The Foodchain released Brunch last November and has been on a steady pace ever since. With its collection of musical all-stars, the Foodchain is more than a crew; it's a conglomerate. Consisting of a complete live band, four monster MCs and two of the hottest sample-chopping, heat-making producers out there, the Foodchain is pushing itself more than ever. We caught up with ChampSoundKillaBlack recently to discuss how the crew grows together and makes music together, as well as its plans to reinvent the scope of the band.
Westword: Since Brunch came out, it seems like the band has been growing and getting better than ever.
ChampSoundKillaBlack: We're trying. We've probably got two or three more videos that we want to drop, at least one a month from Brunch, songs that are single-worthy, but maybe even a couple that are artistically bangers as well. More than anything, we've fallen back in love with the artistry and actual music creation, and that's where the biggest growth comes from.
One of the best parts of the live show is when you introduce the band with this crashing momentum. Are you the bandleader of sorts?
From a talking perspective, I'm the bandleader, but I've been talking publicly for a number of years now, so it makes me like the de facto leader. Everybody takes their turn being the bandleader, and some of those moves aren't always seen. Mass Prod and Mo Heat push us sonically; they're just quieter about it. Mic, too. When we're on stage, it's usually me and Mic in tandem.
Are you guys creating the music together — writing, producing, the whole bit?
Yup — even some of our secret weapons have started producing, too. We've got about six music sources for beats right now.
Within the group?
Yes. Now, that's not to say we're not powered by Mass Prod and Mo Heat, but we've been experimenting. For us, it feels like we've been doing it forever already, and I think people are looking for new places and talent to access within themselves. Last year, a lot of things were emotionally hectic, and we all happened to exhale at the end of the year. It's natural that we've reemerged with a new energy toward the music.
So many people fall in love with the Foodchain after seeing just one live show. How does that translate to the energy on the album?
Mass Prod is such an intricate thinker when it comes to making beats that the replication of what he makes for us is kind of harder on stage, because we don't have a traditional group of instrumentalists. Mo Heat and Alex would fall into the most classically trained instrumentalists, and Prod is most prodigy-like in that regard. He knows his chords, but I don't know if he falls under the guise of classically trained. When it comes to taking any of the beats that Prod or Mo Heat make — hearing them on stage, the words are the same, but there are variations of the beat that give it a more live element.
