Alias reviews, music, news

Alias, born in Portland, Maine to a jazz drummer and a church organist, grew up in a suburb called Hollis and played drums in his high school band. Isolated in a small town, alias found no music that captivated him until at age 13 when he saw “Yo MTV Raps.” Alone in his interest in hiphop, alias sought to immerse himself in this foreign counter-culture. He bought The Source monthly at the one shop in Maine that carried it, and by age 14 he was writing his own raps. In support of his new found passion, his parents bought him a drum machine for Christmas, and alias rapped over his own beats ...read more

Alias, born in Portland, Maine to a jazz drummer and a church organist, grew up in a suburb called Hollis and played drums in his high school band. Isolated in a small town, alias found no music that captivated him until at age 13 when he saw “Yo MTV Raps.” Alone in his interest in hiphop, alias sought to immerse himself in this foreign counter-culture. He bought The Source monthly at the one shop in Maine that carried it, and by age 14 he was writing his own raps. In support of his new found passion, his parents bought him a drum machine for Christmas, and alias rapped over his own beats in the privacy of his bedroom, too shy to share his rhymes with anyone. However, in 1993, upon meeting Sole, who was already recording and doing shows, alias began rapping in ciphers at parties. He moved his “studio” from his bedroom to a friend’s basement where he taught himself to use an MPC 3000 and an ADAT machine. In ‘96 he started doing shows with The Live Poets (sole’s group) around New England. In ‘98 during the deep puddle dynamics sessions in Minneapolis with Slug, dose and sole, alias realized that music would be his life’s work. Now taking himself seriously as a rapper and producer, he moved with the first wave of the anticon West Coast migration into a warehouse in East Oakland with his wife Jen and sole. Within a year he had recorded the other side of the looking glass, his first solo release, a rap-heavy introspective opus. alias found himself drawn more towards production while working on tracks for sole’s selling live water album, and in 2002-03 he recorded his first instrumental project, the eyes closed ep (out now) which anticipates the upcoming muted full-length (oct 2003). Alias has collaborated with every member of the anticon roster, Slug of Atmosphere, Sage Francis, DJ Krush, and Markus Acher of the Notwist. He has toured the world, performing with such acts as The Roots, Dalek, Freestyle Fellowship, and Kid 606. « hide

Similar Bands: Sole, Telephone Jim Jesus, Odd Nosdam, Ehren, Themselves

LPs