So...a quick recap of last weekend's shows. Thursday, KON Sci-myself, was a part of a beat expo put on by none other then HitchaOff/ Louis T. The speakers were blessed by production from D Allen, LO, D1, Technique, and DJ Pedo. Though the night was some what confusing and disorganized, there was a nice little turnout and it was a good opportunity for beat makers to build. Definitely got new perspectives from other producers that specialize in various stylings...and caught love for my ear drum crushing boom bap instrumentals. If you were paying close enough attention you might have even caught a freestyle about what I ate for dinner the previous night, while the holmeboy D Allen was blazing his material. Peace to 16 Tapps/Louis T/NorthCack clothing and all who came out to support....
On to Saturday night at The Soapbox....Haji P was in town from the left coast to celebrate his new album "Neighborhood Kid". Big Hop and Hooks went on first, and showcased songs from their new project "Local Celebrity Status" (the link to this free project is on our site...just scroll down a little bit...don't be afraid). Of course they got busy...although the soundman had their mics low and beats knocking. Nothing to get violent about----YET. Addictive Nature got the party going with their set, and of course the sound was still off balance. MindsOne hits the stage immediately after Addictive Nature's set....upon grabbing the microphones during our introduction, the chords were tangled like a steel pulse dreadlock and none of them were even plugged in...Soundman--No Where In Sight!! MindsOne being the professionals that were are, hooked the mics in, untangled the chords the best we could, and kicked rhymes with no delay. The sound levels sucked...nothing else needed to be said about that. Both mics were cutting in and out during the set. Luckily, we saved our set with a fresstyle session on that super scientific. During the set, I might have made a couple jabs at the soundman, who was at his post about 50% of the time. Haji P then hits the stage and does what he does best...rock a party. Although, even the man of the hour had crumby sound. Peace to Dundee for hosting and keeping it moving throughout the night........
Onto the title of this blog entry...SoundMen get your heads right! MindsOne is not on any premadonna BS. We are very humble and easy to work with...I think. Peace to all the soundmen out there that grind hard and work WITH the bands/artists. O Dollar, Danny, Chuck...we appreciate you fellas and all that you do.
...but the new/fill in soundman at The Soapbox had a serious problem.
At the end of the night, I walk up to him to shake his hand just to show it was all water under the bridge. He proceeds to look at my hand like it was a dog turd on a biscuit. I then ask in a calm manner, "you got a problem?"---he replies, "Yea, you were talking sh!t about me on stage". I loose it on this cat, apesh!t, for about 10 minutes in front of about 20 people who just happened to still be chilling at the end of the night. He proceeded to say he has done sound for us before and I called him out then...keep in mind, I am now in kimbo slice mode and I just want to punch this dude's jaw clean off his chin. My reputation at the Soapbox is already on shakey grounds...so I just proceeded to verbally bash him, instead of dismantling his eye sockets. At the end of this exchange, I am openly calling him a scumbag and he walks towards me like something is about to pop off. He holds his hand out and says, "maybe next time we should both be better prepared"--because we missed soundcheck?!?! F*ck outta here...what does sound check have to do mics cutting in and out, dreadlocked mic chords, and him not being behind the boards. hmmmmm.
I then clown him, old school snap style, as he walks out of the venue.
moral of the story...shake my hand if I hold it out to you, busters!...and, during performances we are all here to have a good time, showcase skill, and make money. We are on the same team, but we also personally hold people accountable when they don't do their job...SoundMen TO!-KON
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The truth spoken above. Sound men get garaunteed loot no matter how well they do the job. The artists are getting crumbs depending on how many people come out to see them perform. You think horrible sound makes people wanna come to another event? Thats negatively effecting the artist right there. What reprecussions does the sound man face? Relatively none since demand is high but supply low (supply of quality dudes aka "sound engineers" is superlow). They think they're untouchable or something. Way we see it, getting called out in public is a risk they should have to face. The artist is putting their reputation on the line everytime they get on stage and so should the sound man. Tips for soundmen at a MindsOne show. Plug the mics in. If your cord/mic connection is sloppy loose, bring electrical tape and use it to make sure the cords dont slip out of the mic. Untangle mics between sets, hiphop vocalists dont use mic stands or stay stationary. Onstage monitors should assist the performer not make it impossible to hear whats going on. Put a little beat into it, add a little vocal into it. Don't just try and blast as much into it as possible, this is not a hardcorerockshow. HipHop is a mainly vocal art (peaceDJs), people want to understand the words coming out of the emcees mouth. We might just have to start putting the soundman's name on our fliers so that everyone knows who to come complain to or congratulate. Dont be a professional at messing it up. NUFFSAID
-Tronic
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