Interview with J Guevara Stone Pony Online Newsletter If you like your music to make your head spin, both because it's clever and fun and because it makes you move 'till you're dizzy, 2 Skinnee J's are for you. The five members of 2SJ, J Guevara and Special J on vocals, Lance Corporal on guitar, Stevie Spice at the keyboard and Eddie Eyeball on bass, haven't played the New Jersey area in a while, nor have they had an album to support. A two-year battle for their latest CD, Volumizer (Volcano) was put behind the band this past March, and they're making up for lost time. A video for "Grown Up" has gotten MTV2 airplay, the band has toured extensively and is already laying plans for another new record. Topping it all off, in our minds anyway, is an all-ages date at The Stone Pony on Saturday evening, November 30th. A rock band that is more hip-hop than metal, and MCs who have earned the title, 2 Skinnee J's have to be heard and seen to be believed and understood, maybe. Buy their album, see them on the Pony stage, do one, do both, but do something, or you'll be wondering where it all went. J Guevara, master of rhymes and vice president in charge of public opinion manipulation, answered these questions for the Newsletter about what's going on with the band these days. Prepare to be manipulated, you'll love it. The Stone Pony: Your latest album, “Volumizer”, was released this past March after an almost two-year delay. Can you briefly relate the situation surrounding the collapse of Capricorn Records, and how the album – and the band – eventually wound up with Volcano? J Guevara: Capricorn had been distributed through Mercury/Polygram. It seems that every couple of months, one huge record company buys another one, making an even huger record company. (This is monopoly capitalism, and it is ruining the finer things in life. Discuss ...) Anyway, after a lot of corporate shenanigans, Capricorn lost its distribution and went under. It is hard for a label without distribution to make enough money to pay for the drugs and strippers that fuel the constant office parties. Volcano gets a decent discount on drugs and strippers, so they took over our contract. The Stone Pony: Two tracks off the original Capricorn version of “Volumizer” were not included on the official release. Why weren’t these songs carried over when the album was put out by Volcano, and will they be available to fans in another format at some point? At what point were the three new songs not found on the original album recorded and the final track list put together? JG: Volcano decided to jazz up the album (not jazz the musical genre, but jazz - the exciting marketing word). They had us record a few new songs that they thought would make a year-old album seem fresh. They hooked us up with a couple of producers and back we went into the studio. The result was a two-year-old album with some "jazzy new" songs. "Stockholm Love" and "Secret Frequency" were bumped off the album to make way for the new material, and are sitting in a vault, waiting to appear on the rare and unreleased package we will put together when our future offspring need to go to college. The Stone Pony: In the time period between the demise of Capricorn and the release of “Volumizer”, the album was available for fans on Napster. Even though it ranks as ancient digital history, was the band supportive of getting the album out to fans at the time, and what are your feelings about digital music-sharing services today? Do you support the notion that these sites help to increase album sales by raising awareness of what’s out there, or hurts sales by removing the incentive to pay for something one can download for free? JG: In our case, Napster saved our asses. Due to all the bullshit with labels, four years went by between the release of our albums. Napster made our music available to fans, and kept them interested in the band. Since we live by touring, it actually helped us to have the new music in the hands of fans. I don't know how it affects other artists. The Stone Pony: The video for your song “Grown Up”, which has been getting airplay on MTV2, was directed by comedian Andy Dick, who also starred. How did the band like working with Dick, and how did he become involved in the project? Was he all serious and business-like when in “director mode”, or is his public personality always evident? JG: Working with Andy Dick was great. Filming the video was one of the funnest days of my life. A huge set, dancers, extras, crew all there cuz of us. How cool is that? Andy was very professional. I mean, he was still his characteristically hyper, anxious self, but was all pro about getting it done. The Stone Pony: The Newsletter has asked other artists how it felt to hear their song on the radio for the first time. What was it like for you to see your video on the air? Did you enjoy the process of putting the video together, and did the process surprise you at all? Since visuals are an important part of your stage shows, does video offer a natural extension for you to show-off your music? JG: Unfortunately, I don't have cable, so I've never seen the video aired. I was very happy with how it turned out. We're a very visual band, and I think the video captured our spirit. Not in the aboriginal sense of a photo steals your soul, but the good way. It conveys our humor and our uncanny sense of fashion and coolness. The Stone Pony: One of your songs, “3 Minutes”, is being used by World Wrestling Entertainment as the theme song for one of their tag teams. How did the WWE approach the band about using that song? Has involvement with the WWE helped introduce the band to new fans and are you open to other opportunities to allow your music to be used in movies, commercials or other mass-market media? JG: The WWE just started using our song, so I don't know what the net effect of it will be. Our fans have heard it and liked it. Using music in commercials used to be weird, like you were selling out. Now, Moby is a media whore and the Clash is being used to sell cars, so the days of music espousing lofty ideals seem to be dead. The Stone Pony: All the reviews and articles about the band struggle with defining the music. As one of the few true rap bands around, some try to lump you into the rap-rock category even though you clearly seem to have more of a hip-hop influence. What’s the best way you’d describe what you do to fans who haven’t heard or seem you perform before? JG: Rap/rock. I used to try to get all esoteric but I realized that, essentially, that's what we are. We're not as heavy as any of the rap metal bands, because the rock that influenced us was 80's new wave and early 90's alternative music, so it's more melodic, keyboard driven and wimpier, but we're comfortable with that. We're also better rappers than any of those rap metal poser mc's. The Stone Pony: Your lyrics are packed with all sorts of pop culture references, some of them pretty obscure. How do you manage to keep up with everything that’s going on in the world while maintaining the hectic schedule of a touring band? What sort of things are scattered around the tour bus that the band uses to pass the time? JG: We are smarty-pants kids with chips on our shoulders, so it's a matter of personal pride to make people's heads spin with our lyrics. However, we're hip hop fans who also understand the importance of rapping well, not just Paul Barnam clever. Except, I don't freestyle. I'm too much of a perfectionist about my lyrics to freestyle some mediocre shit. Unless you're KRS or Black Thought, chances are, your freestyle will be weak. The Stone Pony: Any idea of what you guys will be wearing during your show at The Stone Pony? How much planning goes into the stage costumes, or anything else that goes on during a performance? Do you all just get crazy ideas and play them out to see what works, or are things more carefully thought out? Do you have people that make your attire for you, or do you just keep a look out for cool things to wear? JG: Our performances are a balance of well-rehearsed stuff, and spontaneous combustion. We have moments where we all do some choreographed bit, but often we're just feeding off each other's energy. The costumes are usually the brainchild of Special J and myself, who are too vain to get onstage looking anything less than fabulous. Sometimes it's stuff we buy, but we also have a woman in New York who makes things for us. The Stone Pony: What can you share with fans about near-term and long range plans for the band? Are any plans in the works to do a follow-up to that album? Obviously, you’ll continue to do a lot of touring, but are there any special shows or events that you’re looking to be involved with? JG: We're working on a new album right now. We've had years to write music, so we're putting it to tape as we speak. It should be released in the winter. Or spring. We'll be heading back on the road then for a serious tour. Until then, only a couple of shows here and there, including New York on January 8th. <====