By Kent Davies
Rob Crooks has been a music making machine since the fourth grade. He’s been rapping, battling, making beats and sampling before he even hit high school. He’s been an integral part of Winnipeg’s burgeoning hip-hop scene, having a hand in everything from collaborating with Pip Skid on his Skid Row album, to ripping up the stage with rap-act The Fucking Retards, to writing the bulk of Magnum K.I.’s acclaimed debut album. Whether he’s rapping in viral videos about Jets games or posting the next fresh piece of local music as a contributor on the witchpolice blog, there’s a chance you’ve been exposed to the infectious creative prowess of Rob Crooks. However, unlike his previous projects, his solo debut EP Hearts doesn’t fit in the realm of conventional hip hop. Armed with drum machines, samplers, keys and a commanding growl, he’s managed to redefine himself with a solo sound that can’t be pinned down. Combining groove-laden soundscapes and ferocious lo-fi post punk, Crooks has managed to create an EP that appeals to an audience beyond the hip-hop community. Recently Stylus interviewed Crooks before his EP launch at the Lo Pub on March 15.
Stylus: Your new EP is a really interesting mix of not just hip-hop, but indie-rock and pop. Was it important for you to not only stick to one genre with Hearts?
Rob Crooks: When I wrote the songs I wasn’t looking for a specific genre. It wasn’t what it was about. It’s kind of freeing that way. With Hearts I wasn’t so worried about pleasing anybody or sticking to any constrained formula.
Stylus: How do you differentiate your solo sound from your group projects?
RC: I’ve always been writing weird rock or pop songs just on my downtime. I never really took them seriously but with this one it was different. I was pretty much using the same methods to make the music I usually make. Sampling records, looping, manipulating the samples into my own sound and then putting it all together. The way the songs came out with Hearts was really organic. I wasn’t really thinking about should I have 16 bars and a rap verse here and chorus there and then another verse. The songs just kind of came out easily. I like the fact you can slow it down and have less words and be more vague. With rap or hip hop the tendency is to be really literal. With pop songs you can let people interpret it their own way.
Stylus: I understand that this has been a long process in creating Hearts. A lot of these songs were originally demos you had been working on for a while?
RC: The songs have been around for a long time but it didn’t necessarily take that long to put the EP together. I think I was a little hesitant to push them and put them out as an actual project. It did take a while for me to be confident in the project and to get behind it enough to actually put the time and effort and money into putting it out as a release.
Stylus: You’re known for doing more than a few projects at once. Was it difficult to take the time to do the solo thing when you have so many other commitments?
RC: Sometimes you have a solo project as default because you have other commitments. When you belong to a group some of those people have other projects too and other lives and they may not be around when you’re ready to go and make music. When I go out and make music with the other bands I’m in, it’s kind of like you set a time and hang out. The solo stuff I do is when I’m at home alone.
Stylus: Is the process more personal because of that?
RC: Definitely. I think there are no walls up when you work by yourself. It’s just very raw. I’m not worried about what other people think. You’re free to let yourself get caught up in them. You’re not really expecting the reaction you get once they’re pushed out. You’re the only audience.
Stylus: “Hey Hey” is probably the catchiest song from Winnipeg since “Taking Care of Business.” Are you interested in exploring more indie-rock and pop music with the success of that song?
RC: I’m going to continue in this vein wherever that goes. I don’t know if the future is going to hold a bunch of “Hey Heys” but we’ll see.
Stylus: What are you working on outside the solo world of Rob Crooks?
RC: Well, Magnum KI has an album that is complete and we’re just waiting for a time when all four of us can coordinate our efforts and put that record out. It will probably be in the beginning of summer. As for the Fucking Retards we have some new songs. Mikel Rondeau (Fucking Retards) just put out his own mixtape and he has a full album coming out later this year. It’s really good and I think it’s going to get a lot of attention. So I think he’s going to be busy promoting that. Eventually we’ll make another record. He’s my friend and it’s just fun rapping as hard as you can, but in the meantime I’ll just be working on my stuff for now.
Keep up with the world of Crooks at www.robcrooks.com.