Ahead of their forthcoming tour, which includes a stint in Sydney at the intimate boutique festival that is Days Like This!, Andy Cat of Ugly Duckling chats to the AU review about how the present is making him ill, how the past still rests in his beeper, and what the future holds for the prolific Hip Hop group.
It’s been said that the name Ugly Duckling came from feeling like musical outcasts when you formed in the mid-90s. Well that’s what the Internet tells us anyway. Almost 15 years later, how do you feel now as part of the Southern California scene?
we’ve been working all over the planet for so long that we think of ourselves as world citizens (sorry for the cliche) more than anything else. but we are glad to have come out of southern california in the late nineties because the flourishing independent hip-hop scene (j-5, dilated peoples, people under the stairs, even black eyed peas…) really set the tone for our underground approach to having a career in music. it’s the momentum on which we still run.
You may have been together since this time, but do you still ever get those “oh shit, this is pretty damn cool” moments when you’re on the road?
certainly! if you didn’t, you should quit, right? last month, we were touring the u.k. in york and i woke up early in the morning to go running (pretty decadent, huh?) and i found myself jogging on top of the old, city wall which, i believe, goes back to the 12th century. i thought about how weird my job was then we packed up and headed to the next town.
Going back to the beginning, your first ever overseas tour was with the Jungle Brothers. What was that experience like, and how do your overseas jaunts these days compare?
it was surreal because they were hip-hop heroes and we had never been outside of the u.s. i couldn’t believe i was chit-chatting with guys i’d studied and trying to act like it was just another day. honestly, it felt as though we’d stepped into a weird machine (tour bus) but we just focused on performing well, which is still our approach today. when we’re out on the road these days, we are a little more confident but we try to stay young, naive and amazed that we get to do this.
Looking in particular to Australia, you’ve made it to our shores quite a few times over the years – can you speak a little on your touring experiences down here?
we’ve really enjoyed the experience of visiting australia. in fact, the people have treated us far to well so we are due for a couple of tomatoes this time out. every visit, we’ve been in front of fun-loving, enthusiastic crowds who really dig live music and that’s all a performer can ask for. plus, the lifestyle of sun, fun and bbq is an easy transition for southern californians.
How do our crowds compare to the rest of the world?
like i wrote in the last answer, they are a very fun group. i’ve always felt the open-mindedness and determination to have a great time. other people are often more cynical and reluctant to let loose.
For your 2010 tour, which includes appearances at Days Like This! and Soundscape Festivals, what can fans down here expect from your shows this time around? Anything you’re excited to share with us in the live setting?
we have fans?! what a world! we have a brand new set that spans all of our best material and we aim to tear the roof down although we’ll probably be playing outside (maybe we’ll tear the sky down!). the most fun thing about performing is watching people react happily to songs we’ve made; there is nothing else like that and i hope we can get it going in front of some big crowds.
You started 2009 off with a bang, releasing your fourth LP Audacity around the world.
Are you happy with how fans have received the album?
i think so. this will be the first time we’ve been down under since we released “audacity” so it will be interesting to see how our listeners took to those songs. as for the rest of the world, we just got back from 6 weeks of shows in europe and a few dates in the rockies and they all went well so we can’t complain. we just try to keep our heads above water.
A common thread of praise regarding Audacity is how you continue to stick to your roots – a highly respectable quality that few seem to possess in hip hop these days…
it’s all we know how to do. we long ago accepted that we were not going to be a pop sensation so we figured that we should do material that we like and our listeners will respect so, even when we miss the mark, we can live with it because we’ve made a noble effort. plus, bad music is depressing. sometimes, i turn on the radio and get physically ill.
When you started out, who did you look towards for inspiration?
Do you still look towards the same artists?
we loved the greats from the golden age of hip-hop (a tribe called quest, de la soul, epmd, brand nubian, showbiz and a.g…) but we didn’t think of things in terms of a career, we just wanted to make funky, creative and interesting hop-hop music with samples and breaks. i’m not sure who we look to today but we try to put together songs with that same adventurous, pioneering spirit even though that style is a bit long in the tooth. i guess, we still have an early 90’s mindset; i carry a beeper.
And finally – as we come to the end of another year – In addition to the mentioned LP, What did 2009 bring to Ugly Ducking, and what will we see Ugly Ducking bringing to 2010?
we kept the ball rolling one more year and that’s our ambition for 2010 as well. we feel like we’ve been robbing banks for years and it’s only a matter of time before the authorities catch up with us. if we can do it again next year and i can have a similar conversation with you going into 2011, i’ll be a happy cat.
That does it for us! Thanks again for your time and we can’t wait to see you down here.
thanks for the interest, we hope to see you at one of the shows. happy new year!
