Abort Magazine - Issue 13

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Table of Contents IN THIS ISSUE OF ABORT MAGAZINE:

JUDAS PRIEST:

Guitar Legend K.K. Downing delves deep into the crevices of his soul to explain the need for touring the British Steel album (in its entirety) his new custom guitar and more. ABORT Magazine Canada’s Counter Culture

DEPARTMENTS:

ISSUE 13

Advertising: [email protected]

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: E.S. Day

Marketing/Promotions: [email protected]

Managing Editors: Grimm Culhane, Dave “Corvid” McCallum, Arceon,

Employment Opportunities: ([email protected])

Art Director/Layout: Daniel Bacharach Additional Layout: Taiyo Greenaway Staff Writers: Dave “Corvid” McCallum, Grimm Culhane, Arceon, Alxs Ness, Kassandra Guagliardi, Joel Parent, John Norby (UK), E.S. Day, Nigel Mojica, Taylor Ell, Sean Cowie Senior Photographer: Scott Alexander Staff Photographers: Scott Alexander, Chris Webber, Jamie Sands, Ajani Charles (Toronto) Sarah Hamilton, Grimm Culhane, Arceon, Taylor Ell, Sean Cowie. Web Design/Graphics: John Allan (www.johnallan.ca) Contributors: Amalia Nickel, Jimmy Lynch, Jonathan Parsons, Sean Cowie, Daniel Bacharach, Eva Vulgar, Taiyo Geenaway, Justin Critch. Kristin Eccles. Transcribing: Alxs Ness, Jonathan Parsons, Dave McCallum, Nigel Mojica Cover Artwork by Justin Critch www.underdecay.com ABORT Logo by Ara Shimoon ABORT MAGAZINE is owned and operated by: Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) 1140 Comox St. Ste 203 Vancouver, BC Canada, V6E 1K5 778.330.7575 Fuck The Fax General Info: [email protected] www.abortmag.com www.abortmagazine.com www.abort.tv www.abortmag.com/abortcast

ABORT TV: www.abort.tv | [email protected] Subscriptions/E-Newsletter [email protected] (we DO NOT give out your e-mail address) CD’s, DVD’s, Books, Art, Murals, Cash, Drugs, Garter Belts, Guns, Fur Coats, Trans-fatty/ddep-fried foods and Cigarettes to be considered for review: [email protected] To submit words, photos, art, video and filth: [email protected] (NOTE: ABORT Magazine/ABORT TV and its copyright holders, accept no responsibility for and will not necessarily respond to unsolicited art, manuscripts or any form of media Including photo, video, audio and film footage. Such material will not be returned unless accompanied by a SASE) Tales From The Eastside™ contains pictures of people who have given consent and/or been compensated by ABORT™ Magazine, AbortCast™, ABORT TV ™ and AMP Corp for use of their likeness and comments. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) ISSN 1918-0594 ABORT Magazine is a Canadian Publication Copyright © 2004-2009 ABORT Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form or medium without express written permission from Abort Media Publishing Corporation (AMP Corp.) is prohibited. All use is Subject to our Terms of Use

DEFTONES:

an ENKORE never before published interview with Chino from Deftones who talks sneakers, remixing and being remixed, plus the art of mashing up metal and Hip Hop. Wicked sweet!

BOOTSY COLLINS:

Ex-James Brown/Parliament Bass God – Bootsy Collins drops the funk on ABORT Magazine’s Grimm Culhane. From his first meeting with James Brown to the recent restoration of King Records (now the King Institute), Bootsy brings the past and future together in his own funkdafied way, so stop playing with yourself.

KAREN BLACK:

Golden Globe Award Winning, Oscar Nominated actress Karen Black is simply an iconic figure in American Cinema, from her famous roles in Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby and Airport ‘75, to her sultry role in In Praise of Older Women, Karen also worked with Alfred Hitchcock on his last feature film ever to be made. She took the time to speak with ABORT Magazine’s E.S. Day, which caused him to touch himself over the phone in a completely inappropriate manner for the second time in his life. That’s Entertainment.

ARCH ENEMY:

Currently preparing to unleash an assault on the world with their latest album The Root of All Evil and a new tour, Sweden’s Queen of Death Metal – Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy speaks with Canada’s Queen of Death Metal – Without Mercy vocalist Alxs Ness about their upcoming tour, female drummers in metal and…posing for Playboy?.

TECH N9NE:

ABORT Magazine’s Dave ”Corvid” McCallum talks backstage at Rock The Bells Vancouver with Kansas City psychopath Tech N9ne and his eccentric partner in crime Krizz Kaliko to discuss independent Hip Hop, musical gumbo, and what’s next for the man with the war paint.

VELVET ACID CHRIST:

Industrial demi-gods VAC is not aimed at wide acknowledgment and mainstream success, but rather at experimentation and genre merging, that puts it on the forefront of the electronic music movement into the new millennium. Bryan Erickson of VAC kindly agreed to speak with ABORT Magazine’s Arceon on a wide range of topics including cinema, inspiration, past experiences and Canadian artists.

KID KOALA:

Kid Koala took the time to speak with ABORT Magazine’s Nigel Mojica recently about his current tour, the origins of the album ‘100%’ (which will be available exclusively only at the shows on his tour with the Slew feat. ex Wolfmother members and his beginnings as a turntablist.

MACK 10:

BUCKSHOT:

GALLOWS

CHLOE SEVIGNY:

Legendary West Coast MC, Hoobangin’ Records CEO and one third of the infamous Westside Connection with Ice Cube and W.C., Cali’s Mack 10 has brought the streets the soundtracks that compliment everyday life. He spoke with ABORT’s Nigel Mojica in a candid interview regarding his upcoming release Soft White and his upcoming project Mack n’ Malone.

w/ GGGarth Richardson: The UK’s favorite snotty little fuckers are back and more brazen than ever with their new album ‘Grey Britain’ produced by Vancouver’s own Gggarth Richardson, who sits on this roundtable discussion conducted by Joel Parent of Canada’s newest Lords of Loud: Ninjaspy with guitarist Steph to discuss the album’s production, his hatred for the Warped tour, and shitty bands (like Millionaires!) - An ABORT exclusive!

SLUM VILLAGE:

A candid interview with the 2 remaining members of Slum Village Elzhi and T3 discuss their upcoming ventures and the passing of theirdear friend and bandmate Baatin.

BEHIND THE BOARDS: from Black Moon/Boot Camp Clik: Buckshot the outspoken MC, businessman, and spokesman for real Hip Hop, spoke with ABORT Magazine’s Dave ”Corvid” McCallum from the studio, and dropped a cluster bomb of unfiltered truth on our ears, calling out Jay-Z, Def Jam and Bad Boy for their nefarious dealings and not-so covert allegiances to sinister powers.

STALK & TALK: Grimm Culhane chats with award-winning actress Chloe Sevigny. Yummy! AUDIOTOPSY: Die Mannequin gets the scalpel! PLUS: Tales From the Eastside, DENIED!, Shooting Gallery, our Headphonica chart and of course lots of (honest) reviews.

Letter from the dEaD It seems the only thing keeping artists alive these days LVUHYLYLQJWKHFDUHHUKLWVWKDWJRWWKHPWKHUHLQWKHÀUVW place and it’s a goddamn shame that they cannot admit defeat in a world where the tour is king and the live music venue has become the CD store and the T-Shirts have become the CD. We have no choice but to hope and pray that with too may bands, touring too many times, on too many bills, will not force too many to stay home watch the live DVD, steal the album and call it a day. What the fuck is going on with artists and these new “Entirety” tours?, Flogging a dead horse may have been great for the Sex Pistols, but certainly not for today’s artists. Lenny Kravitz, Aerosmith, The Stooges, Cypress, Hill, Judas Priest and The Cult have all jumped on the “play-the-full-beginning-to-end-version of their biggest albums to date” bandwagon. Let’s just say the wagon is getting full. Downsize the arena and make an “Intimate evening with” concert to hide the shame of empty seats DQGYRLOj
On that note; Hot Topic is releasing a line of Tour Pajamas for the those who are too goddamn lazy, too broke and too damn tired of standing in line for over-priced tickets, convenience fees, venue staff harassment, merchandise that’s costs more than the tickets themselves and too many trips to watch music live. Keep your fucking tour jersey, I’ am going to bed. By E.S. Day

HEADPHONICA 1. Locked and Loaded - DJ Z-Trip feat. Deftones and Dead Prez (Decon Inc.) 2. U.N.I.T.Y. – Queen Latifah (Flavor Unit / UMG) 3.

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Swinger - Barrabas (Bairerle Records)

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Sulfur – Slipknot (Cartoon Bird Records)

7. House of the Rising Funk – Afrique (Mainstream) 8. Stand and Deliver – Adam and The Ants (MCA)

4. Drink Away the Pain (Situations) - Mobb Deep (Loud)

9. Dreams of Sanity - The Beginning That Lies (Hall of Sermon)

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10. Poor Impulse Control - Vancouver Killing Spree (Indie)

She Tells me Things - Alice Donut

AudiotoPsy We take an album and dissect it track by track. The results can sometimes be, well…messy. some Rock & Roll. 1. ”Intruder” Interlude 2. Miss Americunt (3:02) – “Miss World” has been dethroned and Miss Americunt wears the crown as Care and Co. bring the ruckus with a full-on anthem that will leave you humming and bumming. Plus we want to hear kids pronounce & sing along to that chorus on the subway. Should turn some early morning commuters heads.

Die Mannequin FINO + BLEED Warner Music Canada What seems to morph into a Canadian Courtney Love turned-villainous vocalist supreme, Toronto- based songwriter Care Failure and her band Die Mannequin seemed quite content perched atop their throne as the new Kings and Queens of Crunch with their full-length release FINO+BLEED. Simply put, this CD is a perfect blend of youthful, vibrant, drag-strip Rock n’ Roll that turns from Fino into Vino as you become drunk on hooks that spew classic rock heroisms. There is a downside – a big one: the deluxe version with its Bruce McDonald-directed mini-doc, that stems from the IFC series, THE RAWSIDE OF, envelopes DM in a world that they have not been involved in yet, as far as the tragic outcome of stardom. Maybe they should wait until they have a real taste of it first. Granted the band has toured with huge artists such as Deftones, Guns n’ Roses and recently Marilyn Manson, but let’s be honest - has this band with only an EP to their credit prior to this release, that deserving of a long, drawn out “woe is me on the road I‘am a struggling artist” story? For the love Christ you should be excited, this is what you wanted. Mind you, that’s probably what the marketing dept. had in mind. The ‘Sympathy for the devil’ theory is conjured up by the suits to prey on Care Bear’s eager female tween fans that will more than likely emulate Ms. Failure’s success. (pun intended). No matter, the Matt Hyde produced album is still a gutsy romp through the (rock) of ages So strip the DVD, toss the liner notes and strap yourself in as we bleed

3. Dead Honey (3:11) - A little commercial poppunk seeps in and nearly bites the radio-friendly bullet, but it stays grounded in the heavy dept. long enough to endure another short and sweet to-the-pointer. The Runaways pulled this off back in the day, Die Mannequin are paying homage whether they know it or not. 4. Start it Up (3:06) - Okay so its way too cheery and cheesy, but they do it so well and it seems so right even if you’ve heard it before. You are singing along with fist in air. Can’t knock the hustle. 5. Suffer (2:42) - Snotty, sleazy and slithering like a snake, this is the first time you may notice the drum patterns are getting repetitive and so is that fucking tambourine (we get it) Chorus is a 3 chord restructuring of the last 2. Still, a catchy wet-dream rocker all the way. 6. Bad Medicine (3:30) – No, not a Bon Jovi cover, but is definitely the least fave track on this album. We have the fist-pounding again, slower pace with memories of BulletBoys, Badlands or Danger Danger on the club circuit. “Filler” is on the tip of your tongue. Mike Fraser (who mixes on this album) should have stepped in for the production and given everyone a good spanking. 7. Locking Elizabeth (4:12) - Very catchy but again we have heard this before, yes its called “formula” and when all else fails you use it. It works and in this case, unlike Buckley’s mixture…tastes good. (Those “Train Kept a Rolling“ snare fills are back by the way) “FINO + BLEED” Interlude 8. Candide (4:18) - Sorry but Hole comes back to mind instantly, but far better. Makes you forget this is a Canadian band. With an extremely infectious chorus, Care has hit it on the nail with

this – this standout track would make a great 2nd or 3rd single hands down. On a personal level, the best song on the album. 9. Where Poppies Grow (3:09) - A happy Top 40 version that blend Lunachicks and Bikini Kill making this a listenable, but not memorable track. 10. Caroline Mescaline (5:12) - Drugs sell, music doesn’t. From Poppies to mescaline, opiates to hallucinogens, the only thing making you see double is the patter of repetitive choruses and harmonies that are now getting to the edge of hitting the “next track button”. We’ll guess Mr. Hyde had a hand this one. We’re also probably wrong, but we like pointing fingers, not too mention we are positive there is a Warner rep reading this right now. “Nobody’s Graveyard, But Everyone’s’ Skeleton” Interlude 11. Guns not Bombs (3:37) - Kill the messenger not the message – this track is confused, lost and the BPM is not far off from the other tracks (again). Somebody get the band drunk and do this one again. 12. Open Season (5:54) - Not the most flamboyant and would not be the obvious pick for album closer. “Whipper Snapper” Interlude – May I say: Fuck interludes. Fuck skits, intros and concept albums too. They don’t work, are useless and annoying it’s like the audible version of a pop-up, but have been around much, much longer than the internet. You know it and I know it. Still with 8 of 12 tracks sticking in my head and so many horrid CanCon bands flooding the live circuit (fuck the airwaves) to witness Die Mannequin live is a treat. Especially performing some of the How To Kill stuff from back in the day, maybe FINO + BLEED and its bubblicious bitchcore will pave the path for the next DM album which will hopefully be a more severe and ruthless punishment on pop music culture as a whole and not a Hole. By E. S. Day

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DENIED! Our regular list of interview requests... and the people who told us to go fuck ourselves.

MOS-DEF

Def Dumb & Blind: The mighty mouf of the “Mighty Mos” has for the second time, eluded ABORT Magazine writers for a one-on-one, to discuss get his “Ecstatic” thoughts on his latest joint. The last time time we met up and he mumbled and babbled incoherently into our or Hip-Hop Editor’s voice recorder, we thought he may have been rehearsing for his upcoming role in The Italian Job 2: The Great Script Heist, which should at last garner him his second Teen Choice Award nomination, which he must be proud of, wouldn’t you be?

ALEXISONFIRE Nothing says “Fuck You” more thoroughly than getting denied by a band in your own geographical backyard (especially one you don’t like and who are in desperate need of some coverage by a magazine who has intelligent readers over the age of 11). Ironically, we were the ones that had been approached by not 1 but 2 different PR firms hired to plug these silly sods and we were left standing around with the fashionista-tween brigade by the dressing room door, looking like idiots waiting to get our teets signed. . Ahalfwitonfire seems more appropriate. By the way, we heard they put a new album out this year. (Photo by Daniel Bacharach)

(Photo by Jamie Sands)

“Fuck you ?uestlove, I can also play the same 2 patterns on the drums and and I was funnier than you on Dave Chapelle” 08

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Deftones

An ENKORE never before published interview with Chino from Deftones who talks sneakers, remixing and being remixed, plus the art of mashing up metal and Hip Hop. E.S. Day: Do you find your crowd seems to be changing with this album? [Saturday Night Wrist] Are you gaining a different following or you find the same loyal crowd and maybe they’re just bringing more with them? Chino Moreno: They’re bringing their children now. There seems to be a younger crowd, especially what I can notice in the front of course. It seems like its standard. ABORT: What year of existence is this for the Deftones? CM: We started in ’88 so just over 20 years. ABORT: Can we see Deftones possibly doing, maybe just live only, a fusion of your hip-hop influences mashed up with metal? I don’t mean a Limp Bizkit thing I mean old-school like Urban Dance Squad, remember that?

go in my dad’s record collection and pull out what?

ABORT: Any other non-musical ventures for you? I don’t mean solo records, but any clothing lines or anything else on the horizon?

ABORT: How bout old funk influences? Anything old school- Meters, Blackbyrds shit like that?

CM: I got a shoe out, a skateboarding shoe from C1RCA. ABORT: No way? CM: Yeah, I went into their headquarters and met with them to design a shoe and a sweatshirt, it’s like a whole little kit: sweatshirt, jeans and a sneaker. ABORT: What got you going on that? Did they approach you or did you always want to?

CM: Yeah I do!. I don’t know. I mean honestly, there’s not any hiphop today that I…

CM: They approached me. Their thing was, they liked the fact that I actually skateboarded and I just think that with their style of company, they just think it fits well with where I’m coming from.

ABORT: I mean like your oldschool influences seeping out today.

ABORT: Well not only that, but Chino, Deftones, it’s true to the street still.

CM: What I’m saying is I think it’s kind of ruined hip hop for me for the time being. So the only time that I do actually listen to anything it’s like the old gangster rap…

CM: Definitely.

ABORT: Or like Wu-Tang or something.

CM: I think that’s why they approached me and I like that about it. I think it’s not anything that’s going to be over the top, or a big line, it’s just something that they put my name on.

CM: Yeah. Just something old that’s influenced me. I think that it is what it is. I think me trying to rehash that would seem regressive in some way. Maybe not, I mean who knows. I’m not saying that I never will or whatever. Instead of taking

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2 styles and putting them together, I’m just looking at opening up my mindset to all different music and bringing it all [together].

ABORT: There’s a corporate appeal maybe for them but I think they see the realism.

ABORT: Alright, a couple of generics from some fans and from some: When I was young I would

CM: Steve Miller and War.

CM: Love Meters. Definitely, my dad was big into that stuff. ABORT: Cool. Is dad a musician? CM: No he wasn’t he was just a big fan. He had a record player and he had a lot of records and he played them all the time. ABORT: Any chance of any members of the band doing a Deftones radio show? CM: I would like to do that. I mean my favorite thing to do is DJ whether it be to my friends in the room… Actually every night I do the pre-show disc. What you’re hearing right now is pretty much mixes I made. Also, we have a half-hour set change between the last band and us and every night I usually make a different disc; certain songs that go right into our set. For me I love mixing songs and playing music. ABORT: Wicked. It’s the same as playing live but it’s almost a different vibe when you can mash something together and you see the kids go “Oh shit!” and it’s a fucking flip out. That’s a good vibe. Anybody try to remix some Deftones? CM: You know DJ Z-Trip? He just did “My Own Summer” and mixed it with Dead Prez and that’s getting ready to come out on a video game All Pro. ABORT: There’s another question,

any more video game things coming out, soundtrack wise? Movie soundtrack? CM: No but that’s something that I’m going to do someday when I can’t get up onstage and do what I do anymore, that’s what I hope to be doing is more movies. I love making music obviously but putting music to visuals, when it locks together that’s one of my favorite things. ABORT: Home-town, up and coming band that’s unsigned: Chino’s recommendation? And have you been looking to produce anybody? Drop a dime on that. CM: I just produced a band called Will Haven they’re from Sacramento as well. ABORT: Label? CM: Bieler Bros Records and its pretty much like Neurosis…it’s just really heavy. And for your first question, a band that is up and coming that I like a lot is a band called A4-7 (sp?) they’re from Sacramento too. They’re really underground, they don’t even have a record deal yet so hopefully you’ll hear from in the next year or two. ABORT: Wicked. Thanks for your time Chino, I appreciate it. CM: No prob. Deftones Perform in Vancouver with Slipknot October 15th

Photo by Sarah Hamilton

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Karen Black The ABORT Interview Golden Globe Award Winning, Oscar Nominated actress Karen Black is simply an iconic figure in American Cinema, from her famous roles in Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby and Airport ‘75, to her sultry role in In Praise of Older Women, Karen also worked with Alfred Hitchcock on his last feature film ever to be made. Couple this with a bevy of cult roles such as the motherly seductress in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses, she has recently ventured into an upcomKaren Black: Hello? E.S. Day: Hi is Karen there please?

ABORT: (Looks at call display) Oh obviously not with that area code. Jesus Christ, I’m having a hell of a day.

Karen Black: It is I.

KB: We’ll start over.

ABORT: Hi Karen its Scott Day from ABORT Magazine in Vancouver, Canada. How are you?

ABORT: Yeah I’m going to have to. Don’t mind me. So anything goes and that’s it. So I’m going to hit the record button...

KB: So at last we find out your real name. ABORT: It’s Edward Scott Day. (laughs) That’s the mystery. How are you? KB: I’m pretty good. I actually think your name is fabulous. ABORT: Fabulous? I’ll go for that...what the hell. KB: Edward Scott Day. ABORT: Edward Scott Day, it’s E.S. Day, well you know what, my father’s name was Edward and everyone kept calling me Edward and I was getting his bills in the mail even though he is deceased. so I said “fuck this” and inserted the intials. Did I get you at a bad time? KB: It’s a great time! I’m just getting water here, wondering around my house. ABORT: Oh ok, fabulous. Oh, I thought you were in Toronto. KB: No.

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KB: Are you an actor? You sound like you’re an actor. ABORT: Jesus Christ no. No. KB: That’s a good thing to be. ABORT: Oh thank you. No I was a DJ for a while and that’s it. Now I’m just a literary shit disturber I guess. KB: Ok. People need a little bit of their shit disturbed. ABORT: I get a lot of threats, trust me. KB: Oh really. ABORT: Oh the record labels fucking hate us. We tell the truth too much that’s the problem. Nobody likes that. So what can you do. KB: Now tell me what… give me an example. ABORT: An example of? KB: People calling you up and saying how dare you do that.

ing HBO show ‘Magic Balloon’ produced by Will Ferrell , and ‘Repo Chick‘ the David Lynch produced sequel to Repo Man. July 2009 saw Karen performing a one woman show in Toronto as well as writing and starring in her play “Missouri Waltz”. She took the time to speak with ABORT Magazine’s E.S. Day, which caused him to touch himself over the phone in a completely inappropriate manner for the second time in his life. That’s Entertainment.

ABORT: Yeah, no we’ve had a certain “Major Label” called up and say “you know you have to omit the part from that interview where you know you have to remove the drug references”, let’s see we got a gentleman from a certain arena-filling band who asked us to get him some cocaine. We left that in. They asked us to remove it. I said, well why? I said “he didn’t mind if we put that in, he thought it was funny” but they didn’t, because they own the masters to his recordings and thought it might damage their sales. Meanwhile, of course you got the kids saying “hey, he likes coke; I’m going to buy their new album.” (laughs). KB: That’s true, that’s true. ABORT: The more honest the musician is, the more loyal the listener becomes. So I don’t know what their problem was. So you know we get in trouble for that. KB: Good example. ABORT: So I’ll give you a heads up I’m notorious for cutting people off mid sentence. KB: You know what it is, is that what happens between you and me happens between my husband and myself.

to figure it out for 26 years and I think a couple days ago I figured it out. I talk fast, my husband talks slowly. ABORT: (laughs) ok. KB: And what happens is I finish a sentence and he starts talking but I’ve already gotten into the 3rd or 4th word of the next sentence. ABORT: Right! (laughs) KB: So do you know what word husbands and wives say to each other more then any other word in the English language? ABORT: No, what? KB: That’s it. ABORT: Oh (laughs). “No” and “What”. KB: We say what. What? So this is what happens, so you’re very fast and you finish a sentence and then if I start to say something, you’re already at your next sentence. ABORT: Perfect! KB: So you’re me and I’m my husband in our phone conversation.

ABORT: Fabulous, ok.

ABORT: Good. So I can technically say, for the duration of this interview, I’m married to Karen Black?

KB: Here is what it is. I’ve tried

KB: Yes, but you’re the girl.

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ABORT: I’m the girl. Alright, well I have to go put on a dress, hang on. KB: Yeah well. ABORT: I’m kidding. I’m going to get into this. So we’re going to touch on your show in Toronto. KB: I don’t mind. Interview actually begins ABORT: Here we go. E.S. Day here for ABORT Magazine and we are on the phone with legendary actress Ms. Karen Black. How are you? KB: I’m doing very well and you sound great. ABORT: Oh well thank you very much, I appreciate it. Should I be saying Miss or Mrs.? KB: Very alive. ABORT: I am quite alive actually; I’ve had a lot of coffee. KB: You don’t sing do you ? ABORT: No I don’t sing. I can’t sing. I smoke 3 packs a day so there goes my singing career. KB: Yeah but it does wonders for your voice. ABORT: Actually you know what, it does. I know a lot of good singers that chain smoke yeah. KB: Yeah. I like Miss Black because if I were Mrs. I’d have a different last name. ABORT: And Ms., you don’t use Ms.? KB: 26 years of marriage, I love to say this. 26 years of marriage. ABORT: 26? KB: “Oh people in Hollywood don’t stay married.” Well we’ve been together 26 years. ABORT: Right, ok. KB: I can see that’s your favorite subject. ABORT: You know what, it is. And we’ll get into that right now. You being married to film, a labor of

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love and we’ll go right into that. KB: Ok. ABORT: You’ve had quite a career. Good lord, how many films are we looking at right now? Just under. KB: I keep thinking I’m going to look in my IMDB account. I should go do that. It’s 170 something. ABORT: Ok, fair enough. And of course, I personally remember you from, I mean I saw Easy Rider back then but the first thing I ever saw was In Praise of Older Women and may I be so bold as to say, that’s probably the first film I ever “pleasured myself ” to. Please don’t hang up on me. KB: I’m so glad you told me this… Bbecause nobody else has ever told me this but it doesn’t mean it has never been done before. ABORT: Hey you know what; this is before I ever heard of the O’ Farrell Theatre or Seka movies. You know...it was a good flick. Who was in that? Tom Berenger right? KB: Yes. ABORT: Ok. Do you still stay in touch with people that you’ve worked with in the past? KB: Yes and no. I really don’t talk to Dennis [Hopper] much but I talk to Peter [Fonda]. Sometimes Jack Nicholson will call me in the middle of the night. ABORT: Oh that’s nice. The middle of the night call. KB: In general what happens when I do a movie is that I do take people with me because they do remain friends for life. Toni Basil from Easy Rider, she’s been one of my best friends ever since and a lot of my pals are people that we’ve done work together. It can be really far in the past and we still just stay together. I just love keeping that. ABORT: From back then up to now I was going to say, speaking of In Praise of Older Women, that was a Canadian film and you’re back in Canada again, obviously we’re fastforwarding quite a few years and you are now performing. You’re doing a one woman show entitled

‘My Life for a Song’ which is I guess a musical journey through your career, both through song and spoken word? Give us a little insight. KB: More spoken word than song. As I go through my life I might run through a little phrase or two of music that I might’ve like when I was 11, Doris Day or something, and then I studied music and that’s in the show. As time went on Mr.? asked me to sing a song in his movie or two and write some and I would ask Toni Basil how should I sing and I would follow her advisements. It’s kind of musical. I talk a lot about my life and some of the great, wonderful people I’ve known in my career who are no longer with us or who are with us and it’s kind of like art. ABORT: Ok, you going to be doing a Q & A thing with some of the audience members? I’m sure you’ve got some fans that would love to speak with you. Are you going to be doing that at the event? KB: Yes we are. After the show we’re going to have as long a Q & A as anyone would ever want. ABORT: Fabulous, that’s great. ABORT: Are you doing this in any other cities? KB: No, I’ve never done this particular show. I’ve done a show where I just speak about Karen Black. Prior I’ve done a show where I’ve just done character work, more of a theatrical experience and people kind of got upset with me. ABORT: Really. Why so? KB: They felt that I should be talking about Karen Black and I was talking about? Porter and Bessie Smith and all kinds of people, William Faulkner. So I said never mind all that. I’m going to keep some of the theatrical parts of that old show in this one but I’m mainly going to talk about my life. People like to hear that. They want to hear about Hitchcock and Easy Rider and they want to hear about Airport ‘75 and it’s a great time for me to be able to speak of these things. ABORT: Do you not get fed up about speaking about those certain roles and would like to specifically

put more emphasis on Karen Black the actor/actress, I should say, as opposed to being stereotyped for roles in cult movies, if you want to call it a cult flick...like Easy Rider? KB: I do. I have a high regard for myself as an actor. But there are a lot of people who’ve noticed that I’m a good actor and they don’t pay attention to all that cliché. But I do keep working. I have good things. I have an HBO pilot coming up with Will Ferrell. Will Ferrell produced it It’s myself and…. Here I go. ABORT: Don’t (laughs).

fuck

this

up

KB: (Laughs) I can’t remember his name. So anyhow there I am I’m going to be on HBO on a Will Ferrell show and I’m all proud of that and I have a movie coming out all over the country... ABORT: Oh, is that Stuck!? KB: No, Stuck! Should probably be like that too. Stuck! Won’t be out til next year. This is coming out in September. ABORT: And what’s that titled? KB: The Blue Tooth Virgin and it will be at the Wilshire in Chicago, New York, everywhere. I really like me in it. It’s a great, witty, funny movie. It’s very talky, but it’s mesmerizing. People going to the wrong analysts right and left and people aren’t being helped, they don’t know what to say to their friends; it’s so funny. ABORT: Wow that sounds interesting. KB: My response to your question, Edward Scott, is that I’m a working actor and I really love to act and I do my very best pretty much, usually every time I get a role and I’m always getting them. So I suppose the thing that is kind of odd for any actor who gets on in their age is that people think that they’re gone and yet I’m continuously working. And you’re doing and fantastic job Karen Black By E.S. Day Speacial thanks to David Daniloff

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2 1

&

U N D E R

W I T H . . .

MACK 10

ABORT: So Sharp is the first single off your upcoming release, Soft White ,due to drop on September 29. What is soft white for those who might not know? MACK 10: Soft white is uncut dope. That s when it s raw. This is just me; this album is just really a reflection of who I am for real, so I named it soft white cuz this one is just raw, just Mack 10. ABORT: So we can expect the uncut Mack.. MACK 10: However I felt that day, that s the kind of music I did, ydig? Like, I got feelgood music, I got gangster shit, I got money music, I got it all on this one. ABORT: Are you planning to tour Canada with this album?

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ABORT: On the tip of Glasses Malone, you ve signed him, correct? MACK 10: Yeah ABORT: What can we expect from him this year? MACK 10: Beach Cruiser will be out soon. That s coming and we got another album together, a colab record called Money Music you know, as

a group. Me n him together s called Mack and Malone.

ABORT: Think you ll come through Vancouver?

ABORT: There s a lot to look forward to.

MACK 10: Yeah, I m pretty sure I will.

MACK 10: Yeah and I ve got another solo album coming next year called Two Thousand 1-0 .

MACK 10: Let s see. Let s look at this track listing... Worked with a guy named Ervin Pope; he did some beats for Game too on his last album. EP did some some production, um, Don Vito up outa Atlanta. He did So Sharp , the single with me, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne that s out right now. Fingazz is legendary on the West Coast; he did a song with me and J Holiday called Hood Famous . Mike City is a big RnB producer actually and he did one of the hottest records on here, it s called Street Shit , me and Glasses Malone and we got Fred Wreck, west coast legend right there. We got, lets see,

other actors and I actually got to play a square. Y know, a business guy that wore a suit and tie and a briefcase. Yeah it was fun, I was acting (laughs). ABORT: Speaking of image and the image hip-hop s taken - you ve made nine plus gangster rap albums. And as a gangsta rapper, how do you feel about rappers like Asher Roth and Paul Barman who are approaching hip-hop from such a different parading, ya know, not about the streets, and are getting so much love from MC s and heads all over. As an old school cat, how do you feel about that?

Soft white is un-cut dope

MACK 10: I m planning on touring the world with this one.

ABORT: Can you drop a dime for us on the producers who contributed to this release?

Legendary West Coast MC, Hoobangin’ Records CEO and one third of the infamous Westside Connection with Ice Cube and W.C., Cali’s Mack 10 has brought the streets the soundtracks that compliment everyday life. He spoke with ABORT’s Nigel Mojica in a candid interview regarding his upcoming release Soft White and his upcoming project Mack n’ Malone.

Dow Jones from Bizness did some music on there. Green Lantern did a record with me and Akon that s hot.

ABORT: Word up. We see Fat Joe appear on this album; is this a sort of reunion for you guys since doing the film Thicker Than Water or have you been in touch? MACK 10: You know, shit, Joe is like family to me man, y know he s like family. So we stay in touch whether I m doing records or I m not doing em, or he s not doing records, that s like my brother. ABORT: You got anything coming up on-screen? MACK 10: Yeah I was in a feature film not long ago called The Obama Effect . It was with Charles Dutton and Meagan Good and a coupla

MACK 10: I mean, I was around in the old school, I guess, but I m still here and you need to hear this new album cuz I m 2009 and I aint mad at none of them dudes or nothing. I respect the hustle, ya know, so I don t give a fuck what he do; if he s beating on a drum and going platinum, keep beating on it! ABORT: Who you banging on the Macpod right now? MACK 10: Well right now, I just mastered my album so my album is in there now. I m making sure everything s right. I think Rick Ross got prolly the hottest album of the year so far, that Rick Ross album s hot! ABORT: So, what s the recession like in terms of being a live musician and what are your views on price-gouging and paperless ticketing? Do you find these are things you have to do to keep up with the times? MACK 10: You got to if you

want to compete. Ya know, if you want to be in the game you gotta compete at whatever level the game is at and you ve gotta be able to deal with it. You ve gotta improvise or readjust or do whatever you gotta do; you gotta be able to deal with it. ABORT: You re a guy who s been around the whole time; it s been more than a decade since Westside Connection and you ve been making records continuously. What s been the biggest thing to change? MACK 10: The biggest thing that changed? Well when I first started doing records you had to go the the record store to buy a record, now you don t even have to leave home, ya know? Shit, it is what it is but we gotta deal with it. ABORT: On the west coast, you guys still backyard party or is it all beaches like in the So Sharp video? MACK 10: Yeah, yeah, I mean it s backyard if you a backyard kinda dude but right now shit I m diggin the beach (laughs) ABORT: Well, Soft White is hitting shelves September 29, we re all looking forward to it. Where can we find you on the web? MACK 10: The official Mack 10. Same with MySpace same with Twitter, it s the Official Mack 10. ABORT: Thank you so much for your time. We wish you the best and much continued success. MACK 10: Alright dog. By Nigel Mojica www.myspace.com/theofficialmack10

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ABORT: Hi Steph, how’s it going? Steph: A bit tired, but I’m good actually. I’m glad to be out of the States and in Canada! ABORT: Nice! So, you are currently touring on your new album on Reprise, “Grey Britain”, could you explain to us a bit about the title and the meaning behind the album? Steph: Yes, you can take it a few ways, like we’re from London, and the weather at home is always grey and cloudy and overcast. So you could say that “Grey Britain” is about the weathercast. You could take it like, our country used to be a really proud place you know, and people used to work really hard for a living and strive to be the best at their job. Nowadays it’s like everyone’s lost their passion and their energy for our country. It’s just kind of lost it’s way a bit, like Britain’s not a proud place anymore you know. More people are taught to just go on the dole and claim money off the government rather than go out and work for a living.

ABORT: Would you say that this sort of loss of patriotism might be sort of crossing borders and happening in North America as well? Steph: I think it’s happening all over the world. I mean, sure there are places where it’s not affecting people as heavily, but the current economic climate has hit the entire world. For example, in Europe, Germany has the highest unemployment rate in the world at the moment because of their automotive industry. When a recession hits, the first thing people

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are going to let go of is a luxury, and to ninety nine percent of the people a car’s a luxury. But over here in North America, in Canada, it’s definitely hitting as well. I mean, we’ve seen a change since the last time we were over, so, the whole world’s suffering at the moment. I think everyone seems to be losing their way and losing their faith in the powers that be, I guess. ABORT: And is that affecting the way you’re able to share your music with people? Like, is it making it harder businesswise? Steph: Yeah, it is. It’s making it a lot more difficult for us from a touring point of view. When we released the album, because of the economic climate, people were either buying the record or coming to the show, whereas when we released the last album, people were buying the record and coming to the show. People can’t afford to do both anymore, so it’s definitely hit the music industry hard. There’s more illegal downloading going on, which I’m not that fussed about in a way for the simple reason that it means more people potentially can hear your music. But at the same time, you’re never gonna make any money from it. That’s why we’re taking everything we can from the record label! (laughs). ABORT: Speaking of the record, you brought Vancouver’s Garth Richardson on board, how did you come to choose him? Steph: We done our tour in January of last year, and we had a few meeting with different people to produce this. We spoke to Butch Vig, we spoke to Alex Newport, we spoke to quite a few people. And Garth was the only person we spoke to that when he came

to see us, had done his background work on the band, and knew more about than anyone else and he was actually interested in working with us. Like, this for him wasn’t another record to put on the wall, this for him was something that was going to drive him just as passionately as it was us to make the record. So, aside from that, (to Garth) you were an engineer for a long time, and we knew that if we worked with you that we would be able to get the exact sounds that we were after for the record. ‘Cause for “Grey Britain” it was more about the actual tone of the record, rather than just making another record with sampled drums and triggered this triggered that. We wanted to make something that would stand the test of time audibly, so yeah, you were just the right choice to make! GGGarth: I think for the bass sound, the image was “like bones crushed by gravel in a coffin” or “like bones breaking” and I was like “sure, I could do that!” (laughs).

Steph: Yeah, we got in there and he was trying to be all coy, like “I’ll catch him out in this one” so he was like “I want my bass to sound like someone’s dragging broken bones out of a coffin while it’s being smashed on granite!” and you’re just like “yeah, we’ll do this, we’ll do this...” and then he’d done it, and we just went “oh, cool”. Yeah, we got in there and he was trying to be all coy, like “I’ll catch him out in this one” so he was like “I want my bass to sound like someone’s dragging broken bones out of a coffin while it’s being smashed on granite!” and you’re just like “yeah, we’ll do this, we’ll do this...” and then

he’d done it, and we just went “oh, cool”. ABORT: So Garth, who was the most difficult to work with on this album? GGGarth: Ben Kaplan! (Laughs) ABORT: Steph - What’s been your favourite song to play live on this tour? Steph: I really like playing a song called “Queensbury Rules”, I just find that one really fun to play. But, as far as moving people...”London Is the Reason” has been going down really well over here, like we’ve played that every day on the tour, and we’ve played “Leeches” as well. We played “The Great Forgiver” for the second time yesterday, and playing that live I really enjoyed, ‘cause it’s a really fast one and it gets us moving straightaway. I do wish we’d played more new material than old, but in my opinion, we’re still playing way too many songs off the first album. ABORT: You guys have a song on Guitar Hero III, “In the Belly of a Shark”, how does it feel having your background to have a song on guitar hero? Steph: I think it’s awesome to be honest. Like, it’s exactly the same as being on Warped Tour. The reason we’re doing this and the reason we put a song on Guitar Hero, is that we’re getting exposure to a mainstream crowd that we would never achieve. Like, you know, half the kids that pick up Guitar Hero III are never going to have heard of Gallows, and their going to get it and coming to shows and saying “never heard of you guys but I got Guitar Hero and yours was my favourite song on it”. It’s the same as kids who

The UK's favourite snotty little fuckers are back and more brazen than ever with their new album ‘Grey Britain’ produced by Vancouver’s own Gggarth Richardson, who sits in on this roundtable discussion conducted by Joel Parent of Canada’s newest Lords of Loud: Ninjaspy with guitarist Steph to discuss the album’s production, his hatred for the Warped tour, and shitty bands (like Millionaires!) - An ABORT exclusive!

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“The music industry has lost its way, definitely, and Warped Tour is definitely gone that way as well.” come to Warped Tour to see 3Oh3 who are like “I was walking to the stage where 3OH3 was playing, and I missed their whole set ‘cause I couldn’t take my eyes off you”. It’s just an awesome thing to do and it’s just another way to get your music out to a mainstream audience that would potentially never hear your band. ABORT: So, speaking of the Warped Tour, you guys have been saying that the vibe at Warped Tour has totally changed. It’s not what it was ten years ago, a lot of the Punk is lost, and you guys are still staying pretty true to those roots. Steph: We’re trying, we’re trying...I mean, I’m not going to lie to you - I FUCKING HATE WARPED TOUR!!! (Laughs all round). Like, we’ve been on this tour now for eight and a half weeks, and it’s eight and a half weeks too long. You know, even from when we did Warped Tour in like 2007, it’s changed since then. Like the crowd this year are very young, and Warped Tour once upon a time was the Punk Rock tour. Everyone on the planet knew about it and it was the tour to be on. But, Brokencyde are not a Punk band. 3OH3 are not a Punk band. The Millionaires are just a fucking disgrace to music. You know, it’s like all of these bands that are on this

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tour nowadays...it’s kind of like heartbreaking to come out on this tour, to see bands like us, bands like Alexisonfire, play our hearts out to three hundred kids, and then you see bands like Brokencyde, who play to a CD, and they’re playing to like four thousand kids a day? It’s like, where’s the integrity in what they do, and there isn’t any. The music industry has lost its way, definitely, and Warped Tour is definitely gone that way as well.

have got two artists every month on the cover, we’ve got twenty. So considering the size of the UK compared to America and Canada as well, I mean, our country’s not even the size of Florida! And we’re trying to bring twenty new acts out a month into the music industry. It’s just really difficult for a band to even get anywhere at home anymore. It’s just...it’s a pain in the ass!!!

ABORT: It’s kind of a chicken and egg argument though really, like did the industry lose its way, or are people really that shallow?

ABORT: Well, at ABORT Magazine we like to help people make friends and enemies, so name a few of your favourite Canadian bands on Warped Tour if you could.

Steph: MySpace made everyone lose their way! But the music industry has definitely lost its way. Like, Garth was saying earlier on, say you get a band like Paramour, who get massive, the music industry then signs twenty other bands that sound like Paramour. What’s the point, ‘cause they’re not Paramore! There’s a new band coming out every week in the UK, and it’s really hard for us over there ‘cause we’ve got four or five music magazines that come out every single week, and every single week those four magazines have to have a new band on the cover. Whereas over here it’s different, like how many music magazine have you got that come out weekly? None. So whereas you guys

Steph: Alexisonfire. From day one, they’ve been the best band on the tour, like consistently they sound great, consistently they’ve played their hearts out, and it’s strange to watch them in America, where they’ll play to like two hundred kids, and then last night, where they played to like nineteen thousand! Unreal how like, going twenty minutes across a border in a car can change music so dramatically. I mean, I knew they were big out here, but I wasn’t expecting to see that jump. Aside from them I don’t really know of any Canadian bands on the tour. Last time we done it in 2007, there was that rapper K-Os, and he played on our stage as well. When he played in Ameri-

ca, he played to about fifty people a day. And I heard that he’s a bit of a rockstar over here. And playing to like fifty people in 2007, there’d be days where his backing band would be playing and he’d just be like “no I don’t want to play”, and he just wouldn’t turn up! So it’s like, to go from that to just crossing over the border and playing on the main stage to so many people is just unbelievable. But, aside from Alexisonfire and Canadian bands, there’s a rapper on the tour called P.O.S., and he’s just fucking unbelievable. He’s got more heart than anyone on this tour, and he delivers his performance with so much passion, and so much energy, a lot of bands out here should really look up to what he’s doing. ABORT: I guess I don’t really need to ask you this but, worst band on the tour? Steph: Brokencyde, Breathe Carolina, Millionaires, and...I guess 3OH3. ABORT: Well thanks, it’s been great talking with you ! Steph: Thank you Joel! Gallows’ Grey Britain is in stores now Gallows.co.uk By ninjoelspy

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Backstage at the 2009 Rock The Bells Show in Deer Lake Park, Burnaby, ABORT Magazine’s Dave”Corvid” McCallum shared a rare moment backstage with T3 and Elzhi of the legendary Slum Village, whose bandmate Baatin passed away that very morning. In a highly emotional interview, T3 eulogized his late comrade with the highest praise, paying tribute to a genius gone from this world far too soon. With the future of Slum Village uncertain, the two Detroit MC’s are still driven by their respect for each other and love for Hip Hop music, and are dedicated to “bringing the feeling back”.

R.I.P Baatin

By Dave “Corvid” McCallum Photo by Scott Alexander

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elZhi: I mean, you know, Slum Village is legendary to me. I felt that way before I even came into the group. I came into the group on an album called “Trinity”, and when I tell you Slum Village is all about evolution, you know what I’m sayin’ that’s what it’s about from day one which was seven years ago. You can ask anyone that’s really deep rooted in this Hip Hop, and they’ll tell you that Slum Village done had an influence on some of the biggest artists out right now, and we’re happy to even be able to contribute something to Hip Hop. So, just being a part of this group, in my opinion and in a lot of other opinions, is legendary. T3: You know what, we been around this for a long time. Just maybe two weeks ago, I sat with ?uestlove and he was talking about how Slum Village influenced him, and that “Slum Village” was like one of his top three albums. And you know, I wasn’t surprised ‘cause he’d said it before, I was just surprised at the time. And that’s when it was me, Baatin and Elzhi on the road, you know what I’m saying? And, being that we lost Baatin, you know what I’m sayin’ , we devastated by that, because we never thought it would happen this soon. The guy was thirty-five years old, and we never thought it would happen this soon, so, you know, we maintaining’, but at the same time I can’t tell you where Slum Village is going to go from here, at this day man, ‘cause it’s fresh. This happened yesterday, you know what I’m sayin’? So, I’m messed up. I knew Baatin...we went to the same middle school and high school together, and we kept it going for a long time, you know what I’m sayin’? It’s like when Dilla passed, I was devastated...I’m more devastated now than when Dilla passed. I knew Dilla was sick, I didn’t know Baatin was gonna pass. This is in a whole other direction. And, I’m happy to have El with me to hold me down, ‘cause I love El

like a brother, and that’s how I felt about Baatin as well. I haven’t got weepy, but I been feeling it, I been trying to hold the tears back. On some realness man, I really miss that brother man. (pauses) The whole purpose of us bringing Baatin back, or my purpose, was for him to get on his feet. He had children he had to feed, and our first video is showcasing Baatin, that Dwele shot. And I just talked to Dwele not too long ago, but... that was my whole thing. I loved him not just as my brother but I loved him as...his style, you know

those elements, and Baatin was a big part of that. So I’m devastated man. We gonna keep the legacy going, but I don’t know how long I’m gonna keep the legacy going ‘cause I don’t know where to go from here, to be honest. Me and elZhi haven’t really sat down and talked about where we gonna take Slum from here. Because, I’m only gonna do so much, and I’m not doing a lot without elZhi, he’s all I got left. So, it’s gonna be a collective effort to see where I’m gonna take Slum from here, and I don’t know where it’s gonna go.

“The guy was thirty-five years old, and we never thought it would happen this soon, so, you know, we maintaining, but at the same time I can’t tell you where Slum Village is going to go from here” whayounamsayin, what he brought to the group. And what I’m saying is, that was the whole purpose of putting this first video out, me and Elzhi don’t even have verses on this first video, it’s just Baatin! I didn’t know he was gonna pass, but I felt like the people really needed to feel this dude, because they didn’t understand how creative he really was, you understand and I felt this dude!!! There’s a thing in music that I call “funny fresh”, and it ain’t no disrespect! I know a lot of people out there are about lyricism, or all this but...they forgot about funny fresh. And funny fresh is like, you innovative, but it’s kinda funny...it’s innovative with this comical shell around it. And being comical is not a bad thing, if it’s innovative. It’s not like it’s “funny wack”, it’s funny fresh. So, when we brought Baatin back , I wanted to showcase that, ‘cause that’s a part of Slum Village history. We’ve always been innovators, slash creative, slash comical, younamsayinat I’m sayin’! If you listen to our first three albums, you’re gonna hear all

ABORT: That’s real talk man, real talk. T3: It’s fresh you know, and you’re the first people that I’m telling this too, ‘cause I ain’t talking to a lot of people. But since you’re sitting down here talking with meel I’m gonna say it to you. I mean me and el are both devastated, ‘cause the whole goal with bringing Baatin back was to get this guy on his feet, you know what I’m sayin’? I had to physically go into the hood, and find Baatin. We had a Range Rover, coming to find this guy in the deepest of hoods, to get this guy on some tracks, just because I felt like we needed him and the fans wanted him. Not like we couldn’t function without him, ‘cause we was already functioning, but I felt that he added so much to us that we needed that extra spark. ABORT: (to elZhi) You mentioned the evolution, and you’ve brought in a lot of other great artists from Black Milk to Illa J, to representing the whole Detroit scene, how do

you feel about the future of Slum Village? elZhi: I mean, me and 3, we’re brothers, so whatever I do is gonna involve 3 and whatever he do is gonna involve me. So, the music is gonna always be there, we just got a few things to think about like where are we gonna take it? ‘Cause we could take it anywhere we want to take it, whether it was rock, jazz, or if it was on some radio stuff, I feel like we got that ability. So, it all depends on what we come up with in the next few days to see where we’re gonna take it, but whatever we do it’s gonna be done a hundred and twenty percent! And it’s gonna shoot through the roof, ‘cause we don’t do no bullshit and we gonna keep it real, you know what I’m sayin’? ABORT: Let’s talk about solo projects. T3: I got a solo album coming out October thirty first called “Night Gallery”. It’s based on horror movies, and my love of horror movies, and how horror movies crafted part of my life. They kept me out of trouble, they kept me focused... it sounds weird that a horror movie would do that, but it did and it kept me creative. So, one of the main horror genre guys that I like is Rod Sterling, who made “The Twilight Zone” as well as “Night Gallery”, and in the sixties black and white era he was ridiculously cutting edge before horror was horror. Night Gallery was in the colour era so seventies and eighties, and I like doing concept albums, so most of the samples will come from this horror movie thing. That’s not really what the album is about, but that’s where the inspiration came from, Rod Sterling! As for elZhi, he’s got a mixtape called “elMatic” coming out that he can tell you all about!

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continued ABORT: Detroit MC’s are known for their sophisticated lyricism, and especially for the kind of multisyllable rhymes that artists like Eminem and yourself are know for. Is that focus on skill and especially on what you’ve previously called the “pattern” style a distinctively Detroit thing? elZhi: Definitely. Eminem got started at a place called “The Hip Hop Shop”, and cats would go there all day to sharpen their swords. So as far as the patterns thing...Proof, the first time Proof called me was to talk about patterns, ‘cause he’d seen in me what Eminem was doing. So it was definitely something that originated there. ABORT: As far as the Detroit sound in terms of production, there is a definite Soul and Motown influence in the beats and samples. How much a part of your upbringing was the old sound of Detroit? elZhi: I mean, Moms would be cleaning the house or in the kitchen and she’d be playing Smokey Robinson, The Temptations...it was just on all the time so I guess we just absorbed it. And you know, I imagine a cat like Dilla heard it in a different way, and being as smart as he was, took it and flipped it and made it into something crazy. And I think that he’s the root of how Detroit music, or Detroit Hip Hop sounds, Dilla. And I see a lot of his influence in a lot of cats over in Europe, like when I get beat CD’s I be like “damn they must be listening to Dilla!”, ‘cause he’s influential like that. On the mixtape, “elMatic” is gonna be like a free download mixtape, tribute mixtape for one of the illest rap albums I’ve ever heard. I plan to do videos for it, just to give the fans something, and after that I’m gonna work on the album. I think I’m gonna title the album “The Feed”, ‘cause that’s what I feel the heads need, they need to be fed. They need to be fed that real shit, and you know, it’s rare that you get that kind of shit. I want to bring it back, not the way it used to be but just how the feeling used to be. ABORT: Thanks so much, it’s been a real honour. www.slumvillage.com

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TECH N9NE

Dave Corvid McCallum: The release of Killer last year marked the sale of one million units as an independent artist. After twenty years making Hip Hop, do you feel vindicated, as though now you ve proved yourself right, that it could be done independent all along? Tech N9ne: Yeah...it could be done independent, but I m trying to do so much more than that. That was a milestone, but it let me know that we got a lot more work to do. We got millions more people to turn on, you know what I m saying? So, that s an incredible feat without video and radio, I m aware, but but we got a lot more people to infect, and that s why this tour is important. ABORT: Do you feel like a spokesman now in that you re inspiring a lot of artists who are considering whether to go the commercial route or to stick to their independent roots? Tech: I think I m really causing some of the major cats to want to do it this way, you nam sizzlin ? To keep their independence, to keep their publishing, that s the thing that really gets you money. ABORT: So Krizz, you ve been onstage with Tech for ten years now, and have just released your second solo album Genius . You ve called your style Funkra to describe the blend of Hip Hop, Funk and Opera, could you talk about the diversity of styles and how that all came from your life experience?

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ABORT Magazine’s Dave”Corvid”McCallum talks backstage at Rock The Bells Vancouver with Kansas City psychopath Tech N9ne and his eccentric partner in crime Krizz Kaliko to discuss independent Hip Hop, musical gumbo, and what’s next for the man with the warpaint.

Krizz: It s like musical gumbo man, it s like...I

call it musically forming Voltron! Funk, Rap, Rock, RnB, Reggae and Opera, I mix them all. And it s just all the music I ve loved all my life man, I ve always loved Opera and Classical Music, I love Hip Hop, I love Country...and I always listen to these records and go Yo, I could do that! . And it s funny man, cause a lot of these styles would come from me and Tech just playing around, we just kidding, and we just sing something like...what was that I was singing at the airport last night? Some-

I m like a clusterfuck of all different types, all in one... Kansas City Missouri! ABORT: So what is the next stage for Tech N9ne? Tech: Taking it to as many stages as we can worldwide and turning more heads. It s sick musically, sick lyrics, and it s got a Rock type energy to it. We re actually assembling a Rock band, Kybosh, and we re currently looking for members, which is hard when you re on the road all the time like we are, but we re work-

The funk is still alive and kicking, and we will be coming to funk you up very soon. thing like cute face but no booty or something, we just be playing around, and it would just turn into a dope song. But you know, I called my album Genius and you can t call your album that and not deliver. It debuted on Billboard at number three in Hip Hop and number fourteen on the RnB chart, so I m doing something right! ABORT: Kansas city has always been known for suporting a strong and diverse music scene, what is it that makes for such a creative environment? Tech: The scene is thick, just like it would be on the East Coast, but it s just a smaller place. We have all different types of styles - if you want Gangster you can find it, if you want Backpack you can find it, if you want Spoken Word you can find it, if you want Hipster you can find it...if you want psycho crazy fucked in the head, come to Tech N9ne!

ing on it. We got a lot of ideas, me and Krizz! We re looking hopefully next year to do something big with Kybosh! ABORT: (to Krizz) Reading your bio, it s clear that with the experiences you ve been through, your music is a big part of your healing and transforming into a different person. Is that something you hope to transmit to your audience? Krizz: Yeah man, I think that letting them in my life...if I had a boring life, they probably wouldn t care. But because my life is interesting...I thought the bad things I went through was just to torture me! But it was twofold - first of all it s therapeutic for me to be able to do the music. Secondly, I know it s interesting enough to draw interest to me. And thirdly (I know, I said two things...), thirdly, it s to help other people, because people are messed up out here! There s a lot of

people that are messed up in the world, and I didn t even really realize that until the last couple of years. There s a lot of people with a lot of emotional and mental problems, and they don t even have an outlet! I got an outlet fortunately, so I gotta use that to entertain people, and to help them. ABORT: (to Tech N9ne) Your music s been featured in film and TV, any acting gigs? Tech: I did a movie recently with the Jackass cats, it s called Lucky Cucumber with me and Preston Lacey. Everybody was there man, Johnny Knoxville, I was on the red carpet with them, it was tight! I ve done a movie with Danny Trejo called Vengeance , y namean? So, I really ain t been on the acting thing though, cause I have a need to be me. I don t really know how to be nobody else. ABORT: Who are some of the new artists on the Strange Music label that you re working with now? Tech: Right next to me, Krizz Kaliko, charting like he did. Big Scoob, coming out in September with Monsterrific , Cut Calhoun s Raw and Uncut . My album K.O.D. coming out in October. Most of all shout out to the fans for putting us where we are today! ABORT: Word! Thanks so much for your time. Tech: Tech N9ne!!! Photo by Scott Alexander

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ABORT: Your tour opens on September 23. Can you tell us a bit about the story behind (the album) 100%? Kid Koala: It was a soundtrack that my buddy Dylan Frombach and I were working on that started about four and a half years ago and we re very happy it s finished (laughs). It s been a real adventure so far, basically. I guess if I had to describe it in terms of feel or in terms of what our mantra was in the studio, it was What would it sound like if Public Enemy s Bomb Squad produced a Black Sabbath album? That was the question we were thinking of and whenever we had a tough decision we would ask ourselves that (laughs). It s kind of a heavier record, it s pretty cool. You may be into it, or not, I don t know (laughs). ABORT: On Wikipedia, it says that the film was a documentary about a Seattle psychedelic band called The Slew lead by a guy named Jack Slew and that your album was cut together from his master tapes. Is that how it went? Kid Koala: We had some source material given to us at the starting point and what my duties were- I was really recruited in for turntables and arrangements of a lot of the parts like, Oh yeah, here s a harmonica bit or cut up piano or move the organ over here. So I would really come in for those layers. As far as making the record, it was really having all that printed out, and what we were doing was having to cut the vinyl and then re-assembling it on a turntable. That s probably why it took so long to actually finish this record. ABORT: Did you have a theme you were going for or one that the material suggested to you?

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Vancouver s Kid Koala is known worldwide as one of the most original, imaginative DJs ever to touch wax. He s toured with DJ Shadow, Radiohead, and Bjork among others and his new tour The Slew ‒ which will feature Myles Heskett and Chris Ross formerly of Wolfmother ‒ opens in Vancouver this September. Kid Koala took the time to speak with ABORT Magazine s Nigel Mojica recently about the upcoming tour, the origins of the album 100% which will be available exclusively on tour, and his beginnings as a turntableist.

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Kid Koala: Well, it was more like we had a loose synopsis of what was going on in the film so we were thinking about ‒ ok, this is the type of music for here or Dylan would hook up a beat that would be good for this kind of scene in the film. But we had a lotta space, y know? There was no budget for it at the time so we had a lot of freedom to just kinda cut the music sort of independently of what was going on there. ABORT: Your upcoming tour The Slew is with Chris and Myles, for-

merly of Wolfmother. How d you hook up with them? Kid Koala: I met them in Montreal when they were on tour a few years back. Dylan actually met them first. He d heard about the band and they were doing their first show in Seattle and Dylan was friends with the club owner who invited him down to the show and that night he went, Actually, Wolfmother don t have anybody to do their lights for them so, would you mind doing the lights for them? This was on their first tour. He was kinda like yeah I ll do lights for them, whatever . He did the lights but he was really blown away by the show and especially by how Chris and Myles were holding it down. So, he was hanging out after the gig and talking to Myles and he was like Hey, how d you like the lights? and Myles was like, Yeah, yeah you did a great job, bla bla bla. So anyways, fast forward a couple weeks, Dylan says Hey, Wolfmother are gonna be in Montreal, you should go check out that show cause it s super heavy. So I went down that afternoon, and they were playing at The National, I think, in Montreal and I went down to go buy a ticket and they were standing outside the club and I said Hey, aren t you guys the band? and they were like yeah and they looked a bit lost. They were kinda like, Is there anywhere to eat around here? (laughs) and I was like, Hey, y know, you play keyboards in the band and there s a really cool vintage keyboard shop here in Montreal and he was like No way! You mind taking us there? so, we kind of hit it off right away in terms of reading music and I think about an hour later Myles is kinda like, Hey, what do you do? and I say I guess I m kind of a DJ. He stopped and looked at me funny and he goes, What s you name? and I say Kid Koala and he said Hey! I was actually at your show in Sydney last year when you were there with RJD2, (laughs) that was a great show. And, as Dylan promised, I checked that show out and they were amazing. Amazing, amazing heavy groove thing in the rock realm. I d never seen a rock show sound so big and move the crowd that way. ABORT: Right. Kid Koala: The way that people were bobbing their heads and stuff, it was like whoa, this could be a hip-hop show. These guys play, y know, breaks

and I don t know what s going on (laughs). But I really liked what I heard. So that was the first time we met and I guess over the next couple of years we crossed paths on tours or we d be at the same festival. I d be in Sydney and Chris would call and we d go get some food, so they kinda heard The Slew from it s pretty early days, but those guys are really busy, and they d always ask Hey, what s up with that Slew record? Is it almost finished? and this and that so when we actually had it done it was time to think about taking it on the road. Dylan and I had kind of our dream team list. Originally we were gonna do it like the record was made, which would ve taken about 16 turntables and 7 DJ s or something. But we were like, No, but wouldn t it be rad if Chris and Myles were, like, on bass and drums? (laughs) But those guys just won a Grammy. But at one point it was Y know we should just ask em, throw it out there so last time I was in Sydney I see Chris and say Hey, that Slew record s finally done. He said, It s about time! ... I was like Yeah, if you guy s aren t doing anything maybe we should do some gigs together. You guys can play bass and drums and we do the turntable parts on top... all the oboes and harmonicas. And he s like, Yeah, that sounds cool! but they had their new project starting...so I was like, Don t worry about it. But he was like Y know, give is a call because we re gonna take a break from the studio and the new project and if we re taking that break when you re trying to line up that tour maybe we could come on down. I couldn t believe it, yknow...SHUT UP! Really? And it just turned out that it overlapped perfectly. All of a sudden, y know, life just started moving really quickly. ABORT: It s a good thing you asked.. Kid Koala: Yeah! Y know, sometimes you just ask (laughs). These dudes are like, playing Maddison Square Garden. Who d be interested in rockin with DJ s? Really? But they heard the record and they re just super down for it.

Kid Koala: Huh (pause) well, I guess it would be, like, all animal-people. ABORT: Animal people? Kid Koala: Yeah, y know like Kid Koala, Cat Power. Cat Power and Kid Koala would be funny. With maybe Snoop Dogg and... I don t know. I m missing somebody aren t I? There s gotta be other people. Silver Starling (laugs). There s a million wolf bands aren t there? Aids Wolf. Wolf parade... You know, I never thought of that. I always thought of myself as an outsider (laughs). That s just weird. We can t really make music with that guy. It would be awesome to play with Tom Waits and Thelonious Monk. That would just be like...whoa. I d probably stop playing and just watch em. That s a fun question. It s kinda like fantasy football but with bands. ABORT: As a fellow Canadian of Asian parentage, I m curious, what did it take to sell your parents on a career as a DJ? Kid Koala: Y know, for the longest time they thought it was just a rebellious phase cause scratching was something I started doing when I was 12. When you re in that awkward teenage phase and you ve gotta get into something, for some people it s sports and other people it s skateboards and for me it was DJ-ing, y know. Turntables and scratching. So they always thought it was just a phase. Ah, you know, he ll grow out of it. (big laugh) It s 20 years later now isn t it? This is a long phase. ABORT:Thank you so much for speaking with us! The Slew tour opens in Vancouver on September 23; we re all looking forward to it. Kid Koala: Alright! Thank you.

Photo by Jamie Sands

ABORT: So, you ve been in some supergroups, while we re talking about bands coming together. You ve worked with Mike Patton, Dan The Automator, Del and many others. If you could put together a dream band, what would be the line-up?

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CHLOE SEVIGNY Amidst the sweltering heat of a sunny Vancouver afternoon, ABORT Magazine’s keen eyed Grimm Culhane shares some words with the Oscar nominated “Queen of Contemporary Independent Cinema” Chloë Sevigny. What better way of whiling away the time could there possibly be than to saunter along Robson Street in search of the perfect pair of shoes? Grimm: Chloë! Chloë: Hi! Grimm: Welcome to Vancouver, good to see you. Chloë: Thanks, I’ve been here lots of times. Grimm: What’s your favourite thing about Vancouver Chloë: I like the beach and Stanley Park. I’m heading there now, its so fucking hot today! Grimm: (Laughs) Yeah, it sure is. Its good to see you Chloe. Chloë: Thanks, you too. Bye! Then, just as the moment had seemingly passed and all opportunity for a torrid love affair the likes of which you only read about in history books had supposedly been lost, she stopped, turned and without a moment’s hesitation she… By Grimm Culhane Photo by Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

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