2 Skinnee J's The Aquarian Online In light of all the backstabbing going around the music industry today, it's good to know that someone out there still cares about the little guys. That's where A.J. "Stumpy" Johnson steps in. He took the fledgling band 2 Skinnee J's under his wing a few years ago, and since then, the hip-hop/funk/techno/rock group has generated a decent buzz in the biz. Fueled by their successful major label debut, Supermercado, the six-piece ensemble landed a spot on the "emerging artist" stage at this summer's Woodstock. With a new album in the works, the man in charge says he's not going to let anything get his boys down. Stumpy makes his presence known. AW: What kind of role do you play in the band? They view me as a spiritual adviser. I have to provide guidance to those guys. I pretty much run the business because I own the business. AW: What do you mean by 'the business?' The band's incorporated. I own the corporation. I make all the important decisions. They look up to me, and I like to be inspirational to them. I don't know what it is about me, but I have a great deal of influence over them. AW: Are you on stage for every show? Yeah, every time. I'm convinced they play better when I'm there. The stories I heard about when I'm not there aren't pretty good. AW: So you kinda just watch over them? I try to make sure they don't screw up. AW: What if they do? Most people don't see what happens. There are different ways you can discipline a member of the band, and I'm the master of all of them. AW: Like what? It depends. They might not eat one day. Or they might sleep in the cargo bay rather than a bunk-sort of like solitary confinement. But usually my disapproval is enough to put them back into shape. AW: Is there anything that pisses you off about the music industry? The worst thing is that musicians don't make money. I, for one, am one of the people that do make money. But I can understand how they would be pissed off. If I were a musician, I would be enraged that I create something and get a very, very, very small fraction of the money that it makes. AW: So are you one of these people who take all the money from a band? I don't personally take all the money. What I do is I collect 80%. AW: Eighty percent? Yeah, and I distribute the other 20 percent among the band members for their personal use. But the 80% is largely reinvested in the band. I can tell you this, among my businesses, by far this is the least profitable. AW: What else do you own? I have a chain of gas stations in the Southwest. I also have a few acting schools in California. AW: The band trusts you with all that money? They wouldn't have me in this position if they didn't trust me. But initially they were a little concerned. AW: How did you meet the band? Were they looking for someone like you? It was really accidental on both parties. I was in Las Vegas where a lot of my business ventures are. I was in a card game with their previous manager. He ended up running out of money and used his band, and I won it. I thought it would be more profitable than it has been, but it's getting better-slowly but surely. <====