Back to Michael Ivey Basehead

Rip It Up, Issue 208, 1 December 1994, Page 10

Back to Michael Ivey Basehead

Much as it’s horrible to admit it seems, as far as music goes, Gil Scott Heron was wrong. Not only has the revolution been televised, it was bought out, watered down, mass marketed and then chopped up into sound bites and half hour episodes for easier MTV consumption. Thus we start with Black Flag and end up with Green Day or Offspring. James Brown distils down past R. Kelly and co. into a batch of samples, and Public Enemy begat Vanilla Ice. Luckily, however, it seems as fast as one idea gets a neat label and it’s own little demographic ghetto so dimwits who work College Radio promotion at some major label can understand it, another concept is popping up some place else. This action takes place because of people like Michael Ivey. He’s the driving force behind the kicked way back, hip hop act Basehead, on Imago records. Now he’s got his own ‘black independent’ label, called 13records, which is distributed by long time indie stalwarts Rykodisc. The object of this is to try and pitch some new sounds to the black music buying public, and expand a few horizons at the same time. Not surprisingly, the first release is yet another Ivey project, b.y.o.b, which is a further tweak on the not-really-rap, not-really-funk vibe he has mastered with Basehead. He throws a tight live band into a studio, mixes up whatever grooves seem fun, and somehow it all sounds very fine. There’s style mixing galore, and nothing gets taken too seriously, except perhaps the very fine go-go beats that keep cropping up, a definite nod to 13/ b.y.o.b’s city of origin, Washington DC. It’s an interesting concept, with a cool album to back it up. That is enough to warrant disturbing Ivey at home, in the American nation’s capital, and saying: ‘Hey Michael, so what’s the deal with this 13records stuff?’

Ivey: “Well, pretty much, I wanted to do my own independent label and market it in a different way — basically not have the majors market it. Fve always been kind of critical of the limitations of major label distribution, so I figured I’d put my money where my mouth is and give it my best shot.”

And what about b.y.o.b? Is it some sort of extension of the Basehead collective, or is it going to be an ongoing project in its own right? “Most of the players are from the live Basehead thing and we’ve written stuff together before, so I figured it would be easier working from that foundation than taking it on further from there. It was intended to be ongoing, so we’ll see what happens. There’s so much good music and good ideas out there, and so many times if you don’t fit the physical image of what the label wants it’s hard to get anywhere." The concept of ‘black alternative’ is interesting, because those seem to be two words that don’t belong together as far as the music industry goes. “Yeah, I didn’t want music that fitted a

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pattern. Like when a black person wants to do music, it seems they have to be traditional R ’n’ B, hip hop or somewhere in between. With white music, however, you have all these categories and genres for people to fit into, while it’s really limited from the black end. I figured black alternative could be a good thing, not any one style, but just whatever it was.”

It seems like there used to be black alternative music. Like in the 50s and 60s there were R ’n’ B bands, rock bands, psychedelic and garage, or whatever, and black musicians could play in all of them. By the 80s, black bands were just not the happening thing. “On the R ’n’ B side nowadays, no-one plays instruments, so that’s the other reason why I wanted to put a band together. No one wants to play. It’s all computerised now, but back in the day when you didn’t have the technology, you had to learn an instrument if you wanted to express yourself. Now all you need is a couple of thousand dollars [worth] of gear and you can make records. All you need to do is sample what somebody else took the time to learn how to play. It’s like, you can work [out] what’s good to sample, but, if that sample wasn’t there, would you know how to make it yourself?” Aside from that, real bands like b.y.o.b usually sound that much better. They have the flow and interchange going on. “Yeah, that’s what I want. I acknowledge I might not have the same taste as the majority of the world, but [if] I’m getting tired of the status quo and looking for something else, there’s probably other people similarly frustrated. That market could be a couple of people or a lot of people, but I’m sure it’s out there.” Does being in DC have an effect on what you’re doing? Aside from having the whole funk and go-go thing, it’s a city with a real strong independent vibe. “I’m from Pittsburgh but I’ve lived here for eight years now. The thing I like about DC is that it does have a real vibe. There’s a history here, an independent history. There’s Dischord and Egg and all that. There’s the go-go thing, which is a real DC style. You have a strong jazz scene and there’s the college crowd. You always have ideas and people that are open to different ideas here. It’s a real centre for cross pollination. DC is a heavy place too, I mean when you talk about party lyrics, but nowadays when you go to a party or a go-go show, or something like that, people are getting shot. That’s what’s on people’s minds now. It’s the nature of where society is today. It’s not just partying. People are aware of some different shit.” That’s something that’s always been in your lyrics, and even more so in b.y.o.b it seems. Stuff like ‘Change It’, for example, where you’ve got this gangsta rap persona, but he lives in a condo’ with his mother and is basically doing the urban thing to sell records. That is sort of what I think most people suspect happens with a lot of these new rappers, but you’re probably

one of the few people actually saying that stuff.

“Well, the best way to do something is to be truthful and honest. Like with ‘Change It’, that might not be the most popular thing to say about rap music, but you’ve got to be real with the fact that whatever happens with the music, it may really not reflect what’s happening with the actual world. Maybe you should be truthful and confront that.”

It seems that a lot of that weak, copycat shit happens because some label can see money in having their own gangsta rapper, or grunge band, or punk band, or whatever. They’re too lazy to find the real thing, so they grab the first person that fits the style they can find, regardless of how real, or even how good, they are. “That’s the marketing thing. Like no matter what good intentions an artist starts out with, once someone works out you can make off of that, they’ll formularise it so they can make /ots of money. That’s the way, even if you go to the label and say: ‘Hey, that’s cool, but I got something different’. You might not be getting signed. You may have them say: ‘Well, you can’t sell that. It’s not popular.’ Because other voices aren’t getting heard, there’s no real choice. If something did get out and hit, then you have the companies coming and saying: ‘OK, it’s time for your other thing now.’ I guess, with the 13 label, I’m trying to get around that.” What’s going to be the plan of attack for 13records? What’s coming up? “I guess the first phase is getting through the b.y.o.b, because a lot of this is just laying groundwork and getting the system going. I’ve got to try and sell the black marketplace on something different, and that’s a hard thing to do. By laying the groundwork and trying to get in there, we’ll figure what things work and what things don’t. We’ll be able to follow it up with the new stuff and just do what we can.”

What about stuff outside of 13records? Is there a new Basehead thing happening? “Yeah, I’m working on the new album, taking my time because I want it to be right and I want the label situation to be correct. I’m not into putting my heart and soul into a record then blow it because the label doesn’t have their shit together. I’m happy taking my time. If Imago get their thing together, then cool; and if n0t...” If not, you’ve still got the record. “Yeah, and this means I can do stuff from the side. 8.y.0.b is pretty liberating because everything I write doesn’t have to be totally from me. I do like working with other people and interacting with other people, doing something different.”

So that’s the deal: no fanfare, no music biz guys with suits and ponytails telling us this is where it’s at and if where not here we’re nowhere, none of that stuff. Just a guy with a bunch of good songs, a few interesting ideas, and the balls to try something new. That’s a pretty good start for any new label.

KIRK GEE