tarting with Snoop Dogg at the 40 Watt
Club and adding Chali 2na and Del at
New Earth and last month's raucous Big
Boi show at the reborn Georgia Theatre
(not to mention upcoming shows with
Childish Gambino and Wale), 2011 already has
seen more major hip-hop talent come through
Athens than any other year in recent memory.
To that impressive roster we can now add
Atmosphere, the long-running Minneapolis
duo of MC Slug and DJ Ant. Generally referred
to as indie-rap or even emo-rap, due to Slug's
deeply personal, introspective lyrical con
tent, these guys have been cutting a swath
through the underground hip-hop landscape
for over two decades now, and their musical
rapport with one another has reached a near
psychic level. Touring incessantly in support
of the new album, The Family Sign, Slug (real
name Sean Daley) found a few minutes while
stopped in Colorado to talk to Flagpole about
the group's upcoming date at New Earth Music
Hall.
"I'm looking forward 10 coming back to
Athens," he begins, sounding both relaxed and
exhausted. "We hadn't been there in a while,
and you don't really wanna neglect anybody
for too long because if you do they start to
resent you, and before you know it, they have
to go to therapy just to complain about you.
But every time I've been there, it's been quite
exciting. Literally, I always have an exciting
time, which is hard because I'm a very boring
individual. I usually sneak down to the back
of the bus and hide and read a book, but for
some reason there's something about that city
that kinda makes me come out of my shell and
m:. Athens Draws Slu? Out of His $he
kinda whoop it up. I don't know what it is,
but I'm lookin' forward to it."
Indeed, the pair hasn't played the Classic
City since its 2007 show at the 40 Watt, and
while Daley could give no specific reason for
the switch to New Earth, he self-deprecatingly
mused that "maybe the 40 Watt was too smart
to fall for it again [laughs]," before going
on to describe the live show. "It'll be me,
Ant, Erick [Anderson, on keyboards] and Nate
[Collis, on guitar], the same guys I've been
touring with for a while now."
As is evidenced on both The Family Sign
and 2008's brilliant When Life Gives You
Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold, Ant has
become much more interested in using live
instrumentation in his production work, and
with Anderson and Collis onstage, tracks like
the fiery, piano-driven "Puppets" and the sin
ister, guitar-centric "Bad Bad Daddy" will gain
a fuller, more textured sound.
The critical consensus on Atmosphere's
recent work seems to be that the diary-entry-
personal, almost confessional quality of
Daley's early lyrics has of late given way to a
more observational "storytelling" mode. Daley
seefns momentarily stumped when considering
whether Ant's forays into instrumental com
position have helped affect this shift in his
songwriting, pausing briefly before deciding,
"That's a good question. I don't know if I've
really figured that out yet. I want to say no,
but the truth is it probably has and I've just
been avoiding realizing it, you know what I
mean? I don't know. I mean, to me it's all the
same. 'Cause you're still pushing and trying
to validate the same parts of your inner, ya
know? I guess I've been more interested in
stories than I am in bragging and boasting
about how I'm cool, even though I still find
myself just using stories to do it. Maybe I'm
gettin' older. Maybe I know in my heart of
hearts I'm really not cool enough to be doing
the bragging and boasting. I dunno. You
sound like my therapist, man."
Touring almost nonstop through the end
of the year, Daley seems eager to get back
to what little free time he enjoys these days,
but not before leaving Flagpole readers with
these final nuggets of wisdom: "Eat your veg
etables," he begins. "Wear a helmet. Google
the term 'net neutrality' and learn about what
that means and pay attention to what these
corporations are trying to do to the Internet.
You know what, don't just eat your vegetables,
grow your fucking vegetables. I dunno... I
suck at interviews."
David Fitzgerald
WHO: Atmosphere, Evidence, Blueprint
WHERE: New Earth Music Hall
WHEN: Thursday, Sept 15,9 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $25 (adv.), $30 (door)
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 17
