...and it seems neither is Andrew Nielson, not really. He compares the iambic tetrameter of Christopher Marlowe and Kanye West, is writing a hip hop history in graphic novel form, oh and his drummer has the messiest house in New Jersey.
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| This Gigantic Robot Kills - the album. |
Lars is bringing ‘post punk laptop rap’ back to the British music scene this weekend, all courtesy of our lovely friends at Slam Dunk.
Est.1987 caught up and had a chat with MC Lars...
Part.1
Est.1987. Hi Lars, first of all, we have to clear one thing up- does your drummer actually have the messiest house in New Jersey?!
MC LARS. Well yeah! My friend John, hes a drummer and his parents got him a house to fix up and it was a total mess because he was just chilling there and it was a total garbage dump. But he listened to the song I wrote about him [having the messiest house] and cleaned it up. He sold it now so 35 Laurel Dr is no longer where he lives!
EST. ‘Post-punk laptop rap' and ‘nerdcore’ keep cropping up when critics describe your style.
LARS. The 'post punk laptop rap' thing is something I put together. I used to be in punk band and it's 'post punk' in that it's not necessarily three chord punk, but it's that idea of DIY culture and the laptop beats. I've just been doing my thing and trying to find my niche.
EST. There are so many different styles in your music which makes it hard for you to be pigeon holed. I guess this is quite refresing?
LARS. The one thing I hate is when people call it "comedy" or "novelty" because it's not; It's more serious than that. Some stores you see [my music] in the hip hop sections and some in the rock section; it's weird. My favourite genre of music is hip hop so, but my punk routes always come through.
LARS. Yeah it's very important because it's very easy to give up your creative control and I always try to own my masters. I'm working with Jared from Bowling For Soup and his label "Crappy Records" and thev've being helping me. I would never want to sign to a label that made me change and do specific songs because then you don’t have an artistic voice. Only I know what I can do and I have got myself this far.
EST. You always seem to be collaborating with various other musicians. Do you have people in mind for each track or is it more spontaneous?
LARS. There's a different story for everyone on the record but yeah I write the songs with people in mind. This Gigantic Robot Kills we wrote with Mc Bat Commander (The Aquabats) in mind and It's Not Easy Being Green I wrote that with Pierre Bouvier (Simple Plan) in mind so it all came together and it was a lot of guests but it all flows kinda seamlessly. 