The Scribes Kamikazi Airlines Signing Interview
The Scribes have been one of my favourite homegrown collectives since seeing them at a gig supporting Jehst! All of their releases brought something fresh to the table with lucid wordplay, thought provoking subject matter, head nodding beats and a wide range of influences. Due to their hard work they have recently been signed to Kamikazi Airlines Records founded in 2007 and co-owned by Dizzy Dustin of legendary hip hop act Ugly Ducking! We've recently caught up with The Scribes to get an exclusive interview! Check it out below and make sure to get a copy of The Sky Is Falling for free download Here.
First up Congratulations on signing to Kamikazi Airlines Records, how about some history of how that came about?
JONNY: Thanks very much! We've been fortunate enough to rock a few stages supporting Ugly Duckling over the last few years when they've visited the UK. Talking with them after shows has always been real cool and Dizzy had mentioned that he'd be interesting in getting us on board whilst he was setting up his label. We got talking about our scenes and how we could realistically progress our music. We reached a common understanding with no bullshit necessary and it made perfect sense to join with Kamakazi.
LACEY: Yeah, we were lucky enough to support UD a fair few times, I've been an avid fan of what they do for many years since “Eye On The Gold Chain"! I guess luckily they like what we do, and that's how it came about..
KENNY: Like the guys said, we supported Ugly Duckling a few times and Dizzy fancied Shaun so he decided he wanted to sign us!
SHAUN: I am pretty irresistible..... No, it's been a while coming, what with all the legal stuff that comes with contracts, I never even knew we had a lawyer until the contract arrived! But now it's all set we're chuffed to bits. They've done releases with some real legends like Dilated Peoples and RA The Rugged Man, so for us to be on the roster is unbelievable! Hopefully it'll mean big things for The Scribes and for everyone who enjoys what we do, and will certainly get us heard by a much bigger audience!
Does this mean you'll be hitting up a couple of states to perform, perhaps with Ugly Ducking?
KENNY: I would hope so!
LACEY: I hope so too! All I know is it's a very exciting time for us right now and we shall see what the future brings with all this..
JONNY: We've definitely got a lot in the pipeline, especially in the live show department. We're well known for our energetic live shows more than pushing CD's and as Dizzy's caught our show on a few occasions, we're going to be bringing our sound to the people home and abroad as much as possible.
SHAUN: It's early days yet but taking The Scribes over to the US is definitely something us and the label are keen on doing as soon as possible, will be really interesting to see how our sound goes down over there!
What does signing to Kamikazi Airlines mean to The Scribes?
KENNY: I think it elevates us to a level where people will take us seriously it terms of artistry as opposed to being mistaken for a group that does it part time or for a hobby.
LACEY: Well its our first big signing and the fact that it's a state side label ran by peeps we hold in high regard is epic! Something I’m sure my fellow Scribes will agree with me on is that whatever the outcome we're glad they took a chance on us being their first UK signing, it's like our first step through the door.
JONNY: Since we've started The Scribes way back, we've been very independent in acquiring gigs, promotion and releases without the use of agents for the most part. We've also been performing long enough to understand the risk/reward factor that independent can have as we've had offers before. To us it means we can focus more on making the music and working on new live show material instead of shoehorning an agent role to fit our work ethic.
SHAUN: I totally agree with all that. It takes us to the next level and immediately lets people know how far we've come and how professional we are, and as Jonny mentioned, it takes a lot of weight of our shoulders in terms of the stuff that comes outside of the music/performance, things like bookings, press, admin. It's what we've been working hard to attain for years now and to finally be in a position where all we have to worry about is making good music and bringing great performances is absolutely amazing!
We see you dropped The Sky Is Falling to celebrate, can you sum up what listeners can expect from the LP?
KENNY: Banging beats and Shaun's sweet soft angel voice.
SHAUN: Ha! My sweet angel voice is a highlight for anyone! Seriously though, the LPs a few years old now but we're still really proud of it as a piece of work. With production from myself and DJ SpinZ it covers a lot of ground musically and serves as a great introduction to what we do! Our style of hip hop really doesn't have any comparisons so it's hard to explain it, probably best to let the music speak for it's self! So, if you've not already got a copy, go and get one now from Kamikazi Airlines totally free, I don't think you'll regret it. Hopefully!
The Scribes | Rain Dance
Make sure to get a copy of The Sky Is Falling for free download by clicking Here
If you had the chance to tour with any hip hop act, who would it be?
JONNY: I think with UD, obviously, and our last support tour would have been with Akil from J5, and they've all been down to earth, humble dudes. With that in mind, touring with someone you look up to can ruin your childhood if they turn out to be a dick. Long story short, I hope Pharoahe Monch isn't a dick!
KENNY: For me it'd be K-os, Mackelmore, Kendrick Lamar or Sade.
LACEY: Again, over the years we have been lucky to share the same stage with acts that i still respect and listen to now, name drop time, such as MF Doom, the GZA, Foreign Beggars, Macklemore, Ugly Duckling, Blak Twang, Akil and Hieroglyphics to name but a few, so in light of that I'd say anyone but they best be cool to hang with!
SHAUN: I really enjoyed supporting Macklemore, I became a big fan the first night we saw him live, and there's some people we've performed with, like Ugly Duckling, De La Soul, GZA and MF Doom that I just wouldn't have believe we'd ever get to meet, let alone do gigs with! Out of everyone we've not had the chance to play with I'd say Cypress Hill, just for the back stage smoke ups!
What's been getting regular air play in your stereo recently?
KENNY: Disclosure, Main Line, Mussy and Embassy.
SHAUN: Only tend to get music from Charity Shops these days, so it's a real mixed bag, but I mainly still listen to the stuff I was into in Secondary School, Blur, Gorillaz, Super Furry Animals, not much hip hop at all!
JONNY: Some of the new Ill Bill, Tall Black Guy and Action Bronson has been getting replayed on my hip hop playlists for a while. UK stuff has been mainly the Dub Mafia, Mankala, Dizraeli and Buggsy more recently.
LACEY: I'm on alot of tunes right now! Anyone who knows me knows I loves me tuneage! Right now I'm rocking RA the Rugged Man's new album, Sean Price, Demigodz, Czarface, Wu Block, Ill Bill, Pacewon & Mr Green, and I payed for all them shits too fam! I'm not afraid to admit that I'm loving Robin Thicke's “Blurred Lines”, and also any hing by Wick It The Instigator. This side of the water I'm loving Wooky's remixes, Fake Blood and Zinc's shit too.
What's in store for the future of The Scribes from here on? Any new projects?
SHAUN: Well, once you've all gone and got yourselves a copy of “The Sky Is Falling” for free, “The Scribes Present Ill Literature” LP is coming out on Kamikazi Airlines complete with a new epic video from the folks at BeFree Media, the chaps who did such a fine job on the “Monsters” video. Then that'll be closely followed by our brand spanking new full album “A Story All About How” that we can't wait to drop on everyone, that's by far our main focus at the moment. But it doesn't stop there! We're the hardest working group in show business (And Lacey) so we've all got bits and bobs in the pipeline, like Ill Literature volume 2!
JONNY: Like Shaun said, loads! Brand new Scribes LP, a few collabs and more 'The Scribes Presents...' releases, including “The Death Of Loki Steele” LP with my boy Astro Snare, lead single “Positive Vibes” coming with video real soon! It's a good time to be rocking with Scribes right now!
KENNY: Also look out for the Kenny Hectyc "Inside Outer Space" EP dropping soon!
LACEY: With the signing who knows what's in store for the future! All I know and will say again is that it's a very exciting time! I know the Ill Literature project is dope, Jonny and Astro Snare's project is sounding dope too! Kenny Hectyc's many projects are looking and sounding sweet, and myself and Mr Dave T have some shit that is taking shape and sounding dope, all on top of the new Scribes' LP, so trust that we are all working immensely hard right now...
Finally to wrap this up, any shout outs or plugs for our readers?
SHAUN: Keep up to date with everything we do at www.facebook.com/scribesmusic, there's a host of free downloads there as well, or if you're a cool kid we're @thescribes on twitter, much love to Dizzy and Kamikazi for taking us on and a huge thanks to everyone that's supported us along the way, this is only the beginning!
JONNY: Also on July 6th the aforementioned Positive Vibes' video and free download is dropping, it's dope and most importantly it's free, so make sure you go get it!
LACEY: Like Shaun said, we've got to give huge props and biggie big ups and respect to Dizzy for the signing, as well as the rest of the Ugly Duckling/Kamikazi crew. To all those I know, I love yous, I may not be great at remembering names but I know your faces mofos and you are all in my cool book! also big love to me family and all those I hold close in my heart for life, and buy the album when it drops and support us!
KENNY: Be sure to check out the Kenny Hectyc “Inner Outer Space” EP, it's coming real soon, and be sure to add us up online to keep updated!
