SOBER & DRIBBLA - Interview - 2008
Bristol hip hop duo Sober (beats) and Dribbla (rhymes) have been lurking around the outermost limits of sonic sanity for the past couple of years. With two EPs already under their belts they are now releasing a full length paranoid onslaught in the form of LP Freaks Speak Dark (read review) and set to scare the shit out of fully grown b-boys everywhere. Monkeyboxing decided it was time Dribbla did some explaining:
Monkeyboxing (MB): Dark sounds. Dark rhymes. Why so dark Mr D?
Dribbla (D): It really doesn’t sound that dark to us. This is what we make and it comes out like that for some reason - we don’t really set out to make it dark or anything, it's just how we sound. We just make our tunes and do what we do, it's other people who think it’s dark. People say it’s a bit too much which is fine. We make what we make because it is what we want to hear.
(MB): On your myspace and in previous conversations we've had, you made it quite clear that unlike many underground acts you have no intention at all of re-creating the so-called 'golden era' and shun jazz samples like the plague but it from what I can make out you don't use ANY samples at all - it's all Sober's programming. Are you totally anti-samples...?
D: We love that classic stuff and have absolutely nothing against people who want to use samples - who are we to be anti what any one else does? We just make our music with a synth because Sober couldn’t afford to spend time and money digging so he got a micro Korg hence our style was born. There actually is the odd sample here and there hidden away in his beats but he has fucked with them quite a lot. Jazz samples are what a lot of our favourite tunes have been made with. We just want to keep moving in our own direction.
(MB): The Sober & Dribbla sound is highly distinctive and partly that is due to your fondness for hardcore old-skool rave sounds as demonstrated on album track Grenades - is that down to Sober's secret past as a gurning acid-freak in the early nineties or something else?
D: Sober has never really been into rave. He was a hip hop kid and a bit young for those raves. Grenades was made after the first Dubstep night we went to. That was what was in Sober’s mind when he got home. Traditional hip hop has always been our template - we just like to mix it up with the sounds we use - at the moment we are both quite into dubstep. Sober likes that and it's coming out in his production. We listen to dubstep and grime as much as hip hop but Nick Cave has really influenced us a lot as well. So I don’t know how it works!
(MB): I understand the LP and all your previous EPs are going to be available for free download on the new website www. soberanddribbla.co.uk. A lot of artists seem to be moving in the 'free download' direction but how does this affect the money-making angle?
D: We made no money before so it doesn’t really affect anything. Our music is there for people to enjoy, the more people who hear it the more likelihood there is we will get a fanbase and that leads to more shows and that’s a better way of making money and more fun. You can sell quite a lot of music at shows as well. This way we don’t need to bother getting distribution. We got a bit tired of getting good reviews yet when we approach distribution companies and labels we're always too hip hop or we're too different for the hip hop companies and it is annoying, so we’d rather just do it ourselves but if a good label wants us then we would definitely go, we are not taking a stand or anything like that, we want people to access our music easily. Everyone likes free shit. It also gives us a bit more freedom to concentrate on the music because our website is effectively our shop and we can make stuff and put it up without losing any money or having to worry about other things. Free music is a sensible option for people who can’t seem to sell very much!
(MB): A lot of DJ/Producers I've spoken to (particularly in Bristol) are finding it harder and harder to find MCs who want to do stuff that isn't Grime-y. Do you think traditional hip-hop MCs are a dying breed or is the distinction between Grime and hip-hop a load of artificial bollocks?
D: A good rapper is a good rapper that is the bottom line. It’s a good quality to be adaptable as a rapper and be able to try your hand on beats you are not so used to. Traditional Hip-hop emcees are definitely not a dying breed, I don’t think that is true in the slightest. Peoples tastes change and they get into different genres etc. but that is a personal thing, I don’t think it reflects a massive shift in trends or anything. But it is also testament to emcees in Bristol that they want to mix it up. That’s what Bristol musicians have always been able to do - mix things up and keep things moving. That’s what is great about Bristol. I think outside genres and sounds influencing traditional rap is a good thing but not everyone will agree. Also Grime has kind of just given another option and opened up more possibilities. It’s all good.
(MB): So...two EP's, an LP...what's next - I hear you're working on a new project?
D: The Butcher’s Ball LP. It's about being stuck in between two places and dealing with your mistakes it is quite sad and melancholic and there are lyrics on there that are hard for me to go over because of what and who they are about and it cuts a bit deep when I think about it- but that’s what makes good music! I had the words written and Sober made the beats to the lyrics. I typed them and sent them to him and he read them and made the beats accordingly. We wanted to do it like that to try and do something a bit different. I wanted Sober to make something that taps into the feeling of the lyrics. I think we were both feeling slightly lost and on the outside of everything and I couldn’t believe how well he captured my exact feeling with the beats he made…We have always had some strange understanding like that - we just seem to know the deal when it comes to what we are making which is really lucky.
(MB): The Monkey was wondering how you are getting on with your Dutch footie-hooligan fanbase?
D: Yeah this Dutch football fanbase is a bit over exaggerated but along the way we have picked up an eclectic mix of people we know and friends and that is what keeps life interesting. Music has done a lot for us in terms of who we socialise with who we may not have met otherwise. Part of what we love about Hip Hop is the massive variety of people into the culture or influenced by aspects of the culture who you meet along the way. You always have something in common with someone who loves the culture as much as you do. Hip Hop has made the world a better place. It has given us great friends and great experiences. As long as you have manners and don’t act like a dick then there are a lot of great people to meet who are from everywhere and do everything. Most people in interviews seem to like to giving advice so here is Sober and Dribbla’s little nugget - always have good manners because people like people with good manners. You can be a hardcore fucker but still have manners. There is really no excuse for not having any!
(MB): Which one of you is the darkest and most twisted?
D: Sober probably. That’s a lie. We are both very normal- well not very normal but everyone has their shit going on! But for the sake of the interview and anyone who knows us will definitely say me - so I guess Dribbla is the twisted one. My outlook on life is probably a bit warped but Sober is the closet serial killer who will one day snap! He will be the first to go! I think he will torture his victims.
(MB): Well - it's been a pleasure as always - the last word is yours - anything you want to say?
D: Just make what you want to make and don’t worry too much about what everyone else thinks, keep you minds open and your hearts closed and support local music - buy Turroe’s No Regrets album! Thank you for letting us rant…check the website and hello to the crew and all our friends and family here and across the seas!
LINKS:
Listen to Sober & Dribbla - Freaks Speak Dark
Sober & Dribbla - myspace
www.soberanddribbla.co.uk
Monkeyboxing.com
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