Sleep
The RAPstation Interview
By Kyle Eustice
Before Christopher Tafoya was even 4-feet tall, he knew he wanted to be an emcee. From the moment his cousin taught him how to break and he discovered the song "Jam On It," hip-hop was in his blood. Better known as Sleep of The Chicharones and Oldominion, the Portland, Oregon-based emcee and New Mexico native has been making waves in the indie hip-hop scene since the early 2000s. Along with Canadian emcee Josh Martinez, he has two albums as The Chicharones, 2005's When Pigs Fly and 2012's Swine Flew. As a solo artist, he's putting the finishing touches on his fifth studio album, a follow-up to 2014's Oregon Failure. Signed to Strange Famous Records (SFR) in 2009, Sleep has been embraced by Sage Francis and the rest of the SFR family. Truly one of the most humble and kind artists in the business, Sleep took a moment to discuss the new album, working with his best friend Josh Martinez and having a family. Visit http://sleepisbeast.com/ for music and tour dates.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice) I don’t think I have ever gotten your "story.”"How did you fall in love with music?
Sleep: I fell in love with hip-hop a long, long time ago when I was 5-years-old. I used to go to my great grandfather's house after school. My aunt lived with him and she would babysit me. My cousin Jude lived there, as well and he was really dope b-boy. He started teaching me how to break dance after school. It got to the point were everyday we would lay out linoleum in the front yard and battle other cats from the neighborhood. One day, I was out with my mom and I found this record called Electric Break Dance. I wanted it so bad because it had instructions on how to do the windmill, which I was trying to get down. There was a song on it by Newcleus called "Jam On It." I fell in love with it and memorized it. That was probably the first lyric I could rap. I've been hooked ever since. I come from a musical family so music was always a big part of my life, but hip-hop music was my thing. I can barely remember a time when I wasn't an emcee.
When did you meet Josh and when did you guys decide to form The Chicharones? What about Oldominion?
I met Josh in 2002 at SXSX. We got along well and decided to do a song together. A couple of weeks later, we made our first song "Opposite of Fair." We both really enjoyed the creative process so we decided to make an EP. We just kept going from there and now we have made five records together. I really enjoy making music with Josh. The Chicharones gives me a platform for having fun. I've been working with Oldominion since 1996. I was one of the original members, along with Onry Ozzborn, Pale Sould,Destro, Snafu and Nyquil. It wasn't something we really planned it was just a bunch of friends chilling every night making music. Before we knew it, we had nine members then 13 then 21 and it kept growing. But like I said, it wasn't planned - just like minded people who love making music coming together and eventually becoming a family.
What did the two of you have in common? Has that changed over the years as you've gotten older?
We have a lot in common he's my best friend. We enjoy a lot of the same things. We can also be polar opposites of each other and when we were young, that led to some fighting, but over the years we've learned what those triggers are and we avoid them. It's good to have a difference in opinion. I think the fact that we do have very different taste creates a situation where we are sort of forced to meet in the middle of our ideas and what comes from that is The Chicharones sound.
What do you like about the solo route?
What I like about the solo stuff is that I can do whatever I feel. I love the freedom I have to experiment and to touch down on topics that are personal or important to me. The things I dislike about doing the solo route is I miss the energy I feel on stage when I'm with my crew.
What do you think your strengths are as an emcee? Weaknesses?
I never really think about things like this. I guess my most obvious strength would be my ability to rap very fast, but I also believe that it's my weakness as well because most people will not understand the lyrics and I strongly feel that what you are saying is the most important part.
How has getting married and having children changed you?
My wife is amazing and my life is more structured now because of my her. She inspires me to be a better person. I love her and my kids more than anything in the world and loving something that much will change you forever.
How did the Strange Famous deal come to be? What do you think of Sage?
Sage is my friend and I really wanted to make a song with him so I hit him up to see if he would be down to do a song with me and that turned into me putting a record out on his label, but the ironic thing is that we never made the song I wanted to get him on [laughs]. I have a lot of love for Sage. He has always been a good friend to me. I have a lot of love for the whole SFR crew in general. Good people making good music.
What did your fans think of Oregon Failure? Were you happy with how it was received?
I got a lot of positive feedback on this record. It did good on college radio and got some great reviews. There was a local paper here in Portland who reviewed my album and didn't care too much for it. It was disappointing, but really I can't complain the good feedback far outweighed the bad.
What is the title about? You're not a failure [laughs].
What I mean by it is that sometimes you are going to fail and that's cool - just learn from your mistakes and grow from it. It's really an album about succeeding.
What are you working on now?
I'm just about finished on another solo record. I haven't titled it yet, but I'm really excited about this one. We are also about 90 percent finished with the new Chicharones record. I am also really excited about this album. There's a lot of cool things happening this year.
Will you be on the road soon?
I don't have any immediate plans to tour. I'm putting all my energy into finishing up these records and chilling with the fam.
Sleep: The RAPstation Interview
Sleep
The RAPstation Interview
By Kyle Eustice
Before Christopher Tafoya was even 4-feet tall, he knew he wanted to be an emcee. From the moment his cousin taught him how to break and he discovered the song "Jam On It," hip-hop was in his blood. Better known as Sleep of The Chicharones and Oldominion, the Portland, Oregon-based emcee and New Mexico native has been making waves in the indie hip-hop scene since the early 2000s. Along with Canadian emcee Josh Martinez, he has two albums as The Chicharones, 2005's When Pigs Fly and 2012's Swine Flew. As a solo artist, he's putting the finishing touches on his fifth studio album, a follow-up to 2014's Oregon Failure. Signed to Strange Famous Records (SFR) in 2009, Sleep has been embraced by Sage Francis and the rest of the SFR family. Truly one of the most humble and kind artists in the business, Sleep took a moment to discuss the new album, working with his best friend Josh Martinez and having a family. Visit http://sleepisbeast.com/ for music and tour dates.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice) I don’t think I have ever gotten your "story.”"How did you fall in love with music?
Sleep: I fell in love with hip-hop a long, long time ago when I was 5-years-old. I used to go to my great grandfather's house after school. My aunt lived with him and she would babysit me. My cousin Jude lived there, as well and he was really dope b-boy. He started teaching me how to break dance after school. It got to the point were everyday we would lay out linoleum in the front yard and battle other cats from the neighborhood. One day, I was out with my mom and I found this record called Electric Break Dance. I wanted it so bad because it had instructions on how to do the windmill, which I was trying to get down. There was a song on it by Newcleus called "Jam On It." I fell in love with it and memorized it. That was probably the first lyric I could rap. I've been hooked ever since. I come from a musical family so music was always a big part of my life, but hip-hop music was my thing. I can barely remember a time when I wasn't an emcee.
When did you meet Josh and when did you guys decide to form The Chicharones? What about Oldominion?
I met Josh in 2002 at SXSX. We got along well and decided to do a song together. A couple of weeks later, we made our first song "Opposite of Fair." We both really enjoyed the creative process so we decided to make an EP. We just kept going from there and now we have made five records together. I really enjoy making music with Josh. The Chicharones gives me a platform for having fun. I've been working with Oldominion since 1996. I was one of the original members, along with Onry Ozzborn, Pale Sould,Destro, Snafu and Nyquil. It wasn't something we really planned it was just a bunch of friends chilling every night making music. Before we knew it, we had nine members then 13 then 21 and it kept growing. But like I said, it wasn't planned - just like minded people who love making music coming together and eventually becoming a family.
What did the two of you have in common? Has that changed over the years as you've gotten older?
We have a lot in common he's my best friend. We enjoy a lot of the same things. We can also be polar opposites of each other and when we were young, that led to some fighting, but over the years we've learned what those triggers are and we avoid them. It's good to have a difference in opinion. I think the fact that we do have very different taste creates a situation where we are sort of forced to meet in the middle of our ideas and what comes from that is The Chicharones sound.
What do you like about the solo route?
What I like about the solo stuff is that I can do whatever I feel. I love the freedom I have to experiment and to touch down on topics that are personal or important to me. The things I dislike about doing the solo route is I miss the energy I feel on stage when I'm with my crew.
What do you think your strengths are as an emcee? Weaknesses?
I never really think about things like this. I guess my most obvious strength would be my ability to rap very fast, but I also believe that it's my weakness as well because most people will not understand the lyrics and I strongly feel that what you are saying is the most important part.
How has getting married and having children changed you?
My wife is amazing and my life is more structured now because of my her. She inspires me to be a better person. I love her and my kids more than anything in the world and loving something that much will change you forever.
How did the Strange Famous deal come to be? What do you think of Sage?
Sage is my friend and I really wanted to make a song with him so I hit him up to see if he would be down to do a song with me and that turned into me putting a record out on his label, but the ironic thing is that we never made the song I wanted to get him on [laughs]. I have a lot of love for Sage. He has always been a good friend to me. I have a lot of love for the whole SFR crew in general. Good people making good music.
What did your fans think of Oregon Failure? Were you happy with how it was received?
I got a lot of positive feedback on this record. It did good on college radio and got some great reviews. There was a local paper here in Portland who reviewed my album and didn't care too much for it. It was disappointing, but really I can't complain the good feedback far outweighed the bad.
What is the title about? You're not a failure [laughs].
What I mean by it is that sometimes you are going to fail and that's cool - just learn from your mistakes and grow from it. It's really an album about succeeding.
What are you working on now?
I'm just about finished on another solo record. I haven't titled it yet, but I'm really excited about this one. We are also about 90 percent finished with the new Chicharones record. I am also really excited about this album. There's a lot of cool things happening this year.
Will you be on the road soon?
I don't have any immediate plans to tour. I'm putting all my energy into finishing up these records and chilling with the fam.
