SICK SYMPHONIES (June 2005) | Interview By: SGV

      Dubcnn.com hooked up with Sick Symphonies for an exclusive interview. Sick Symphonies is Sick Jacken and DJ FM of Psycho Realm and Crow and Cynic of Street Platoon. The 4 emcee/producers sat down with Dubcnn and broke down the new album, how they all four of them met, their “situation” with B-Real back in the day, their influences and much more. They also give insight into what Duke, the member of Psycho Realm and Jack’s brother, has been up to, since he was shot a few years back in Los Angeles. We have the video available for you. Please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: sgv@dubcnn.com

Huge thanks to Sick Symphonies for taking time out to answer the questions fans wanted to know. (Interview was done by camcorder in June 2005)


Watch the interview by clicking below:

Sick Symphonies Dubcnn Video Interview (50MB, High Speed)

Watch exclusive show footage of Sick Symphonies by clicking below:

Sick Symphonies Exclusive Performance Footage (160MB, High Speed)

..........................................................................................
 

dubcnn.com: Let’s talk about some of the new stuff you guys have going on with the Mixtape.

Jack: Well it started out as an idea to do a Mixtape, [but] when the market starting getting saturated with them, when we got in the studio, actually started creating it, it just ended just being an album. It went from starting out and doing a promotional mixtape over other peoples beats, to us just having beats and saying well, "let’s do a song to this, and let’s do a song to that." So it actually became an album, a record. It features Psycho Realm and Street Platoon together on a record, it's the newest project we got.

Crow: We were actually going to do 2 mixtapes rappin’ over other peoples beats. A West coast one and then there was going to be a East coast one, but like what Jack was saying, we just decided to go the other way and actually just record a new album.

dubcnn.com: So this is all new songs?

Crow: All new songs.

Jack: All original music.

dubcnn.com: All original, is it like the same style as maybe Book 1 or Book 2 or going back from the past?

Crow: Mix of both, mix of Street Platoon sound and Psycho Realm sound.

Jack: I mean the difference is that the Psycho Realm projects I produced like 95% of it. This one is produced by all of us. I only have 3 tracks on the record; FM has 2, Crow has a couple and Cynic has the rest of it. TRT has 1.

dubcnn.com: Oh wow you guys brought it back with TRT…

Jack: TRT still around ya know.

dubcnn.com: I've been seeing him at a lot of shows.

Jack: He's all over.

Cynic: TRT is part of the Drug Lab.

dubcnn.com: And the Drug Lab is?

Jack: A production team.

dubcnn.com: And what about Sick Symphonies?

Jack: Sick Symphonies is our label. What we did with this record was Sick Symphonies presents: Psycho Realm and Street Platoon on one record. When that accident happened with my brother, these guys started helping me doing all the shows. So for the last 6, 7 years we been doing shows together. We decided to just finally put it on record, do an actual record together, as opposed to just doing a combined Psycho Realm, Street Platoon show.

dubcnn.com: How did you meet up with Street Platoon?

Jack: I've known Cynic since he was a kid running wild on the streets of Pico Union. And Crow I met when we were teenagers through Transcend from Global City. He used to go to school with him and that's how I met Crow. FM we met cause he was down here staying with B-Real for a little bit trying to launch the Black Havana Project. We ended up just kidnapping him and taking him on tour.

dubcnn.com: So is it maybe when after what happened to Duke, is that when you got more involved with Street Platoon?

Jack: Well Street Platoon, we were always doing shit together. We're the kind of group that likes to keep a group a group. So Psycho Realm, we never had features on it. They only came on a song or 2 and they did the same shit with their album. So we always gave them the freedom to do, or they always had the freedom and ability to do, their own record. So the only reason we became more involved together is because now we’re doing the touring and all that.

dubcnn.com: What did you see in Street Platoon that, I mean not so much to put down other artists, but what did you in Street Platoon that you brought them in as a family, as a group?

Crow: Cause we're not that good ya know…

Jack: There's a bunch of different characteristics that we look for. Number 1 of course is talent, skill, you got to have a certain strength. You got to have a certain ability to carry yourself and not be dependent, because we don't want to baby-sit no body. When Crow came and approached me, after me knowing that he rhymed and everything, he never wanted to show me anything till he was ready. So one day he came, brought a tape, brought a song that he produced and he recorded he just brought it to me and was like “look check this out.” The song was ridiculous, he has his own voice, his own style, he could make a beat, he could rhyme, his content, everything was on point.

So I mean that's the kind of thing that we look for. Even Cynic was working with my brother, so my brother obviously saw the same potential in him. We introduced them and they started doing their thing, they could take care of themselves. I don't want to take care of nobody. The same time a lot of people give us demos and want to be down and everything. A lot of times music ain't that good, a lot of times music is good but we just don't have anything to offer anybody right now. It's just this is the only group we took just because we've known them for along time, and it wasn't even like we took them and signed them or anything it was just like, “ey check it out we got the studios, you guys do you thing, whatever you guys need from us it's all good, we got shows you guys come perform,” but that was it.

dubcnn.com: Let's talk about the Black Havana Tribe, is that something new?

DJ F.M: Basically it's a project that I'm trying to put together. Me, Jack, both of our vocals and production mixed with live instrumentation mix. It's more of a Rock project, it's a live influence thing, live drums, live guitar, bass all that. It's a little bit different than anything we've done in the past. It's heavy and hard…

dubcnn.com: Is that including Street Platoon too?

DJ F.M: Yeah All of us, any and all of us.

Jack: We are all Emcee's, we're all producers so we all have projects that are just like ideas.

Cynic: We Produce on each others album, feature on each others album, whatever we can do. I'll have a beat that would sound dope for his project, that would be dope for his shit, however it works. We have a good ear for shit, so it's like, that can go for that right there and stuff. So we help each other out whatever way we can. No egos and no fucken how much am I gonna get out of it, none of that shit.

Crow: We all know we have projects we want to do and put together. We have the Street Platoon album, Black Havana album, Jack wants to do a Spanish album we got all these side projects. We just don't make beats, if I make something… Cause the way we work is concept based and we look for certain sounds for our albums. Jack might be wanting a certain sound for his album and I might produce something that sounds like it would fit his album, so it's passed on to him, it's how we work together.

dubcnn.com: Let's talk about Street Platoon for a minute.

Crow: We are working on pre-production of [the new album] right now. Like I said we are trying to go for a certain sound so it takes a little bit longer cause we been, before we had a chance to record this album, we were building our studio. And it took us a couple years to do, so we really didn't have a studio to record in. We were focusing on building it and we actually built it ourselves, with our hands. And we did everything painting, drywall, everything so that took a lot of time. And then we got into this new album that we did together and now we're focusing on. We finished that, and now we are working on the Street Platoon album which is just in pre-production beats.

dubcnn.com: Just getting it together right now

Crow: Yeah trying to get the right sound for this album, the last album was really dope to us but this album we're really trying for that classic type album.

dubcnn.com: Even though it's in pre-production…

Crow: Even though it's in pre-production, we got the concepts there and the beats, it's just trying to get it to line out right.

dubcnn.com: Let’s talk bout also with El Chavo y El Ferruco.

Jack: El Chavo y El Ferruco is a Spanish project that I'm doing with Joe, who's an original member of Psycho Realm. And we kind of put that hold while we were doing the Sick Symphonies record. So that's kind of still on hold right now…

dubcnn.com: Lets talk about B-Real, I know you performed with him at the Vault, and I know people were shocked, I know I was, at X-Mas in the Hood.

Jack: People were shocked when we brought him out at the Knitting Factory.

dubcnn.com: Did that bring back like memories or flashbacks when you guys were on stage?

Jack: I mean in a way, but at the Knitting Factory I didn't really get to perform with him like it was in Long Bong. Knitting Factory was his first time coming out with us and I don't know if he figured, I mean he didn't know if he was going to be accepted or not, ya know. So he wasn't really there as much as he was in Long Beach, when we came out and a did song. When Cynic came out and did a song with him, and then we did “Psycho City Blocks” with him. He was more into it then cause he was more comfortable but I mean it was just, it's just he's doing his own solo stuff now. He did his mixtape, we did a couple songs on the mixtape. Cynics featured on one, I'm featured on one, B-Real’s new mixtape.

dubcnn.com: Gunslingers.

Jack: Yeah, that's how we been doing the shows, kinda helping him promote his mixtape.

dubcnn.com: Let's talk a little bit about B-Real, I mean we all know in music or any industry there's always going to be talk. I mean since I've been a fan for a long time it's always, B-Real this and B-Real that. Can you set the story straight, I know he's not here to share his side…

Jack: Yeah, we never made the story with him public cause it was really nobodies business, but a lot of people go and make their own stories up, do the whole beef issue and all that. There was a point when he had to do his Cypress stuff and that's why me and my brother kinda dropped off of Sony we decided, “ey look you go ahead and do the Cypress thing and let us do our shit.” So we went independent and did Book 1 and Book 2. B-Real did a track on Book 1 but Book 2 was all us, so it was kind of we wanted to establish ourselves as ourselves. And not have people say this is the Cypress Hill family or this the Cypress Hill camp.

We wanted to be Psycho Realm and Psycho Realm only, we don't want to ride nobodies coat tails but that’s the way it is when you’re with a label and a big artist is on your record. They are going to want to push it and push it. And for a while there we just did our own thing and it's only till recently that he stopped doing the Cypress thing. And now he's doing the Solo thing and he's like “hey ya want to do this mixtape with me, wanna do this, let's do some shows.”

dubcnn.com: He has more freedom basically.

Jack: He has more freedom to do stuff.

dubcnn.com: Is he still on the label or is he doing it Indie?

Jack: I think he's off of his deal with the label. That's why he has more freedom now because when we went independent, and we were trying to do other things, the label wouldn't give him permission to do shit either. So it was a lot of stuff involved but it's not, everybody thinks, a lot of our fans kind of turned and picked sides were either like “fuck B-Real” or “fuck Psycho Realm.”

dubcnn.com: So there was no beef.

Jack: Naw.

dubcnn.com: There wasn't at all. We'll get back to B-Real but lets talk a little bit bout Duke, after his unfortunate accident and all that shit, Is Duke still active?

Jack: Duke's paralyzed from the neck down but he does, he runs the website he makes sure that every things cool on the website. Ya know a lot of the shit on the website is kind of, I don't know if it's slow, I don't really get on the website, but a lot of people on the street tell me "what's up with this, put some new pictures, put some new that." And it's like he can't do shit as fast as a normal person but he does what he can. Like I said earlier he's trying to get back into recording and do all that stuff.

dubcnn.com: Any new vocals we can ever hear on future tracks maybe?

Jack: There's some stuff but it's not, I mean…

dubcnn.com: Concrete?

Jack: Yeah, nothings happening right now with that. I have a Spanish verse on him I have a couple other things on him, but I don't, he's trying to do something new. So I’m letting him, see what he's going to do with that.

dubcnn.com: So he's in good condition for his state?

Jack: He's healthy yeah, he's trying to have a kid. He's living his life.

DJ F.M: He gots something in the works.

dubcnn.com: Going to be sick?

Crow: Of course.

dubcnn.com: Comeback or something? He never left…

Jack: He deals with his situation how he can. And I think he's a strong person just for the fact how he takes it and deals with his life everyday. Sometimes you take it for granted, what you do on daily basis. You see somebody, and he's my brother, so I'll go to his house and I'll leave and I'll come and I'll go, come and go, and never really. I look at him like he's my brother so I take it for granted but sometimes I'll sit there and hear my mom talk about what he has to go through. And he has to go through a lot of shit everyday surviving so he's doing good for being in the situation that he's in.

dubcnn.com: Does he ever produce?

Jack: He's working on something, last I talked to him he was working on writing something, he's trying to write either a movie or a book. He's trying to do a record that he's trying to executive produce and he asked all of us for tracks. Then he picked the tracks, and let me come up with the concepts and me write the hook. I'll have my little brother rap it how I want it and then you guys just run with it. So he's trying to have that be his project, let me do the concept, let me direct the album and you guys just be there to help me out. So he has ideas and he has things, but he just needs to get on it and do it.

dubcnn.com: Everybody asks about him and all our prayers are with him, he's definitely a living legend to a lot of us.

Jack: It's all appreciated.

dubcnn.com: How was it after his unfortunate accident, did you still think you could carry on the name Psycho Realm?

Jack: Naw, there is no Psycho Realm without Duke, ya know Book 2, the only reason I put out Book 2, was because he was on me to put it out, there wasn't going to be Book 2.

dubcnn.com: The release party for it…

Jack: He was there, and it was like, I mean it wasn't going to go on. To this day I won’t put out a Psycho Realm record just because he's not going to be on it. He's 50% of the group, so without him there ain't no Psycho Realm. I'll move on and do something else… As far as carrying the name, naw! Back to the same shit, it's not Psycho Realm without him. So I’m just going to do what I can do and keeping with my music and lucky for me I got these dudes with me.

dubcnn.com: So would you be still called Psycho Realm or Sick Jacken of Psycho Realm?

Jack: I don't know. I mean when I get to a solo project if I ever do one I'll think about it, I don't know what I'm going to do yet.

DJ F.M: Ya know the interesting thing about this album is that it seems like the labels approach us kind of like we're Sick Symphonies as a group, we're as we said it's actually a label that Jack put together.

Jack: We put together.

dubcnn.com: And that's Indie right?

DJ F.M: Yeah, but they are looking at it like since we all 4 produce, 4 emcee, we all 4 put this album together. It's almost a new group as all of us, we all have different backgrounds, different influences musically, as well. So you can tell my beats sound more like some Rock or PortisHead, European thing. His is, you already know the Psycho Realm/Street Platoon. So it's a mesh of all these things. So we're kind of putting it out like it is a new group, we are, this is a new thing between all of us. We have all thrown into it, even TRT. So it's an equal balance of all our elements, it's pretty cool.

dubcnn.com: I think that's dope.

DJ F.M: Sick Side Stories.

Sick Side. Where did the Sick Side come from anyways?

Jack: Sick Side was a just a term we use to use to not be thrown in with the whole politics of the gang issue. The minute you start saying South Side you start getting into the politics of people trying to tax you, and this and that. So we just said Sick Side and Sick Side kind of stuck. It's like a universal issue where people to identify themselves in that way coming from whatever neighborhood their coming from.

dubcnn.com: Being that you guys are from, to me I think and anybody else, you guys kind of put Pico Union, that’s Downtown L.A. that’s the heart right there practically. So is that where your influences and your styles of like Book 1, Book 2 the whole War theory with songs like “Enemy of the State?”

Jack: Yeah that was the concept that Duke had, was the whole war story thing. We had like, I don't know how many, songs recorded for that. And it got to be too many songs for the story that he wanted to tell that we just ended up dividing it into 2 records. But yeah all of our stories are from our neighborhood, we don't really talk about anything that we are not to familiar with or we didn't go through or people around us didn't go through. Pico Union is definitely an influence and that's where we came from, so at the same time just on the whole Hip Hop thing, we just wanted to put our city on the map.

dubcnn.com: Lets take it back a little bit to with you guys were first called Natural Herb, Chicano Pride.

Jack: Those are just, ya know, you start coming through with a bunch of different names. Chicano Pride was a thing that when we started doing shows… It was just me and Ferruco right, my partner. We were about 14 and we started doing shows, because my brother used to go to CSUN. Duke used to go to CSUN, and he was talking to some broad that was in MECHA and all that. So when they started saying they needed groups or acts to perform, he started throwing us in the mix, without us even wanting or even thinking of doing it on stage or anything. And that's how we started. So when they asked us for a name my brother put Chicano Pride, because it was relevant to what they were doing. And when it finally came time to think of a real name is when we came out with Psycho Realm and that was like few years after.

dubcnn.com: And the whole Psycho?

Jack: Yeah Psycho was just, I mean the way we went about it was when we were thinking of a name, at that time, everybody that was hitting was crew, posse, tribe all these little words to describe their crew. Me just being a brainiac and reading, I told my brother Realm. And as soon as I said Realm, he said “Psycho .”

dubcnn.com: Who are your influences?

Jack: My influences? Aside from just being in the studio and having these younger guys coming up with dope shit, that I don't want to stay behind, is as far as music goes…

dubcnn.com: Who did you grow up listening to, who influences you?

Jack: The music I grew up listening to was because my dad, while he was drinking with his homeboys use to pay money to run his turn table. So I grew up listening to everything from Spanish music to Funk to Rock, to The Beatles to everything. There wasn't nothing I didn't hear. I mean I didn't listen to Country or Classical music, just because my dad wasn't into that kind of crazy shit, but I listened to everything. When I started listening to my own music, I got into the whole old soul thing. That's really mainly what I listen to now, old Soul, old Rock old Hip Hop. I like the old shit, I like the classic shit. I like the shit that sticks for more than 10 years cause it's sticking for some reason, but that's what mainly my influence is. I like the old, I like people that structure their music right, people that have concepts. I like albums, I don't like singles.

dubcnn.com: Who do you guys listen to?

Crow: Everything, same thing Jack was saying about growing up with your parents and just putting different records on. It stuck with you and I think it stuck with all of us. And then when we got into like making beats, me and this guy, we'd go to like Downtown and we'd just find crates of records for like 10, 20 bucks. And just by listening to all that, it developed us into listening to everything and trying to figure out how other musicians did their music… And trying to turn that into our music. So it went from Classical to whatever we would find. Music from Middle East, music from Soul, Classic Rock too. So the way we programmed ourselves was that anything we hear is sampled first before we enjoy it. We would be listening to something and be like, “let's sample that, let's sample that,” that's just how it is. T.V., we hear some background music in a movie, let's rent that movie so we can take that off that movie. That's just how we think and that's what influenced us. Just by everything that's around us, instead of seeing it and letting it pass by, we pay attention to everything cause we might be able to use it in our music.