Wax is a musician from the Baltimore area currently residing in Hollywood to pursue his dreams as a rapper and acoustic guitarist. His new album “Liquid Courage” is selling strong on iTunes and Cdbaby.com. Wax can be viewed on his YouTube channel “Waxandherbalt” and may be contacted on MySpace at www.myspace.com/waxandherbalt.
We met Wax in a Hollywood coffee shop where we spoke about his coming of age in music, his new album, and his experience with a few of those working within the music business.
EAB: A lot of us are just familiar with Baltimore from the HBO series “The Wire.” What was your experience like growing up in Baltimore?
Wax: I actually didn’t grow up right in Baltimore. I actually grew up in Maryland in a town called Dunkirk, it is a suburb of D.C.. As far as music goes, I was in this group…we were based in Baltimore, my brother lived there for like 5 years so musically we sort of represented Baltimore….we were a Baltimore band or whatever but I didn’t actually grow up there. But Baltimore is f*cked up like “The Wire” is!
EAB: So how old were you when you first discovered Music was going to be your passion?
Wax: Young…really young…we were one of the first families to get cable. I just remember seeing all of the people on TV and my brother and I were all into it. He got a little kid, toy drum-set. When I was in 6th grade I got a guitar and I started taking guitar lessons. During that time I was writing random raps, and stuff like that. I kinda started formulating song writing in like 6th grade.
EAB: 6th Grade?!?! That’s real young!
Wax: Yea that’s pretty young…
EAB: You mentioned the guitar and guitar lessons…I think that’s one thing that surprised me about you to, it’s like “man this dude’s nasty!” …and then you whip out the acoustic guitar…and not many rappers can play the guitar….period. How did you develop both of those at once? Do you love both of them equally?
Wax: Yea I grew up listening to a lot of different kinds of music. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop was really big. I listened to Guns N’ Roses and Shit like that. I just wanted to have a guitar, and like, jam out. But I also wanted to be like N.W.A. I guess when I first started kinda like it was different – my brother played drums and I played guitar and we’d play rock songs…and other times we would rap. When we got older we figured we didn’t need to separate them…we just had a thing where we’d f*ck with all genres know what I mean?
EAB: So when someone like Limp Bizkit or Kid Rock came out…and they were meshing rock and rap together, did that have any influence on you and your music?
Wax: We were less rock, it was more like a funk kind of thing. The early stuff we did was similar to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. When Limp Bizkit came out, I’m not mad at Limp Bizkit but, I didn’t like him. I get mad when there are rappers that aren’t that good that are doing big things. I remember I saw them on MTV and that guy Fred Durst was a really good “front man,” you know he was a good stage performer…But rapping wise? It was very basic, like kindergarten-y, you know?
EAB: Yea.
Wax: So I was like a “hater” back then or whatever.
EAB: Haha! Ok, so how would you describe your rap style? I would describe it as a cocky show of talent and cracking jokes in a way that isn’t too far out there but…the common person can understand.
Wax: I don’t know, man. It’s weird I’m not cocky or arrogant at all. I’m just an average dude, that’s just one of the things rap has always been…to brag about your skills. A part of everyone wants to come out, that is like arrogant that is like “I’m the best, I’m bad as sh*t.” In day to day life I’m not like that at all, there might be some people that don’t do music and they’re like that at their job you know?
EAB: Like playing basketball or something makes you a different person..?
Wax: EXACTLY! You know when you do…when you do a good play ::::laughter:::: it sounds so stupid, but when you do something good in sports but you get mad, and you just stick out your chest and sh*t, it’s like that but I’m not that athletic.
EAB: A lot of your things are real forceful and then you are out there like “I’m Wax,” and then afterwards you step out and then you’re “Mike Jones” (Wax’s birth name) again.
Wax: It’s weird, in LA if you’re out somewhere and you meet someone that does music or does comedy or whatever, I feel weird introducing myself as Wax still. It feels weird to me and I always say “what’s up I’m Mike.” One of my boys is a comedian and he always introduces himself as his stage name, and he tells me to quit introducing myself as Mike and that “Mike ain’t sh*t”!
EAB: HAHA. How long have you called yourself Wax?
Wax: A long time…my senior picture in high school allowed you to list a nickname and “Wax” is listed underneath my name. I’d say probably 16 years or something like that.
EAB: Can you talk about the transition of packing up your stuff and moving out to Hollywood to “make it”?
Wax: Well I moved here to go to the recording school. I didn’t come to be an audio engineer, I just wanted to know how to engineer my own sh*t, I wanted to be up here around fresh people who maybe were not as bad influences, and become much more focused. When I moved up here that’s when I started putting all the videos up, making songs, and making my album “Liquid Courage.”
EAB: So the move to Hollywood was just the recording school but you had planned on….?
Wax: I couldn’t be like “I’m gonna move to L.A. and try to make stuff happen.” I needed something that was more solid. And I’m glad I went there because I learned a lot, I mix a lot of my own stuff myself, I don’t need to go to a professional studio to record stuff. I know people that I went to school with that can help me. I can do just about anything myself, it was expensive but I think it was worth it. The whole time I knew I was just going to use those skills combined with my musical skills and just try to make a career out of it y’know?
EAB: You’re kind of a part of a wave of musicians that uses digital media in a big way. There’s a ton of friends on your MySpace. Your YouTube channel has over 11,000 subscribers. And your most popular video of you rapping in a car titled “New Crack” has almost 400,000 views. So at what point did you decide this is the way I need to market myself and you’re going to milk it for what it’s worth?
Wax: Maybe 3-4 years ago, I noticed footage from SMACK: DVD’s, with people just rapping in the streets and a ton of views on them. For example the artist “Reed Dollaz.” I thought I was a lot different than him, but if I put my videos up people might appreciate it. My brother and I would put up one video, and then go around to things like “Eminem Freestyles” and “Reed Dollaz” videos and post a comment telling everyone to check me out. At first it was all hate. But after awhile the haters filter out but the people that really like it stay and that’s fine. When I first moved out here I spent some time everyday posting comments….I still should do that everyday, but I don’t anymore. It snowballs a little bit y’know?
EAB: So how many people do you have on your mailing list now? I have been receiving a few e-mails from you with exclusive tracks and notices for upcoming shows here around L.A.
Wax: There’s about 2100 people on the e-mail list right now. There’s about 500 left from our band back in the day, and the rest are YouTube people.
EAB: A lot of rappers enter into a lot of battles, such as “Scribble Jams,” but according to your YouTube you’ve never publicly battled in your life?
Wax: I’ve done a small amount of battling but it’s not really my thing. I am more about writing songs and that type of stuff, but I can freestyle pretty good. I actually had one day where I f*ckin’ ripped some people apart. I’d just rather write songs and do shows. I go out there and do shows and do some acoustics, some raps, sometimes have a band behind me…
EAB: It’s like a different kind of animal and your heart just isn’t in it?
Wax: Nah, I respect it though, I respect it big time.
EAB: My favorite song of yours is “Mary.” When I heard “Mary” I was surprised at the ending! What was your creative concept behind it? (Interviewer’s Note: “Mary” is a track about a little girl whose being molested by her stepfather, and at the end she gets her revenge).
Wax: I think when I was first sent that beat, and I just thought it sounded like something dark. I don’t know it wasn’t any particular thing with child molestation that made me write it, but it was just a feeling of the underdog gets revenge. The whole feeling of sh*t building up and then just exploding. This kind of sounds corny, but when you dream you don’t control what you dream about. Sometimes you just write sh*t, and you just visualize what’s going on and you think of a story, and you think of things that rhyme.
EAB: That’s another thing about your style, your story telling ability is up there with some of my favorite rappers!
Wax: Thanks man. I’ve been doing rap and music for a long time, so if someone sees the first video that you saw for example, the initial thought is that the album wouldn’t be very good. I’ve always appreciated people like Slick Rick that paint the picture.
EAB: Exactly, it makes for better listening and something to remember. The next song that hooked me was off of your YouTube was the “Sarah Palin song.” I heard it right around the election, and it was just so current and fresh. When you were sitting down what was your concept? It was political to make fun of her, but at the same time it was FUNNY.
Wax: During that time the election was so historical and Sarah Palin she was so DUMB and all of those interviews…everybody knows man, everybody knows…but I still thought she was kinda hot or whatever. SO I thought to use that Madonna “Justify my Love” beat and spit something about Sarah Palin…usually I don’t do that but I thought a lot of people would appreciate it, so I was in L.A. and I burned the disc. And I wrote the song in my head as I drove down to San Diego, and as soon as I got there I recorded it at my brother’s house.
EAB: So…you wrote it in your HEAD?! All those verses?
Wax: Yea, when you drive by yourself it’s the best time. You just play the beat on repeat. Then you get the first 8 bars, then you get the next one, and you just repeat it over and over again. So when you get to San Diego you practically have the whole thing memorized. But you’ve got to record it immediately. So when I arrived it was like “HI, but I’ve got to do this real quick.” We were going to this BBQ but we had to wait another hour so I could record it. I thought it was hilarious but some people thought it was too much, whether they were conservative or liberal. People would say “Man you can’t go thaaat far.”
EAB: That’s hip hop though right?
Wax: I just had fun with it.
EAB: Yea you could tell. So, let’s get into your album “Liquid Courage.” The first single Larry and Tina is about 39 year old Larry who has a relationship with a young stripper named Tina, whom he finds disappointing in the end. Where did this come from?
Wax: I would say Larry & Tina is just like “Mary,” its weird where that sh*t comes from. A lot of my sh*t has to do with relationships between older men and younger women, maybe it has to do with recently that most of the women I have been with have been younger than me and there is a difference in understanding of what a relationship is and what not. I was just sent the beat and it just put the pictures in my head and I don’t know where it comes from.
EAB: Also one of my favorites off the album is “Music and Liquor.” It’s almost reminds me of an Atmosphere song but not as much about girls. There are some pretty girls in that video though! But at the end of the video you are holding a cup, and the cup turns into a girl. Is that what was supposed to happen?
Wax: There’s an earlier scene in the video where I’m sitting in a chair and I’m holding a beer and you see her lean over to kiss me and immediately after that I’m drinking a beer, you see what I’m saying, so, yea, she is the liquor.
EAB: I guess that’s a concept that I didn’t get when I listened to the song though. Can you speak on that?
Wax: The video is pretty much saying, I’m pretty fond of alcohol, and I’m trying to be better, that’s why I wrote that song. I first moved here and I didn’t know anyone, and I was drinking by myself every night as I was writing my album. She represents the ape on your back which is addiction. That’s why she’s always on me and she’s always around me, and when I’m drinking she glitches/flashes and follows me around in the video. You see how there’s a lot of background stuff in the video, and a lot of it has to do with the end of the video is the beginning to reveal to the audience that she is liquor. The point is at the end: Boy meets girl at bar, but the girl is just the alcohol the bar serves.
EAB: “Summer in the City” is a powerful song on the album…..are those actual events in that song?
Wax: Yea, word for word true story.
EAB: Really?
Wax: Yea, that was right here in Little Armenia. I was coming home from the bar and was robbed. I was writing an album at the time and I was working on another song and I don’t know who it was but EOM (the producer who made all of the beats for Liquid Courage) had hit me up and suggested I write a song about it. He had sent me the beat the next day, and it had just seemed perfect for it. To write the lyrics was easy because it already happened, I just had to write it down and try and make it rhyme and flow cool.
EAB: So you tried to make it a positive thing by throwing it on the album?
Wax: Yea, you got to find good stuff out of everything you know?
EAB: Agreed. How about the “Brown Liquor” song? I liked your verse on the song, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the appearance by former MTV show host Andy Milonakis.
Wax: Everyone says it sounds like a smooth hip hop song, and then when he comes on it’s a comedy song. There’s two ways to look at that song, it’s tight except for my verse, or tight except for Andy’s. But I love that song…I made that beat myself so I’m partial to that one. We did that song live one time and it was so funny! Andy Milonakis doesn’t give a f*ck, he’s the type that drives down Hollywood BLVD and yells at people out of his window.
EAB: Let’s talk about the industry for a minute. Are you working by yourself?
Wax: Currently yes. But I need people man. When I try to do business-y stuff, book shows, promote, I don’t have time to write. I am waiting for the right person to find me, someone that knows what they’re doing and has proven they KNOW what they’re doing. I want someone that wants to pull me up – someone to book shows and manage stuff.
EAB: So what about in the meantime – there’s that intermediate stage before people get discovered/signed or something.
Wax: The main thing is to get as many people to watch the “music and liquor” video. My brother and I, and EOM, any hip hop blog, and European TV, we just want to go hardcore promoting the video and the goal is to get as many people as possible to watch that video. That could increase record sales, someone could notice it, people might just feel that song. After that we have another video we are dropping. We are doing a lot of sh*t on our own, and the next step is going to be touring….selling CD’s, selling T-shirts…we just became partners with YouTube and are going to be making money off that too. It’s getting to the point where we might just need a manager and accountant if a record label doesn’t come around. We don’t get offers for people to help us – we don’t get offers from anybody!
EAB: Never??
Wax: There’s someone that has tried to manage me but didn’t make me a priority, and I want someone that will make me their first thing. I have ideas all the time that I don’t follow through with for things such as reality tours to update to shows and utilize new media. Often times it’s hard to get a hold of someone to make things happen. But I’m about to book a tour around October.
EAB: Yea, around Cali?
Wax: Nah, America. And Canada.
EAB: Canada too?
Wax: Outside of Maryland, Toronto is where we have sold the most CD’s. The biggest places for us are Cali, the whole Maryland area, New York, Toronto, Northwest – Oregon, Washington. Carolina is big. We’ve even sold in Australia and the UK.
EAB: Have you tried to expand yourself internationally?
Wax: Well first of all with “Music and Liquor” we are really shooting for Europe on this one. We are trying to get on European television and European websites. My brother (Herbal T) and I recently did a couple songs with a funk producer from Britain named “Lack of Afro.” He contacted us for his album, and we wrote this song “International” with the concept similar to all the places we’ll go. This fall he invited us to tour the UK and Scotland when his new album drops, and his label heads are planning on placing “International” as the first single for his new album.
EAB: Have you been approached by people in the industry? And what has it been like?
Wax: I really haven’t been approached by anyone. Maybe its because we have some lines where we say we’re independent and labels get scared off. I used to think that my twin brother and I rap, people would find that to be a big deal. I feel like somebody is missing out on money.
EAB: That’s all from me, thanks for taking the time to come out and good luck moving forward.
Wax: Thanks, and don’t forget to check my updates out at www.myspace.com/waxandherbalt.
Wax’s album, “Liquid Courage,” is currently selling strong at www.cdbaby.com/waxandeom and also can be found on iTunes.