MC Lars is more punk rock than you

By Joe Pelone
Collegian Editor
February 14, 2007

One of the boons and banes of the Internet is that it has allowed music to expand and diversify while still remaining commercially viable. It’s possible for bands to fill a small musical niche and make a solid living. One such niche-rocking artist is MC Lars. He raps his cultural and social observations over electronic beats and samples from emo bands and video games. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s snarky, but it’s always Lars. Soon, the man and his “post-punk laptop rap revolution” will be here in Philadelphia. In anticipation of this, Lars conducted a phone interview with the Collegian to introduce himself to ya’ll.

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Collegian: What is your name, and what are your goals in life?

MC Lars: My name is MC Lars, and my goal is to lead a post-punk laptop rap revolution.

C: You fill a pretty interesting niche; you’re a rapper who talks about pop-punk-related issues. How do fans of those genres react? Do you see a lot of crossovers?

L: Yeah, it’s like you said, it definitely has a niche. I mean, I do rap, but if I tried to do a tour with a lot of other rappers, it just wouldn’t really work out. Even with the nerdcore stuff, like with MC Chris and MC Front-a-lot. Like, they’re cool and they’re my friends. But, if we tried to do a tour, I just don’t think it would work as well.

C: You do a lot of commentary on youth culture. Some of it comments on rap, like with “Generic Crunk Rap.” But you also focus a lot on mallcore culture, like with “Signing Emo” and “Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock.” Do your younger fans get the joke?

L: I kind of make fun of the scene I’ve found myself in. I think people get it. I think people with a sense of humor understand.

It was kind of weird when we put “Hot Topic” on the radio. People who heard it thought I was going for more of a punk sound, so it confused them when they heard my other stuff and were like, “What’s with the rapping?,” ya know what I mean?

C: It’s funny how you deny your punk-ness, though. You self-released your CD and have complete control of your image. You do have a lot more DIY cred than like, I don’t know, Fall Out Boy or something like that.

L: Aw, thanks dude.

C: Aw, you’re welcome. What was it like self-releasing your album [The Graduate], and were you more worried about its success because it’s basically you selling “you?”

L: What’s nice is, you have control. You don’t have to worry about major record [labels] making a false, marketable image. I don’t have to worry about subject matter or writing “this many” songs.

But it’s scary. When you’re independent, you don’t have a team of people making sure you hit a specific demographic. But at the same time, I find that, if I like something, people are more likely to be into it.

C: My roommate was on MySpace and played me a video of you interviewing [Internet sensation] Denny “Blazin’” Hazen, the “Original Homeboy.” What’s he like in real life?

L: He’s very cool. He’s just like the guy in the video, but a few years older now. He’s really, really nice and authentic. It’s funny; he’s so legit, like authentically into rap music. I feel like the irony is he doesn’t grasp it as much as the millions of people who have seen his video get it.

But he’s cool. Like, if he had a good producer, like if Pharrell did a track for him… ya know, he’s gotten better. His new stuff is a lot tighter.

C: So how’s fan response been to your own new material?

L: Well, we’ve been putting out a single a month, until the record comes out. The December single was called “Hipster Girl,” and people seemed to like it. It started getting played in Seattle on the radio. It’s cool; it allows us to be more topical and it allows me to have a goal every month — to get a new song out. It’s helpful in a creative way.

C: So are you putting out a new record soon?

L: Probably later this year. That’ll be fun. We’re doing a DVD in the spring. It’s going to have all the videos and weird tour footage. That’ll be funny.

C: Is there anything else college-level people should know?

L: It’s funny; people who go to college… there’s a lot of career paths you can take. You don’t have to take the traditional route if you can work hard and have a good grasp on the technology. That’s my thing.

My main message that I try to spread is that anyone can do this kind of music, independent computer music stuff, if you believe in it enough and have a message. That’s what I like to end my interviews with.

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MC Lars will be playing the First Unitarian Church with Suburban Legends and Patent Pending at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23.

pelonej1@lasalle.edu