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Nomar Slevik
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Hip-Hop/ Alt/ Experimental
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December 2008
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nomarslevik.com
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myspace.com/nomarslevik...
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n/a
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Thomas Quinlan
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Nomar Slevik had already dropped over a decade's worth of self-released and indie-funded hip hop by the time I, along with many others, first noticed him with last year's Sasquatch: The Great Dying on upstart Hawaiian label SIQ Records. Since then it's been a flurry of releases for him with an overlapping cast of collaborators and on a variety of labels. Whether mixtape, digital download, CD or 7”, Nomar is doing everything he can to be sure that you hear him. And what he offers up is hip hop with one foot firmly planted in the dusty old school while the other probes into the future, creating the unique vibe that accompanies his often oddly conceptual music. Read on as Nomar Slevik reveals his rising trajectory from humble high school rapper-producer into underground, indie rap sensation.
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URBNET: Is Nomar Slevik your real name? How did it become your rap name?
NOMAR SLEVIK: No, it’s not my real name. Between '00 and '04 I worked for a television network in Portland, ME. During my time there I started putting out a weekly humor newsletter called “The Dust Level.” I used the name “Nomar Slevik” as a pseudonym for some of the articles. I thought it was kind of a quirky name and decided to use it for my album Purple Lights and April Foolishness. Since then the name has stuck. For the earlier releases I went by a different name; for now, I’ll keep that secret.
How did you first become acquainted with hip hop?
Elementary school was when I first got into hip-hop, I wanna say 4th or 5th Grade, and as my parents would say, I was listening to music that I should not have been. Albums like Ice-T’s Rhyme Pays, Schooly-D’s Smoke Some Kill. Then came NWA, 2 Live Crew and the like. I also had a keen interest in people like Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee, LL, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick and so on.
You produce and rap. Which came first? Why did the other follow?
Writing lyrics and rapping came first, but to this day I know that I am not a lyricist. I’m a guy who is a big fan of the old school and my flow is derivative of that. I write what I know about; I throw some humor in, but by all means, I don’t feel as though I am a rapper. I feel like I try to compliment an instrumental with my vocals by either singing or 1,2-rhyming or just grunts, haha.
The production end came later, after I received a keyboard for X-mas. I was hooked on making any and all kinds of sounds. I started saving whatever money I could to try and get some turntables, a mixer and a sampler. The following year (1993) my father helped me buy all those things. Being a sophomore in high school in Maine and having some turntables and a sampler was something that was not normal, but a lot of my friends thought it was pretty cool so I began bringing my mixes to school, trying to sell tapes and all that. One big seller was when I did a mix of Slick Rick’s “La-Di-Da-Di” and mixed it together with Snoop’s remake.
What was the scene like in Maine when you first started out? Anyone else from there we should know about?
The scene when I started out, for all I knew, was non-existent. When I made my first album, B-Side Funk, I had no idea that there were other dudes making that kind of music in Maine. I had some friends who would rap with me and what-not, but I knew of no one taking it as seriously as I was at the time. Little did I know that three hours south of me were the humble beginnings of Sole, jdwalker, DJ Mayonnaise, Alias and more. I moved to Portland in '97 and still had no clue that stuff was going on. It wasn’t until '00 that I met jdwalker, sontiago, Moshe, Brzowski and more.
You released a bunch of independent releases since BSide Funk in 1995. A lot of artists try to distance themselves from their early works. How do you feel about your early albums? Are any of these releases worth checking out in order to understand Nomar Slevik in the present?
I don’t try to distance myself from them, but I certainly don’t go around trying to give that stuff out either. It’s a part of my past and it was the best work that I could do with my skills at that time. I think they may be worth checking out in a novelty sense if I were a famous person. But for now it would be like listening to really bad music from some one you have never heard of. I don’t know about you, but to me that doesn’t seem like fun.
In 2004 you dropped Paper Bullets, an album of duets. What made you decide on doing something like that?
I was really digging the scene in Portland and digging the work of Internet cohorts like The Mole, Id Obelus, Brad Hamers, Escape Artists, Bleubird etc, and I was really into trying to collaborate with those people. I did a song here and there with people like Sontiago, jdwalker, Brzowski, but I was trying to think how I could work with all these peers that I’m also a fan of; bang, album of duets, Frank Sinatra style, haha. As I’m sure you know, putting something like that together was a task in itself, but it was a really great experience and I learned a lot about myself, a little about the underground business and a whole lot about people’s priorities. I also got to work with a ton of cool artists, all now doing much better than me.
In 2007 you hooked up with Hawaiian label SIQ Records for the release of Sasquatch: The Great Dying. How did you connect with them?
I hooked up with them simply by sending them my demo. That same mailing session I had sent demos to Ipecac, Fighting Records. I sent one to Sole and another to Nonsense Records. Everyone had actually gotten back to me, minus Sole, all rejections, except for SIQ. I began a relationship with them very easily and found that I really enjoyed being a part of this very new, but very forward thinking label.
Since Sasquatch: The Great Dying, you've been on a roll with one release after another. How long have these albums been in the works?
Well, The Tules had been in the works for quite some time, officially starting in '05. But with DONE, The Mixtape and Stonehenge Diaries, those were all recorded in '08. I also recorded three more solo albums since '07. I just have so much fun writing and recording that I keep making projects for myself. It should be noted that I don’t release everything I record. For the solo albums, I must have recorded close to 100 songs. Between all three albums, I’m using about 30 of them. The extras either get submitted for compilations, remixed or trashed.
Many of these new releases are collaborations. Why so many collaboration albums? How do you decide who you would like to collaborate with?
I am a work horse when it comes to music, I just cant sit idle. So between solo albums I try and record as much as I can, either by myself or with other artists. Over the years I have found out who can deliver and who doesn’t in regards to being timely. I work with people with a similar work ethic.
The first of these to drop was your collab with Moshe as The Tules. How did you connect with him? What was the idea behind A Haunter's Workshop?
Ahh, Moshe… He’s the homie. I [have] been down with Moshe since '00, I think. I met him through jdwalker. At the time he had been producing for a bit, but was also DJing quite a bit. The Tules came about in a very interesting way. One summer evening in '05 Moshe and I got together like we frequently did at that time and got some iced coffees and were discussing our music, the scene, etc. At one point one of us, and I don’t know who, came up with the idea that we should do an album together where he produced it all and I did all the vocals. We even considered the name “MONO” at one point, haha. We went through many silly album titles and more group names until Moshe came up with “The Tules.” I dug it, he dug it, so it stuck. When he started getting me some beats, the tone of the album was already set, it was dark. Moshe makes very dope, moody, dark, edgy beats, which I love, but I don’t make them very well myself. Anyway, we came up with the concept of the album from the intro. The intro is a sample from a movie called Night Train to Terror, starring Bull from Night Court, haha. In the movie he made this telecast about scientifically finding out that there is no God… when I heard that, I was like, shit, that’s a pretty creepy, but cool way to start an album, though I think you found it tedious, hahaha.
Ha ha... Oops. Moving on... You also mentioned Done, a collaboration involving artists from other countries. How did everyone come together for this project? What did you hope to accomplish?
With DONE, Id Obelus and I have wanted to record an album together for a long time. Early in ’08 we had collaborated on a few songs by a couple of the same producers. Id and I began talking about getting those tracks and recording a few more and releasing them as an EP. We talked to the two other producers involved (SLAP and Marcelo) and they were down to make more beats and SLAP is an ILL MC as well so he got down vocally too. After everybody had their parts done and sent to me, I put the album together, mixed and mastered it and bang, How to Own a Shadow was finished. Took us 3 months, I think. What I wanted to accomplish was something totally different from the outcome. Quite simply I just wanted to do an album with my friend Rick. What it turned out to be was a kind of spiritual album based in a scary and unsure reality.
Are The Tules and Done just one-off projects or are there plans to work together in these groups again?
Moshe and I are in the extremely early stages of working on a new Tules album. So expect a new one in ’09, but who knows, maybe ’10. With DONE, I would love to do another album, something more thorough, but again, who knows. I will, however, record with Id Obelus again, I love working with him. We just put together his new EP called The Inevitable Crushing EP, came out real nice. I’ll have him send you a copy or something.
You also put out a 7” called Welcome To Fuckland this year. Why a 7”? And why with Dis.eased Records rather than SIQ?
Actually, that hasn’t come out yet; gonna come out in January. The reason I went with Dis.eased on that one is because I honestly cannot and would not hog all of SIQ’s time with all of my releases. That wouldn’t be fair to the other artists, and SIQ has a non-exclusive contract, so working with other labels is no problem. I also went with Dis.eased because of William, the man behind Dis.eased. He is the Russel Simmons of DIY. The man has the fortitude to put out the music he likes, when he wants and in whatever format he desires (usually vinyl). I love his aesthetics and his sense of style when it comes to packaging. We are also looking into a really interesting way of distributing the first 250 copies. Be on the look out for that.
What's the story behind the mixtape with DJ Bizkid? How did you hook up with him?
Yes, Bizkid, another work horse. I hooked up with him through Id Obelus. He made an Id Obelus mixtape called “Fully Automatic.” I really dug the way he mixed the songs together, his skills with the cuts were equally amazing, so I contacted him and asked if he wanted to do some cuts on this new solo song of mine called “The Whole World.” He agreed and when I heard what he did, I was bugging out, dude killed it. Then we started talking about collabing more, etc, and from that the mixtape was born. I went through 1000s of songs of mine from ’95 until now and I sent him about 30 tracks of what I think could work in a mixtape form. From there, he narrowed the tracklist down to 18 tracks. He then mixed, cut and put the whole thing together. I asked Moshe if we could release digitally through Emben (a division of Milled Pavement), he was down and Bizkid is currently making some CDs to sell at HHV and VinylKingz.
Your next release is a collaboration with Ame One called Stonehenge Diaries. What is that all about? Who is involved?
This project has been nothing short of a lustful, boom-bap-filled love of my life for the past five months. I first met Ame One through SIQ. I am SIQ Record’s mastering engineer for all of their releases and in July of ’07 I was given Ame’s EP to master. Shortly thereafter Ame and I started talking about what sort of mastering techniques I would use, etc. We continued talking after the mastering of his album, which led us to talking about collaborating on some stuff. So once I finished some projects and [able to] dedicate more time, he sent me a beat, which I absolutely loved, but honestly had no idea on how I was going to approach it. I had to sit with it for a little while. After having writer’s block, I put the pen and pad away, I just played the beat and started singing whatever came to my head; after about a half hour I had most of the song mentally written. I wrote down the lyrics and a few hours later the song “Home” was born. That was the birth of Stonehenge. I cant wait for you guys to hear the terrible twos, those dreaded teen years and then finally its maturity… Wow, I’m corny….
Oh, the folks involved: Id Obelus (surprise, surprise), Raystar, DJ Bizkid and Geneva B. Again, just fans of these people and we asked them to make some guest appearances for us.
What's your deal with Stonehenge? After all, it also figures in the title banner at the top of your website...
I don’t have an obsession with Stonehenge, specifically. But I do have a massive fascination and some might say obsession with most things paranormal. I have done a few “investigations” which lead to not much evidence but one really cool audio recording. I have also written a few articles on various subjects, such as the “Mars Bigfoot” and a “Men in Black” visitation that happened in Old Orchard Beach, Maine in the 1970s and am currently working on an article about an exorcism that Mother Teresa supposedly went through as a child, interesting stuff. Now getting those articles published is another story, I am working hard on that, but to no avail so far.
Ame did all the art work for Stonehenge Diaries, and I dug the Stonehenge Megaliths that he did so much, I threw them up on the site.
What's the status on the new solo album? Is it still being called The Startling Truth and the Immeasurable Frightening?
The new solo album is finished, mix and mastered and ready to go – it just doesn’t have a home yet. I shortened the title to just The Startling Truth and it’s a dedication to my fascination with all things paranormal. Featuring some pretty cool folks, like Selfhelp, Brzowski, Zoen, Funken, DJ Extend, DJ Mayonnaise and more.
I am also finishing up another solo album, not titled yet but am playing around with the name The Last Broadcast. One song features Xczricles, another Meiso from SIQ, and one song featuring Th’Mole totally bust verbal caps on the song “The Fight Back.” It's mostly produced by me, but there’s a song produced by Efalive and another by Don Saggese, dude is nasty.
Are you still working with SIQ Records?
Always working with SIQ! I’m still doing all their mastering, working with Creed Chameleon on a song for his next release and of course Stonehenge Diaries is being released by them VERY soon.
Word.
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