This week we feature a favorite regional artist of ours, alternative hip-hop act A Cool Stick. They got their start out of Baltimore and have recently migrated to the Philly area to continue doing their thing. These guys have been grinding for the past few years and just released their latest EP, Bird’s Eye View, which takes the group’s sound in a bit of a new direction. We got up with the fellas and were able to get a little insight into what went on in making their latest record and what they have in store for us in the very near future.
Make sure to visit their website and take a listen to their latest release online.
So who is A Cool Stick?
A Cool Stick is a group of four musicians, Luke O’Brien, Sean McKeon, Matt Wong, and Brian Aranda, who are from different places, but come together to write great music.
You guys are probably most considered a hip-hop act, but it’s clear through your music that you have lots of influences. Can you tell us about some of them and how you incorporate them into your music?
We are definitely considered as predominantly a hip-hop group, but are influences are from everywhere. From Bon Iver to Jay-Z and Kanye, to Phish, from M83 to Drake, we listen to, and appreciate it all. Musically, we are all open-minded and willing to listen to anything, which reflects in our music. Sean listens to a lot of Phish, but was recently talking about how much he likes the drums on the latest Drake album, Take Care. Matt is a music major from Princeton and is a beast on the upright bass, but he’s been bumping Frank Ocean’s latest mixtape. Luke listens to everything under the sun, ranging from Bon Iver to Eminem. Personally, I’m hip-hop through and through, but recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of M83, and Miike Snow. Having such diverse influences allows us to create music that is sort of in between genres, and ultimately, discover and push ourselves to become innovative in the practice space.
You guys definitely show respect to your city throughout your songs and lyrics. How has being from the Baltimore area influenced your music and becoming a band?
We started A Cool Stick in Baltimore, so we will always have nothing but love for Baltimore. Luke and I met at Loyola University in Maryland, and our line-up was a little different back then, but the A Cool Stick “machine” really got it’s wheels in the DMV. That initial independence of being right out of college, and working on music was so inspiring. It sounds cliché, but the hustle of it all was so fun. We were all working in the same restaurant, playing all kinds of shows, and staying up all hours, just working on music. It was the best. Even just generally speaking, Baltimore was the first city that we really got to know and experience, and we have had, and hope to continue having a lot of fun down there.
So these days you don’t see as many live instrument hip-hop acts. Was this always the goal for the band, and what advantages or disadvantages come from that?
We’re not the first group to have a live-instrumentation hip-hop line-up, but it is rare. Aside from The Roots and the Gym Class Heroes, there aren’t really too many hip-hop bands out there. Since we started A Cool Stick, we didn’t know how far this journey would take us, but we are definitely committed to being a live band. In terms of advantages and disadvantages, recording can be difficult at times because we have to track out all the live drums, which can be time consuming, and time is money. There are also logistics of having four different opinions and handling four different schedules, but the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages. Most big hip-hop acts now play with a live band, from Lil’ Wayne and Drake, to Jay-Z and Kanye. At the end of the day, it makes a live performance so much more interesting, and entertaining, if you have a live band. It also lends itself to getting shows in new cities, as I think venues are more willing to open their doors to a live band, then a rapper with a backing track.
With this latest release it seems that you guys have grown as a band both lyrically and musically. “Bird’s Eye View” seems a bit more mature than some of the mixtape tracks and even seems to come from a different place at moments. Can you elaborate on this or give us some insight into the new record?
I’m glad you said/asked that. “Bird’s Eye View” is us as a band, finding “our sound”. All the great bands, although they experiment with new sounds, always have a distinct sound to them. Musically, we wanted to write something interesting that would keep the listener involved and compliment the lyrics. Also, a huge part of our sound is the fact that we track the instruments in the studio. All the drums, guitar and bass were played by us so it has a different feel than records made on computer programs; more human. Lyrically, Luke wanted to establish a message along with our sound and that message is one of ambition combined with humility. That’s the perspective. We’re a lot like birds, we have to be up early and work hard to obtain food and shelter but we do it so that we can sing songs, fly, and live. As a band, we want everything that our talents will afford us but as people we never want to lose ourselves in the process. You find hints of that in almost every song. We also focus more on the process as opposed to the result. At the end of the day, the journey is the destination.
You guys just played NYC and followed it up with a Philly show. How did those shows go and how has the response been when branching out from the Baltimore area?
We have played up in NYC a handful of times now, and we’re proud that we always get love from up there. A lot of our classmates come out to support us, and the shows are always a blast. We actually just moved to Philly as a band a few months ago, so it’s our new home. Luke and Sean both grew up a little outside Philadelphia, so we always have solid turnouts at our shows here, too. The response to branching out has been great. It’s always a little hard breaking into a new market, because venues have no way to see how many people you can bring to a new city, but promoters have loved what we’ve been able to do in Philadelphia, and New York City.
So what are the next goals for A Cool Stick in 2012 and what can fans expect from you guys?
Our goals right now are to keep writing, keep performing, and make this our full-time job. We all have bills to pay, so we need to work during the daytime, but making music is the ultimate goal. We have a lot of work to do, and we’re looking forward to getting some exciting things done. Fans can expect more shows, definitely some hot videos, and towards the summertime, probably some new music.
Any plans for a DC show in the upcoming months?
We don’t have anything officially in the books, but we’ll definitely be down there before spring.
Thanks for hanging out with us fellas, any last shot outs?
Thanks for the interview! Shout out to Billy Gale for his musical influence, and Alena Jaffe for the album art.
