Recently Low Budget dropped their second-LP, Laserdisc. It is one of the most intriguing release of 2009 thus far. Producer Debonair P has chosen to explore uncharted territory on the beat-front with a strong infusion of formidable 80’s basslines and boogie rhythms. Anyone expecting another Magnasound was in for a surprise. Gentleman Gene’s verses epitomise consistency as he naturally excels over P’s classy beats.
Obviously the first thing punters and critics alike have noticed about Laserdisc is the novel style of P’s beats. Many try to definitively describe this with a tedious set of adjectives. How would you guys describe what you have created?
Debonair P: The main thing that people hopefully get from the album is that it’s cohesive and something we had fun recording. Hopefully people don’t have to skip any tracks when they’re listening to it too.
Was this always the direction you were going to take from the outset?
DP: Pretty much – we’d already been playing versions of some of the songs that ended up on Laserdisc at around the time that we were launching Magnasound in 2006. So when it came time to start thinking about another album we were both on the same page about what kind of flavour we were going for. Initially we were both a little wary about how it would translate in the recording process, but once we started it all came together fairly easily.
Much has been said of this interesting sound with an almost rampant enthusiasm but have you received any negative feedback thus far?
Gentleman Gene: The new sound maybe threw people who were expecting a similar sound to the last album at first, but on the whole everyone seems to be digging it. Even the people who aren’t really feeling the direction we went in seem to appreciate the fact that we’ve tried something different and the way we’ve approached it. On the whole, we’ve been really happy with the way it’s been received by listeners, the press, radio etc.
Is the simple quest for originality the primary motive behind this gravitation away from the jazzy foundations of Magnasound?
DP: Not really. It’s true to some degree that we didn’t want to rehash the same thing we’d done on Magnasound, but it was more the case that I was just listening to different records(i.e funk and disco instead of jazz and soul) and that came through in a lot of the beats that we ended up running with.
How did you embark on this shift? Is it as simple as digging in different crates? Or is there more to it?
DP: I don’t think I made a conscious shift in the way I produced the tracks for Laserdisc as opposed to the beats on Magnasound. In fact, some of the songs on Laserdisc (such as Hit the Key, Freak Mystique and Black Tie Affair) I’d had sitting around since we were recording Magnasound. If there was any difference in my approach at all, it was just that I stopped thinking about how easy it would be for Gene to rap over the beats-which I guess is what led to some of the tracks being a fair bit faster than a lot of the hip hop that’s out at the moment.
There’s a definite contrast between Magnasound and Laserdisc in that the former was recorded over a five year period without a definite vision. Having changed this with Laserdisc, which method do you prefer?
GG: Laserdisc was a lot more fun for us to record because we had a better idea about what we were doing in the studio and what we wanted to achieve. A big difference this time around was having deadlines to finish the album which was a positive thing because it made us really focus on the project and not procrastinate about it. There’s no way we could have made Magnasound in the same timeframe because a lot of that album was really about learning and developing our skills – all the time we spent working on the first album made this one a lot faster.
Was there any change to the sampling and recording process in the studio or do you prefer to keep things simple, that which is tried and tested?
Debonair P: We recorded the vocals for Laserdisc in a professional studio, instead of doing it bedroom-style like we’d done on Magnasound and the mixtape. Everything else was pretty much the same though-all the production, mixing etc was done in my home studio with the same equipment I’ve been using for a while. I’ve never felt limited with the equipment I own so I’ve never seen the need to upgrade. Plus I’d much rather spend my money on records instead of studio gear.
“…Even the people who aren’t really feeling the direction we went in seem to appreciate the fact that we’ve tried something different and the way we’ve approached it…”
Did a sense of accomplishment following the success of Magnasound allow a far greater creative scope?
GG: Not really, the way we approached this album came more from not wanting to repeat ourselves as opposed to being a response to any success we had with Magnasound.
Another intriguing attribute present throughout Laserdisc is a really jovial, almost throwback-type lyrical atmosphere. Was this something intended to neatly accompany the bass-heavy, boogie rhythms?
Gene, do you feel a healthy sense of is an important ingredient in your verses? Does it contribute to replay value?
GG: I don’t really set out to write humorous lyrics, but it’s always a good thing to put smiles on peoples’ faces. The lyrics I write are a reflection of who I am, so my style of humour is going to come through regardless. I try to write lyrics that sit well with the beat, both with rhythm and pattern, and also with a theme or topic that suits the beat. As for replay value, I have always found both lyrics and production with some degree of humour very engaging.
Your lyrics on Laserdisc take a conceptual course on 2082. What compelled you to explore this peculiar direction? Were you simply inspired to present your own, unique vision of the future? Is there a closet Blade Runner fan in MC Gentleman Gene?
GG: The beat for 2082 has a dark futuristic sound to it, but it still sounds like it’s stuck in the 80’s. I have always been interested in how different periods in cinema have had there own distinct style and vision of what the future will be like. I grew up in the 80’s, so that version of the future has really stuck with me. Debonair laced off the track with some killer cuts!
Since Magnasound, you also slightly adapted your monikers from Genetik and Polarity to Gentleman Gene and Debonair P respectively. Are these aliases intended to compliment the music with a subtle sense of swagger?
GG: Nope. We just thought the new names were funny so we changed them!
Often there is an overbearing level of anticipation and hype surrounding a second LP, do you feel the brushes of originality are a means of countering this all-too-often detrimental trend?
DP: I don’t know, I didn’t feel like there was a whole bunch of anticipation or hype surrounding Laserdisc, so that didn’t really impact the creation of the album. The main thing for me has always been to come up with something that I’m happy with personally, as opposed to trying to second-guess myself about what listeners are going to think when they hear it.
Do you feel that avoiding guestspots on the album contributes to an even higher level of cohesion and playability?
GG: To an extent. We were confident enough about our own abilities not to have to rely on other guests. Another thing we noticed was that a lot of hip hop acts really push their feature MC’s and producers as a selling point when marketing their albums – we’d much rather be responsible for the album’s success or failure ourselves.
Low Budget have already forged such an idiosyncratic path in the local scene, all within the span of a mixtape and two LP’s. Can you describe your aspirations for the future, both in a short and long-term sense?
GG: We’re just sitting back at the moment seeing how well this album does, we’re not thinking too much about the future at this point. We’re both enjoying a bit of time off from recording and are focussing on improving our live shows.
Is there a tour or any interstate shows planned at this point?
GG: Definitely, just trying to organise it all at the moment-we’ll hopefully be able to hit a few other cities in May. We’re always busy in Melbourne though.
