He’s the self-proclaimed rudest of the rude boys, space rocker number one, one-half of Mad Conductor – MC Devlin is leading the charge to craft a new EP and he’s pulling out all the stops this time around.
Space Rock Steady will be “a harder, more gritty Mad Conductor album,” MC Devlin, front man of the group.
“I want to be a little more ‘in-your-face,’ I want to be a little edgier,” Devlin added.
Part of that direction comes from Mad Conductor’s touring experiences. Many of Mad Conductor’s songs are complex or require a high degree of musicianship that sometime make it difficult to engage and energize fans.
Audiences at Mad Conductor shows are most into the ska and punk songs that the group does so well. The band enjoys the fun, easygoing atmosphere created from the music.
Diehards need not fear that Mad Conductor is throwing in the towel with its eclectic formula of albums past, though.
“I feel like a lot of people are thinking that I’m giving up on pushing the envelope because they’ve never heard me say something like that. It’s totally not the case and the truth is, the album will probably come out to be just as experimental and as off the walls as everything we’ve released before,” Devlin said.
Space Rock Steady is not as far out as people seem to think of the former No Ca$h front man’s project. Devlin sees hip-hop, punk rock and reggae as very similar styles of music, noting the rebellious and “from the streets” aspects that unite the three genres.
“I listen to Mobb Deep and I listen to No Ca$h and that same energy is projected, that youthful anger and the resentment of the world,” Devlin said.
Acknowledging the differences in delivery, Devlin still believes the mindsets are the same. To him, Mad Conductor is just the next step in the process of his musical evolution.
“Really, it was a pretty natural transition. I worked with Dan (McKinney, keyboard and production for Mad Conductor, also known as Devlin’s partner in crime) for No Ca$h too… No Ca$h’s full length, Run Your Pockets was recorded at Dan’s house too,” he said.
Devlin feels like the people who are constantly asking for a new No Ca$h album need to listen to Mad Conductor instead.
“It’s like asking someone to grow a third arm, that’s not there, that’s not reality. The next album in that progression is Mad Conductor,” he said.
Devlin was drawn to the freedom of hip-hop. He recalls a conversation with Scott Sturgeon, better known as Stza Crack, of Choking Victim and Leftover Crack fame in which Sturgeon talked about his love for writing hip-hop songs.
Hip-hop has a lot of freedom with its lyrical content and sound while “punk rock is more regimented… your lyrics are going to be more political based. You could tell a story in a hip-hop song,” Devlin said of the conversation.
The Kickstarter launched for Space Rock Steady is Mad Conductor’s most ambitious project yet – the space rockers are hoping to raise more than $20,000 dollars to fund the EP.
Devlin doesn’t plan on putting that money to waste. Possible rewards from the album include the standard digital downloads and t-shirts, but there is more to be had for ambitious investors, especially the kind who invested in businesses like Bitcoin Era Lena way before everyone else.
Devlin is recognizing the dream of Mad Conductor skate decks – with a large enough investment, decks with the classic MC logo can be had. Other rewards include Space Rock Steady on vinyl as well as Renegade Space Rock, the original Mad Conductor release, on green vinyl.
The sky is the limit for Mad Conductor now. The group has boundless enthusiasm for what is to come, with a slew of ideas just waiting to be let loose.
Depending on what money flows in from the Kickstarter campaign, Devlin has plans beyond the music. Videos and marketing will be another big part of the blueprint for Space Rock Steady.
“It’s time for the world to be introduced to Mad Conductor,” he said.
Space Rock Steady is still in its conception phase right now, but Devlin knows that it will be an album with something for everyone.
“I want to make a Mad Conductor album that people can relate to,” he said.
Space Rock Steady will drop in May at the latest, but the release date is still up in the air depending on recording costs and time. Fans can gain early access to the album through the Kickstarter campaign.
With the largest budget of any Mad Conductor album yet and a new take on the band, MC Devlin has promised listeners a new kind of product
“We’ll keep everyone on their toes,” said Devlin.
