Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Grayskul has been turning out indie hip-hop for the past decade. Comprised of Onry Ozzborn and JFK, formerly of the hip-hop collective Oldominion, Grayskul teamed up with bassist Rob Castro to complete the lineup. After an opening slot for Rhymesayers artists Eyedea & Abilities in 2004, Grayskul’s career was off and running. After all, the tour led to a deal with Rhymesayers and the group released its label debut, Deadlivers, in 2005. The album received mostly positive reviews. In 2007, Grayskul released their second album on Rhymesayers, Blood Radio, this time with Ozzborn going by the name Count Draven and JFK going by the name Count Magnus. While this album excluded Castro, several prolific underground hip-hop artists such as Aesop Rock, Slug and Cage contributed verses, which further cemented Grayskul's standing in the hip-hop community. In 2009, Grayskul collaborated with producer Maker and released Graymaker. At this time, Ozzborn went on to form Dark Time Sunshine with producer Zavala. They signed to Connecticut’s small indie label, Fake Four Inc., where they currently still reside. In fact, Grayskul also migrated to Fake Four and are in the middle of touring in support of its latest effort, Zenith. Onry Ozzborn took a few moments out of his day to talk to RAPstation about his various projects, Fake Four co-founder Ceschi Ramos’ prison sentence and Mac Miller.
RAPstation: You've bounced back and forth between several different projects. Any particular reason for this?
Onry Ozzborn: I've been involved in many different projects just to further my growth in music. Never have wanted to limit myself to just one thing.
What do you get out of your work with Grayskul that you don't get from Dark Time Sunshine and vice versa?
Grayskul is a way to express myself in a more hip-hop driven, animated way. Dark Time Sunshine is more my electronic, dreamlike mind state where I can do music in a way that’s all my own unlike what has already been done by others.
What's your songwriting process usually like?
My song writing process is very fast. The music usually will just make the words/melodies just seep out of me. That's why the 1st official DTS was called Vessel. I feel that's what I am to something greater. The music I'm involved in is just being channeled through me I believe.
The world is supersaturated with hip-hop artists today. How do you stand out?
I believe I stand out because I've always been original with what I create, or at least I try to. Sure I'm influenced &such by others but I've never tried to copy or be a part of a sound or genre. I've always just done things the way I fit always will.
With the recent news of Fake Four founder Ceschi Ramos being sent to prison, do you think the label will struggle at all? They've already received a ton of support, which is amazing to see.
The support by all the fans, artists and family has been overwhelming thus far. I believe Fake Four will just grow stronger from this. Sure we're at a tremendous loss with Ceschi being away but that dude is the heart of all of us and will emerge out of this situation even stronger. Till then we just have to continue making good music and providing our fans quality.
What do you think that kind of support says about independent labels?
That type of support just proves that the fans are what are important in this day and age more then ever. Without them indies cannot survive. From Macklemore's success all the way to Fake Four independence is the way to go nowadays in my opinion.
Mac Miller made $7 million dollars last year independently. Do you think this is the new music business model?
Mac Miller is not independent to my knowledge. A lot of major labels are pushing artists on the low to make them look indie because that's the "thing" now. That's all I'll say about that.
It was the anniversary of Eyedea's passing yesterday, as I'm sure you know. Does his death make you view substances in a different light?
Mikey was a friend of mine and I was also one of the last people to see him before his passing. Our Dark Time Sunshine show was the last show he attended the night before it happened. I was fortunate to give him a hug and such that night. It's easy to get caught up and some of us are more prone to it depending on our makeup. I'm not sure how I feel about it other then to be cautious of how easy it is to be consumed.
With more and more young people dying of overdoses, do you think artists have any type of social responsibility to put that message out there, that this stuff is dangerous?
I'm not sure about it being a responsibility about warning the youth to watch out for drugs and such through music for everybody. It would be nice of course but music is expression about whatever you feel you want to put out there. People are going to relate to whatever makes them comfortable and gravitate to that. Therefore there will always be anti drug, pro drug, liquor, weed, sex, God, gun, etc. talk through music. Parents need to be more on top of what their children are into rather than the blame being put on what musicians put out there I feel.
Is the cliché idea of "sex, drugs and rock-n-roll" a thing of the past?
I don't believe that cliché is a thing of the past at all. Everything remains the same in that aspect because fame translates into being invincible to some. Some turn to those acts just to be able to cope. Its a part of being popular, always has came with the territory. It all just comes down on how you're able to deal.
By Kyle Eustice for RAPstation.com
Exclusive: Onry Ozzborn from Grayskul - The RAPstation Interview
Hailing from Seattle, Washington, Grayskul has been turning out indie hip-hop for the past decade. Comprised of Onry Ozzborn and JFK, formerly of the hip-hop collective Oldominion, Grayskul teamed up with bassist Rob Castro to complete the lineup. After an opening slot for Rhymesayers artists Eyedea & Abilities in 2004, Grayskul’s career was off and running. After all, the tour led to a deal with Rhymesayers and the group released its label debut, Deadlivers, in 2005. The album received mostly positive reviews. In 2007, Grayskul released their second album on Rhymesayers, Blood Radio, this time with Ozzborn going by the name Count Draven and JFK going by the name Count Magnus. While this album excluded Castro, several prolific underground hip-hop artists such as Aesop Rock, Slug and Cage contributed verses, which further cemented Grayskul's standing in the hip-hop community. In 2009, Grayskul collaborated with producer Maker and released Graymaker. At this time, Ozzborn went on to form Dark Time Sunshine with producer Zavala. They signed to Connecticut’s small indie label, Fake Four Inc., where they currently still reside. In fact, Grayskul also migrated to Fake Four and are in the middle of touring in support of its latest effort, Zenith. Onry Ozzborn took a few moments out of his day to talk to RAPstation about his various projects, Fake Four co-founder Ceschi Ramos’ prison sentence and Mac Miller.
RAPstation: You've bounced back and forth between several different projects. Any particular reason for this?
Onry Ozzborn: I've been involved in many different projects just to further my growth in music. Never have wanted to limit myself to just one thing.
What do you get out of your work with Grayskul that you don't get from Dark Time Sunshine and vice versa?
Grayskul is a way to express myself in a more hip-hop driven, animated way. Dark Time Sunshine is more my electronic, dreamlike mind state where I can do music in a way that’s all my own unlike what has already been done by others.
What's your songwriting process usually like?
My song writing process is very fast. The music usually will just make the words/melodies just seep out of me. That's why the 1st official DTS was called Vessel. I feel that's what I am to something greater. The music I'm involved in is just being channeled through me I believe.
The world is supersaturated with hip-hop artists today. How do you stand out?
I believe I stand out because I've always been original with what I create, or at least I try to. Sure I'm influenced &such by others but I've never tried to copy or be a part of a sound or genre. I've always just done things the way I fit always will.
With the recent news of Fake Four founder Ceschi Ramos being sent to prison, do you think the label will struggle at all? They've already received a ton of support, which is amazing to see.
The support by all the fans, artists and family has been overwhelming thus far. I believe Fake Four will just grow stronger from this. Sure we're at a tremendous loss with Ceschi being away but that dude is the heart of all of us and will emerge out of this situation even stronger. Till then we just have to continue making good music and providing our fans quality.
What do you think that kind of support says about independent labels?
That type of support just proves that the fans are what are important in this day and age more then ever. Without them indies cannot survive. From Macklemore's success all the way to Fake Four independence is the way to go nowadays in my opinion.
Mac Miller made $7 million dollars last year independently. Do you think this is the new music business model?
Mac Miller is not independent to my knowledge. A lot of major labels are pushing artists on the low to make them look indie because that's the "thing" now. That's all I'll say about that.
It was the anniversary of Eyedea's passing yesterday, as I'm sure you know. Does his death make you view substances in a different light?
Mikey was a friend of mine and I was also one of the last people to see him before his passing. Our Dark Time Sunshine show was the last show he attended the night before it happened. I was fortunate to give him a hug and such that night. It's easy to get caught up and some of us are more prone to it depending on our makeup. I'm not sure how I feel about it other then to be cautious of how easy it is to be consumed.
With more and more young people dying of overdoses, do you think artists have any type of social responsibility to put that message out there, that this stuff is dangerous?
I'm not sure about it being a responsibility about warning the youth to watch out for drugs and such through music for everybody. It would be nice of course but music is expression about whatever you feel you want to put out there. People are going to relate to whatever makes them comfortable and gravitate to that. Therefore there will always be anti drug, pro drug, liquor, weed, sex, God, gun, etc. talk through music. Parents need to be more on top of what their children are into rather than the blame being put on what musicians put out there I feel.
Is the cliché idea of "sex, drugs and rock-n-roll" a thing of the past?
I don't believe that cliché is a thing of the past at all. Everything remains the same in that aspect because fame translates into being invincible to some. Some turn to those acts just to be able to cope. Its a part of being popular, always has came with the territory. It all just comes down on how you're able to deal.
By Kyle Eustice for RAPstation.com
