Ottowa-based band Blakdenim has released their first full-length album Usual Suspects: Season III which includes standout track “Sharks” featuring a hip-hop legend. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels from Run DMC brings his own flavor to the pot that makes “Sharks” an awesome combination of punk rock and hip-hop.
“Sharks” is a rebellious tune and DMC brings that familiar style and grime we all still love from back in the day. The full album itself is a more holistic experience as it encompasses the themes of love, togetherness, and unity. This track really showcases the band’s refined sound as they combine elements of new electronic music and 70s funk.
Blakdenim
Exclusive Blakdenim Interview
This interview was edited for clarity
Pundits label your music as “original” and/or “different.” How do those words land on your ears?
“We take those as compliments. We don’t intentionally make “original” and/or “different” music. Just doing what we feel. Capturing what we feel and making sure we’re musically representing whatever emotion we’re trying to evoke. We vibe and it happens organically.”
How did you come up with the name BLAKDENIM?
“They say the uniform of New York City is Black Denim. Since our music is firmly rooted in hip-hop we thought it’d be a good way to pay homage to the city that birthed the music. Furthermore, denim gets better and more expensive with age… just like expensive wine or good champagne so our sound reflects that.”
BLAKDENIM is composed of many excellent musicians in their own right. Why did you all decide to work together?
“It really came organically. There was a lack of live band hip-hop in our city of Ottawa, Ontario, so we wanted to get together and play the music we loved. And since there weren’t really any established bands like that, we decided to make our own.”
8 cooks in the kitchen is a lot. How do you manage conflict?
“It can definitely get tense sometimes but we all have respect for each other. Nobody gets shut down for bringing an idea to the table and I think in many ways that’s what gives us our sound. Since we can all bring something to the table it can lead us towards weird or
unorthodox sounds, something that sets us apart. In terms of the day to day, a lot of that is handled by Kenny, the MC, Karl, the bass player and Sacha, the drummer. We still see everyone as an equal part of the band but unfortunately if we had to run every single decision by eight people we would never get anything done.”
Would you challenge a comparison to The Roots?
“The Roots were one of the first to do hip-hop as a live band, so no we wouldn’t challenge that. They’ve definitely been a huge influence on our sound, but we feel we’ve evolved beyond that. We take influence from every kind of music and we’ve been doing so for eight
years, so we think at this point, it’s safe to say we’re a completely different entity from The Roots.”
The title Usual Suspects: Season III might cause the uninitiated to search for Usual Suspects Seasons II and I, why did you decide on that title for your album?
“We’ve had 2 other EPs, Vanguard(en) and Complexus, so the Season III part of the Usual Suspects: Season III title is to show that this is our third project. In Season III, there’s an actual suspect. The tracks “Dilemma,” “Bad But Good,” “55 in a 54” and “Sharks” somewhat describe the suspect the title of the EP is referring to. It’s for the listener to decipher.”
I find that songs like “Gratitude” and “Champagne” have a certain dichotomy between the lyrics and the actual music. That is to say the lyrics pull your brain in one direction but sonically the music sounds like something else. Was that on purpose?
“It’s not something that was intentional. Music is an artform so there are no boundaries. We could both be looking at the same painting that has no words and have two different perspectives of what we’re viewing. We think with the music, that is just the emotion that it inspired.”
The song “James Brown’s Cape” is the official soundtrack to The Super Felix Brothers comic book. How did that come about and why is this a cause you care about?
“Well someone very close to us and a fan of the band has two kids with Sickle Cell disease. This disease is very common amongst children. Especially children of colour with a lack of red blood cells. They wrote this comic book to give hope to kids not only with Sickle Cell disease but also for kids with cancer and other diseases that affect them. With that said, they asked us if we would be interested in writing a theme song/soundtrack for the Super Felix Brothers comic book.”
“Ironically, we already had “James Brown’s Cape” recorded and in the song we were already talking about being a superhero and having courage to fight and becoming the best you can be “…flying so high I could touch the sky.” Sky’s the limit. Also, when James Brown put his cape on stage, it would be at his most vulnerable and emotional moment. It takes courage to be vulnerable and to be your best self by believing in yourself. That’s the message we wanted the listeners to take away.”
You had the opportunity to work with DMC on the song “Sharks” and he got to choose his spot. Any thought of putting him somewhere else on the album? Were you worried that his style wouldn’t mesh well with the BLAKDENIM sound?
“We had originally sent him both “Sharks” and “James Brown’s Cape.” For “James Brown’s Cape,” we were thinking we’d put a DMC verse where the hook is now. However, “Sharks” resonated a little more with him, which makes sense since he’s always done heavier tunes. We’ve always been influenced by all genres and eras of hip-hop. From the 1980s to 2010, from the New York era boom bap to southern trap. We are a diverse band musically so there wasn’t ever a worry to fit DMC somewhere. We draw from different genres which makes our music appealing to a wide array of listeners.”
Blakdenim feat. DMC – “Sharks”
Are there issues you did not get to tackle on this album that you wish you had?
There are always things that you wish you would’ve done or could do better. That’s just human nature. Everybody wants everything to be perfect. Sometimes you have to appreciate the beauty in what you might see as a flaw. #saytheirnames.
If you could add one artist to your group dead or alive to make it even stronger who would it be and why?
“Wow! That would be a long list lol. We have a lot of different musicians in our band with a lot of different influences so I’m sure you’d get a different answer from everyone. Unanimously, we’d probably all say Weird Al lol. For real though, it’d be dope to have a male singer in our band again; we had one in the early days. We’d love to have someone like Marvin Gaye or Al Green join our ranks. We’d also love to have someone multi-talented like Kendrick Lamar. He’s active in the industry, deals with live musicians, writes consciously but still has a structure to appeal to the mass with his songwriting, so he could definitely bring our band to another level.”
What are your immediate plans post-COVID-19?
“Touring, touring and more touring!! We miss playing for an audience and we can’t wait to get out there again. On top of that, we got plans for some videos and we’ll keep working on more music. Stay tuned!”
*Interview questions composed by staff writer Herman Trass
Blakdenim – Usual Suspects: Season III
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