Interview With Cecil Otter

Cecil Otter, one of the MCs from the local powerhouse Doomtree, has recently released his first full-length album, Rebel Yellow. I sat down with Cecil and asked him some questions about his new album, the recently released Doomtree crew record, and other pertinent points of business.








Jack Spencer: So, first of all, are you excited about the album's release?

Cecil Otter: Of course. I've been waiting on it for a long time.

JS: How long has Rebel Yellow been in the making?

CO: Probably about 4 years or so. It got destroyed about 2 years ago. All the beats that I had were made in Pro Tools, ... One day I came to my computer and the folder was just gone, and so I lost everything. I remade everything over the past few years, and making new material too, just trying not to lose my mind.

JS: Did you then start from scratch, or did you try to rebuild what you had worked on?

CO: I went and found the same samples, I wanted the same sound because I liked the beats so much. There's a lot of stuff I took out, a lot of brand new stuff I added, and a lot of new instrumentals and stuff like that. It was worth it, though; I'm glad [the album's] coming out when it is. I feel like I've progressed enough in my head. I went through [mixer and engineer] Joe Mabbot doing recording, that dude's a genius. It's still gritty, but it's a lot more polished.

JS: This album is right on the heels of the Doomtree crew record, it's good to see you guys trying to keep up that momentum.

CO: It's stuff we'd been working on for a long time, just waiting, and we were like, "Let's just put this album out,". We've been working on it for so many years, we gotta really push that one. Everyone gets represented really well on that, then after that settles we can push ourselves as solo artists. Every month we have a new album coming out. Mike [Mictlan]'s album is coming out next month [Hand Over Fist with Lazerbeak, set for release on Sept 23], and then Dessa's. Dessa has a couple of different plans she might be doing, it's not set in stone what she's doing, but there's definitely something coming out [from her] this fall. Me and Paper Tiger are trying to do an instrumental album, just going back and forth, giving each other Pro Tools sessions. I'm big on making huge elaborate instrumentals and I haven't really had a chance to do that. That's gonna come out in November, right before the Blowout [Doomtree's annual concert in December].

JS: The Doomtree album was such a collaboration between all members, but Rebel Yellow really feels like your project. It's basically your first solo record, you produced every beat and there's not many other MCs on it.

CO: I threw on "Traveling Dunk Tank" with P.O.S., which is the first song we've done together. We started this thing years ago and just never wrote songs together, so I'm just kind of paying homage to that beginning. That's the only reason I felt it had to be on there; it was hard for me to put that on because, in my mind, I want it just to be me, nobody else. Not in a selfish way, I just wanted to see if I could do it. It kind of went through the theme of Rebel Yellow, and I didn't want to stray from that. I wanted it to be a struggle, I wanted to get through it. I wanted to just get some kind of story out and make it cohesive. It meant a lot to me to do it like that, otherwise it might start to lose it's meaning. It's somewhat conceptual, not necessarily stream-of consciousness or anything... There's characters built throughout it, and there's some songs where I'm writing about a group of people that I turn into one person, just kind of completing a story. But nothings full finished on it in a way; it's completely developed to me but they're unfinished thoughts... It's like, when people say "You're a better man than your music", and I think I am, but there's shit that I want to live up to, theories and ideas and ways I feel about things that I haven't fully drawn out myself.

JS: What was the collaboration process like when working on the Doomtree record?

CO: There were so many different ways... The False Hopes was just all these songs we had, we had built up so many songs. There were lots of times where three dudes would just get together on a beat, like "I got this" or "Let's write to this", and you can tell they're in the same vibe. It's harder for me, it's more of a struggle to write with other people. As soon as I hear a beat, I get an idea of sort of what I want to do, and I wanna make it mine, like I want to do the whole song.
JS: Yeah, if you have a particular vision, it's hard to put another person on it because their ideas might not conform to that necessarily.

CO: It slows me down, and I don't wanna slow them down. The song me and Dessa did together, "Last Call", took us probably 5 months of hanging out a few times a week over some drinks or in 9 hour sessions with MK Larada pushing us, because it was his beat. I had had this idea for it like 2 years before, and Dessa had something for it. [The producers would] burn a bunch of beats to a CD and hand them out to people, and we'd come back and say "I'm really into this one" or "I'm really into this one"... It just so happened that, a lot of the beats, Mictlan and P.O.S. and Sims would be into the same ones, and just go into a corner and start rapping, and me and Dessa would be like "I'm thinking about this bittersweet song..." [laughs]. ["Last Call"] took us a really long time to write, and we probably wrote it 80 different ways. Some shit came really quick, and some was drawn out. I'm definitely really happy with [the album] and how it came out.



JS: When did you first start rapping?

CO: I fell in love with hip-hop at a really young age, by watching breakdancers and stuff; I'd always try to headspin in my neighbors yards. When I was about 8 years old, my sister, who was 14 at the time, ran away from home. I looked up to her like crazy, and she left me this box of tapes, with Eazy-E, you know, other stuff from that era, and I just listened to that with my friend all the time. I'd just write stories all the time, adult stories, like I was married and someone came and kidnapped my wife and I was hunting them down, stuff like that, I don't even think it rhymed. I started sampling and making beats when I was about 18... The song "1999" is about spinning 78s, 45s, 33s since '99... My friend Paul started sampling and making beats on a Dr. Sample, we started sampling then by hand and live and on 4-track, then writing raps that had no bar structure, trying to make like 3 a day. Do that, then go do graffiti and not talk to anyone, just be hermits. I just fell in love with perfecting it and hearing other beatmakers, like Ant and Sixtoo and all those dudes, just being like, I wanna be like that. They're always working, not changing themselves drastically but pushing themselves in other directions.

JS: TuPac or Biggie?

CO: I am a huge fan of what TuPac stood for and what he tried to do with his music, especially being so vocal about communities and bringing them together. [He wasn't] trying to turn stuff PG-13, just to really fight for it. You can't just sit back in an armchair and expect things to happen. Biggie was an amazing lyricist and an amazing songwriter, and I just might not know much about him, but I feel like he hadn't affected me as much as TuPac did. TuPac was a really old soul for his age, just such a strong person. I would have to say TuPac gets a few more points than Biggie does in my book, but I still really respect Biggie Smalls.

JS: How went your tour with the Flobots?

CO: It was really fun. It was a learning experience. Everyone was great in the band. I think we all had our doubts that maybe there'd be some tension in the band, because it's like 7 people sitting next to each other in the van 18 hours a day, you know... But there were no bad vibes at all. The crowds were really big and really accepting. We did basically the West Coast from North to South, for about three and a half weeks.

JS: Doing shows like that, do you feel like you've got a growing fan base on a national level?

CO: Yeah, definitely. One way to judge it is just sales and MySpace. Like, all of a sudden I go from having 3 people wanting to be your friend it's like, 5 pages. People from all different age groups are into it, the Flobots had all-ages shows, so we saw people from age 8 to 48. It was pretty great.

JS: So your CD release show is this Friday?

CO: Yeah, at the Triple Rock. I'm gonna be playing with The Millionth Word and Attracted To Gods. We're doing an all-ages show at 6 at a 21+ at 9. It's gonna be awesome.

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You heard the man: Awesome. Be there and pick up an album, it's certain to be one hell of an event.



Cecil Otter: Rebel Yellow CD Release
with The Millionth Word and Attracted To Gods
Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave
All Ages at 6 PM - $7, 21+ at 9 PM - $9

Rebel Yellow: Available in stores now or online at Doomtree.net

Overlong Observations #1

This section is not intended to be about anything particularly topical or relevant. It is just a space for me to put the things I've been pointlessly mulling over lately. You don't have to enjoy it if you don't want.

Kanye West f/Lil' Wayne - Barry Bonds (from Graduation)

Kanye West has always been difficult. I call it the Kanye Konundrum: He embodies the classic case of great beats vs. so-so lyrics. West has proven himself a skilled producer, and his beats rarely fail to deliver. Credited (or blamed, depending on where you stand) with popularizing an 80's synth-dance style of rap with his hits "Stronger" and "Flashing Lights", Kanye showcases a range of different kinds of beats, sampling a variety of sources from U-Roy to Can. With "Barry Bonds", West hits us with a gritty and grandiose beat containing elements from Mountain's "Long Red", providing a deep and sweeping backtrack to his subpar rhymes. West has hit us with rhymes all over the map, sometimes excellent ("Diamonds from Sierra Leone"), sometimes cringe-inducing ("I'm the fly Malcom X / buy any jeans necessary" from "Goodnight"), but mostly just mediocre. His production is pretty consistently on point, though, and often that can carry mediocrity to a tolerable level. It's an age-old question, which West seems determined to continue testing: If the production is tight enough, is it necessary to have quality rhymes? I'd always been under the belief that a bumpin' enough beat cancels out any poor vocals, but was proven wrong by Kanye on "Drunk and Hot Girls", my personal favorite beat of the whole album, rendered entirely unlistenable by the terrible, terrible lyrics. Kanye's flow is blunt and obtrusive enough to get in the way of the beat, unlike 50 Cent, whose laid-back, generally innocuous style, though typically as bad as Kanye's, can be pleasantly ignored. In general, I find Kanye West to be an uneven listen, always unsure of whether I like it or whether it's worth it to continue on.

That said, "Barry Bonds" finds West right in the middle, staying the course without getting too good or too bothersome. It's an excellent song, as the beat sweeps in and lifts mediocre vocals to epic-sounding status at all the right points. Kanye plods along, not hitting any high points but staying consistent. Lil' Wayne turns in a verse that sounds like West ran into him on an elevator and asked him to bust a 16 real quick before he left. His usual brand of oddball simile-laden tributes to himself is evident, and his sound fits well with the beat. Weezy is not going to save hip-hop, but he's at least making it more interesting. Hearing him alongside West leads me to note the similarities between the two: Both say some kind of dumb things and enjoy both having and talking about money. Wayne is the better rapper here, but necessarily lyrically; he simply delivers lines with more punch, more eccentricity, and more fun. "I don't practice / and I don't lack shit" seems to fit the picture: Wayne claims he doesn't write his stuff anymore, he just kicks it form his head, you know, and this verse is bizarrely stream-of-consciousness enough to confirm that. West plods through lines with similar unpolished panache, but simply does not have the charisma on the mic he says does. The chemistry between the two is interesting, both being the two things in mainstream hip-hop that make it seem deserving of attention. This song is probably my favorite on an album that has stymied me for some time.

(this mp3 is meant for listening purposes, so you know what the hell i'm talking about. it'll be gone in a week, i don't need any of kanye's crazy paranoia lawyers throwing me to the lions or nothin')

Review of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" at the Jungle Theatre

For those who don't know about Hedwig already, the premise ought to be enough to intrigue you into seeing it: Hansel, a young East German boy with a love of rock music, meets a U.S. soldier who intends to marry him and take him to America. In order for this to happen, Hansel must pass off as a woman; he changes his name to Hedwig, his mother's name, in order to use her passport, and he has to undergo a sex change operation. The operation is botched, and Hedwig is left with a one inch nub of flesh, the "angry inch". Once in America, the soldier leaves Hedwig for another man, and Hedwig forms a rock band, The Angry Inch, named after the place "where [her] penis used to be, where [her] vagina never was". She meets a young boy named Tommy Speck and they write some songs together, after which point Tommy abandons her and takes their songs to superstardom. The theater production is a Hedwig and the Angry Inch performance in a rundown dive, playing right next door to Tommy Gnosis, as he is now called, and the story of Hedwig's bizarre life unfolds through music and stage chatter.

If that's not enough to grab you, did I also mention it rocks? It does. It rocks. It rocks like you wouldn't expect the theater to rock. The whole show feels exactly like being at a rock concert, except that you have to sit down and there are old people there. I was one of the youngest people in the crowd at the Jungle that night, which was surprising considering the subject matter. Some people did walk out in the middle, perhaps unaware of what exactly they were getting into. This is a rock musical echoing the theatrics of glam rock, the raw intensity of punk rock, and the over-the-top nature of a drag show. Jairus Abts (Hedwig) is decked out in drag, flowing Farrah Fawcett wig, heels and tomato breasts, as she tells raunchy jokes, spits on the audience, and slides the microphone across her crotch and down her throat. Sorry, folks, this ain't A Christmas Carol.

The Jungle transforms into the Red Fez Grill, and the stage is adorned with the bric-a-brac of a slovenly, under-attended rock venue. Playwright John Cameron Mitchell starred as Hedwig in the first performances, delegated to rock clubs rather than the theater, and much of that same feel and energy is translated into this stage performance. The songs are all killer (sing along if you know 'em) and intensify the storytelling. The performances by everyone involved are fantastic, though this is clearly Abts' show: As Hedwig, he controls the attention of everyone and tells the story almost solely from his mouth. You begin to realize how grand a production they've made here from so little, grabbing your attention with well-crafted songs and compelling storytelling that seem more grandiose through the performances. My first exposure to Hedwig was through the film version, starring Mitchell, and I was curious to see the theater version which birthed the movie. In seeing the theater production, I realized how faithful the film was in terms of scale: The same basic premise of rock show interspersed with dialogue revealing the storyline plays true in both versions, and both retain the energy and power of a rock and roll concert.

My observation that there were not very many young people in the crowd does not surprise me despite the clear appeal to a younger demographic: The show was awfully expensive for the college crowd. Those used to going to actual rock shows might be less enthused about spending $26 to see this. I think it's certainly worth the money, and if you spend a night or two not going to the Library or buying weed it should be easily affordable. I do think it's an interesting thing to mull over though. The theater is not as strong a pull as it once was, and if places intend to stay afloat they're going to have to pull in a younger audience. The staging of Hedwig at the Jungle certainly seems a step in that direction, but what good is it if no one can afford to go? I would like to see bigger discounts for students, as I feel Hedwig is something many young people would really enjoy but may not be able to go to simply because of the price. Theater is a very enjoyable form of entertainment, but I rarely get the chance to go because I'm broke as a joke, as I know many college students are. Hedwig is definitely worth the money, and I highly suggest seeing it. It's fun, the music is terrific, and the actors turn in great performances. Go get some culture at the Jungle Theater. Oh, and if you're sitting in the front row, a word of warning: You might get the car wash.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is playing through August 31 at the Jungle Theater. Tickets are $26-36, with a discount of $2 for students.

This Week's Highlights

Rodrigo y Gabriela play tonight at the First Avenue main room. The Dublin-based Mexican acoustic guitarists have the sound of classic Hispanic guitar with the fury of heavy metal. The music is fast-paced, energetic, and incredibly infectious.

First Avenue, 701 1st Ave N
18+, $30, doors at 730




















Last of the Record Buyers is a monthly event at the Dinkytowner to showcase local hip-hop producer's beats. Everybody and they mama makes beats nowadays, throw some of yours on a CD and bump that shit in front of the local hip-hop producer community. Or, just come down and bring a head to nod, as there will be plenty of fire from the untapped talent, plus performances by Stadler and Waldorf. The event is hosted by Brandon Allday of Big Quarters and DJ Nikoless.

Dinkytowner Cafe, 412 1/2 14th Ave SE
18+, $3, doors at 9 (come early to sign up to play beats), beats at 10, Stadler and Waldorf at 11




















Local one-man band Dosh plays a free show this Friday at Eclipse Records in St. Paul. Dosh creates unique soundscapes using keys, loop pedals, drums, and whatever the hell else he has in his maddening array of music-making gizmos. It is a real pleasure watching the man create.

Dosh with Jindra, Alpha Consumer and Ghostband
Eclipse Records, 1922 University Ave W
All ages, free, music starts at 7