3 Individual Artists Come Together to Blow Your Mind

Right now bumping around through internet space time and across the 0's and 1's of computer binary code is The Prototype (formally The Avid Mind and Tracksmith Present: The Protoype).  It is a mixtape of sorts created by Tracksmith, Ian Williams and The Avid Mind, David Perez (along with a new, 3rd member Haji who was not available to interview). Joining the ranks of MCs and producers who make music and get degrees, these two are students at the University of Chicago making them a blend of brains, brawn and unquestionable skill.  

Collectively Us

The Avid Mind was born and raised in the Bronx, New York.  He has been honing his skills as an MC since the 4th grade starting with general song parodies and Eminem imitations, working his way up to his first single at 13, recorded into Windows Recorder, over a beat laid with a language cassette player bumping through head phones into the microphone as Dave Shady.  And with that for a foundation--having to learn to make sounds with his own basic tools--the evolution into the legitimately cocky and creative lyricist, The Avid Mind, that he is today was inevitable.

Tracksmith represents the A (Atlanta for the slow people) and grew from being only a fan, to a sounds and beats creator, and manipulator by the time he was 12. Its amazing what can happen when your older brother walks through the door with a pirated copy of fruity loops; he'd created a monster.  Initially Tracksmith was a techno and rave monster but eventually his love of classic hip hop sounds integrated itself with the sounds of lasers; and after some sanding, polishing and the application of some hip hop theory (how many bars and whatnot) it became the sound of The Prototype. 

 

So here we are, we've met up in Hutch Commons, an area where students eat, study and socialize.  The Avid Mind rocks a cross around his neck over a thermal while Tracksmith represents the original Power Rangers on his t-shirt.  Tracksmith wears boat shoes while The Avid Mind rocks sneakers and they both wear jeans (and neither wear ladies' skinny jeans); they compliment one another. After they've both eaten (The Avid Mind having inhaled a 6 inch sub in 3 minutes flat, admittedly without chewing) we get down to business...

Misha: How did you guys combine?

The Avid Mind (TAM): um, genetically *laughs* We both did CAP which is like a summer thing here [at The University of Chicago] and...I didn't like him at first because...he looked like hoodlums from where I live.  The douche bags in the Bronx wear t-shirts like that and they're always like really tall and lanky...

Tracksmith (TS): So, they dress like I dress but we have different behaviors.  And he was really stand offish at first. 

TAM: Right, but at the end of the program...that was my boy and then he told me he made beats and I was like that's some tight shit...so when we got back here it was like '...let's do some music or something'

M: How did your sound evolve from you (TAM), sounding like Eminem and you (TS), doing a lot of techno stuff to where you are presently? how would you describe your sound together?

TAM: We make music for women and the socially awkward *both laugh* But he's more of a classic hip hop head

TS: Yea, I'm really into topical like you gotta say somethin, with whatever you're spittin and I really get on him about that sometimes...usually if I just let him do what he does and he comes back after a draft and another draft and the shit will be ridiculous

TAM: Right, and I'm have like a 'I listen to everything' kind of feel so I'll try to make like EMO songs...and I listen to a lot of Japanese music too.

M: So you guys have like a checks and balances kind of thing going?

Both: Yea

M: Is there anything that you (TAM) check him (TS) on?

TAM: Not making beats sound like a lot of Rugrats *both laugh* Or not keeping it PG, bring it up to R.  I get on him a lot like 'dude you need to swear or sound angry sometimes.' Not sound like you're just a twelve year old trying to talk about more advanced topics, or sound like you're in church...

M: So collectively you are...? Or you're just going to list your names for now?

TS: We haven't come up with a dope ass name yet, so it's just collectively us

TAM: It would appear that we're just 3 individual artists who come together to make a project since we don't have an overlapping name, so yea we'll just list our names for now

TS: We don't want to draw on some corny ass name like The Force or some shit like that

M: What are some of your favorite songs on The Prototype?

 TAM: I like Faraway, and the one that's actually called The Prototype.  Definitely Showtime is another one just because he [TS] had that track all to himself and he just went nut on it...like it's always great to hear somebody say "you're full of shit just like a commode."  It's tight.

TS: Show Me the Game has really grown on me because of the level of intensity.  It starts off really high and then gets even higher when Haji comes in and destroys it.  And definitely Protoype just because it fits so well with telling his [TAM] story and the type of person he is, especially on the chorus *both laugh* And we're both pretty big into video games, so sampling a video game makes it even more...

M: The Prototype is a complete project, or is there more to come?

TS: There might me more prototypes to come but the reason we named it The Prototype because we're just getting started and we're feeling out what we need to do as far as quality getting better and content getting better, everything to progress

TAM:  It's an experimental project to get a feel for different stuff we could do so the next one probably wouldn't be called the prototype but you can consider them similar

TS: The next installment.

TAM: We're hoping to have a full actual LP by the end of next summer

M: To be distributed how?

TAM: Online, Myspace and Zshare.  All the files are on there.

TS: Yea, we're trying to get the name out there and get as much buzz as possible

Download The Prototype

M: And in the grander scheme of things where are you guys hoping to go?

TAM: As far as it takes us.  So if that means money sure, if that means 7-11 performing in the back, why not.  Hopefully the former of the two.

TS:  I mean at the end of the day it's ridiculous that you can just sit down and listen to yourself for a change instead of what the fuck other people want to say.  I'm not always trying to hear that.

TAM: in the long run we're trying to press a couple cds so we can hand something out that's actually tangible.  And hopefully take it a little more seriously in between the school thing. 

M: With a selected audience like women and the socially awkward where would you go with pressed cds?

 TS: *both laugh* Our music, socially awkward yea, but it's mostly for everyone. There's been people who've been really crazy about it who don't even listen to hip hop...whoever likes it is whatever.

 M: What are 5 of your favorite songs?

TAM: Hum Hallelujah by Fall Out Boy, Miserable by Gackt, The After Life of the Party by Fall out Boy, Role Model by Eminem, Metamorphos by Gackt and a song called Alone by Outsider, he's Korean.

TS: Respiration by Black Thought, The World is Yours by Blue--he's a new artist, How Big is Your World by Median...then just shit that my mom listened to like James Taylor and Fleetwood Mac 

TAM: That should be noted that even though I write hip hop songs I don't really listen to them like I should

TS: As far as the "real" hip hop heads would think, like you're supposed to know your history...like I'm always like listen to this song and he's like 'that's hot' and I'm like well this is where it came from.

TAM: I'm incredibly removed from it, I'm all into rock and stuff.  That's where the singing on the actual EP came from it's because I'm into all that, like I can write some sad shit and then sing it *laughs*

 M: Yea, your favorite songs are definitely going to influence you in some way.  So Ian, if you could impregnate any beat and have the perfect music-love-child, which beat would it be?

TS: Oh my god, shit. How about like producers that I would put together?

TAM: You don't want to stick your dick in there? *both laugh*

TS: I'll take JD, Kanye, mix em with 9th Wonder, put em together with Ryan Leslie (TAM: of course, you know he might fix some of Kanye's gaudiness), put em together with this dude Exile, and then have Dj Premiere on the cuts. And Pete Rock in the back of the room, just chillin.

M: And for you [TAM] in the same theme of Tupac's Thugz Mansion, you die and you go to hip hop heaven, who's there?

TAM: 50 cent *laughs* I can give you an explanation, because he's big and brolick. And Eminem since he's the reason I got started.  I would say Ja Rule but he belongs in hip hop hell *laughs*  I want Jay-Z there and of course Tupac.  I'm pretty open, Vanilla Ice so he can chill.  Proof from D-12,  Big Pun.  Who else do I like enough to really break bread with...DMX, someone loud and roudy, and this guy would be the bodyguard to the mansion: Fat Joe.  You would wanna chill there wouldnt you?

M: Most def, for me you left out Styles P but...

TAM: Throw him in there, you need cool people like that up there.

The Avid Mind and Tracksmith Present: The Prototype