Mad Child
WHO: Swollen Members
WHERE: Garfinkel’s
WHEN: Monday, June 25
Considering his solitary start to stardom, Swollen Member’s Mad Child finds himself surrounded by a wealth of families these days: the blood he was born into, the career that he chose and the business he created. From sleeping on pizza boxes to winning Junos, Mad Child’s dreams have been realized through his lone determination and circles of people he’s embraced along the way.
So you’re growing up in North Vancouver with ambitions of being a hip hop musician. Do you: a) Chip away at Vancouver’s fledgling hip hop scene, or; b) Leave the security of family for the streets of San Francisco where you have no contacts, job or roof over your head?
"B! B!" you scream? Most of us wouldn’t dare. But Mad Child did just that about six years ago, daring to leave behind everything familiar, which apparently includes his birth name, to move closer to a community he longed to be a part of.
"It seemed like the thing to do. I knew San Francisco, LA and New York were the three biggest spots for the type of hip hop I was into at the time, and San Francisco was the first stop ’cause it was the closest," he explains.
"To be honest, the reason for the move was a mixture of a couple of things. I was kinda getting into trouble back then and I knew I wanted my music, what I’m doing now, to be my main focus. So it was kind of a combination of me wanting to go somewhere where I could focus on my music and getting my name out there and also getting away from the trouble I was getting in to. It was a nice break from that."
A nice break? Homeless, delivering pizza for less than minimum wage with no work visa?
"Work visa? (long laughter) No. No one knew I was working down there!"
Mad Child did manage to land a job at The Bomb Hip Hop Shop and there he found the beginnings of his musical family. Mad Child spent his spare evenings getting his MC name out in the Bay area. Through his Bomb Shop connections, his track, Pregnant, appeared on a Bomb Records compilation and shortly after he released a 7" single featuring production by pro skater Tommy Guarerro. Mad Child was a buzz name in the underground.
The most important addition in this family came during a short visit home to Vancouver. Mad Child met Prevail, an MC with a talent for delivering some of the deadliest freestyle rhymes. A brothership was formed and Swollen Members was born.
Moreso than any other genre of music, the hip hop scene is comprised of tight camps of artists who often collaborate and interchange their talents. Swollen Members began recording in 1996 with the help of some of the most influential names in hip hop south of the border: DJ Babu (Beat Junkies), Mix Mater Mike (Beastie Boys), Evidence (Dilated Peoples) and Everlast, just to name a few. After earning a spot in the ranks of the Rock Steady Crew, one of hip hop’s highest respected collectives, Swollen Members knew it was time to start releasing their own material. But determined to stay true to his vision and maintain control over his music, Mad Child embarked on a new lone adventure.
"To tell you the truth, I may have put just a bit too much on my plate," confides Mad Child about his independent label, Battleaxe Records. Through Battleaxe, Swollen Members has released four 12" singles and a full-length album, Balance , which has sold over 35,000 copies world-wide. But these days, Mad Child has taken on a whole new world of responsibilities with another half dozen artists on the Battleaxe label.
"I have to look after all the production problems as far as the actual making of the CDs, posters and stickers. We’re about to sign with a tour management company, but up until now we’ve had to look after all the bookings ourselves, which takes up a lot of time. I’m working on distribution deals for Canada and Europe right now. There’s always little outside things that come up. I put together the CD for the snowboard movie The Resistance and I’m doing the next one called True Life. We’ve got a couple songs on the Sony PlayStation 2 video games. So I have to handle our press. We also service college radio DJs and make sure things are getting played and added. And then there’s the new things I’m learning along the way. Now that we’re getting on major radio rotation, I’m learning about BDS. It’s like SoundScan, but it tracks how many times your record gets spun on the radio. And then we’re also keeping track of the actual SoundScan which is how many sales you’re doing per week per country. I’m the one who gives the OK on the finals of all the songs…"
Whew! And the list goes on. No one said being the head of the family would be easy. Mad Child admits all the business hype has made him appreciate his simple artistry. Although he still has business goals for Swollen Members, such as being the first English-speaking Canadian group to go gold independently, he’s also had time to reflect on the little things that mean much more. At the top of the list, coming back to his first family.
"When we won the Juno (for best Rap Group), I was watching it at my family’s house with my parents and my little brother and sister and my grandma and they were really excited," recalls Mad Child. "That made me realize that what I’m doing means something to other people. I was excited just to see them jump and down."
And despite other major accomplishments, such as playing before a crowd of 10,000 at the world famous Glastonbury Festival, being the first rap group added to two of Canada’s major commercial radio stations and multiple tours through the UK, Europe, Australia, Japan and North America, those things familiar that Mad Child once left behind are what he looks forward to the most.
"I’ve been really fortunate. I think the thing Swollen Members is most grateful for is the love we get at home. The support in our home town, and that includes Whistler, Victoria, Nanaimo, that’s a really great feeling. More than travelling the world, coming home and having people stoked about what you’re doing, that’s the best part."
Although it was sorely tempting to end on that high note, it’s important to note that Mad Child has come full circle and is about to become a lone rider again for a time, away from the families.
"I had all these goals four or five years ago when I started this whole thing and I’ve conquered them all. I’ve just realized that over the last few weeks. So I need to get away for a little bit to focus on what my new goals are. I don’t have any time at all right now to do that… I’d actually like to get up to Whistler for the summer with my dogs, let them rip around, and look ahead to what I want for myself."
