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RJ.com part 1
This interview was conducted by Sweet Candy Nutz of RealJuggalos.com.
Note from RJ: Just about all of these questions were submitted by juggalos, so most thanks goes out to all of you ninjas who submitted.
Jumpsteady: What up Juggalos? This is Jumpsteady doing this hype ass interview for the RealJuggalos camp. Much Clown Love as always for their crew that continues to bring mad flavor to the Juggalo world.
RJ: Let's get this out of the way first since a lot of juggalos are asking. You're kind of a behind-the-scenes type of ninja...what exactly do you do behind the scenes with Psychopathic Records?
Jumpsteady: Well, I guess you could say that I am a jack-of-all-trades, as are many of us at Psychopathic Records. For a long time I was a road dog and would be on the road with ICP (mostly) for about, at least, 200 days a year. I was their road manager for a long time and that was a very interesting job and I learned a lot about the business. While I was the road manager, I would also help sell merchandise and performe as a monster on stage during ICP's set. After awhile of doing that, Psychopathic began to grow and Alex needed someone with intelligence to help him run the office because his work load was way out of hand and thats sort of what I do now. I rarely go on the road (like Alex) unless I am really needed because things at the office would start to fall apart. I am mostly taking calls at the office and doing meetings. The meetings we have up here usually involve all the Dons and sometimes the Warriors and we discuss problems, new ideas and what we are going to be doing in the next year or so. Then people get tasked out for various jobs. Like just recently, I was in charge of the 18 person, 6 van, and 1 tour bus Street Team that went out to promote the Bizzar/ Bizaar albums for 2 and a half months. I hired everyone, originized the routes, and helped think up and make all the promotional material for it. There are millions of things that are going on at Psychopathic and my work load is always overflowing and I always say that, to work at Psychopathic, you have to sacrifce your lifestyle.
Currently the projects I am working on are: 1) Promoting Morton's List, a new game that me and my two partners created in our spare time over the last seven years. 2) Writing the stories for the ICP's Pendulum Comic Book series and writing a special Halloween issue that will feature Dark Lotus. 3) Working on a location and other major deatils to the Gathering of the Juggalos 2002, which by the way, I am the main convention coordinator for and that particular event takes up about five solid months of my time each year putting it all together and is one of the greastest events, in my opinion, on the face of the planet. The Juggalo love at that event is indescribable and only those who have been there can know what I am talking about. 4) I am editing Violent J's autobiography, which by the way, is mad level 10 entertaining to read, and is going to be a great book that will be the most insightful and revealing thing that we have ever released. 5) Booking and doing comic conventions. Me and Rude Boy are at work again to bring everyone a whole bunch of new comic conventions nationwide and will be hangin' with all the juggalos and selling some of the rarest merchandise available.
Sorry for the long ass answer, I can get carried away sometimes.
RJ: No prob, dawg, It's all good....another question that was asked by a lot of juggalos is, whatever happened to your Chaos Theory album that was supposed to drop in 1997? After your flows on "Taste", a lot of ninjas have been looking forward to that. Will it ever happen?
Jumpsteady: Probably not. I have never been very good at writing lyrics for rap songs. In fact, that one verse I did took me about a month to write becuase I am such a perfectionist that I wanted it to be perfect before I felt I was ready. The truth is that I never had the heart to be a rapper because it was never a dream of mine. I like to rap and I have done talent shows and fucked around in the studio, but I put all my time and energy into Psychopathic Records and making it as fresh as possible, and then in my spare time, I have always put it into Morton's List which has always been a dream of mine.. .to make a game, since I have always been a gamer for most of my life. I am interested in doing another song and Joe (Violent J) has approched me several times to do a track but I am always way to busy to do it.
RJ: If you have any unreleased tracks recorded for Chaos Theory, will they ever be put out, say, on a Forgotten Freshness-type album?
Jumpsteady: I doubt it. That whole project was met with a bunch of road blocks and the material we have is good but in my opinion, not good enough to be put on any tape.
RJ: Here's another much-requested one: when is Psychopathic gonna hit up Europe on tour, cuz it's been promised for awhile, but never delivered.
Jumpsteady: Europe has always been a problem for us because in order to do a European tour means that we would have to let America slip for awhile. Let's take a look at this instore tour that is just heading out. I have hundreds of e-Mails from Juggalos all upset because the instore isn't coming to their town, but it is just not possible to hit every town because there is not enough time. Now if we wanted to do a Eroupean Tour it would mean we would have to cut something out that we have going on over in America, like, let's say "The Dark Lotus Instore Tour" and you see the problems that may cause. On top of everything else there are not a lot of record sales happening over in Eroupe and yes, its true that it is mostly Psychopathic's fault because we have never really worked that area of the world. We have love for Juggalos all over the world but because of limited time, it is a matter of where our priorities lie. I know European Juggalos are reading this and are pissed off but it just dosen't make sense right now to spend 10s of thousands of dollars to go over there and play in front of 200 Juggalos a night when we can be doing the Dark Lotus Instore for 2000-3000 Juggalos a night.
Also, on another note our experiences over in Europe on the buisness end have always been terrible. Tour buses with no air conditioning that were like heat boxes, and record label representatives that treated us like shit. I am pushing for an Austrailian tour right now because there are a lot of record sales and a ton of Juggalos who are ready and dying for some flavor to come over there and that should be happening in fall or winter. I wish things were different and one day, they might be and if our new record label that we are joining with wants to work Eroupe and support the cause, then we should be coming back over there. I want to end by saying to those Juggalos from Europe who flew into the Gathering: "Much fucking respect!"
RJ: What's the latest on Psychopathic's next feature film, Big Money Rustlas? Will you be reprising your roles as Preacherman and Hack Benjamin?
Jumpsteady: Well, we are pushing the idea and have plans to start filming the movie in winter, but we need the financial backing of a major record label to pull it off. If we can make them believe in the project, then it should go down. After seeing how the last one did, I don't see how this will be a problem. Yes, a lot of the characters will be coming back and as you have seen by the hidden pictures (in Bizzar/Bizaar) Hack will be in full effect and blowing people away.
RJ: What do you have to say to the people who speculate that you and Evil Dead are actually one and the same person?
Jumpsteady: I would have to say they are on crack, because clearly me and Evil Dead look nothing alike.
RJ: If you were to give advice to someone starting a record label and/or music group, what would it be?
Jumpsteady: Oh man, this could be a long one but I will keep it short. In this game it takes a fighter's attitude to never give up...never! So many times we have suffered defeats where it seemed that it was all over with but we have always picked ourselves up and applied ourselves even more than before. There are so many thousands, maybe millions, of people who have the dream of being a star of some kind. In fact, most people would love nothing more then that. To make it above all the rest takes an incrdiable amount of heart and the ability to put your dream ahead of everything else. I am talking about pimpin' your girlfriend for money instead of spending money on her so that you can record songs in the studio. Working at a job and spending every cent you have on making flyers or stickers...making CDs...recording music, buying equipment or whatever. I am talking about flyering and stickering the city you live in until people can't help but notice your group's name. So many people sit around every day thinking about what they want instead of actualy making it happen each day.
"If you want to make it in the business, you have to do at least one thing a day that helps you accomplish your dream and those who can do ten a day will probably make it." Quote Rob, Bruce because that's the best advice I can give you.
Another piece of advice I can give you is always appear bigger then you are. People will take you more serious. Never admit that you are passing out flyers for your own group, say that you where hired. Never make black and white, cheap, hand made flyers...instead hire or get a Graphic Designer and make something that looks nice and then spend the money for full color...you have to go all out. Also, spend every penny you make back into what you are doing. For ICP, they didn't even really see a cent until the Great Milenko album. It takes money to make money and when you are starting out, you can not afford to waste money on having fun or luxuries...it may take years of struggle.
The biggest thing to remember is that you have to believe in your talent with all your heart or else you will not be able to endure the bones your going to have to endure to get where you are going. If you dont belive in your music 100 percent yourself then my advice to you is to forget it altogether, but if you have the heart, then you can make it if you bust your ass. The good thing is, if your friends see you have the heart, they will be more then likely to help you in your struggle and you should get as many believers on your side as you can.
RJ: You've been there from the beginning, and watched Psychopathic grow and form over the last 10 years....where do you see Psychopathic in the NEXT 10 years?
Jumpsteady: I see us still in the game in a big way. If it continues to grow like it has, we should be huge in 10 years. I see us also branching out in other businesses, and we are talking about this very seroiusly right now. We plan on opening a hang-out that will basically be a super hype arcade and a hobby store. Also, in 10 years I see us with the capacity to have more bands on our label and branching off into new avenues of music besides rap. But of course, all the music will be Psychopathic style.
RJ: You were in Desert Storm for a short period of time. What was that like, being at war and still trying to support the struggling Psychopathic Records?
Jumpsteady: I was there for 8 months and that may seem like a short time to some, but for me, it was like 20 years. I have so many stories about the war that are too extensive to cover here. But I would like to say that the war was one of the things that helped shape me as a man and is an experience in my life that was very powerful and intense. Supporting Psychopathic was the easy part because I was in a desert and had nothing else to spend my money on, so I would send it back to my mom and Joe (Violent J) who where both struggling at the time. At that time I was not a part of Psychopathic at all and it was Alex, J, Shaggy, and Shaggy's brother John, who where making it all happen. I believed in what J was doing and I saw in him the drive and how serious he was taking his dream and I wanted to support him. Me and J have always been close and we will have each other's backs for the rest of our lives.
RJ: You're a big part of the ICP comic books...will there still be ICP comics after the Pendulum ends?
Jumpsteady: Yes, we want to continue the comics, but we are not sure yet in what regards. I would like to stop the monthy comic series and maybe release a graphic novel every 3 or 4 months that would be very thick with a full storiy in each one. Ninjas don't like how short the stories are and neither do I. I would like to add that writing the stories for the Pendulum series has been the fuckin' shit to me and I love it. Whenever I see the finished product it just amazes me at how other ninjas have took my story and brought it to life like they do. I have mad heart for writing the stories and it is my goal to keep doing so.
RJ: On the subject of comics, you seem to be a big comic book fan.... who's your favorite comic book character?
Jumpsteady: Thats a fresh ass question! Hands down, it is Daredevil! I am currently trying to collect every single Daredevil ever made and am getting close to accomplishing this. I really love issues 150-300, especially when Frank Miller was working on the series, there is a story in those issues that takes my imagination away to a whole different place. they are masterpeices to me. Besides Daredevil, I get into Lone Wolf and Cub which is a Japanese comic book about a masterless samauri who has turned into an assassin and I am a big fan of the movies that where made from the comic series as well (about 10 of them).
RJ: A few Gathering questions: what was the best part of the entire event for you?
Jumpsteady: I know this may seem like bullshit but its not....the Juggalos where the best part. Everywhere I fuckin' went, ninjas where givin' me mad fuckin' love man, and that shit gave me a natural high the whole time I was there. I dont know how it happened, but at this year's Gathering, almost every ninja recognized who I was and it has never been like that before at any event. I could usually watch a show from the crowd and almost nobody would recognize me. I think it was the Big Silva documentary which I hosted that allowed ninjas to see what I looked like but regardless, everyone knew who I was and there was mad love all around.
If your asking me what my favorite event was, I would have to say the Mystery Seminar because I never get to sit in and hear ICP talk during one of their seminars and it was mad fuckin' fresh.
RJ: Rumor has it that the next Gathering will be in Denver...are you already making preliminary plans for it?
Jumpsteady: Yes, but I am trying real hard to make it in Chicago and with this much time to work on it, I think I can make it happen. I belive we owe it to those Juggalos out that way seeing as they had the most votes for this year's Gathering. If we can get it to happen there, it is my belief that it will be crazy in effect like never seen before and that's all I want to say about that because its so far away.
RJ: What happened between Myzery/Twiztid & Blaze at the Gathering? Can you speculate on that?
Jumpsteady: Dumb shit, I know what happened, but it's too long to go over here. Just dumb shit that should have never happened. I don't think either one of them acted right in that whole situation.
RJ: Now, on to the most important subject of all...Morton's List. For the ninjas who couldn't attend the Gathering seminar, what can you tell us about it?
Jumpsteady: If you want, we could do an entire interview just on Morton's List and I could get Tall Jess and N-Cubed into it, but for now, I would like to say it the freshest game on the planet. Full of real life adventure and craziness and it is truly the end of boredom. We are going to be at Dragon Con in Atlanta, GA. between August 31st and September 3rd with a full-on booth and we will be in full effect. We got banned from the gaming convention known as Gen Con (ran by Wizards of the Coast) because they considered the game too controversal because of its content...so fuck them. But Dragon Con is much more hyper on the game being there and Rude Boy will also be there selling rare Psychopathic Merchandise. If you want to learn more about the game go to www.MortonsList.com or more about the convention go to www.DragonCon.com.
RJ: Have you had any luck getting Morton's List into stores and if so, when can we expect to see it up on the shelves of Toys-R-Us?
Jumpsteady: So far, we are making progress but its all about going under the radar so stores will carry the game without really knowing what it is and this takes time. It looks like we should have it in Hot Topic in a month or so, but we will have to see. Tall Jess and N Cubed are currently working on it full time.
RJ: Will there possibly be another game in the works after Morton's List on Dark Carnival Games?
Jumpsteady: Yes, but they are suppliments for Morton's List, the first of which is what we are calling the Dark List. It should be very appealing to those ninjas that are into more wild tactics. We are also going to release an advanced rules supplment to Morton's List that will appeal more to gamers. Also, there has been talk about releasing the Pendulum Role Playing game and also the Dark Carnival Video Game for the computer or Playstation and that has been talked about for a few years now and it's looking more likely by the day.
RJ: How much has the original version of Morton's List changed over the years that the 3 of you worked on it?
Jumpsteady: It has changed dramatically and it has evolved into what it is today. Believe me, if you disected the game and really seen how well it all works together with the different tables and stuff, it is mind boggling. It is as tight as it can possibly be and packed with flavor and it has never lost it's controversial edge to it. We never sold out to make it softer for people. The game is as raw as it has ever been and it is definately not a game meant for everyone.
RJ: I hear Morton's List will be making some appearances at some high profile gaming conventions here in the upcoming months...?
Jumpsteady: Yes, we are going to try to hit any major gaming convention over the next year to spread the word. Even though we were banned at Gen Con we passed out flyers at Gen Con that said we were banned and why, and everybody knew about it during the end of the four days, it really made Wizards of the Coast look like the weak feebles they really are, and helped us to let ninjas know that this game is the real deal.
RJ: Did you expect Morton's List to be as popular as it was at the Gathering? Because everywhere I looked, people were holding a copy of the game they had just bought.
Jumpsteady: Yes, because the concept of the game is so hype and the fact that it might become banned at some point permenately makes it a very superior item to have. I know that if someone created this game 7 years ago and I just happened to stumble across it, I would bust a nut over it. Juggalos are just the wild ass ninjas we had in mind when making this game and I am sure they can enjoy it to the fullest. I have already recieved many e-mails with ninjas telling of all shit they have been doing while playing the game and ninjas are definately feeling it.
RJ: What's your weirdest or most memorable experience playing the game yourself?
Jumpsteady: One time, we were chillin' with a phat crew of ninjas and we somehow rolled the Yin of the Earth Table and rolled the Quest Personal Gain, which involves going out and trying to get as much free shit as possible. So we talked about it for awhile and then someone suggested breaking into a store at night and robbing it. What makes this wierd was that I was playing with a group that would never normaly pull a stunt like this, but since we rolled it in the game, suddenly it was all right. We went over our plan for about an hour, where the lookouts where going to be, who was going in, what we were going to take and so on and then we did it, and got away scott free with all the benefits. It is because of Quests like these that always gives you that slight adrenaline rush whenever you are rolling for your Quest.
RJ: Well, that's it man...you got any shout-outs to end the interview with?
Jumpsteady: Yes, I want to give a special shout out to everyone who worked for me at the Gathering this year, you guys were all the shit except for the lady working the art room because she left early on her last work day and some Juggalos got their shit stolen, so she can fuck off, but everyone else was the atom bomb. Also, props to all the Juggalos everywhere you are all in my family and I would fight beside any one of you if it came down to it. Peace and MCL!! |
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