Height: Good question. People come up to me at shows and say, "I heard you on the Shark Tank album," or " I saw you open for Dan Deacon" but no one ever says "I read your track review on rollingstone.com and decided to check it out. That's never happened once.
The only positive effect I've been able to detect is that getting press has made long time fans happy for me.
TTAD: I feel like you're always rapping about wooden spoons. What's the deal with that? Are you to wooden spoons and rap what Salad Fingers us to rusty spoons and internet cartoons?
Height:
TTAD: If you didn't tour pretty much full time what would you do?
Height: I always wish I had more time to write and record. Being on a deadline can be good, but if I was just posted up in Baltimore for 365 days a year, I'd like to think I would grind even harder on the music-making end.
When I played in places like Ukraine, I met groups that are not able to tour at all, due to their financial reality and the cultural reality of their world. You either win the music business lottery and make it big or you just stay in your hometown. It would be nice to not have this pressure to be going everywhere all the time. Still, it seems like it would be hard to devote yourself so strongly to your music, knowing that only your ten friends around town will ever hear it.
TTAD: How would/will you know your time on the road is done if it ever comes to that?
Height: I never want to stop touring. I didn't get into it on a whim. I do it because I see it as my calling. On the other hand, I'm at a crossroads in regard to how hard I want to tour in the immediate future. I'm questioning how much touring is helping me right now. I'm still doing well in the cities where I do well, and I'm still playing to empty rooms in the cities where I've always played to empty rooms.
I'm starting to think that the whole cycle of an indie act self-releasing music and doing DIY tours is losing relevance. It's not that important to press up physical media, and it's not that important to physically appear live in a certain city on a certain day. It's seems like being willing to tour the country and press up your own records used to be more of a self-empowering thing, but it's been rendered obsolete by the internet. I'm not mad at it. I'm just trying to figure out how to adapt.
TTAD: When you wrote parts for other people in your new album did you try to write something fitting for each person specifically? Or did whoever just get whatever part?
Height: When I initially wrote the rhymes, I had on rose-colored classes as to how it would work. I expected Mickey Free to just be able to make himself sound like Grandmaster Caz, or Gavin Riley to sound like Busy Bee, or whatever it was I wanted. I didn't put much thought into what each person's voice sounded like naturally. It took a lot of trial and error, and almost every single bar on the album was recorded by eight different people until it felt right. It forced me to work with people I never really worked with before, like Eze Jackson, who has become the main guy helping me make these old school songs and sets a reality.
TTAD: Any other off the wall album concepts coming up?
Height: Yes! The next two albums will be equally off the wall sequels to my recently released period-peice album. Part two will take place in LA in the early 80's, and I'll be paying homage to acts like LA Dream Team and Egyptian Lover. Part three will be another east coast style album, also taking place in the 80's, paying homage to Crash Crew, Fearless Four, etc. I aim to release them in winter and spring, respectively.
The third Shark Tank album will be coming later this winter, and will be equally insane.
Height
http://heightwithfriends.com/
http://heightwithfriends.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Height-With-Friends/53084877130
http://heightwithfriends.tumblr.com/
@heightman
interview by Cody Jones/Stillborn Identity
https://www.facebook.com/stillcody
stillbornidentity.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/stillborn-identity
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stillborn-Identity/154438521280723
https://www.youtube.com/user/stillcodentity
@CodyJonesSTLBRN
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