“(Interview) Busdriver”. Skinnie Entertainment Magazine.

Remaining one of the final vestiges of the defunct Goodlife Café’s hip-hop byproducts, Busdriver, perhaps one of the most eccentric and dynamic free-association rap artists, finds himself a bit bewildered by the attention he gets in lieu of his underground status. Regan Farquhar (aka Busdriver) has been seemingly groomed by his Los Angeles upbringing to be involved in hip-hop scene, his father being the director of the iconic film Krush Groove (1985) – Busdriver released his first album by his 13th birthday and since has garnered the collaborative talents of TTC, Daedalus, Nobody, and Z-Trip (to name a few) to his lyrical dossier. Yet despite his background, his supporters, and his seventh album to be released in early 2007, Busdriver has remained and still remains a relatively obscure, underground artist – perhaps with good reason.

Speaking to Busdriver, there is a sense of self-deprecating abstraction that lends to his seemingly surreal visage: The contact number his publicist provides is the artists actual cell phone number. Farquhar, surprised by the call, provides an introductory, “Oh, yeah… hello… um… yeah!” It seems second nature to for an experienced interviewer to check to make sure the right number has been dialed. Asked about what he is currently working on, he says, “Nothing. I am working on another Busdriver record, I guess, nothing terribly exciting – just keeping it going. Usually after I do a record I record a couple songs just to get off whatever extra creative ideas that I have lying around. This time around I am just trying to stockpile songs. Beyond just doing more Busdriver crap, I don’t have any plans.” He does not seem thrilled.

His records, however, speak for his talent as an innovative artist who addresses not only BD’s own personal broodings about life, society, and spirituality, but muses in a style reflective of the unmistakable Goodlife roots that are grounded in nothing less than underground themes. Undeniably, as a relatively obscure underground artist, Busdriver retains the ability to speak about that which he wants. “[In hip hop] the political rap just sort of died off. At least the whole, didactic, Public Enemy derived rap – there is only a handful of people that can do it. Like a Mortal Technique, Sage Francis, people who do it. I want to do it – I tackle controversial issues. I don’t necessarily want to take that approach with vaguely different slants. I think the approach is more important than the actual content. The approach I take may be more valuable. I don’t know! For hip hop there was always a difference in the LA sound. We had little real kind of violent kind of ganster stuff. On the flip side of the coin, we had the free kind of free willing underground style of hip hop with groups like the Fellowship and the Farside.” BD expresses his desire to produce content that is didactic and alive.

His new album is no exception. “[The new album] Is called Road Kill Overcoat. I wanted it to be a song oriented rap album kind of … *trailing off* I doesn’t know what to say about this album. It shoots for the stars at certain points. It’s filling a grander scope.” One cant help but feel a bit made fun of, as his answers provide no substance whatever. Suddenly, however, the artist comes to life, saying, “One of the most predominant themes is me making fun of liberals or the left – basically calling them out on being ultimately gun-shy. Because of the war and the anti-war sentiment going around and the substantial unreliable vision of about the current administration. You know, the Dems are taking over the house and senate – hopefully they can put some things into motion. I just did that because of how I feel. It was a fun scene. The little words and terms are fun to toy with. I really like to tackle issues with words and terms. I am not trying to beat anyone down – I am, in a sense, beating down people with ideas, but I don’t want to beat anyone down. I want it to be enjoyable – not necessarily fun. What is the point of making music anyway? Do I have an agenda? Do I want people to pull away with some sort of idea?” His listeners naturally do and through his musical narrative his listeners may find themselves challenged by his ideology. However, as with any underground music, it invites response from the audience. In the vacuum of iTunes, something may be lost in the translation. Good thing he is going on tour.

In the next months, BD will tour with art punk, noise band Deerhoof from January to February nationwide. “They are an edgy sound. I went to go hear them play. When I was backstage, the lead singer was signaling someone offstage and I thought she was talking so someone else. She was talking to me and I freaked out – she wanted me to sit in, so I freaked out and I sat in. After that they said, ‘Yeah, we should gig with us.’. We will do some shows in end of January and the middle of February. After that I am touring with god-knows-what.” Asked about other projects that may be in the works he says, “I wish I did! I have been trying to create side projects but I cant find any that make any sense that would actually happen. My band and I are hoping one day we can get into a movie or something like that.”
Published in January, 2007, Skinnie Magazine.