The Source Staff

An American Band in Jamaica, part I.Taking your all-white, six-piece reggae band to Jamaica is a bold move.
It certainly takes some balls. In some respects, this is akin to
growing up in Norway crafting since the age of seven what you believe
is an authentic and high-quality country western act, then taking your
show across the Atlantic to Nashville. So, it was with a bold stride
that drummer Chris O'Brian and the five other members of Rochester, New
York's Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad arrived in the birthplace of
reggae a little over a year ago.

"As a large reggae ensemble of
Caucasians from upstate New York, we tried not to let ourselves get
singled out for playing this music that has spread all over the world
in a short amount of time. We don't take it heavy, we don't take it
lightly, we just don't even take it when people come with their funny
look on their face," O'Brian says rather assertively while driving on
the Massachusetts Turn Pike on the way to what will be GPGDS' second
festival appearance of the day.

You need goggles like that when you send these kind of e-mails.Aesop Rock is coming to Bend along with the esteemed gentlemen of the
Hieroglyphics crew and a gaggle of other hip-hop all stars for what
very well might be the most prolific hip-hop event this town has seen
since we got that shipment of water-damaged Sir Mix A Lot cassettes in
'91. I wanted to get some phone time with Aesop Rock, but was told that
Mr. Rock prefers questions be directed his way in the form of e-mail. I
obliged and here's what Aesop Rock had to type about Tom Waits, curtain
installation and reading National Geographic:

tSW: A slightly
pedantic question: Indie hip-hop, or alternative hip-hop or however you
want to "genre-ify" it, seems to be increasingly drawing on influences
outside of the hip-hop arena. What’s your most significant non-hip-hop
influences past and present?
Aesop Rock: Probably either the
Mountain Goats or Tom Waits. They both happen to strike that chord in
me that usually only a savage MC can get to. They both are masters at
their craft, they put a massive amount of effort into the lyric-writing
aspect of all of this, and each have distinct deliveries that work
hand-in-hand with the way they write. I'm a longtime fan of both. Tom
Waits' albums have such unique production, and overall drunkenness to
them. I dunno, I could go on about them each forever.