Tera Melos may be the band least likely to succeed, but their latest album X’ed Out shows that their ceiling is extremely high

A band like Tera Melos may be stuck in a love it or hate it situation with most casual rock music fans. Their spastic brand of indie rock seems to tinker with the space-time continuum—at once pop-y and prog; enigmatically complex yet surprisingly hook-y. You’d think Tera Melos would be a niche market, and maybe they are, but that market is definitely expanding. When Submerge spoke with the band’s bass player Nathan Latona, Tera Melos was about to play a sold-out headlining gig at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory. Latona was happy to point out that the band had also sold out a previous show in Chicago, and that demand was so high in Philadelphia, they had to add a second date. It’s a nice surprise for Latona and company.

“I think we’re underdogs in our own mind,” Latona says. “We’re not writing for an audience. Since we wrote the first song, we’re always expecting people to hate it.”

But audiences are buying what Tera Melos is selling, and that should continue to be the case with the release of the band’s newest full-length album X’ed Out. Released April 16, 2013, it is Tera Melos’ second album with drummer John Clardy and reveals a confident and cohesive band.

Fans of the group will get the diversity they’ve come to expect from Tera Melos—that deft genre bending and musical acumen that has been the Sacramento-based group’s signature. However, those who may be uninitiated won’t be intimidated by the band’s intense musicianship. While X’ed Out is far from three-chord pop in 4/4 time, there is a psychedelic catchiness to many of the songs, such as “Tropic Lame,” which is a sugary piece of post-punk bubble gum, full of dirty hooks and squalling feedback. Later, the palpitating guitars and dizzying rhythmic stomp of “Until Lufthansa” keeps X’ed Out’s energy on the rise even as the album draws toward its close. The smooth and open feel of the songs could stem from the calm atmosphere in which the album was created.

“Instead of focusing on [the songs] so much, it was like, this is cool,” Latona says. “I’m not going to overanalyze it in the practice room. Let’s just roll with it.”

Latona took the time to speak with us about the new album and also the death of a metal legend in the following interview.

How does it feel to be selling out shows in big East Coast cities?
It’s great. It’s weird because this is the first little run where this has ever happened. I still expect…like, I’m still in this mindset of, like, I wonder if people are going to watch our band and hang out. But it’s like, oh yeah, they are. For the most part that’s why they’re here.

I saw on your Twitter feed today that you guys were posting shout outs to Jeff Hanneman of Slayer who’d just passed away.
I actually hadn’t even heard of that until just now. I think Nick [Reinhart, guitar/vocals] posted that.

I know it’s really different from the kind of music you guys play, but are you all Slayer fans?
Not really. I probably couldn’t name more than one or two Slayer songs. Even the other day, I heard a song and asked if it was Slayer or Metallica, because I’m not really into either band. But it’s cool. The stuff that I heard, I appreciate the musicianship, but I think it’s one of those bands, if you’re just a casual fan, you probably act like you’re more into the band than you actually are. I think Slayer probably only has diehard fans who know all the shit. Maybe I’ll go through a Slayer phase in a little bit, who knows?

I think everyone goes through a Slayer phase at some point. I did.
The song I was listening to the other day, I was like, if I could separate myself from knowing anything that I knew about Slayer…like, say I didn’t even know what metal was, that I could listen to the guitar work without any preconceived notions, it’s really cool.

I was listening to X’ed Out today. I’d seen something that Nick said in the bio, that you set out to make a simple record, but it didn’t turn out that way. Did you have a mission when you went into the studio this time around?
Not really a mission…mission sounds so predetermined. It was more of just, hey, let’s not beat ourselves up over a lot of this stuff. Let’s allow ourselves a little more leeway when writing a lot of these parts, like, let things be a little more open. There would be a lot of parts where we’d be like, I like what I’m playing, but maybe when we’re recording, I’ll do it this way or do something different. It wasn’t like, this is the way it is. I think we were all open to stuff we’d come up with being a little malleable if need be.

Did that come from more confidence in what you were doing, or in the past had you been hypercritical of your own music?
I think it’s a combination of the two. We didn’t want to write in the way we’d always written, just to keep it fresh. It’s a little bit that we’ve moved on. This is our second record with John, so there’s not all this pressure of what we’re going to do with this new record…The band is established as this lineup, so there’s a little more weight lifted off. It didn’t feel like there was as much importance or seriousness this time around. It was a lot more fun.

You’re growing into your skin a little bit, maybe? Do you feel like you’ve established your sound by now?
Yeah, exactly. It’s funny because you mentioned that we’d planned on doing something a little simpler. I think it’s not necessarily simple, but a lot of ideas are a little more refined with this release.

Where were you coming from with this album? What were the ideas you were looking to explore?
I don’t know. That one’s kind of difficult. We’ve been so busy, we haven’t had time to stop and think. The writing process was really cool. There weren’t times after practice where we were like, fuck, what are we doing? This is so draining. Because it was writing the last record.

What was it about the last record that was so draining? Was it just that you were breaking in a new drummer?
Yeah, it was breaking in a new drummer, and feeling like we had eyes and ears on us from people who did know us who wanted to see what would happen with a new drummer. Like I said earlier, the idea of trying to prove to people that even though we had a new lineup, we would still be an interesting band and write interesting music. I guess with the last record, I felt there was more something to prove than there was with X’ed Out.

As a bass player, how is your chemistry with John now that you’ve had more time to work together?
I’ve always kind of felt like that with him. That’s one of the reasons why we chose him. Being a bass player and part of the rhythm section, he knows how to play with other people, and he’s good to play along to, which is funny. You’d think with drummers that would be a natural thing, but I’ve played with people before, just for fun, and they really don’t know how to play with somebody.

You said before that you’d tried something different with the writing process this time around. What was the process like for X’ed Out?
Since we all live in different places—John still lives in Texas—Nick will send a guitar scratch track to just get an idea for it… when we do get into a room, we have a place to start from. Sometimes the vibe of what I came up with didn’t jive with the vibe of what John came up with or what Nick had envisioned for the song. Instead of being down about that this time around, it was cool. I was really down to edit and have more fun in the room—the feeling of anything is possible when we’re in the room and editing that down. I spent more time editing out my parts when I was on my own time. When I say editing, I do mean what can I take out and do differently? On the last record, I played this range or I would play this busier. Maybe I’m going to go outside my comfort zone. Maybe these two root notes are really cool; maybe I’ll just mash on these a little bit.

It sounds like this process taught you a lot about your own playing.
Definitely. It’s been a progression since the last record, where I started paying attention a lot more to what I was doing and how it fit with what Nick was doing. Like, I’m playing with guys who are really good. I need to do some useless noodling too. With the last two records, that’s become a lot less interesting to me. I don’t like a lot of crazy bass players. I grew up loving Primus, and I think that’s awesome, but I can’t do what Les Claypool does, and I’m cool with that. I can play stuff that I think is really cool and creative, that I feel like is outside the box, but Les Claypool is awesome because he’s Les Claypool. If everyone was able to do that, it wouldn’t be so astonishing to see it.

I’m not comparing anything I’ve done to Les Claypool in any way. I’m just saying the approach and focus for people who are into a band like ours is the playing and the technicality. But I like a lot of plain, complementary Pixies bass lines. I think a lot of that stuff is really awesome. I like the way it complements the songwriting. To me that’s a lot cooler and more impressive at this point.

Tera Melos’ X’ed Out is out now via Sargent House Records. You can see the band live in San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill on May 25, 2013 (TTNG and E V Kain will also perform). For more info about Tera Melos, look them up on the ol’ Facebook (Facebook.com/teramelosmusic).

If there is one trend we’ve noticed about the local music scene from running Submerge, it’s that not a lot of local bands release new work in the winter months. Sure there are exceptions here and there, but for one reason or another it’s mostly a fair-weather thing. That’s why we’re stoked that spring and summer are knocking at the door, because that is when we get to hear all that good stuff that our immense pool of local talent has been working on. Here are just a few notable regional bands that have new music coming out in the next month or so. If you’ve got something to add to this list, shoot us an email to info@submergemag.com and get it on our radar. James Cavern’s The Pilot EP comes out on March 29, and you can see him at the brand new venue Assembly on that same night; Keep It from the Cops, a folk-punk project from local musician Zac Rosier, has an EP release show on April 5 at Midtown Village Café; also on April 5, DoomBird will play an EP release show at Townhouse for their new release Cygnus; Sister Crayon, who technically live in Oakland now, but still remain a local band in our hearts, has a new EP called Cynic that comes out April 16 on Fake Four Inc.; also on April 16, X’ed Out by Tera Melos will be available via Sargent House; and finally, local “Ramones-inspired horror-punk” trio The Moans have a new 15-track album, they will celebrate at their release party on April 17 at Where House.

One of our favorite Sacramento-area bands Tera Melos recently had its new single “Tropic Lame” premiered online by none other than Rolling Stone. Rolling-fucking-Stone, people! The song has a really cool surf-punk-meets-psych-pop vibe to it and will appear their upcoming album X’ed Out, to be released April 16 on Sargent House. The band’s guitarist/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Nick Reinhart told Rolling Stone, “Previously, we really didn’t know how to write a song like ‘Tropic Lame,’ or even make a record like X’ed Out. We had to approach writing music in a way that was foreign to us–it was almost like ‘un-thinking.’” He went on to say, “Somehow, we were able to take these basic ideas and twist and quirk-ify them into something that was really new and different for us. The genesis of most the music on this record is of an oversimplified nature.”

We’re not entirely sure how long “Tropic Lame” will be available for streaming and download online, but our guess is if you poke around http://www.facebook.com/teramelosmusic or http://teramelosmusic.com/ for long enough, you’ll find it somewhere. Give it a few listens and you’ll be glad you did. Look for an exclusive interview with Tera Melos right here in Submerge leading up to the album’s release.

Sacramento’s genre-smashing math-rock trio Tera Melos is hard at work recording a new full-length record, a notion that excites Submerge very much. Their 2010 release, Patagonian Rats, scurried its way onto our annual year-end list, they snagged the cover of issue No. 67 and most recently they co-headlined/melted faces at our 100th Issue Party at Ace of Spades in December. The yet-to-be-titled album is being recorded at Earth Tone in Rocklin with longtime friend Pat Hills (who plays in Bastards of Young and has been in other credible local bands over the years including Hanover Saints).

“He’s like our go-to guy,” guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart told Submerge, pointing out that Hills has added his touch to every Melos record in some form or another. “We all grew up playing in punk bands together. We know him really well, he’s super familiar with our musical personalities.”

In the end, Reinhart predicts there will be 13 songs on the album. “To me, it’s a progression from the last record,” he said of the new material, all written within the past couple months. “It does not sound like the last record. It sounds like the record our band would make after Patagonian Rats, if that makes sense…Without giving too much away of what it’s sounding like, I just definitely think it’s like, ‘Oh wow, these guys stepped it up and did something even more different this time.’”

Reinhart said to expect an early 2013 release via Sargent House. In the meantime, catch Tera Melos opening up the fIREHOSE reunion tour dates (including Harlow’s on Thursday, April 5, 2012) before they head overseas for two months in May for their first ever “proper” European tour. “We’re finally making it over there for reals!” To learn more about the band and view tour dates visit Facebook.com/teramelosmusic or Teramelosmusic.com

If you’re not familiar with the artists we chose to perform at our 100th Issue Party on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 at Ace of Spades, first off, where the hell have you been? Living under a rock? Anywho, if you don’t know who they are, see the vitals below and be sure to type the URLs into your fancy little computer devices. Prepare to be inundated with awesome-ness, because, well, we know how to pick ‘em! See you at the show.

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Down tempo (yet intense) indie rock/trip-hop. Operatic and dramatic female vocals, mixture of live drums and programmed percussion with keys, synths, guitar, the whole nine.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Portishead, The XX, MGMT
Bragging Rights: Signed to Manimal Vinyl Records, recently toured with The Album Leaf. Has been featured everywhere from Showtime to Nylon magazine.
Listen/Learn More: Sistercrayon.com, Facebook.com/sistercrayon

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Spastic, experimental-rock featuring insane guitar work (two-handed finger tapping, tons of effects pedals, etc.) and non-traditional song structures.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Hella, The Flaming Lips, Don Caballero
Bragging Rights: Signed to Sargent House, countless U.S. tours, played Forbidden Fruit Fest in Ireland this year with The Flaming Lips and Aphex Twin.
Listen/Learn More: Teramelosmusic.com, Facebook.com/teramelosmusic

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Fun, catch-y, space-y/psychedelic garage-rock.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Thee Oh Sees, Wavves, Beach Boys
Bragging Rights: Affiliated record labels include Lefse, Woodsist, Captured Tracks and Souterrain Transmissions. Ganglians will be an official showcasing artist at 2012’s SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.
Listen/Learn More: Facebook.com/ganglians

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Jam-y funk-rock with reggae roots. Extended jam sessions and dance-offs are common occurrences during ZuhG sets.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Phish, O.A.R., Grateful Dead
Bragging Rights: They run their own local music/art/clothing store. Countless tours, tons of positive press, multiple SAMMIES awards.
Listen/Learn More: Zuhgmusic.com

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Intelligent hip-hop rich with satire and dry wit meets real turntablism.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Nas, Talib Kweli, Gang Starr
Bragging Rights: Winner of numerous spoken-word and rap awards/competitions. Has shared the stage with Nas, Immortal Technique, Tech N9Ne, Zion-I, Living Legends and more.
Listen/Learn More: Randomab.com, Randomabiladeze.bandcamp.com

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Extremely catch-y and well-written pop-rock fit for an arena setting.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Muse, Coldplay, The Killers
Bragging Rights: Music has been featured in multiple MTV shows/commercials including, The Real World, True Life, Made and Real World Road Rules Challenge to name a few.
Listen/Learn More: Earlystates.com

Tickets Available @ ZuhG Life Store, Dimple Records, The Beat, Armadillo (Davis)
Online: AceOfSpadesSac.com
By Phone: 1.877.GND.CTRL or 916.443.9202

The Speed of Sound in Seawater Are Out For A Good Time

There’s been a lot of crazy shit happening around the world lately–maybe you’ve noticed? Earthquakes, tornadoes, Osama bin Laden’s death, all this nonsense about the Rapture! It can be overwhelming and downright depressing at times to turn on the news or read the newspaper, or, let’s face it, stare at your Facebook feed. For these reasons and so many others, it’s important to have creative outlets in life where you can simply have fun and get your mind off things. The members of local indie-pop-meets-math-rock band The Speed of Sound in Seawater know just this. “If we ever stopped having fun, we would stop making new music,” admitted lead vocalist and guitarist Damien Verrett during a recent conversation in a midtown coffee shop. “That definitely is key.” Fellow six-stringer Jordan Seavers (who also sings) agreed with that notion. “Obviously the music is important,” Seavers said. “But we’re not so much like, ‘We’ve got to make it as a band!’ We just have fun playing music.”

The theory of “having fun” makes its way into every aspect of the band: song titles, album titles, even their promo photos–one of which sees the four young gentlemen dangling their feet in a swimming pool while sporting pink bath robes. “There are so many stupid little inside jokes on the new EP,” said Verrett, referring to the group’s latest offering, a five-track EP released on April 27, 2011 titled Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets. “Lyrically, in titles, so much of it,” he said. “Even the name of the album, it’s just this stupid inside joke. It’s something Fernando [Oliva, drums, vocals] said like maybe three years ago. We were all swimming in the pool and he comes up and whispers to me, ‘Do you want to play underwater tell each other secrets?’” He laughed and continued, “I just thought it was the funniest thing ever, and we remembered it. When it came time to name the new EP we were like, ‘Let’s call it Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets.’”

“We’re all pretty goofy,” Seavers butted in. “We like to entertain other people but we like to entertain ourselves at the same time and just be goofs.”

All jokes and goofiness aside, The Speed of Sound in Seawater are a really talented band, and Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets showcases their ability to blend technically advanced playing (i.e.: a flurry of finger tapping, complicated hammer-on riffs, shifting time signatures and rhythms, etc.) with an undeniable knack for writing pop-y, memorable melodies. When listening to their songs, it’s difficult not to think of one the genre’s pioneers, Minus the Bear. Verrett recalls when he first heard the Seattle-based group. “I remember just finding them randomly on some forum and someone was calling it ‘math-rock,’ and I was, ‘What the hell is that? I’ve never heard of that.’ Then I listened to it and I was like, ‘Well, that’s exactly what it is.’” Verrett went on to explain how he thinks Sacramento natives Tera Melos and Hella are good examples of bands at one end of the math-rock spectrum as far as being “way out there and not as accessible,” and that groups like This Town Needs Guns and Maps and Atlases are at the other end of the spectrum and are becoming “indie sensations who have songs in commercials and stuff.” He went on to say, “I didn’t really know if those two sects of math-rock were aware of each other, but I feel like we’re more leaning toward the pop-y side. I like that about us.”

For Underwater… TSOSIS enlisted Robert Cheek as producer/mixer/engineer and from March 11 to 13 they worked out of The Hangar, arguably one of Sacramento’s most credible recording studios, where they did all the takes live. Seavers and Verrett both agreed that it was a sonic match made in heaven. “I was actually thinking about this last night,” Verrett said. “Just how many records he’s produced and engineered that I’m a huge fan of. There’s got to be like six or seven that are just some of my favorites.” He goes down the line: Tera Melos, RX Bandits, Mister Metaphor; all bands that TSOSIS share qualities with. “It just fit so well,” Verrett said of the pairing with Cheek. “He’s from here, he records all the music we love, he’s really experienced in the genre. He just got us instantly.”

For months leading up to The Hangar recording sessions, the band practiced full-on dress rehearsal style, setting up microphones around them and demo-ing their songs in the living room of the house in Elk Grove in which Verrett grew up. “We actually share the same practice space as Damien’s dad does,” Seavers joked, referring to Verrett’s father’s R&B cover band formerly known as The Detours.

“Once my mom gets home we have to play a little quieter,” Verrett joked. “I really don’t like having to quiet down, these guys are always like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry Mrs. Verrett, we’ll turn it down,’ and I’m always like, ‘No guys, we don’t have to do that!’ It’s really funny, that has to have influenced our music in some way.”

This is a fair assessment, considering TSOSIS rarely use distortion on their guitars, giving their music somewhat of a shimmer and an overall easier-to-listen-to vibe than bands with heavily distorted guitars constantly blasting. “Damien and I both really like jazzy tones and stuff like that,” Seavers said. Verrett jumped in, “And all the distorted parts hit so much harder when they’re so infrequent, you know? If there’s hardly any distortion, you really notice.” Their songs are consciously “loose,” too. Frequently, the skilled musicians will slip in and out of one part into another, sometimes perfectly in sync, sometimes not, giving their recordings an organic feel. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Man we sound really sloppy, we need to clean it up,’” Seavers admitted. “But then sometimes I’m listening to another band and I’m like, ‘It’s so cool they’re sloppy, I want to play like that.’ It sounds a little more fun when people are sloppy.”

With a new EP freshly tucked under their belts, along with two others (2009’s Blue Version and 2010’s Red Version), TSOSIS has a plethora of songs to pull from when they tour throughout California this summer. “It’s odd that we’re at the point where people are like, ‘Oh your first EP is the best one!’” Verrett joked as our conversation was coming to an end. “It’s like, ‘Are you kidding? That was like $200 and we made it in like eight hours, and you think that’s the best? We just dropped a lot more on this one; you better think it’s the best.’”

The Speed of Sound in Seawater will play at Luigi’s Fungarden on Friday, June 17 alongside Town Hall, The Relatives and The Dreaded Diamond. Show starts at 8 p.m., is $5 and all ages are welcome. TSOSIS will welcome back their former bassist Lucas Ulrici for this show and a number of other performances this summer, as their current bassist Michael Littlefield will be busy recording with his other band, A Lot Like Birds. To learn more about TSOSIS and to stream or download tracks off all three of their EPs, visit Thespeedofsoundinseawater.bandcamp.com.

Rumor has it local videographer Sean Stout of Terroreyes.tv is teaming up with Sargent House to become their “main video dude,” a gig he described to me as a sort of “dream job” outside the recent !!! show at Townhouse. Stout’s heading down to Los Angeles in May, and Nick Reinhart of esteemed Sacramento band Tera Melos (also signed to Sargent House) is apparently moving with him. Sargent House is absolutely killing it; they are one of the best indie labels out there, boasting a great lineup of artists that they work with including, but not limited to, Omar Rodriguez Lopez (of The Mars Volta), Native, Russian Circles, This Town Needs Guns, RX Bandits, Red Sparowes, Good Old War, Zach Hill’s solo stuff and tons of other rad bands. Come to think of it, Stout was even rocking a Sargent House hoodie that night at ToHo. That’s a good look on you!
-J. Carabba

From Concept to Creation

With numerous critically acclaimed albums already under their belts, Mukilteo, Wash. progressive rock trio The Fall of Troy are gearing up for their next release on Nov. 28. Phantom on the Horizon is a 37-minute-long collection of work divided into five chapters. Previously known to fans as Ghostship EP or Ghostship Demos, this album is a new take on old material.

Submerge recently caught up with Erak as he prepped for the tour from his home and talked about everything from the concept behind Phantom…, to message board trolls and his love for certain Sacramento bands.

How do you guys prepare yourselves for a tour like this?
Our bass player gets back in town from San Diego today and we’re going to start practicing. This tour is a lot different from the other tours we normally do, because the other tours we normally do are a mix of songs that span three or four records’ worth of material and on this one we’re going to be playing the new record front to back.

Tell me about the story behind Phantom on the Horizon.
It’s a fantasy story that has a lot of parallels; it’s very open to interpretation, though. I’ve been working on it for the last four-and-a-half years, as long as we’ve been working on the songs. It’s about a sailor that is on a ship with a crew of guys and they encounter a ship from another dimension, and he kind of gets trapped on that ship and encounters a lot of things in all these other dimensions that he passes through. I’m thinking about writing the whole short story out like maybe in a couple months and maybe try to put that out in one way or another.

How did an idea like that come about? Are you guys into comic books or sci-fi or what?
Our drummer is a sci-fi nerd, but I’m just a writer, you know? I play music and I write songs, but I used to write a lot of short stories and poetry and stuff like that. I guess it just kind of came from the love of writing and art; you know what I mean?

Yeah, it makes perfect sense for you at this point in your career to put the two together: the story and the music finally together to create a “concept record.”
Right. It’s also not your run-of-the-mill concept record, either. It’s very open to interpretation and you can kind of take whatever you want from it, and that’s kind of the way I like things. I don’t think anything with music should be too black and white; there should be some color in there. That’s what art is; it’s what it is to you. It shouldn’t be just straight up like, “This is what it is, and this is how it is!”

Are there any new tracks included that weren’t on Ghostship EP?
Well, in between every song there is a segue that we actually took from a long session of improv that we just rolled tape on. Everything totally flows together. There has never really been a good recording of “Part II” and there’s never been a recording of “Part III.” It’s just very mature, and the songs are in their entirety now as opposed to being demos of them.

I read some message boards online where kids were getting kind of pissed at you guys and saying things like, “They shouldn’t re-record those songs, they will fuck them up!” How would you respond to them?
Um, “Fuck you!” [Laughs] Quite honestly, fuck them, and they don’t know what they’re talking about because those demos were never even made to be heavily in syndication in any way, shape or form. They were demos we did when I was 19 years old that were supposed to just be for us and they got out. I mean, this record crushes those demos.

If you’re going to sit on the Internet and bash anything, go outside or go read a book or go to a concert or listen to a record. Do something other than sitting on a message board or Myspace all day.

I guess they’ll find out, won’t they? There’s always going to be haters, man. The haters are going to hate.

You’ve toured with two of Sacramento’s more notable acts, Tera Melos and Deftones, on different occasions. What’s your take on Sac? Have you spent a lot of time here?
Oh yeah! The whole Northern California area we are pretty familiar with and have a lot of friends. There is a lot of good music going on in Sacramento. You know, Hella and stuff like that; there is a ton of good shit. Yeah, I love the Deftones, and I love Tera Melos.

5th Avenue and Plush Lush

Long before I knew what it meant, I remember seeing stickers around town with the Neighborhood Watch logo draped in a dookie rope and adorned in Cazals. The logo stood out and commanded attention, and most importantly sparked curiosity and made you think. It is no coincidence that the hip-hop collective that the logo represents posses the same qualities. A crew of many, The Neighborhood Watch consists of several factions and solo artists alike, and as the crew’s founder 5th Avenue explains it, serves as a network of like-minded artists whose focus is to ignite thought through music. 5th Avenue, alongside Plush Lush make up one of branches of the crew, and under the name Rogue Scholars, they create feel good music with substance. The Sacramento natives are focused and intent on bringing a change to Sacramento hip-hop, and as 5th Avenue said in the closing of the interview, “We aren’t getting younger, but we are getting better.” And to be honest, it’s not difficult to feel comfortable and confident about the state of affairs with the Neighborhood Watch and the Rogue Scholars on the job.

Prior to meeting each other what were each of you doing musically?
5th Avenue: I always loved music; it’s in my blood. I got relatives who play, like my uncle plays sax in Mumbo Gumbo. Also I started writing poetry at a young age and also performing in theater. The performing background was there, and then just the passion for words sparked my interest in hip-hop. At the time we met, I was very new to it myself. I had been performing for a couple of months, but I was doing a lot of spoken word. I went through this transformation though to where I wasn’t really feeling the poetry thing, it doesn’t have as much freedom.
Plush Lush: I started out in a punk rock band when I was 14. The band was No Regard, we had lightweight success, but some members went on to form Tera Melos. I was doing that from 14 to 21, doing vocals and all that, but while I was doing that I was always into hip-hop and was writing rhymes on the side.

For each of you how does poetry and theater backgrounds come into play with your rhyming, and then Plush how does the punk rock background work itself into what you do?
5th: I hear from people I’m very animated and bring a lot of energy. That is just me being comfortable on stage, me being in my own zone. Being on stage has always been my release, and growing up I didn’t have many outlets but I always lets loose when I was on stage. That energy just transferred to music.
PL: It’s something I always try to keep with me. The punk rock ethic, just working really hard, doing things yourself, the DIY approach, that all molded me. By the time I started rhyming, I had already done 100 horrible shows where no one came. You have to endure that, and keep going and always give 100 percent regardless. One thing we try to do is always give a good show regardless. For him though, the between songs stuff, just talking to the crowd, the theater and poetry stuff comes out a lot then.

Can you talk about the formation of Neighborhood Watch and how it all came about?
5th: Cats look at me as a founder, and I hate to take that title, but I brought a lot of people together. By chance, all these people I had known all came together and just meshed really well. It was a big network that nobody realized was there until everyone sat down together. It was a culmination of things. I had a falling out with this one crew, and then I was developing some ideas of my own that I thought could progress hip-hop in town. That all catalyzed the Neighborhood Watch. I was living at this spot in south Sacramento and we would have a lot of sessions there, drinking cheap beer and just ciphering all day. Before we really tried to make music and throw shows we became friends. I think that’s what has kept us so strong. We’ve grown a lot since. Everyone is doing their own individual thing, but the Watch is still strong.
PL: It’s one of those things where the sum is greater than the parts. Definitely we’re a crew that is a lot of separate entities, but none of us use it as a crutch. We’re just always trying to expand and grow, and that just makes the crew stronger. I’ve heard people use that as a negative, like you got 100 people in the crew, you don’t do shows as a crew, or whatever, but the truth of it is we all grinding real hard separately and that just makes the name bigger.

You mentioned the different entities, can you talk about the Rogue Scholar name and what the two of you bring as a group?
PL: At this point we’re both college dropouts. College dropouts with the intent of going back, which is probably the worst type, but at least we work [laughs]. But I feel if you listen to our music, I feel like it has a lot of depth in terms of lyricism and we do things that maybe other people wouldn’t do. We don’t dumb it down; we smarten it up. We want to teach you but we are subversive about it. We question things, question the media and authority, and that’s where the rogue part comes in. You know we try to make it smart and intellectual, but also make it so that it could be understood by many.
5th: I think a part of the Rogue Scholar mantra is to get out the information that you don’t get taught in school or get in CNN or mainstream media. If you listen to his album, you’ll get a lot of stuff that a lot of people don’t want you to hear about. The aim is to really promote critical thinking and bring hip-hop to a place where you can debate it intellectually.
PL: I think we have a fresh subject matter. We talk about a lot of stuff the average political or conscious rapper might not talk about. I’m from Sri Lanka, which has been under decades of civil war and terrorism, and with my music I’m always trying to bring that out because it’s a story that’s not covered. With 5th, he’s constantly exploring things that aren’t the norm and being creative with it.
5th: That’s the thing. We try to come at it with different angles. We’re very sincere, like you’re not gonna get some fake shit with us.

You can download 5th Avenues’ mixtape The Coolest Hoods In The City Of Trees for free at www.myspace.com/theneighborhoodlum, and purchase Plush Lushs’ debut EP A Blind Mans Dream at Dimple Records.