Stereoboard Catches Up With The Airplane Boys (Interview)
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Written by Elliott Batte
The Airplane Boys are a Canadian hip-hop duo that draw influences from everywhere around hip-hop as a genre to create an un-paralleled and unique sound that you certainly won’t have heard before. They put out their last mixtape, ‘Where’ve You Been’, on May 4th earlier this year – you can check it on their Facebook for free. The Airplane Boys have, like their name suggests, been on travelling higher and higher into the musical stratosphere and they reached a new milestone in their career when they were asked to support the legendary Snoop Dogg on his UK tour. Stereoboard caught up with the two rappers, Bon Voyage and Beck Motley, after their show in Cardiff.
Stereoboard: Okay guys, thanks for hooking up with us to do the interview. What I’d first like to ask you is if you could introduce yourselves to our readers who may not be familiar with The Airplane Boys, and tell them what you’re about and what your style is?
Bon Voyage: Haha well yeah we’re the Airplane Boys, I’m Bon Voyage Beck Motley: Hi guys I’m Beck Motley Bon Voyage: And umm yeah, we just like to think we make forward thinking music, honest music, and it’s up to you how you categorise it – you don’t have to categorise it.
Stereoboard: So the Airplane Boys sound is a unique one, and it does draw influences from everything around hip-hop, so how would you guys describe it and how did that sound come together?
Beck Motley: I would call it... ‘story telling’, but with pop melodies with infusions of electro to jazz funk, you know what I mean, if that makes any sense. Bon Voyage: Yeah it’s um, wordplay, hip-hop with dignity but still with the pop haha.
Stereoboard: How have the crowds been responding to you on the Snoop Dogg tour?
Bon Voyage: They’ve been great man, I mean even before coming in here people have been like ‘woah The Airplane Boys, let’s take a picture’ you know that’s crazy, we didn’t expect to be walking around Cardiff with people knowing us. It’s cool, it’s definitely a shock, but its dope man. Beck Motley: Yeah just today in Cardiff, I mean we were in the crowd celebrating Snoop’s show here and people would be stopping taking pictures of us, celebrating with us. It’s just amazing that not only did the music communicate but the people want to get to know us too. It’s beautiful.
Stereoboard: So how has it been warming up for such a big star like Snoop Dogg?
Beck Motley: Ah man, we’re honoured. Bon Voyage: Yeah, literally honoured. We grew up listening to him. He gives us knowledge man, and it’s just dope. Beck Motley: The first song we recorded was actually ‘Gin & Juice’, when we were young, like 11 years-old, so it’s funny how it comes full circle. Now we’re here today opening for Snoop.
Stereoboard: You recently toured your home country Canada with rapper J. Cole, so how different has it been playing in your native Canada to playing over here in the UK?
Bon Voyage: Hmm, well, there’s just so much more to look at over here. I mean we’ve seen a good portion of Canada and all the types of people, and Britain’s different because it’s like you have a hometown advantage playing in Toronto or around the area. But with here, we really don’t know what to expect so that’s the main difference there, like coming here and seeing people appreciate its like ‘Wow, okay, cool, we’re doing the right thing.’ Beck Motley: There’s really no difference I would have to say, I mean, obviously the UK really has that dubstep and electro scene, which is growing in Toronto a lot. Musically there really is no difference, because people receive the music the same way if you captivate them, you know what I mean? It’s like every skin colour is the same every culture is the same once you’re talking one dialogue, which is music. And that’s what we came to talk today, music – and everyone got it.
Stereoboard: Let’s talk about your own music, let’s talk about your new – or not so new anymore – free mixtape ‘Where’ve You Been’. What kind of message did you want to send or what kind of vibes did you want to give off with that mixtape?
Beck Motley: Uh, our stories man, whether it be negative or positive as long as we could relate to it. It was our honest stories and our raw, natural music created by us. We didn’t have a budget or an allotted time to make it, ‘cos like whenever the studio was free we’d run in there and just record until someone came in like ‘lights are on, alright guys you gotta get out, sorry’. We’d be in there from like 6am to 5pm, recording at any chance we got. Sometimes we’d have to make the song from scratch so it’s like raw and natural, it was us pushing ourselves y’know?
Stereoboard: So is there any new music that Airplane Boys fans can expect in the coming future?
Bon Voyage: Definitely, things are definitely aligning for things to come very soon, we’re in the works right now we’re gonna be back in LA when the tour is over and work on it for about a month, then we’ll come back to Toronto and kind of put the finishing touches on it there. So there’s definitely something coming along. Beck Motley: We’re even gonna be making music here in the UK, uh, next week with the producers out here and brainstorm.
Stereoboard: Which producers were you looking to work with?
Beck Motley: Roksonix, the dubstep producers, we’re just gonna be vibing with them, and just creating and having good vibes here in Europe. Then we’re gonna bring it back to LA and back to Toronto and see what happens. Yeah it’s gonna be fun, and yeah you can expect that mixtape and some new music soon.
Stereoboard: Have you got any advice for the younger generation who may have come out to the tour and saw you, on how to make it in the music industry?
Beck Motley: We’re still the young generation hahaha. Advice to people like us is that you’ve gotta have thick skin and you’ve gotta be around people who support you and believe in you ‘cos when that happens, nothing else matters. Bon Voyage: Yeah man everything will come full circle once your team is straight, everybody’s on the same level, everybody buries their egos, then we’re all on the same field and we see the same goal. That’s the way it’s gonna work, otherwise it won’t. So just get your crew ready, y’know. Beck Motley: People say vision is being artistically gifted or having ideas, but anyone in the world can have vision. Vision to us is seeing something that no-one else sees, you know whether you’re in your old world or not, it’s about getting other people to believe in that vision. Therefore, when people start believing in that vision, whether it be two or two million people, you have vision.
Stereoboard: So after the Snoop tour finishes, what are the chances we’ll be seeing you guys in the UK sometime soon?
Bon Voyage: Hey, you guys call us back – we’re here. Beck Motley: And you’re held responsible! I’m crashing at your house, man! But yeah, we’ll be back man we’ll be back. But we wanna come prepared and we wanna make sure we treat the UK. This was just a warm-up and we’re just here to support and compliment Snoop and his legendary return to the UK and we’re just blessed to be part of it. But yeah we’ll come back.
Stereoboard: Could you tell the readers about the collective you’re part of the; The Beau Monde?
Bon Voyage: Yeah, it means ‘Beautiful World, and that’s basically what we want people to join – our world. And it’s also the governing body, it’s not just people that are around us it’s our homies that we grew up with, our brothers. Justin Create, our photographer/art director, Warren Credo the brand director/video director, and then KMS, the band behind a lot of the music – that’s the whole team. Beck Motley: The beauty of it is that we all grew up together and it’s not like we went out on the street and said ‘Yo, you with that talent, come here’, it’s like we grew up together as friends and people, and we understand each other’s flaws and strengths – the rest is just history. Everything just started to align.
Stereoboard: So where would you guys see yourselves if you weren’t making hip-hop?
Bon Voyage: Nowhere else. Beck Motley: Yeah, dead. Bon Voyage: Slitting my wrists haha. Beck Motley: Yeah haha tying my noose. Why’d you have to ask that question? Hahaha.
Stereoboard: So we’re just gonna go into some questions for the fans out there – this is a tough one. East coast or west coast hip-hop?
Beck Motley: Woooooooow, Bon Voyage: Wooow, that’s a big one. Beck Motley: That’s a good question. Bon Voyage: To be honest, west coast is holding it down right now. Beck Motley: Yeah you got Kendrick Lamar. Bon Voyage: Yeah and people like Odd Future making movements. Beck Motley: But we grew up on east coast. It’s hard to pick you know, but right now we’re listening to a lot of west coast. Y’know, Frank Ocean – it’s not pure hip-hop but we vibe to it like it is. But the east is coming man. It’s hard to pick, but if we had to pick... unbiased... can’t decide.
Stereoboard: What’s your favourite genre outside of hip-hop?
Bon Voyage: We listen to a lot of stuff, I mean we came up on Jazz, the band that gave us a start was my cousins band man, he was 15 years-old when he formed that Jazz band. That kind of grew our sound and at those sort of times we were around that a lot. We grew up on classic stuff, we’d even listen to Sebastian, Daft Punk, we listen to Prince, Michael Jackson Beck Motley: Flux Pavillion. We heard that Flux song [‘I Can’t Stop] a year ago, before Kanye and Jay-Z used it. There’s a video of us rapping on it – that’s how much we loved it. Y’know, we look at it like ‘great minds think alike’. But yeah man, we listen to a lot of stuff, MGMT, Grizzly Bear and stuff like that.
Stereoboard: So if you could sum up your journey from that the school talent show where you first rapped together, to supporting Snoop Dogg today in a couple of words, what would they be?
Bon Voyage: Wow. Beck Motley: Uhm, destiny. Bon Voyage: Surreal. Beck Motley: Epic. Blessing. Yeah those are right I think.
Stereoboard: Cool. Thanks so much for letting us do the interview guys!
Beck Motley: Thanks so much for asking us questions! I’ll be at your crib. Hahahaha.
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