Our Interview with Strange Famous Boss Man Sage Francis

A long career isn't something promised in any of the fields of art, neither is being famous, especially when you are grinding on your own, putting out your own music, and hitting the road hard. I've been a fan of the Strange Famous Records captain Sage Francis since i first heard about him on an old website when his "sick of waiting tables...urine trouble" tape dropped. From the moment i heard the gruff, gravel voiced Rhode Island Poet, MC and battle rapper extraordinaire i knew he had something amazing happening.

He's given us Personal Journals, A Healthy Distrust, Human the Death Dance, Li(f)e, and now the stellar Copper Gone. Sage Francis has taken listeners on a long strange road of political frustrations, personal turmoils, and dark humor. I was gifted the chance to talk with Uncle Sage about his new album, cats, running a label, being banned from his message board and being white in an art form created by black and brown folks in this day and age.

El Capo clearly enjoyed talking to your old boy a lot, and Sage bro, the feels are super mutual!! Now let me back on your message board! So stroke that epic beard, gather round the kitties, and get your strange socks on as we kick it on the real tip GYEAH.

Syffal: How many of the songs on Copper Gone where ghost written by your cats?

Sage Francis: Every time I lay down to write, I have one cat that sits on the page and another that swats the pen away. I don't know if they got in your ear about this as if they deserve credit, but my cats haven't written a single thing. In fact, they've impeded the writing process more often than not.

Syffal: This is your 5th official album, not to mention all of the "sick.." Series of tapes & CD's. What keeps you pushing forward and finding the new ways to write about your life & the world around you?

Sage Francis: It's actually my 7th studio album, but it's only the 6th if you include albums that made it into record stores. Ha. But, yeah, I do think it's more challenging for someone to write material that sounds fresh and new when they've already spilled guts and brains on the previous 100 songs. You have to allow the well to get filled. That's not really the biggest obstacle though. It simply takes living a bit of life, collecting stories, connecting infinite dots, and sometimes playing poker helps. I like to take my sweet time crafting these things, which I feel I have afforded myself over the years. That doesn't mean the media and general music audience will allow me to do that with suffering consequences, but I will not rush any project. I'm going to live my life, document my understanding of this world as I go, and try to impress myself in the process. Another funny thing is how people don't want you to keep coming with the same sound, but they don't want anything that deviates much from your original sound.

Syffal: If you had to choose who was a prettier bearded hunk of a man, who would you pick? B. Dolan, Me, Seth Rogan Or Ceschi?

Sage Francis: Well, since you offered it as an option, I'm going to have to go with "Me."

Syffal: Every album has had a variety of people producing, but never one person handling all of it. Do you prefer the change up in styles, or is it not conscious?

Sage Francis: I prefer having a lot of different styles to choose from. I'm more interested in working with beat makers rather than with "producers." I can shape and produce my own albums. In fact, I almost always do. But it's a great privilege to have a catalog of beats from people with all different styles. I've worked with some of these beat producers from the very beginning, but I always leave room open for new talent. This takes a ton of time, patience and organization, but I've found it's been the best process when I'm putting together my own albums. That's not to say that I wouldn't be down to do a full album with someone like Prince Paul if the opportunity presented itself.

Syffal: I've been banned from your message board since 2010, now that you can see how ruggedly handsome I am, and my blue Puerto Rican eyes have pierced your soul, can I come back on if I promise to only talk cats and vegan cupcakes??

Sage Francis: I'm on a mission to ban every user until I'm the only active member there. I'm damn close to achieving that goal.

Syffal: The internet helped spread the tales of a Rhode Island battle rapping slam poet, and since then, how do you think its growth and effect on music has changed the way we are introduced to new artists? Do you think its made it easier for people to just pop up and have a "career" or fan base w/o all the hard work?

Sage Francis: It's definitely easier for people to pop up, but not to have a career. It's a totally saturated industry and the channels are clogged. That's probably what makes blogs important, for better or worse, because they act as the filters for what most people learn about or listen to. Unfortunately, a lot of these sites aren't doing much digging for content on their own. They're basically relying on publicists to be their content providers. Publicists don't come cheap. Especially not the ones who have direct access to the bigger websites which then get copycatted by all the other sites. There are a lot of acts who are made to look like their sudden rise and popularity was all organic, only to find later on that they had major label backing. Really, it's like that most of the time these days. So we've basically come full circle. I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with manufactured careers, but it does kind of sting when they wave around the "indie" flag. It's not an even playing field, and it's important for artists to understand that before digging their own frustration grave.

Syffal: How much energy does it take to step off stage after crushing hard as fuck, and walk into the packed crowd, and take a picture/hug/hi five all those people?!

Sage Francis: Usually I'm so amped up at the end of the show, so I find that going through the crowd to meet everyone and give hugs is a good way for me to come down instead of stopping cold. That said, there are times when I totally exhaust myself on the stage and I'd rather just collapse than have a hug orgy. But that's when I pick someone to hold onto and I just drape myself on them until they can't hold me anymore.

Syffal: I really loved the incorporation of other beats/songs into your set, and the comedy infused through it all. Were you ever a George Carlin fan? And do you flip the beats so it's not so redundant and boring for you?

Sage Francis: I respect the hell out of George Carlin, but I can't say I've ever been a super fan of his work. His material is hit or miss for me, which is understandable considering the scope of his work and how long he did shit. Some of the humor feels very dated, but I obviously love the material where he dishes out unfiltered, scathing truth. That never gets old. As for switching up the beats at my shows, I do that for different reasons. Sometimes I put a surprising twist to familiar material because it's fun to see the crowd react. But it's never because the music is boring or redundant to me. I don't mind doing the same thing the same exact way a thousand times in a row. Two thousand times. Three thousand. Four thousand. All good with me as long as the crowd is having fun. I'm not doing shows to entertain myself. I spend the rest of my time at my home all alone with no one to entertain to entertain myself.

Syffal: Favorite Native Tongue Era album?

Sage Francis: De La Soul is quintessential Native Tongue to me. Considering how they were talking about how the Native Tongue thing was a thing of the past on De La Soul is dead, I guess I'll have to go with 3 Feet High & Rising.

Syffal: Your music has always had a therapeutic aspect to it, and it seems that resonates with your fans as well. What makes that important for you instead of say, making up anonymous battles you're winning, politics or stream of conscience style raps?

Sage Francis: I can't say for sure. People listen to music for different reasons, and I can never predict what the general public is going to pull out of my lyrics. Music has helped me not feel so alone when I was in times of need, and I'm glad I can give back if possible. That's not what drives me while in the creative phase, but I'm certainly grateful for the byproduct. I'm really surprised by the things people relate to sometimes. For instance, when I wrote "Make Em Purr" I had absolutely no idea that so many people would be able to identify or empathize. But I think that's a testament to my approach. The goal isn't to pander, it's to capture the core truth of something. The whole "write what you know" cliche is true, but not many people are able to grasp what that really means.

Syffal: Your head is bald. Your beard is grey. And you have cats. Should we worry about you building home made pipe bombs, or collecting old issues of Time magazine that stack to the ceiling? Storm is worried.

Sage Francis: I don't deal in physical explosives. I am a hoarder though. No need to worry until it's time for me to move. At that point I'll need some help.

Syffal: We are nearly the same age. And we have similar Hip-hop idols/heroes. Was there anyone you met, that you looked up to who was an asshole?

Sage Francis: Yes, but I never kiss and tell. I will say that Chuck D is one of my only childhood heroes who surprised me by how nice and personable he was.

Syffal: Do you have any "guilty" pleasures musically that people would be surprised to hear you like? Are you at all dancing in your strange famous boxers to "shake it off"??

Sage Francis: I think people are always surprised to find out what I listen to. I typically only listen to music when it's time for me to sleep, so it consists of drum-less, lyric-less tunes. My favorite playlist at the moment consists of duduk music. It's an old, Armenian wind instrument that sounds like a somber violin mixed with a less airy pan flute. But the most surprising thing might be that I listen to the same group of songs over and over and over. I'm compulsive. As far as guilty pleasures are concerned, I don't know...I'm just guilty of not listening to anything new or 'relevant.' Save for one Taylor Swift song. RI pride right there.

Syffal: How stressful is running the label and juggling your duties as a beard model?

Sage Francis: Neither of those duties are as easy as they look, especially when the success of each is so intimately tied to one another, but it's all good until the stress-induced hair loss spreads to my face.

Syffal: No worry for the under carraige then? Like a wookie down there eh? Copper Gone was outstanding in my opinion. The production, writing and pace of the record is perfect, but there were no lyric booklets included in this one. Was that a conscience choice for this release?

Sage Francis: I don't typically include lyrics in my booklets. Sometimes I do, but if I'm going to spend the time and money to put together a booklet I'd rather make better use of the space than just fill it with lyrics. Most people are going to get the lyrics online if they really want to read them. That's not to say that the lyrics online are correct, but I plan on fixing that when I get a chance. I obviously have everything typed out, but I'm anal about structure. I'm still not comfortable with how rap lyrics are transcribed on page.

Syffal: Will you and B Dolan ever do an album together in the future??

Sage Francis: That's long been the plan. If nothing else we will deliver an Epic Beard Men project at some point. It's just been tough for us to get on the same page when we're both working on our own respective projects and touring throughout the year. It'll happen at some point.

Syffal: Top five books you've read last year. And do you read comic books?

Sage Francis: I don't read too often, but I've been on a Tom Robbins kick ever since a fan threw one of his books at me during a California show last year. So, yeah, my list consists solely of Tom Robbins' books. "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates," "Jitterbug Perfume," Another Roadside Attraction," "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," and I just finished "Skinny Legs and All."

Syffal: Growing up seeing a predominantly black face/voice deliver the music we loved, and having a majority of crowds be various shades of brown, is it ever strange to rarely have anyone but white people at shows? Do you feel like the culture has been " Elivis'd"?

Sage Francis: It's not as strange as it was for me in the late 90's. That's when I noticed a majority of white people at shows. It's been 15 years since then, so I've grown accustomed to it. Of course, the majority of people in this country are white and, at this point, the majority of people listen to hip-hop. It's permeated all aspects of pop culture. It makes sense that the majority of show goers would be white at this point I guess. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned about the "Elvis'ing" of the culture. And that doesn't mean we can stop it. And that doesn't mean I'm not a part of it. But I did address a lot of this in the "Mullet" recording back in 1998, so…I'm totally in the clear brah. *wipes hands casino dealer style and steps away*

Syffal: If you were to do a record with one producer alive or dead, or in his prime who would it be?

Sage Francis: Considering how many rhymes I wrote to classic Primo (Dj Premier) beats, I pick him.

Syffal: So, Primo is your Pokemon Spirit animal. CUTES! I greatly appreciate the interview, the hook up on your show and the music. You always put a lot of yourself into the art and never disappoints. What's on the horizon for Strange Famous Records?

Sage Francis: We're juggling a couple things, but the main focus will be on B. Dolan's album which he's been diligently working on for a few years. He's always been a lyrics guy, but he's developed a new production style that has pushed everything up a few notches. Monster tracks. People are going to bug out when they hear this shit. We're planning to release this in the 3rd quarter. In the meantime we're working daily to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row so we can buck em buck em buck em down. Un, deux, trois..the crew is called SFR.