Buck 65

While recently compiling a list of my 160 favorite hip-hop albums ever, I noticed a trend. Not only did Buck 65 take my No. 1 spot with his 1997 classic, Vertex, but a number of his records - seven, to be exact - made it into my Top 50 (two in our Top 10!) of all-time. 

Is Richard Terfry, a 38-year-old ex-baseball-playing Canadian who looks more like one of the guitar playing twins from The National than Nas or BDK, one of the best emcees of all time? Oh yes, easily. Also one of the most inimitable. Not just that. Buck is a FANTASTIC producer and DJ. On the majority of his records, he writes, records, produces, rhymes, and mixes. He’s an auteur, and, most importantly, his records are unlike any other. They’re somehow both classic and boundary pushing.

Here’s how I’d rank my favorite albums from the 65er: 7. Weirdo Magnet (No. 50 on our all-time list); 6. Language Arts (No. 32); 5. Talkin’ Honky Blues (No. 25); 4. Square (No. 15); 3. Man Overboard (No. 13); 2. This Right Here (No. 7); 1. Vertex (No. 1).

So, all that in mind, I sent Buck 65 an e-mail, asking if he’d be up for an interview. He was! And the result is easily one of the highlights of my career as a writer/fan. Here we go

Greg Locke: Thinking back, what was the moment that propelled you into a larger spotlight?

Buck 65: To be honest, I think that having my name dropped by the guys from Radiohead back around the time when Kid A came out is what did it. The timing was amazing because everyone was talking about Radiohead and their new musical direction. So right at the peak of Radiohead mania, they were talking about me! So bonkers.

Greg: I remember hearing that you moved to Paris and maybe got married? What's the story? Are you in Canada? France? The US? I heard Colorado, even!

Buck 65: I moved to Paris right after I signed my deal with Warner - I guess that was 2002 or so. I lived there off and on for the next six years. I got engaged to a French girl named Claire. You can hear her on a few songs on Secret House Against The World and there's a picture of her in the CD booklet-thing. Her great-grandfather is/was (he's dead) Francis Picabia, who is one of the original Dadaists! Claire and I aren't together anymore, but we're still very close. But I did get married! Last year. My wife Emily is from Colorado. We live in Toronto now. Emily and I work together some too. We wrote a bunch of songs together on Dirtbike and she does vocals on "Person To Person" on Dirtbike 1. She helped out on a couple songs on the second 20 Odd Years EP too. We wrote a song called "Tears In Space" together and she plays ukulele on one called BCC.

Greg: What have you been up to lately? Music? Other projects?

Buck 65: Well, even though I've already started releasing music for 20 Odd Years projects, it's not quite finished. I'm putting the finishing touches on some of the songs that will be on the third, fourth and fifth EPs now. I'm also working on a few collaborations for other people's albums. Plus, I'm working on a project with Buddy Peace from the UK right now - that could see the light of day in 2010 - and there's the 100 Story Building project I'm doing with another rapper named D-Sisive. We've asked people to send us stories that we'll turn into songs. We've already started recording for that. Oh, and there are a handful of new Bike For Three songs, too.

Greg: I know you're a big film and baseball buff. How much do those two interests bleed over into your music?

Buck 65: Lately I've been trying to keep my music stuff as outside-influence-free as possible. But the odd reference still creeps in. And in a general sense, I'll watch a great film like, say, The Mirror by Andrei Tarkovsky and come away feeling very inspired. So that might spur something, but not necessarily directly. But I will say that with the project I'm working on with Buddy Peace, he has thrown out some challenges like, "let's figure out a way to make a song that's in black and white!" Or "let's make a song that's out of focus!" So, we'll see what comes of that...

Greg: You write, produce, DJ and rap. Your music has changed a lot over the years, how has your production style grown? Is it who you work with? Your approach? Your influences?

Buck 65: Hmm. To be honest, I think the main thing that has changed has been the technology. I can do these things now that were either impossible, or that would have been insanely expensive ten or fifteen years ago. That's a big factor. But I guess the other factor is just all the things I've been exposed to over the years - music I've heard, books I've read, films I've seen, trouble I've gotten into. I'm still drawn to all the same textures and sounds and moods and instruments I've always been. Sometimes I have to try to resist the urge to make everything dark and slow and sinister and minimal and stuff. But I really indulged myself with Dirtbike - which wasn't so long ago - and I'm sure most people can trace the parallels between that stuff and say, Vertex.

Greg: Can you tell me a bit about Dirtbike? What's the thinking behind giving that away for free? It's good stuff!

Buck 65: Before I made Dirtbike, I made the decision that I wouldn't sell it or send it to any press. Reason being, I didn't want to think of it as a failure if it didn't sell well or if it got bad reviews. I just wanted the whole thing to be a source of joy - the same joy I remember feeling back in the days when I was making music before I had much of an audience. In those days, it was all about wide-open creativity with no expectations to corrupt my thinking. I'd play stuff for my friends and that was about it. So I wanted to do that again. So when each part was finished, I emailed a link to a handful of friends. Eventually, the records started to spread on the internet and so finally, I posted the links on my website. That felt really good. I'm not very comfortable with the idea of trying to cram anything I do down anyone's throat. So I hope to do more of that kind of thing in the future.

Greg: Can you tell me a little bit about the new DVD and EPs you’ve been working on?

Buck 65: The DVD was put together by a guy named Christopher Mills. He's very creative. He came along for part of the tour for the Situation record and shot lots of stuff. Then, near the end of tour, a bunch of the tapes and equipment got stolen. We got some of the tapes back, but lost a lot of good stuff too. So we made due with what we had left, told the story, and called it "The Lost Tapes." We also shot a video for the song "Shutterbuggin," which was inspired by a rare film called "The Beaver Trilogy," which is one of the best things I've seen in my life. There's also lots of animation and crazy editing and random stories and live performances and stuff. I really like how it turned out. God, we worked on it forever. As for the EP, it's the first in a series of five. When all is said and done, there will be twenty new songs out there. Then, we might possibly release a limited edition album with selections from the EPs and a bunch of new songs. I'm sitting on a mountain of material right now. There are four songs on the first EP. One of them is called "Superstars Don't Love" and the lyrics were written the day Michael Jackson died, so it's a bit of a tribute to him, among other things. That one was produced - in the hip hop sense - by my friend Jorun, who I've been working with for close to twenty years. He's one of the illest beat makers ever. It's a shame he's not world famous. There's also a cover of a Leonard Cohen song - "Who By Fire" - which features my friend Jenn Grant. I stayed at her house when I was recording most of the new material. And there's a song I made with Nick Thorburn from Islands. That one's called "Gee Whiz." Buddy Peace added a scratch verse to it, which needs to be heard to be believed or even understood. Buddy is a monster.

Greg: It's the 20th anniversary for you and hip-hop! Looking back over the years, how has your relationship with the music/genre/culture changed?

Buck 65: My relationship with hip hop has changed drastically in the last 20 years. Where to begin?! I worshiped at the altar of hip hop most of life, but began to fall out of love around '96 or so. The last album I remember LOVING was the Dr. Octagon album. I don't know what happened after that. Maybe it's a getting-older thing, but at this point, I admit I'm pretty out of touch. I just lost interest. Now, once in a while I'll hear some crazy hype about a new rapper and check them out. But I always end up thinking, "I don't get it." So these days, I still listen to hip hop all the time, but it's all my favorite old records from '86 and '87, mostly.

Greg: Our website, www.ZeCatalist.com, recently named your album, Vertex, our favorite hip-hop record ever. Seven of your albums are in our Top 50 and two are in the Top 10! Needless to say, we love your records and thing they're aging very well. Do you have a favorite Buck 65 record or two?

Buck 65: I recently compiled my own personal Top 5! One of my favorite things is a special mega-mix thing Buddy Peace did for the Strange Famous site before Situation came out. Dirtbike ranks very high for me. So does Square. I think I had the Dirtywork EP as my number one. And the first Sebutones album, Psoriasis, was also on my list.

Greg: I love Square but somehow don’t know the Dirtywork EP. I’ll have to look that one up. I've long been curious to know how you feel about "This Right Here is Buck 65." Is there a story behind that record? Seems like it was maybe the "make it" sort of moment for you - at least from a label's perspective. Are we way off?

Buck 65: The whole "This Right Here..." story is a weird one. I signed a deal with the now-defunct V2 label back around '04. The idea was that they would put out Talkin' Honky Blues, which was still new-ish. But they felt the album wasn't strong enough or what they were looking for or something. So they suggested making an "introductory" record for the US market. So they picked a few songs from Talkin’ Honky Blues and suggested re-recording a few older ones to "clean them up" and add a few new ones. I thought the whole thing was a very strange idea. Then, I made Secret House and they were funny about that, too. So I asked to be dropped and they complied. A few months later, the label folded. So my theory is that shortly after I signed with them, they started getting into trouble and were under pressure to come up with some big sellers. The White Stripes contract with them ended and Moby's album kinda bombed and that was it. They went tits up. The story of my life ... bad timing

Greg: Bummer. I remember being surprised that “This Right Here” wasn’t a big album. If that were released today, I think it’d do VERY well. What's ahead for you? I know you’re working on the EPs ...

Buck 65: Looking ahead, there's going to be a 20-country tour later this year. There are the other projects I mentioned - with Buddy Peace and the 100 Story Building thing. Slowly but surely another Bike For Three! album is coming together. The 20 Odd Years EPs ... Lots of stuff. And I was thinking of doing another Dirtbike type of thing again before too long. I have lots of ideas for things I'll be doing on the website too, so keep an eye on that

Greg: Wow. That’s a whole lot of irons in the fire. Thanks so much. And everyone be sure to keep your eye on www.Buck65.com.

Ps - We'll very likely post a tracklist for a Buck 65 starter mixtape soon. But, of course, we HIGHLY recommend you buy his records.

Written by G. William Locke