Artist: The Away Team
Interviewer: da MetroGnome

Producer Khrysis and Emcee Sean Boog make up The Away Team, straight out of North Carolina. The group is part of a large family known as the Justus League. They are makin’ moves to the forefront of NC hip hop, but have thus far been in the shadows of their teammates, Little Brother. Most notably, May 17th saw the dropping of their record “National Anthem,” a showcase of their talents and abilities. SoundSlam had a discussion with The Away Team on topics ranging from how beat-smith 9th Wonder has aided their crew’s Voltron-like mentality. During the discussion they demonstrated that they really are a team, willing to promote each other for the betterment and ‘Justus’ of all.

SoundSlam: Okay, let’s just jump in…so you guys, The Away Team, got this new LP comin’ out, The National Anthem. What can listeners expect to hear…what does it cover?

Sean Boog: Just raw hip hop man. Beats and rhymes, but we have a lot of fun on the album. I mean, as far as lyrically, I touch on a lot of different things. I touch on girls, real life, there’s a song about my dad, who actually left when I was a kid, and who I haven’t seen since. There are deep songs, but the overall feel of the album is more fun, just something to party to, whatever.

Khrysis: Basically, it’s just for people who like to go out, have a good time, hit the bar or throw house parties, whatever. This is that kind of album…to get drunk to, pass out to, something to smack your homeboy to, haha.

SoundSlam: So, something I thought was interesting is the title “National Anthem.” It can be taken for havin’ various meanings. What’s the reason you guys chose it, or how does it represent the music?

Sean Boog: Well, like the album, at first, we had it titled “The Competition.” We kinda played off of The Away Team a little bit, kinda like our introduction to the game, “The National Anthem,” where everybody stands, to receive the Away Team, nahmsayin’.

Khrysis: It’s just startin’ it off right now and it’s a song that everybody gonna sing along wit when the game starts.

SoundSlam: Word up. I got you. Okay, now what is it about your guy’s styles or relationship that originally made you guys think it’d be a dope fit, musically?

Sean Boog: Chemistry.

Khrysis: And a couple of those songs just came from jokes. Specifically, the Blah Blah song. We’d just be runnin’ around, like ‘blah, blah, blah…” and we were like ‘what if we made a song like that.’

Sean Boog: It always just worked…I don’t know how else to say it.

SoundSlam: Okay, now for the people or fans that are familiar with the Justus League, if they’ve ever seen it written out, and one of the first things I noticed about it, is that it is spelled so it can be broken up into “Just Us.” Now, the spelling clearly seems intentional, but does that somehow reflect the whole crew mentality or ideology toward the music industry, or am I just makin’ that shit up?

Sean Boog: Hahaha.

Khrysis: Actually, yeah…kinda, sorta, if you look at it like that. But actually, it’s more like, we’re strong on our own, but when we all get together, it’s somethin’ phenomenal. You know, it’s just that chemistry that all of us have together, but when we separate and break up into our own parts we’re still doin’ it.

SoundSlam: Yeah, like Voltron and shit.

Khrysis: Wu Tang said that already, so I’m not gonna say that.

Sean Boog: Naw, fuck that, I’m stealin’ that shit, haha.

Khrysis: But when we get together we’re gonna do our thing in this industry.

Sean Boog: We look at it like our mark in the game is ‘just us’ and we’re tryin’ to make our own mark in the whole history of hip hop one day as far as us as a crew.

SoundSlam: Okay, word, that’s how I read into it. Now, as far as the Justus League, I’m not really familiar with exactly who started it, but I know that some people met through a radio station, or other jobs. As far as you guys, the Away Team, were you there from the get-go or did you meet heads and were you inducted later? How did that work out?

Sean Boog: Well, originally, it came together through 9th (Wonder) and Commanche in like ’99. I know I got down in 2001 because I met Commanche in like March of 2001, and recorded my first song with 9th, and about that time is when I met Khrysis. And then they just inducted me one day.

SoundSlam: Word. Okay, now I’m gonna get at Khrysis about production for a minute. When you’re makin’ beats, do you pay attention to any sort of music theory or do you just go with what shit feels good, or do you find a balance. What’s your process like?

Khrysis: It’s definitely a mixture of both. It starts out with what I feel, and then I put an inkling of theory into it. Really, I just go ahead with whatever sounds right. And then I might know I’m supposed to do this, but I might break the rules and do that. So, I don’t really have it broken down into a science, nothing like that, but I just go for it, and whatever changes I think it needs, I do it.

SoundSlam: Since Little Brother started gaining some shine and success, how has being around 9th Wonder helped or impacted you or your production, or just from a musical standpoint?

Khrysis: Yeah, definitely, it’s definitely had a wonderful impact on me, but it was probably just more motivational than anything. It’s like, ‘okay, he’s here, now that gives me room and gave me a new position.’ And I’ve said this before…he’s gonna kick in the front door, and I’m gonna go sneak in and break in the back window. It just gives me a different angle to attack from, which is all good, and it’s all part of the plan.

SoundSlam: Are there any other producers that you look up to as far as composition, style, feel, the heat, whatever?

Khrysis: Yeah, I like Dre, Primo, Hi Tek, Nottz, da Beatminerz, Diamond D., some new cats I like is this young cat named Ill Mind out of Jersey. I just grab stuff from all angles. I just got Raphael Saddiq’s last album. That shit was crazy. I just take a little bit of everything I’ve heard and throw it together in one big pot. Oh, Dilla, damn, how’d I forget that…oh god, yeah, Jay Dilla. I just take in everything, listen to it, and get my inspiration right there.

SoundSlam: I believe I’ve read somewhere that you started messing with stereo equipment when you were quite a bit younger, playin’ around with this and that, whatever you could get your hands on. What type of equipment did you start out using?

Khrysis: Well, my interest peaked in beat-making around 14, 15, or 16, something. And I started by makin’ loops with pause tapes. I’d sneak in my pops record collection, go record a record, take it back to my room with the boombox with dual cassette and auto reverse and start pause button-ing the hell out of a loop, and make a couple long ass 5 minute loop. Then I started to understand how to rig a few things and I got a boom box, a stereo, and a keyboard. Now, you know how sometimes on a dual cassette sometimes you can take two tapes and play both of them at the same time, and they’ll both come out? And then I had a tape adapter to a cd player. So, I’d damn near take a tape, hook it up to a keyboard with some drum pads on it and play it over the top of the loop, while the other was recordin’ what was goin on in the boom box, haha, that’s how I got started. (Sean Boog laughin’ like hell.)

SoundSlam: That’s crazy. I think that’s the craziest shit I heard in awhile.

Khrysis: So, yeah, that’s how I got started, but then a bit later I got a program called SAW, it was kinda like Cool Edit, but not quite, and then I got Fruity Loops, then the full version of Fruity Loops in 2001.

SoundSlam: And now what do you use?

Khrysis: Just Cool Edit, Fruity Loops, and a bunch of records.

SoundSlam: No MPC, Motif’s, anything like that?

Khrysis: No.

SoundSlam: Word. Okay, now Sean, onto the Emcee side of things. Are you a spot-writer, or do you go in ahead of time with writtens?

Sean Boog: I do both. I spot write a lot. But, anytime you hear guest appearances, it’s spot written. Our whole team, like me and L.E.G. (L.E.G.A.C.Y.) and Scud (Joe Scudda), we might go to the studio and bang out four or five joints a night off spot writing only. But other times I might take a beat home and craft a song….it’s both.

SoundSlam: Are there other Emcee appearances from the crew itself on the album?

Sean Boog: Okay, we got basically everybody up on there. We got Joe (Scudda) on there. We got Phonte and Pooh of Little Brother, First of Miracles. We got a joint with Smif-n-Wessun, so big shouts out to BCC (Boot Camp Clik). Who else? Oh, yeah, we got Impact, Chaundon, and a whole lot of Boog, haha.

SoundSlam: Coo. What about any upcoming tours to promote this new record?

Sean Boog: Actually, we just found out the other day through our manager, (we MIGHT) be goin’ on the road August 16th. Nothin’ concrete yet, but we’re workin’ on like mid-August or early Septemeber, something like that. And any spot dates we can get before that, of course. And it should be a monster because it would be after everybody’s album drops and we’ll all be promotin’ like that. We don’t really shoot for little.

SoundSlam: I know a lot of underground artists get exposure through colleges, so how is the college radio station buzz right now with y’all?

Sean Boog: It’s actually real good.

Khrysis: And we actually found out the other day that we got some spins on the Wake Up Show, so that’s good.

Sean Boog: Yeah, they ran “Come On Down” out there…the Smif-n-Wessun joint.

SoundSlam: Word up. Be on the look out peoples. Are there any other plugs, comments?

The Away Team: Just May 17th, National Mayhem…”National Anthem”, “Project Mayhem”, “Sleepers” by Big Pooh, Little Brother “Minstrel Show” coming soon, Joe Scudda and Authentic, we workin’ on that right now. Chaundon “No Excuses”, we workin’ on that right now. Commanche about to drop “Squirrel and Aces”…that’s like a collabo album with people from all over the place. Really, we’re all just doin’ it up. Check all our shit out.