Raising the bar

>> Tha Alkaholiks are back with the bacchanal

EAST, WEST, NORTH AND SOUSES: Tha Alkaholiks

by SCOTT C

Tha Alkaholiks made their mark in 1991 with their debut LP, 21 and Over, rapping around the simple idea that they loved to mix it up at the bar. The West Coast team of J-Ro, Tash and producer E-Swift shared mics over the years with King Tee, Xzibit and a young Lootpack, who were all part of their extended Lik Wit Crew. Although there was talk of a break-up, they’re back on the road once again this spring with the Rehab Tour. The Mirror reached E-Swift by phone in Colorado.

Mirror: So am I to understand that I have the great honour of the coveted “tour van interview” with you, man?

E-Swift: Yeah, man! You got the official on-the-road, up-close-and-personal, everybody-in-here interview! We going through Hoover Dam right now, taking in all the sights, the cliffs and rocks and all that crap. We’re all well connected, though. We got an X-Box in here, TV, movies and all that. We doin’ it hard, man. We road warriors for the next month.

M: Nice to see you guys breaking out once again for the Rehab Tour. When was the last time Tha Alkaholiks actually hit the road?

E-S: We just did a tour over in Europe during Christmas, but it’s been a minute since we did the whole U.S.-Canada run, and here we are, out here again, regardless of all the hearsay.

M: There’s clearly been some talk about you guys falling out, breaking up and fighting within the group, but that’s to be expected, no? It’s been a while since you first got your feet wet.

E-S: We’ve upgraded a bit (laughs). When we went on our first tour, it was with A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, but we were in a rented Cadillac, driving out on the road for the first time. Then we graduated to the luxury tour van (laughs), ’cause, you know, it’s just more convenient and comfortable.

M: So you skipped the private jet and went straight from the Cadillac to the tour van?

E-S: Yeah, everybody does the private jet, and we’re just trying to be outside of the regular, know what I’m sayin’? We just leave the jet parked at the airport. We have that option, though (laughs). We’re out here doing it for our fans! We have a very loyal fanbase that we’ve been able to build up over the years, so with our Web site and our MySpace page, we’re able to stay in touch with the people, let them know what we’re doing and where we’re gonna be. Before, you had to run a whole marketing campaign, put ads in magazines and wait three months for it to come out, and now it’s instant. Within five minutes, everybody knows what’s going on.

M: Do you still have faith in the record-buying public?

E-S: Yeah. People are still selling records. You just have to make something good enough for people to want to go to the store and buy it. You take the good with the bad, and I ain’t really mad at the way things are. Even before the Internet, though, I’ve always believed that touring and live shows was the most direct way to reach your fans.

With Starski, Hyro da Hero,
Magnum 357, F.B.I., Cyrano De
MontrÉal, the Almighty Flight and
DJ Manifest at les Saints on
Sunday, April 13, 9 p.m., $18