Summer Blue [mp3 download]In more Money Mark news...organizers with the Noise Pop Festival announced yesterday that Mark is among the performers confirmed to perform at the San Francisco music and film festival, held February 27 - March 4. For ticket information, visit the festival web site.
We rap with the Beastie Boys’ King Ad-rock
By Wayne Ree
They’re one of the most influential hip-hop outfits of all time—and come this Feb, the Beastie Boys will be disrupting the whole scene in Singapore as part of the Good Vibrations Festival 2007. We waxed lyrical (well, almost) with the soft-spoken, but very friendly, Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. the King Ad-rock) about his influences, what to expect when they come to town and who gets the most attention from the ladies.
Till this day, the Beastie Boys are still known as innovators, not just in hip hop, but music in general.
After all these years, how do you guys keep things fresh with every new album?
I have no idea! By not worrying about it, maybe.
So, do you guys have a plan when you head into the studio?
Unfortunately, we don’t. It’d be nice if we did though!
It’s become something of an in-joke among fans that you guys have a tendency to release your albums pretty slowly. Are these spaced out releases intentional?
I think that’s a well-known fact actually! Well, I mean, who wants to work, honestly? If you don’t have to, why would you? If you can, take your time—and why not, right? You can’t be mad at that. I mean, I’m just being honest.
So, when can we expect a new album from you guys?
Whew. Well, maybe 10, 15 years from now! Actually, we have one coming out in the next few months.
Many people would rank you guys up there with the likes of Public Enemy and Run DMC as one of the most influential hip hop outfits ever. But what were your biggest influences as an artist?
Wow. That’s a good question. I mean, where do I even begin? There’s just so many. Run DMC would definitely be in that list for so many reasons. Bad Brains, for sure. X-Ray Specs, The Specials, The Clash, Sugar Hill Gang. There’s so many. Miles Davis too.
What are the differences you’ve noticed in your fan base over the years?
There’s not that much difference, I’ve got to say. There are a lot of different types of people now and that’s nice.
On the flipside, how do you think the music industry as a whole has changed over the years?
Not that much either. The only real change has been with the Internet. I mean, business-wise, it’s changed because the record companies have to think of downloading. But that’s about it.
Your live shows are famously known for being mind-blowing events. What do you have planned for Singapore at the Good Vibrations Festival?
It’s hard to say. I can’t really talk too much about it because there’s going to be lots of surprises.
Enquiring minds want to know: Who gets the most attention from the women?
Well, we’re all married, but, yeah… me, obviously.
Would you be alright if we told fellow Beasties Mike D and MCA that you said that?
I would prefer it if you did!
January 23, 2007
Grandmasters Flash
By Zul Othman
SINGAPORE: In a scene dominated by egos, women and an unhealthy obsession with bling, New York rap titans the Beastie Boys remain an enigma.
One of the longest surviving rap outfits in the game, the trio are also one of the most eclectic combos, equally adept at dishing out punk rock and bossa nova alongside their sizzling hip-hop jams.
After 26 years in the business, they show no signs of slowing down. The secret of their success - reckons member Mike D (also known as Michael Diamond) - is that they remain committed to their craft, thanks to their dedicated fanbase.
"It's hard for me to say why we've endured all these years but I'm grateful we've had all these amazing opportunities," the 41-year-old told Today over the telephone from his recording studio in New York.
"Most of all, I'd like to think that we do it just for the fans."
The Beastie Boys - made up of Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horowitz - will be in town to headline the inaugural Good Vibrations Festival 2007 (GVF) at the Fort Canning Park on Feb 19.
Formed in 1981 during the burgeoning New York punk rock scene, where interaction with fans was and still is an integral part of the music-making process, the Beastie Boys have made many attempts over the years to connect with their devotees.
This includes launching Grand Central magazine in 1993, although it folded a few years later. In 1998, the band were also among the first mainstream acts to offer free music downloads through their website.
Their recording label, Capitol Records, soon stepped in for a cease-and-desist manoeuvre. But, for Diamond, it became clear then that music companies were in trouble: Despite all the lawyers in the world, nothing will ever stop punters from capitalising on the digital revolution, he says.
"I think it's pretty clear right now that people want their music digitally, and not in the CD package," he added. "To me, the shame is that the music business isn't doing enough to make things interesting for the consumer.
"If the record companies had been quick to service the digital boom instead of trying to clamp down like how they did years ago, the music business would be in a different place right now."
Needless to say, being unconventional is the Beastie Boys' modus operandi.
At a concert at New York's Madison Square Garden in 2004, they gave out 50 video cameras to fans to film the show from the audience's perspective. The result was Awesome, I F*****' Shot That!, which premiered last year at the Sundance Film Festival.
While it received rave reviews, Diamond insisted that it was no marketing stunt.
"We never did a concert film before and a lot of times these concert films work on the same formulas, you know?" he said. "Playing at the Madison Square Garden in New York City was a big deal for us because that's our hometown. So, we decided to get video cameras and connect with our fans through the Internet to see who was interested in taking part."
The response was overwhelming, said Diamond.
"You can never predict the outcome of these things - but it turned out beautifully."
In a career peppered with many milestones, Diamond seems rather embarrassed that the band is forever remembered as the beer-swilling frat boys that stormed the pop charts with their 1986 debut album Licensed To Ill.
"I won't lie, we had some fun. But, looking back, it wasn't the best time for us: It was the first time we were popular and we had some trouble coming to grips with fame," he said.
Their antics during the early years soon proved infamous: A typical Beastie Boys show featured girls dancing in cages as well as a giant motorised inflatable penis similar to one used by The Rolling Stones in the 1970s.
These shows were troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the band accused of provoking the crowd. Diamond puts down those excesses not only to the folly of youth but also a desire to express an irony that was totally lost on the audience.
"A lot of people still believe we're like that. But they're oblivious to the fact that a lot of it was us spoofing the frat boy culture."
Diamond may be hesitant to discuss their early years but he was all up for talking about their future projects, such as recording a new album, a still-untitled work-in-progress. He was also quick to shell out advice for those looking to attain the longevity that his band has enjoyed.
"The secret to surviving long in this business is to take long breaks after recording an album," he said with a laugh. "You won't make as many albums as other people will, but at least you'll actually like being around each other every day."
"Trust me, it works - we've been doing this for the last 26 years!"
What: Good Vibrations Festival 2007
When: Feb 19 Where: Fort Canning Park. Tickets available from SISTIC
January 22, 2007
Beastie Boys hope new tracks will inspire good vibrations
By Erin McWhirter, National Entertainment Writer
SYDNEY--American hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys are prepared for a backlash from Australian fans when they test out some new tracks at the Good Vibrations Festival next month.
The New York rappers are recording their seventh album and may sample some new works when they headline the festival. However, co-founder and vocalist Mike Diamond was careful not to reveal too much about the latest project.
"It is actually really different ... (fans) can expect to be disappointed, they can expect to be angry at us," the 41-year-old joked from his home in New York.
"It's always hard to know (how the album will turn out). We still have a little of a way to go. I don't want to describe it too much because whatever I say might change.
"We are in the middle of recording it ... we are pretty excited (about coming to Australia)."
The masterminds behind hit singles Brass Monkey, Fight For Your Right, Intergalactic and No Sleep Til Brooklyn, are returning to Australia after a two-year hiatus.
While other rappers and hip-hop bands have come and gone, the Beastie Boys - Diamond, Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz - have survived more than 25 years. However, the band's popularity still surprises Diamond.
"We never really thought we would get as far as to making a living from being in a band, period, let alone for any period of time," Diamond said."We have been lucky. We are able to take good breaks from each other, from what we do together (as musicians), which is nice. So when we come together, touring or in the studio, we actually enjoying being around each other."
Controversy has followed the Beastie Boys since they formed in 1981.
Known for putting white rappers on the hip-hop map, the two-time Grammy Award winners experienced their first bout of public hatred while supporting singer Madonna in 1985. The unknown band were booed the entire time they were on stage.
"That was a huge thing for us (supporting Madonna)," Diamond said.
"We never expected a national tour. It was the first time we had done one and nobody knew who we were. We got booed every night, but we had a great time."
Two years later, with a stable following and known for their obnoxious onstage behaviour, the band shocked with their tour of debut album, Licensed to Ill. Their stage show, featuring women dancing in cages and on a giant motorised inflatable penis, similar to the one used by The Rolling Stones in the 1970s, outraged some hip-hop fans.
The tour was troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the Beasties almost kicked out of the UK for allegedly insulting leukaemia victims. The band maintains the incident was due to an exaggeration of events after they declined to sign an autograph.
Diamond says being part of a group helps make the highs and lows of being a high-profile artist tolerable.
"It might sound corny, but the most thing for us in those early days is you realise you are in a band and there are three of us and that's all you've got," he said.
"We learned we had to be really appreciative of that.
"I have a great deal of sympathy for people that are actors or solo artists, because they don't have that infrastructure of a band to fall back on. To all have that common experience makes it a bit more tolerable."
So after more than two decades in the spotlight have the band settled down?
Diamond says they are still the same teenagers that began the Beastie Boys phenomenon all those years ago.
"There is a part of us that when the three of us get together there is a certain way we are and we act and that's never going to change," he said.
The Good Vibrations Festival begins in Melbourne on February 10, before heading to the Gold Coast, Sydney and ending in Perth on February 18.
Beastie Boys Live in Lake Forest, CA (68.73 MB zipped file hosted at megaupload.com)Much thanks to the taper of this recording and all the tapers who share their recordings with the fan community! If you download this recording, please leave a thank you message for the taper in the comments here and/or post your opinion of the show.
LONGER WAIT FOR BEASTIE BOYS
IT appears that fans of New York hip hop group Beastie Boys will have to wait a little longer before they can catch the group in concert.
Yesterday, it was announced that the group will be coming to Malaysia for a concert at the Kiara Equestrian Indoor Arena on Feb 22.
However, Pineapple Concert managing director Razman Razali said the group's maiden concert here had to be postponed because one of the band members had some urgent personal matter to attend to.
"I received a call from Beastie Boys' management early yesterday. Obviously, it's a major blow and we are disappointed with the news as we had planned everything. Then again, things like this are unavoidable," Razman said.
In a statement from the group's management, it was stated that the Beastie Boys are not cancelling the concert but postponing it to a later date, expected to be sometime in September.
Kuala Lumpur is not the only tour date affected as the group has also cancelled their concerts in Hong Kong and Manila.
They will, however, still perform at the Good Vibrations festival in Singapore on Feb 19.
January 11, 2007
Nature of the Beastie
The Beastie Boys' address is New York, wherever the music goes, writes Nick Higginbottom
FROM hip hop to punk and partying to politics, the Beastie Boys have done it all in the past 20 years. And they've done it with style -- New York style.
The Beastie Boys have dabbled with many musical influences, but no matter what they do, they remain quintessential New Yorkers. Straight out of Brooklyn with an attitude that said "get on board or get out of our way," they won fans all round the globe and helped bring the hip hop revolution into popular culture.
Yet with their in-your-face attitude, their brash confidence and flamboyant style came a constant sense of positivity that seems to encapsulate every soul from the Big Apple. Drummer and MC Mike D says it's the New York way.
"You're hard pressed to know that you're in a post-9/11 world in New York," Mike D says from his pad in Manhattan. "It's basically back to being a completely full-on, 24-hour-a-day, crazy, a-lot-of-stuff-going-on-at-all-times city. That's what New York's always been and always will be. It holds a unique place that way.''
The events of 9/11 may not have changed the city's heartbeat, but America's subsequent War on Terror sure has left the Beasties and their fellow New Yorkers feeling a little peeved.
"As New Yorkers we really feel used," Mike says. "We had this terrible tragedy happen in our own backyard and then that was the excuse for this whole other debacle (Iraq) that's spun out of control.
"It's pretty obvious to New Yorkers, or really everybody around the world, that what's happening in Iraq actually has nothing to do whatsoever with what happened here (9/11)," he says.
"And that's actually the saddest thing."
Since bursting on to the scene in 1986 with their debut album Licensed to Ill, Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D managed to succeed within a predominantly Afro-American form of music. The closest any white performers had come to being hip to the sound previously was Blondie with the hit Rapture. And while pioneering DJ Grandmaster Flash acknowledged it was cool to attempt such a crossover, he never said Blondie's Deborah Harry was a good MC.
The Beastie Boys, however, were better than good. Their anthemic Fight For Your Right (To Party) perfectly summed up their rebellious nature in the early days. But on their most political record to date -- 2005's To the Five Boroughs -- they messed with their old school anthem to capture a mature approach while still throwing a cheeky barb and tipping their hat to another hip hop giant from their city.
"You've got to party for your right to fight," they blasted on Right Right Now Now.
"We were just flippin' it a little bit," Mike says of the song. "But at the same time it's also a shout-out to Public Enemy because they kind of did the same thing back in the '80s. They had a lyric where they flipped a thing around and they had a hook for one of their songs Party For Your Right to Fight. They definitely set the pace in terms of making incredible music that people wanted to dance to. That was incredible music, but they had a lot to say at the same time."
Getting political was never a plan for the Beastie Boys MCs when they hit the studio to record To the Five Boroughs. It just happened.
"It's kind of like, just events happening in our immediate world so it was where we felt compelled to go," Mike says. "I mean New Yorkers, we do live in this huge city and we can rush past each other and not look each other in the eye, but in times of need generally people are pretty pumped to help each other. Yeah there's a strong sense of community even though it's such a big city.''
Now, Mike D and his cohorts are the elder statesmen of their game. A greatest hits collection, Solid Gold Hits, summed up their career so far in 2005.
Though they still perform with the energy and enthusiasm, they're now 20 years and six albums older. So what do they know? Has hip hop sold out? Has the market been saturated with sucker MCs?
"Not necessarily," Mike D says. "To me hip hop is always evolving. I don't think I ever would've imagined that hip hop would be as huge a music form as it is now. I never would've imagined as many hip hop records (on the market). It's a saturation, and not just in America, but everywhere in the world."
While he's amazed hip hop artists have created beats for the entire world to break to, not everything Mike D hears is music to his ears.
"Unfortunately it's like anything, there's only a certain percentage of what's being made of anything that's actually really good," he says. "By and large, unfortunately, quality's not necessarily going to hold up. Most things are going to be, like, whatever, and then there's going to be some that are actually really good and set the pace for everybody else."
Who does Mike D see as setting the pace at the moment?
"I guess OutKast are always at the front," he says. "Gnarls Barkley and some different s---. And, you know, Kanye West. He's in between things right now, but I think he'll probably switch it up again. And Lupe Fiasco."
Although he retains a keen ear for new sounds, Mike D is in no rush to get back into the record company business. After setting up their Grand Royal label in the early '90s and releasing the irrepressible Check Your Head in 1992, the enterprising trio looked like they were on a winner. Two more of their own albums and a bevy of releases from other artists such as Sean Lennon and Buffalo Daughter resulted in a cult following for the label. Then in 2001, the label folded.
"We did it for a while and it was fun," Mike says. "It was kind of like we had a utopic idea about it, doing it purely for fun and being involved with things we liked and things with friends. But at the end of the day it also had to work as a business and we really don't have any interest in being business people."
Fans of the label and of the philosophy behind it -- the Beasties promised every demo tape sent to Grand Royal would get a listen -- were devastated. But it ended up becoming a drain on their own creativity.
"So in the end, and with a bit of hindsight, it comes in a lot of ways as a great relief to us," Mike says. "It's bad because it would've been really nice to have it continue, but at the same time it's a relief because we can get back to just being fans of music and making music. Not having the business of music so much."
After touring on the 2005 Big Day Out, the Beastie Boys return to Melbourne for the Good Vibrations festival next month. They'll bring with them regular keyboard player Money Mark, and percussionist Alfredo Oritz.
"And of course we'll be going down there with the world's greatest DJ, Mix Master Mike. I mean, the man has titles," Mike laughs.
As far as material goes, expect the works.
"Usually we mix it up a lot and try and have all our records represented a bit," Mike says. "So there'll probably be a whole variety of stuff."
January 11, 2007
One for the Record
The Boys Are Back in Town
GOOD news for Beastie Boys fans: the trio is back in their New York studio recording again.
Mike D can't provide detailed descriptions of the new material, but his excitement is palpable.
"We've been recording and we've been playing a lot of instruments," Mike says. "It's hard to describe. All I can really say is that we've been playing stuff and having a lot of fun and playing music that we like."
No release is scheduled at this stage, but the recording process is set to follow the same principles as every other Beasties record.
"When we start making a record we just all get together and start exchanging ideas or playing each other stuff," Mike says. "We go from there and usually a direction just happens. I know it sounds a little corny, or hard to believe, but that's what happens."
YES! THE BEASTIES ARE COMING
By Adly Syairi Ramly
BEASTIE Boys are set to rock Kuala Lumpur.
News of their Feb 22 concert was confirmed yesterday after making the rounds as a rumour last year.
Pineapple Concerts managing director Razman Razali said the New York-based hip-hop group will perform at the Kiara Equestrian Club.
"The group will fly in on Feb 20 after their performance at the Good Vibrations Festival in Singapore," he said.
The group - Michael Diamond aka Mike D, Adam Yauch aka MCA, and Adam Horowitz aka King Ad Rock - will be accompanied by a six-piece band and their touring DJ and award-winning turntablist Mix Master Mike.
Razman said the group will perform for at least 90 minutes and their gig could have an opening performance by local artistes.
Ticket prices have not been finalised but Razman assured that everything should be confirmed by next week.
Apart from the concert, promotional activities by the group are also being planned.
Considered as one of the most influential and ambitious hip-hop groups of the '90s, Beastie Boys started out as a punk group in 1981.
Their debut album in 1986, Licensed to Ill, was the biggest-selling rap album of the /80s, thanks to the huge success of the song, Fight for Your Right (To Party).
The group have released six studio albums with the last one being To the 5 Boroughs in 2005.
Make a date with the Beastie BoysWe feel obligated to remind fans that a concert is never official until confirmed by the artist and/or their management. Historically, the Beastie Boys do not confirm their performances until the last minute, so if you are interested in planning to attend this show, please watch this site for updates. We will do our best to pass on ticket information and any other relevant information.
KUALA LUMPUR: The legendary hip-hop act from New York, the Beastie Boys, will be coming to Malaysia for a concert on Feb 22 at the Kiara Equestrian Club here.
Event organiser Pineapple Concerts managing director Razman Razali confirmed that the multi-platinum award-winning group would be performing a week after Valentine's day.
"The Beastie Boys are expected to play for at least 1½ hours," he said yesterday.
Ticket details however will only be released next week.
The Beastie Boys, which was formed in 1979, are a hip-hop group whose rock and punk-influenced rap have made a significant impact on those in and outside the genre.
The band, which consists of Michael Diamond aka Mike D, Adam Yauch aka MCA, and Adam Horowitz aka King Ad Rock, released five albums, all of which went platinum.
The first album, Licensed To Ill, which was released in 1986 and featured the hit song Fight For Your Right, sold nine million copies.
The Boys latest album, To the 5 Boroughs, released in 2005, sold a million copies.
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