by Andy Rosen
To see Atmosphere before 2005 was, as frontman Slug tells it, an experience centered on a self-amused emcee who’d probably had too much to drink.

A lot has changed since then for the Minneapolis-based independent rap group. Atmosphere’s act now features a live band, and tour DJ Mr. Dibbs has now been replaced by ANT—the group’s longtime studio producer.

But Slug (Sean Daley) says those changes all flowed from a personal decision he made. After Atmosphere finished with the 2004 Vans Warped Tour, he decided to quit getting drunk (he estimates about 36 beers) before he went on stage, and committed himself to running a better live show.

“Somewhere between self-medicating on substances and people and vanity, I had what I guess some people might call a moment of clarity, and that moment of clarity was telling me that I wasn’t challenging myself enough,” Slug said in a recent interview, “and if I didn’t start challenging myself more often and harder or realer…that I might get fired from my job, and I love my job.”

What hasn’t changed about Atmosphere is the basic makeup of the band. ANT (Anthony Davis) still produces the beats and Slug still rhymes, in an often morose fashion, about working class challenges, everyday struggles and partying hard. The difference, Slug says, is now it comes across more clearly onstage.

In advance of Atmosphere’s Paint the Nation Tour, which comes to Ram’s Head Live! Oct. 10, Slug talked to us about Charm City, the group’s updated live style, and the title of the their latest album “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That S— Gold.”

The info:
Atmosphere
Paint The Nation Tour
With Abstract Rude, Blueprint, DJ Rare Groove,
at Rams Head Live!
Friday, October 10, 8 pm doors, $20 advance, $22 day of

Q&A: Andy Rosen interviews Sean Daley
On his favorite act from Baltimore:
I like Labtekwon. I’m not sure how big he is in Baltimore and stuff like that, but I do know that he is a very, very, very talented [guy]. I’ve been listening to his tapes for like 10 years.

On the title of the new album, which he lifted from his girlfriend after she had to paint some fruit for an art project:
She made the crack that when life gives you lemons, you paint that s— gold and I stole it because it just had so many different meanings to me. I had so many interpretations of it that I liked it and I took it, and I told ANT and he laughed so it stuck.

On the decision to bring in a live band:
I’d been self medicating pretty hard for quite a few years, and touring through a lot of that, and I just felt like I was becoming a caricature of myself. I just felt like these cycles were repeating where I would execute some poor decision making, and then I would come home and write songs about poor decision making, and then I would go back out and execute more poor decision making.

I just felt like I needed to really throw as many challenges in front of myself as possible, so I moved towards putting together a live band. I moved towards writing with more resolution.

On the switch from touring with Mr. Dibbs to ANT (both share a label with Atmosphere in Rhymesayers Entertainment):
That personality is so much closer to what Atmosphere records are. Me and Dibbs, when we worked together, we brought a lot of hardcore into the show. He would sample Helmet and things of that nature and that was attractive to these kids who wanted to vent out to those hardcore moments. And now that those moments are gone, those kids are like “Hey, what the f— man? You used to make us push each other around.”

It’s like, yeah the truth be told me and Anthony don’t want to push you around. That’s what Dibbs wanted and that’s what Dibbs brought to the table. But now with ANT, it’s so much closer to the personality that we have in the basement when we make the music.

When I went out there [on one tour] with the band and ANT didn’t come along, that was probably the scariest tour I ever did and the most challenging because I was the band leader. I was the one that had to make sure that everybody stayed on top of their s—. I was still trying to stay on top of my own s—, and so there was a lot of moments that kind of slipped through the cracks unintentionally that probably shouldn’t have been there.

Filed under: Uncategorized