Atmosphere

7:35pm, Stage 1

Atmosphere’s recording process is one of the most complete and efficient operations in hip-hop today. “We tend to do eight to 12 hours a day, nonstop,” reveals MC Slug of the Minneapolis-based duo’s daily, nontouring routine. “We’ve reached a point now where we can pretty much do a song every four hours.”

The frantic pace is the result not only of years of practice but the deployment of musical exercises that force Slug and bandmate DJ Anthony “Ant” Davis constantly to develop their game. The rough cuts that make it through the demo process get polished up later in the studio, then released on a Sad Clown installment to be sold at shows and online. Last December, Atmosphere rewarded fans with Strictly Leakage, an LP of exercises distributed as a free download on the Rhymesayers website.

“It’s a way for me to get all the silly shit out of my system,” Slug shrugs. “The Sad Clowns are different in the sense that some of the shit is more negative or pointless, but a lot of those, especially the seasonal ones, are exercises to get me better at storytelling.”

Atmosphere’s lyrical conditioning paid royal dividends in the form of this year’s When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, the duo’s mainstream breakthrough. “Me and Ant have always made lots of garbage to preface making stuff that hopefully isn’t garbage,” Slug concludes.

This article appears in November 7 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US