, people are people, give ‘em a brake. Way I see it, I pay for food, eat it and shit it out; it doesn’t linger in my body. Nothing gets to live in my body unless it’s paying me. Fuck everybody type thing, it’s better that way.

Marisa: Do you collect anything?
Twiztid: I collect Funko Pop figures. They have figures that they make with different series like True Blood or Sons of Anarchy. They make it fun. They give different versions, make it hard to find, so that makes it rewarding at the end of the day. Jamie likes Mego superheroes. I have a stupid shoe collection. Shoes are hard to collect, because I always want to wear them. I collect Walking Dead stuff, have a crazy collection of it, insane. I collect souls. I’m a real couponer, so I really like to double up. I’m a Kroger fanatic; one of my favorite things to do is grocery shop. Always had off brand shit, never had good shit. Now that the ball is in my court, I dribble down those aisles like a master of menagerie. I’m tired of off brand cornflakes, but I love grocery shopping. It’s just, oh my God, I love to cook, and I love to eat. I eat like a fat kid, but I play a bunch of sports each week. Jamie wants to kick me in the balls for that. He had the same opportunities to play sports, but he didn’t. My biggest was 270. Now I’m 190. Just stop smoking cigarettes and destress. Break up with the girl you’re with. I went from 180 to 260 in a wintertime, and it looked funny, because I have a really small head to begin with, so I was like the shrunken head thing in Beetlejuice. My voice sounded like I was perpetually on helium; I didn’t like it.

Marisa: What are some of your favorite places, and is there anywhere you have not been to that you would like to go to?
Twiztid: Believe it or not, I’ve never been to Miami. We’ve been to every state but Alaska, never been to Miami – never for a day off or a pass through. My favorite place was Amsterdam. That was insane; everything you heard about, that was it. Few things in life are exactly what you heard: Amsterdam, jail and sex. Those three things are pretty much like what you heard. I was there 15 years ago, when it was not so Americanized, not the anomaly it is now. It was pot driven. To this day, they had the best weed, super skunk number 5. I will never forget the smell or experience. Red light district was not my thing, but some of the guys were like hell yea. There was a different ballgame. A block in front of you was McDonald. I went into a mushroom club. I didn’t know. They had 200 types of mushrooms. It was the first time I saw Purple Haze. We were not even Twiztid, just Jamie and Paul. Now if I went back, who knows how it’d be. Nothing else like that, even with places that are legal. The street dealers there are just peddling coke and heroin, no weed, because it’s everywhere.

Marisa: What are three things that you must have with you when you are on the road?
Twiztid: My cell phone, my weed and my ID, my wallet. As long as I have those three things, I can make anything happen with those three things; I don’t have to compromise myself for anything. I’m a simple man. As long as I have a nice buzz and my wallet on me, I’m good. With my cell, I can watch Netflix, so I’m pretty much good.

Marisa: What other things should people be keeping an eye out for from you in the future?
Twiztid: Getting ready to release our first shoe, a high top, available on the Twiztid Shop, black and green and awesome. Be touring a lot this year. Movie, trying to lock that up this year, hopefully shooting by fall. Really going to start expanding record label to get people familiar with it and plant our stake into the ground.

Marisa: What advice do you have?
Twiztid: Don’t be an asshole. This is the key. You can be the most talented, or the least talented, but if you’re an asshole to the people in your business, I promise you, you are over with when it matters. You might be hot for a couple of summers, but when it’s over with, you’ll be done. You’re never as big as you think you are. Stay grounded, because personality plays an immense part to me. You can’t hide that like you could before the internet. Eventually someone will get you on camera, with a recording or something, so stick to that, and it will help you immensely. That’s probably one big thing that people are never told: don’t be an asshole.

Marisa: Any closing thought or things we did not get to that you want to talk about?
Twiztid: Check us out on the social media. Twitter and Instagram is me and Jaime all the time. We read them all, even if we might not have the time to answer everybody, but we read it all to get a good basis on what’s going on. Be on the lookout for Vitagurt. It’s gunna be big in senior homes, we’re talking vending machines.
Marisa: Maybe we could get it covered by WIC.
Twiztid: Yeah, it’s a prenatal necessity. It does wonders for the skin and nails.

Websites:

• Twiztid Celebrates 420 with New Shoes and Flower Blankets