North by East West

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Interview: The Random Humans

Vancouver hip-hop duo Deception and Bear are The Random Humans. Despite being out on tour, having their 3 song EP (produced by Juno award-winning engineer Rob Shallcross) officially released, and a full-length en route, they took a few minutes out for NXEW...

J: Jay Blackwood - NXEW
D: Deception/Chase Hummell
B: Bear/Noah Bellevance

J: How did The Random Humans come to be? What's the connection?
D: "Bear and I are friends from Calgary, and we're both living in Van now. Noah was helping me with recording and ideas for my solo album Under False Creek (2009). He was just starting to make beats and wanted to spawn a new sounding group with my help."
B: "We ran into each other at a record shop in Vancity. Deception told me he was working on his solo album and at the time i was assisting in a studio in north Van. I asked if i could record some tracks for the album, so i did. After that i had the idea of forming a group... thus The Random Humans were born."

J: What's been the process for writing the tracks?
B: "Everything starts from a great sample. Once the beat is done i send it to Deception, then we hand it to Rob. From there we decide if the track is "worthy" of the time necessary to create the finished product."

J: Chase, when I met you in Vancouver, every chance you had, there was a rhyme coming out of you... How do you begin to narrow down the material and thoughts you have and choose what gets recorded?
D: "The process of choosing what is gonna work for the new album is a bit more lengthy than any other project I've worked on. Three people have to be happy before the song is chosen to make the cut. There’s scrutiny from every angle but in the end this ensures only the best tracks are chosen to be released."

J: What drives the music?
D: "Emotional expression is huge for me! I can portray the best picture of what im feelin through music. Always starts with a beat for me, its how I function. I can almost take something from any piece of music/art. Inspiration for me comes from so many things."
B: "I think the driving force of the music comes from all 3 of us, Rob, Deception, and myself. We all just seem to click! We dont hold ourselves back by classifing what kind of hip-hop we make, we just try to take it all in (music)."

J: With so many acts out there what stories do you think hip-hop doesn't give enough attention to?
D: "Theres always gonnna be another angry rap song comin out, I like the positive chill direction with an inspirational message."
B: "Its not that hardcore rap is all bad but it just seems that so many kids are headed in that direction, id like to see a more laid back vibe."

J: You've been touring for a little while now and have a bunch of dates coming up over the spring, what has been the highlight of touring so far?
D: "Has to be the fans. All the heads in Alberta. There's such a huge turnout to all the shows, it just makes it that much more fun for us to perform."
B: "Meeting new people, networking, making connections with some real talented musicians... being in the studio with them/ living with them (not gonna mention names). Also i would have to say watching our live performance progress with every show we do."

J: Strange moment?
D: When we were in Longview after a show Bear shot an arrow through my neighbors sattelite dish.

J: What's next?
D: "Full length album in May..."
B: "So much.We just officially released the EP in February and after the release of the full-length album we really wanna make our way across Canada to promote the new album."

J: Chase, since I liked Under False Creek, you won the bet. Where can a send the $10 I owe you?
D: "LOL! Buy me a beer when I see ya next buddy, if The Random Humans are not in your area we will be soon."

- Jay Blackwood

Random Humans EP is out now on Random Human Records/Reversed Records. Available on
iTunes and the Random Humans Website

Upcoming Tour Dates:
Feb 27, 2010 - DEEZ - Okotoks, AB
March 5, 2010 - TBA - Kamloops, BC
May 1, 2010 - Pogue Mahone's- Kamloops, BC

Labels: deception, interview, new CD, random humans

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Review: Leif Vollebekk CD Release & Show

The Cameron House was abuzz with the anticipation of singer/songwriter's Leif Vollebekk's CD release of "Inland". The stage setup was as intimate as possible with the front row of chairs no more than 10 ft. away from Leif on stage. This all produced a wonderful intimate experience and connection with Leif Vollebekk.

Part of the appeal of this CD release show was that so many people there knew Leif or were personal friends of his. Within the show there was lots of self deprecating humour by Leif, hilarious banter, and inside jokes from the intimate audience. It was almost as if Leif Vollebekk was experiencing his performance "with us", not singing "at us".

Understanding the difficulties in carry out a one man show, Leif Vollebekk's performance was extraordinary. He used a wide arraw of instruments and audio techniques from harmonica, a red guitar and his green/white "hawaiian" guitar, and a violin. The guitar was interesting, as it came out of tune many times, but that's wasn't much bother as he told some of his funniest stories while tuning.

The violin was interesting as he used his assortment of guitar pedals to create a sample playback of his own violin, combining with his guitar part to make a fuller sound. His musicality is at such a high level because it's obvious in his new songs, that he has created challenging guitar parts using different arrangements.

How do I describe his sound? Well with the mix of the instruments it's obvious he brings a bluesy americana rootsy sound. His voice is hard to describe, it would be very difficult to copy. The best words to describe his voice is soulful and passionate. He brings so much feeling into his songs, and his lyrics are spot on creative gold.

What will be memorable was how he play an extended set of maybe 20 songs, and his last song was just as strong as his first song. Highlights of the performance: "Don't Go To Klaksvik", "You Couldn't Lie To Me In Paris", and "Quebec".

He's getting a lot of buzz lately, and with this week's Eye Weekly, a review of his album "Inlands" and giving it four stars. I've listened to it myself and I agree, but until you see a music artist live, you don't truly know if they are the "real deal", or "studio magic". One thing is clear, Leif Vollebekk gave a memorable show last night, and is definitely the "real deal".

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/leifvollebekk

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21 Jan 2010