Zebulon hopes to wipe those mean mugs off your faces

Finding the perfect band name is no easy task. Musicians spend hours arguing over which words best describe them or whether their title should have a “the” in the front of their name. People can even head to Ratemyband.co and have the computer come up with random, witty band names such as “Step-Mother Trip” or “Cheddar Landslide.” But with local electronic hip-hop duo Zebulon, deciding a name came easy. “It’s actually my name. It’s my birth given name. A lot of people don’t believe that at first,” said Zebulon Griffin.

Submerge met up with Zebulon outside of Peet’s Coffee to chat about hip-hop, live shows and the upcoming New Year.

Describe the transition from the group SouLifted to Zebulon.
It was pretty seamless. SouLifted has more of a reggae twist to it but the music that Brian and I were writing only had certain hints of that, most of it was more electronic and hip-hop mixed together.

What do you think of the Sacramento hip-hop scene?
I’m digging what I’m hearing so far. There’s a lot of talent here versus if you go to a bigger city, it’s a little more watered down. For being a smaller city there is a lot of condensed talent in one area.

What is your music writing process?
It comes in waves. There are dry spells where I sit down and I try to force it out, I try to abandon that pretty quickly. There are times when it just comes out. Most of our tracks come together in hours and we revisit them later, when we start to find the project coming together. Most of the songs come together really quickly, so it just happens in spurts.

What is the best part about performing a live show?
The energy, even if you have to work for it or it’s just there in the smallest form. That’s truly inspiring to get people amped up into what you are doing… One guy, he was probably in his sixties, he came up to me after the show and was all about it. A lot of older people kind of look over the fact that it’s hip-hop altogether [and say], “I like your singing.”

Has social media helped your music at all?
I’m not as consistent as I could be. I go through waves of being on it, and there are times when I kind of neglect it. I’m not on Twitter yet. I always stay at least two steps behind the curve as far as social media goes. I didn’t get on MySpace until everyone was talking about Facebook.

Describe your new EP, Future Flash.
Lyrically it’s a lot of storytelling and musically we touched a little bit on all of our favorite types of sounds and genres. It has a little bit of old material that we twisted in a new way. There are a few new tracks that we are really stoked on. Back in July or August we started those sessions and then we wrapped it up in October, so pretty swift. We work pretty quick if the inspiration strikes.

What has been your favorite thing about this year?
Putting out [our] record and physically distributing it. I’ve wanted to do that. I’ve released stuff independently. We have gone that route before, so this is the first time we’ve actually printed it up through a company and we have it online now.

Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
Continue forward with music. Hopefully achieve the goals that we’ve set as far as trying to get the tour going and the new record out. Build momentum.

J*Ras of SouLifted strikes out on his own with City of Trees

At first glance, J*Ras is a tall, friendly and relaxed looking guy with long brown dreadlocks. But after meeting him, you quickly learn he is a hardworking musician who takes on the roles of DJ, singer, rapper, multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, husband and father. The hip-hop and reggae lover from SouLifted who has been in the music industry for more than a decade is ready to unleash his first solo album, City of Trees.

Meeting up with him downtown at the ZuhG Life Store seemed like the perfect place to get to know J*Ras, since we were surrounded by music and art by local artists.

Your new album is City of Trees. I’m guessing that it’s about Sacramento?
Yeah, it’s a reference to Sacramento. That’s one of the tracks on the album… It just has to do with Sacramento kind of being overlooked and it’s really a good place to be. I don’t live in Sac right now. I moved to Grass Valley up in the hills. But I was born in Sac, went to Sacramento State, and I got to show love for Sacramento.

You are a very talented guy: a vocalist, a DJ, rapper, producer, basically everything. Did you have all of those roles with your new album?
Yeah, in the new album, I produced the whole album and I play the majority of instruments. There are guests from SouLifted: Brian Fleshman helped to produce some of the tunes, Steven Leonard played some of the guitar and bass. So, we did add some those elements from SouLifted. But I played pretty much everything on all of the tunes, even turntables. [I] do a lot of the vocals, besides some of the backing vocals. And there are some other guests on the album, including Prezident Brown, who is one of my favorite reggae artists, Soulmedic and Jahworks the Revolutionary. We do have a few guests on there but mainly this is just something that I’ve been working on for the last couple of years.

Do you have a certain theme that you are going for in the album, a certain meaning behind the lyrics?
We’ve always carried a positive message in the music. And with SouLifted, we’ve always had the music to lift you up. It’s conscious music with a message. It’s not just about the things that you normally hear in hip-hop music or even reggae. It’s things that you’re going through and how we struggle and how we overcome those things. One of the songs is called “Champ for Life,” and it’s really just a reflection of life and what’s got me here now. It kind of tells a story of where I’m at now. I guess the theme still would be conscious music that does have a message, a positive message for the people.

Do you have a target audience?
What I’ve always liked is that at our shows we always get people dancing. Whether they’re little kids that are 2 years old or the 80-year-old grandmas. And that’s what it’s all about, is getting the people involved. I work with the Auburn Hip-hop Congress as well, and it’s all about trying to help with the youth and giving the youth positive music that they can listen to. Not just the hip-hop that they’re hearing on the radio or the things that are out there easily accessible for them. It’s about giving them something with a message. Mainly our majority of listeners and my majority of listeners are college aged, a little bit of older. But the music is for everyone for sure.

What were some of the challenges working on your solo album–going from a big band to just you?
One of the main challenges is doing it myself and being so critical of my own music. Instead of being able to have that input from everybody to make it that collected thing. But that’s also given me the freedom to make it exactly how I want it. So some of those challenges also become strengths of the album. Mixing and mastering, just some of those fine tuning things, were probably the hardest challenges. It was so hard for me to be happy for where the album was, making it perfect.

What made you want to work on your own album?
I’ve played in multiple bands from Heart Life and Soul to SouLifted. I’ve always written my own music, and I have so many songs that haven’t been recorded because I focus so much energy on the band… I love that collective energy of the people when we unite. It’s just stronger and I love it, so really just kind of realizing where I am now and seeing what I need to put some energy into this solo album so I could really get it out there. I’ve been doing a lot more solo shows myself touring more and just trying to get the music out there. I knew that this was the next logical step in the progression. And having the ability to work with some of these reggae artists and other artists that I aspire to work with on my solo stuff [has] kind helped me push it and get the album out.

Do you see more solo work for your future?
Absolutely, we have a lot of projects going on, which is great and we are doing a lot of collaborations. Right now, I’m working on an album with Soulmedic and a lot of music with him. He is a great reggae artist out of the Nevada City area and Hawaii–he is kind of half and half. I’m also doing a tour with some of the artists from Thizz Nation, which is kind of funny, because it’s totally anti what our music is about. But they’re trying to bring that consciousness and educate some of the people and their audience. We got to try and reach every target audience we can. So, I’ll definitely be pretty busy doing some solo work, but I also hope to include some more SouLifted shows. And doing a lot of collaborations with artists, a lot of hip-hop artists in Sacramento and working with the Auburn Hip-Hop Congress right now a lot too.

I’ve read that you have been performing since 1999… over 10 years!
Yeah, that’s when I actually threw my first show. I was 15 years old and I got approached because we had been doing parties, where we just pull out in the woods and set up our turntables and generator. And so the word got out. We had a little hip-hop crew when I was still in high school and one of the local bars actually asked us to throw a show and that was in May in 1999. That was the first show that I threw myself, made the flier and all that, cutting stuff out, old school. It’s come a long way since then and we put a lot into it. I’m real happy with where I’m at now and where it’s moving along.

What is the best part of performing live?
The energy from the people. Just the feeling that I get from performing, it’s not like anything else. I know I’m meant to be doing that when I’m up there… And I love getting the people involved and the energy and getting that love back from all of the love that you put into the music.

J*Ras will celebrate the release of his solo album City of Trees at Sol Collective on April 29, 2011. Lady Grace, Task1ne and many others will also be on-hand. Expect special guests and some big surprises. The show is all-ages and gets underway at 8 p.m.

A Musical Melting Pot

Northern California’s very own hip-hop/reggae fusion group, SouLifted are turning heads with the release of their new full-length album Higher. The group seamlessly blends classic hip-hop sounds with reggae, jazz and soul embellishments. The result is a unique sound that all walks of life can enjoy. “It is music from the Earth for the people—a natural reaction to the world we live in and the things that influence our lives everyday,” explains Intalect1, who sings, raps, plays the melodica, turntables and assists with the production of their recordings. He continues by saying, “That is why each song we make is dynamically different in its own way. We believe in progression and that is where Higher came from.” Submerge recently spoke with Intalect1 about the beauties of self-producing their record, positive messages and starting a mosh pit in the streets of San Francisco.

First off, what happened with your other group Heart, Life and Soul? You and Lady Grace [vocals] are still doing that right?
Yeah Heart, Life and Soul will always be a part of what we do. That is where it all started for us, and we have a lot of unreleased material. We even play a few of our HLS songs during the SouLifted shows. We look forward to putting together a new HLS album that is produced by SouLifted, utilizing the talent that this group has with production and instrumentation. Right now SouLifted has really come together though, so that has been our primary focus. We need to spread the word that SouLifted is here and still pay homage to our roots.

So, how did things get to where they are now with the current SouLifted lineup?
Well, Zebulon [vocals, drums, production] and myself started making music together quite a few years ago. We did a few tracks together and they always turned out good. Our styles are different but they compliment each other well. DJ BePhlip [turntables] has been DJing with me since we first got turntables when we were like 15. We taught each other how to scratch and mix and he just took it to the next level with the turntables while I always focused more on the songwriting and emcee side of things. It was only natural for Lady Grace and I to work with these guys.

We actually met up with the rest of the crew from working at the Guitar Center store in Roseville, five of us actually worked together in Pro Audio at one point. Brian [Fleshman, keys, drums, production, vocals] and Zeb met first, and he automatically fit right in with the crew like he was always a part of it. Brian had some great production skills and his unique songwriting seemed to be the missing link for the group to really come together.

Scott Rodell [keys, guitar, vocals] and Steve Leonard [bass, guitar] are the two newest additions to the group and they have really added to the SouLifted sound. Both of them are very talented multi-instrumentalists and they often switch instruments throughout our live sets.

That’s a large group! Where do you all live? What do you consider your “hometown” as a band?
We consider our “hometown” to be the Foothills. We all live between Auburn and Sacramento pretty much but we definitely rep the Foothills. It is a beautiful place to be, and we all somewhat grew up around here. Zeb is from Georgia, Brian has lived in Florida and Canada, Lady Grace in Arizona, and Scott on the east coast too. I was born in Sacramento, so I got to show my love for Sactown!

How would you describe SouLifted’s style of music? Is it hip-hop first then reggae, or vice versa? How does it differ from Heart, Life and Soul’s sound?
SouLifted is a musical melting pot with many different styles of music but it all revolves around our hip-hop roots. So yeah, at heart we are a hip-hop crew but with so many diverse influences. But that’s what hip-hop is all about—taking what ever you have and what you love and turning it into something unique and full of self expression but still from the street. We definitely do add a strong reggae element to our sound, but not as much as with the HLS music. SouLifted seems to blend all of our different musical interests into one dynamic style of sound. Zeb’s got that classic hip-hop style mixed with some experimental and pop sounds, and he is also an amazing drummer. Brian is like a composer, with more of an electronic background and melodic style, with skills on the keyboard and drums. Lady Grace has that soulful voice and adds some spoken word poetry into the mix. Scott’s music has a jazzy, classic rock feel—almost like The Beatles meet the Beach Boys with a more edgy indie sound. BePhlip comes from a hip-hop turntablist background, but spins all kinds of music. Steve plays in a funk band, a cover band and a more rock-style band, so he can pretty much play anything. I have more of the reggae and dancehall sound, but I have always mixed in a hip-hop style. So although the hip-hop and reggae influence is really apparent in our music, SouLifted cannot be defined by one or two genres.

How long did Higher take to complete? How was self-producing it?
We started Higher toward the end of 2006 before we even realized what it would become. We started recording some tracks together and decided that we were going to put a new project together. Everything just fell into place from there and the album really started to take shape in 2007. We are all pro audio guys so we have had some good experience with recording, engineering, mixing, and mastering. We actually recorded the album ourselves in three different small studios with most of our own gear. It was really amazing to be able to self produce this album because it gave us the ability to make it sound the way we heard it. We spent a lot of time mixing the album and adding the subtle effects and instruments that make it such an interesting album, I know there were times when Brian and Zeb spent a couple of days straight just working on one song. So it was a grueling and intricate process, but very rewarding! We all put our creative input into this album and that is what makes it so unique and original.

How is the “Soul’d Out Tour” coming along?
The tour has been very successful so far. It is all self booked and promoted just like our record- independent. We played two nights in Tahoe at the Biltmore, and that was a lot of fun. It’s crazy when the place doesn’t close and they serve alcohol all night; it’s like the party doesn’t stop. None of us are really big drinkers, but we can definitely hold our own! It was real dope to see our name on the marquee for the 1st stop on our tour. Definitely a good weekend with good shows both nights. San Francisco was the next stop and that was amazing! We played for four hours straight on the streets of PIER 39 right in front of the Hard Rock Cafe and the response from the people was beautiful. We had consistent crowds of all ages and ethnicities that at times reached over 400 people, and we sold the entire box of 100 CDs that we brought. There was also a crazy group of dancing teens that rocked out with us and we even started a small mosh pit in the street. We did a small radio show after that back in Nevada City for Aaron Eisenberg’s Skaters Paradise show and that was fun too.

One thing I’ve been very curious about is how you guys find inspiration for such positive lyrics in such a hard time with the economy going to shit, gas prices going through the roof, etc. How do you deal with all that and still keep your message so positive?
That is what SouLifted is all about. Exposing these day-to-day conditions and showing people how to go “Higher” to elevate above and beyond them. We are all influenced by these harsh living conditions everyday, but music is the way that we express ourselves and spread our message to the people who need it most. Too many people, especially the youth are misguided by the media (popular TV and radio) and we want to open their minds to some real issues that most pop groups won’t cover. We have always tried to keep the message positive, but we also need to speak the truth. So not every song is about 1Love or peace and unity, our songs are about real issues that affect our lives. It’s also hard being an independent group in today’s economy”¦ With gas prices going through the roof we need to start finding more sustainable ways of transportation. We carpool as much as possible! Overall, we have to strive to be ourselves and keep our heads high despite the way our system will try to mold us, and we have to be positive role models for the youth of the world that will be the next generation of musicians and politicians. If we make a change today, they might listen tomorrow.