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Built to last

>> Shades of Culture celebrate their 10th anniversary

by SCOTT C

For the last 10 years, Shades of Culture have championed the essence of independent hip hop in this city, and just about everywhere else too. MCs D-Shade and Revolution and DJ Storm never had any difficulty bridging the gap between hip hop and punk, playing to audiences on both sides of the fence and repping their sound to the fullest. From the Payin’ Rent EP all the way up to Mindstate and A Little Bit About Us, these guys have built a solid reputation for being able to rock the stage anytime, anyplace, for just about anybody. And with just about anybody—they’ve shared stages with Eminem, Gangstarr, EPMD, Beatnuts, KRS One, Common, Pharcyde, Onyx, Ice T, House of Pain, Gravediggaz, Maestro Fresh Wes, Rahzel, Herbaliser, Public Enemy, Schooly D, IAM, Backstreet Boys, Ben Harper, Bad Brains, SNFU, Lagwagon, Strung Out, Good Riddance, Judy Mowatt, Doughboys, Bran Van 3000 and DJ Q-bert. How’s that for history?

As Shades got ready for their 10th anniversary bash this weekend, the Mirror spoke to the guys about some of the things they’ve taken away from this crazy ride.

Mirror: A lot of people talk about the state of hip hop in Montreal and whether it’s at a healthy stage or on a long, bumpy road with lots of work to do. How have things changed since Shades of Culture was doing three shows a week steady?

Revolution: I think there’s been a change in the Montreal music scene, not just the hip hop side of things. Montreal was, and still is to an extent, a tight-knit scene. Bands play with bands ’cause they want to play. There was no pay-to-play, there weren’t 900 promoters, there weren’t any promoters except Greenland and some indie kids back then. Everybody was sort of DIY. You were out to do things, but if you helped another band, they would help you. There’s been other growth though, within the DJ scene, and there are a lot of groups working their stuff, but perhaps the unity is different.

DJ Storm: The skill and talent level has definitely gone up. Before there was just a handful of MCs that travelled in a circle, but it’s bigger than that now. People have gotten a little more serious about things. Hip hop is more accepted as a music now as well. There’s a market for it now.

D-Shade: The whole show aspect is completely different now. Our influences have changed as well. First of all, Montreal doesn’t get as many good, quality shows as it used to. There was a time when there were a lot of shows and the artists actually made it across the border!

Hip hop even haters can love

M: For a lot of people, Shades is probably the first name that comes to mind when talking about Montreal hip hop, even after 10 years. Did you guys feel like the front line of attack in terms of letting the rest of Canada know that Montreal was here?

R: Toronto ignores us. They just pretend Montreal doesn’t exist. Everybody talks about Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax all the time and leave us out.

M: Is that a language cop-out?

R: We can’t get the English grants ’cause we’re in Quebec, and we can’t get French grants ’cause we’re an English group, and we’re definitely not stepping on anyone’s toes. If anyone from Montreal has toured it’s us. I dare most bands to say how much touring they’ve done, and I’ll brag straight up that I’ve played 700 shows with this band over 10 years.

DJS: The most significant thing for Shades was being on the road. We’ve been to France, the States a couple of times, all over Canada five or six times—and Bermuda.

D: That’s one of the reasons that we’re still here, making music, and showing a little bit of what longevity is supposed to be. We’re only realizing it now, just how long it’s been and all the groups that have come and gone since we’ve been in this. We’re just happy to still be a unit making new music.

M: Who are some of the groups that have come and gone that come to mind?

D: J Soul and the Soul Tribe. He’s actually back, but it’s not the Soul Tribe. Eye-Spy, Snow White, Corporal, Headblunt, Kandu and Baloo. Even if these groups aren’t together the way they were, some of the members are still making music or trying to do their thing on some level.

M: What’s the closest that Shades has come to a major-label situation?

D: There was big things going on in French hip hop at the time, but we were able to do well as an English group, simply because we could play to a French or English crowd no problem. I think that was appealing to labels like TOX and Audiogram, both French labels, but nothing ever came out of it. After we played that big show at the Molson Centre—

M: Ahem, the Backstreet Boys?

D: That show. We were approached by a lot of people, but a proper deal never seemed to pan out.

M: But was getting signed ever a goal for you guys?

R: We were ready at certain times over the years. Our management was on a professional level, but as a band, we always just tried to concentrate on making that good song, making people enjoy us. There’s something about playing to kids who say they hate hip hop but Shades are good.

Revolutionary faceplant

M: Your most memorable Shades of Culture moment?

DJS: One of my best friends, Bruno, is a supervisor at the Molson Centre and we played the last show of the Backstreet Boys tour there. He took the night off and worked security for us, and it just happened to be his birthday. He’s one of those guys that just doesn’t stop talking, a centre-of-attention kind of guy. So I got D-Shade and Revolution to wish him a happy birthday on stage in the middle of the show, with 21,000 people singing along. I’ve never seen a man look for a dark corner any quicker than that, with all those kids screaming and losing it, and I’ll never forget that.

R: We’re on tour in France and I had to play soundman. During the first song we had to redo the sound check, so I go out to the booth, which is raised about three feet off the floor in this Euro-bar that was made entirely of metal. It was like the back porch of a triplex. I’m up there on the platform behind a cage doing sound for my own band, and I finish and turn to jump down from the platform. Of course I’m standing on my shoelace and trip over myself, falling flat on my face on the loudest cold, hard piece of metal ever. The entire bar turns and looks, and I jump to my feet like Ace Ventura after a bad bail. I made like everything was cool, but I was dying, not only of embarrassment but pain as well. I had to do the whole show like that.

D: Warped Tour ’98. The Alkaholiks played on one stage, and we were the opener. We were all set up with camouflage netting on the stage, and luckily we had Takktiks with us, decked out in army fatigues on some China Beach. As soon as we put on the music, there’s a pit that forms in front of the stage and a huge cloud of dust kicks up, like Pig-Pen from Charlie Brown. We’re losing our minds and loving it, and everything’s fine. All the sudden I smell something burning. I look over and realize one of the monitors is on fire. It’s on fire. Unbelievable. A guy comes on running and puts it out, and the crowd goes totally insane. ::

With guests Jah Cutta, Mikey Dangerous, Devious, Takktiks the Unisol, Tara Caprani, Tactical Crew, 3XDope, Mehtrix, Grand Theft and more at Petit Campus on Friday, Dec. 6, 9pm, $8

Shades of Culture’s Top 10 for 2002
1. Jay-Z The Blueprint (Roc-a-fella)
2.Talib Kweli Quality (Rawkus)
3. Lone Catalysts The Catalysts Files (B.U.K.A.)
4. Nappy Roots Watermelon, Chicken and Grits (Atlantic)
5. DJ Babu Duck Season (Sequence)
6. Various 8 Mile Soundtrack (Universal)
7. Scarface The Fix (Def Jam South)
8. Sean Paul Dutty Rock (Atlantic)
9. Nickelback Silver Side Up (Roadrunner)
10. Eminem The Eminem Show (Universal)