Digital Illustration by Matt Wiggins of wiggins-design.com
It’s 11:55am on August 14th, and I am mildly disappointed. The weather at the Washington County Fairgrounds is cloudy and muggy. Many of the acts are wondering why it looks like it is going to rain in the middle of August. But for Seattle based act Grieves and Budo, this is home. They are opening up on the Skullcandy stage, demanding everyone’s attention as they enter the grounds by putting on an energetic performance. One thing that stood out for me was the fact that in between songs, amongst thanking everyone for coming and the usual filler, Grieves also told stories. It’s like a window into the music. He encourages you to enjoy yourself and be a part of the music. It is the duo’s first time on the warped tour, but they performed like seasoned veterans.
This being my first time seeing the two live, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I heard stories about them before ever hearing their music. “Man these 2 white dudes are killing it!! One flows tight and the other plays the trumpet!” It sparked my interest enough to listen to it. After listening I wanted more. When I found out they were playing Warped tour, I knew I wanted to arrive early enough to be able to see for myself what goes down at a Grieves and Budo show. Between Grieves’ ability to ignite the crowd and draw you in with the way he rhymes, and Budo in the background, in a pile of instruments ranging from an Electric guitar to a keyboard (and yes, he even had the trumpet there) you cannot help but to stop and see what’s going on–and damn good hip hop is what’s going on.
I was lucky enough to catch up with the duo, talk about how their first warped experience was and why kids are always trying to rap battle Grieves.
Thank you so much for sitting down with me today… we are huge fans of you guys at WOHM
Grieves: Oh yeah, We Out Here, Kid Espi runs that.
Haha yeah, he’s my boss, and unfortunately he couldn’t be here today, or I am sure he’d be here as well. He recently posted a video interview of you guys on the site about this tour, so now that are we are at the end of the warped tour, how was it?
Budo: Fucking Great!
Grieves: It’s been really good man. We didn’t know what to expect when we came into this because neither of us had ever been to a Warped Tour and we had to go off of what other people told us. It’s been the kind of experience where, we’re out here and we have been getting new fans because a lot of our fans aren’t here. Fans have come out, but predominately we’re making fans out of people who listen to like, A day to Remember… and listen to all these other bands, who don’t listen to hip hop, and who would avoid it if they were in a record store. Since they are out here, and they are in-between sets and on their way they catch us playing, and they find themselves actually liking it and enjoying the music. We get to be their introduction, to this world that is hip hop and the Rhymesayers crew. It’s been not only beneficial experience for us, but also for everyone that stands with us too, because I think Rhymesayers knew exactly what they were doing when they put us out here on the road. I think that although it’s not on a massive scale, and we’re not dragging out 4,000 people a day, it’s a slow burn, but it’s a steady, slow burn.
Budo: Those 2-300 kids that we literally would have never been able to play in front of, in any other setting… those kids are fans that are a unique collection of people. It’s people who like, Of Mice & Men, people who love A Day to Remember, and all that stuff. We have now, traveled the country for the past 2 months, collecting this whole new group of people, and it’s exciting. It’s a very exciting thing.
I think that people can appreciate the fact that, there is an intensity and a genuine passion when you are up there performing. The way you connected with the crowd and it wasn’t like you were just up there rhyming and they were just listening… you got them involved with it as well. Especially since it’s your first time out on this tour, its impressive how many people are connecting like that with you. It was pretty dope to witness.
Grieves: Well, throughout all the touring that we have done, Budo and I have found a way to plug into the audience. We create our show to do that. So I am glad that it has worked.
So, do any of the fans or kids ever come up and try to, “battle” you or call you out for a freestyle?
Grieves: Yeah, like every once in a while, like the other day, this kid came up to the tent and was like “LETS BATTLE!!!”, and I was like”… no.”. I’m not 16 years old anymore, and to be honest, competing with you is the farthest thing from what I want to be doing with you. If I am sitting in my own personal space, and someone comes up to me and randomly “rap-attacks” me? I’d be more likely to slap a person than to battle against them. It can just be really annoying. It’s not that I don’t like participating in art with people, but that’s not what that is–when you just roll up on somebody and call em out. I didn’t grow up in that world. I’m not like that, I would never do that to you, so if you’re going to just roll up on me, I might as well just slap you. Of course you can’t slap anyone, and they’re young and they think that’s what they need to do to and they try to freestyle against me and then they want me to help put out their next record. See, it’s movies man and how rap has been portrayed to be like “you are the shit, you are better than everyone else,” and these are on kid’s first songs and they are talking about being the best rapper. They’re not. Actually, as it stands, you are the worst. This is your first song.
Budo: And to be fair, that kid knows he is not the best rapper, but he thinks that the way to make good, effective music is to posture like that. What Grieves has done an amazing job of, as a writer, is writing about things that are real. From the most humorous songs to the most heartfelt shit, he is never going to step into a character. Not to hijack what was a funny question, but I think that actually speaks to his approach as a musician, and something that is lost a lot, because there is a sense that hip hop is about proving that you have the biggest testicles. And they are people who are good at that and at battling, but that isn’t us.
Grieves: Yeah, I don’t make diss tracks, you aren’t going to see me ‘Grindtiming.’ You aren’t going to see me doing any of that. Honestly, I am not good at that kind of stuff. That is not what I have spent the last 10 years perfecting. I spent that time learning how to write and compose music. So I can careless about battling.
Definitely! And I respect that you guys take that approach. What can we expect from you guys in the future?
Budo: We are going on a headlining run starting in the middle of September; dates are going to be up on Rhymesayers.com on 8/17. It’s going to be from the West coast, through Canada, Mid-west and then we are going to Europe for 3 weeks with Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Blueprint and Evidence. Then we are coming back to America to do even more shows here.
Any parting words for the fans?
Grieves: Thanks for coming out to the warped tour, thank you to all the old fans that got us to this point, and thanks to the new fans that are jumping on the boat. I look forward to all the things to come and to see you guys there, we have the Rhymesayers powerhouse tour in Europe and a ton of shows here for everyone to be a part of.
The previous description of ”two white dudes killing” it isn’t nearly enough to accurately describe it. I am definitely looking forward to seeing them again and you guys should pick up Grieves’ album “together/apart” and visit www.rhymesayers.com for all info regarding these guys and tour info.
Below are the tour dates…
09.16 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret**
09.18 – Edmonton, AB @ Brixx**
09.19 – Calgary, AB @ HIFI Club**
09.21 – Saskatoon, CA @ Amigos**
09.22 – Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret**
09.23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater*
09.24 – Duluth, MN @ University of MN Duluth
09.25 – Madison, WI @ The Frequency
09.26 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
09.27 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
09.28 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
09.29 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
09.30 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s Oasis
10.01 – Sioux Falls, SD @ The Red Eye
10.02 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
10.03 – Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
10.05 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
10.06 – Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
10.07 – Durango, CO @ The Abbey Theatre
10.11 – Jackson, WY @ Q Roadhouse
10.12 – Billings, MT @ Manny’s
10.13 – Missoula, MT @ Top Hat
10.14 – Boise, ID @ The Reef
10.15 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
10.17 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
10.18 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
10.19 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Chaser’s
10.20 – West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour
10.23 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brewing
10.24 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium
10.25 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill
10.26 – Sparks, NV @ The Alley
10.28 – Bellingham, WA @ Wild Buffalo
* without Prof / **without The MC Type