Interview: Atlanta Hip Hop Duo EarthGang
Max Bell chats with the free-wheeling, musically adventurous rappers.
For every Shawty Lo in Atlanta, a Killer Mike watches, raps, and waits for wider recognition. So it goes with Johnny Venus and Doctor Dot, the Atlantan rap duo collectively known as EarthGang. They’ve released increasingly better music since their independent debut, 2011’s Mad Men, but have only recently received broader acknowledgement. Though their 2013 album, Shallow Graves for Toys, reached No. 11 on Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart, it remains one of the most overlooked releases of that year. The production is diverse yet never far reaching. Soul driven boom-bap (“Fire Kicking Tree Limbs”) and sticky, slow, southern funk (“Bill Campbell’s Soup”) are rendered with reverence and singularity. The raps are pointed and poignant, enunciated instead slurred by double cup swill. Outkast comparisons abound, but they aren’t entirely off base. While the album has its share of tense, dark moments (“Machete”), it mostly feels relaxed. Politics are delivered from the hot box, not the soapbox.
\n\nThe duo’s latest release is Torba, a seven-track EP released gratis late last month. With production from Childish Major and features from rappers like Mac Miller and OG Maco, it’s easily their most quickly embraced effort thus far. Still, the pair hasn’t diluted their deftly written introspective lyrics or adopted generic trap beats. Torba is thoughtful and highly replay-able, one of the most enjoyable hip hop releases of 2015 thus far.
\n\nCurrently opening for Fashawn on The Ecology tour, Venus and Dot spoke to us over the phone as their tour bus made its way from New York to Toronto. We discussed everything from Atlanta to graphic novels, Seinfeld, and their next album.
Aside from being on the road, how’s your day been?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nIt’s been a pretty crazy day. We’ve just been scrambling around trying to get out of New York. New York has always been hella hectic, especially for some guys that aren’t from New York.
\n\nYou guys are from southwest Atlanta.
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nYeah, we’re from the S.W.A.T. – Ben Hill. Cascade.
\n\nWhat’s the environment like there?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nIt’s like the best of both worlds, really. You can get anything you’re looking for in southwest Atlanta except a Chipotle and a Whole Foods. Everything else you got to go to the north side for. But other than that, you can find whatever you’re looking for there. If you’re looking for trouble, you can find that. If you’re looking for something else, you can find that there too. It’s the full experience. It’s not just one way of life.
\n\nDo you feel like the rest of the U.S., and the rap community in particular, has a lot of misconceptions about Atlanta?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nYeah. That’s a product of what’s being shown or what’s always being portrayed, as far as music. But as far as lifestyle, culture, or economics – you only build your perception from what you’ve been given. I would agree with that.
\n\nHow do you feel about Noisey Atlanta?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nI get why they did it. They just trying to push their brand. I think it’s very one-sided though. It’s a little too one-sided, but it is what it is.
\n\nGiven the number of rappers in Atlanta, do you feel it’s difficult to stand out?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nNot at all. We stand out pretty well just from the glow that comes from within. But even beyond [that], we know everybody in the city. You prove your worth. I think we’ve proven of pretty critical worth to the music and art community in Georgia. People respect that we have our lane, and people are following and support it. All type of audiences. People from all sides of the musical spectrum have come out and shown love for what EarthGang is about.
You met during your freshman year of high school. What music were you listening to at the time?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nAt the time I was heavily into [Jimi Hendrix’s] Axis: Bold As Love. I was heavily into that in 9th grade.
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nWe were listening to everything back then. I was super into a lot of old soulful music. Those were the days I had to catch the bus. So you catch the bus and you leave your headphones on and you have some crazy ass shit. I used to have regular soul stuff like Marvin Gaye and then I was really into Dizzy Gillespie, like Arturo Sandoval and Dizzy, Cuban Dizzy. I used to be vibing in my headphones. Everybody used to be wondering what I was listening to and I ain’t never tell them. I would just be leaning and rocking like everybody else.
I played all brass in high school. I played all the horns on Shallow Graves for Toys. We produced all that stuff.
Those are fairly diverse musical tastes.
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nWe been crate-digging. That’s kind of how me met. We were talking about music that we both enjoyed, and we were like, “Oh, you know about that?” Then that shit kind of bloomed.
\n\nHow has your relationship changed since then?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nI don’t know. It’s pretty similar. We just grew up and now we’re rappers for a living, and that’s kind of weird, but it’s true. We kind of grew into augmented versions of our earlier selves. Luckily it hasn’t ended up dividing us. We both have the same kind of hunger and we see it in each other.
\n\nWere you rapping when you met in 2005?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nNo, not really. We were just taking in life, bro – young whippersnappers experiencing all the stimuli that the world has to offer, especially the young ladies. We really didn’t start rapping until the 11th grade. That’s when we started doing shit outside of school. We wasn’t really ever no super studio rats. We never really had a studio to just hang out in. So you just bring what you have to the table at that moment.
\n\nDid either of you play instruments in high school?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nI didn’t play an instrument in high school, but I played in middle school.
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nI played all brass in high school. I played all the horns on Shallow Graves for Toys. We produced all that stuff.
When did you start producing?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nBasically when we started rapping. Let me tell you something, bruh. We didn’t have no producer, no studio, no nothing. We straight up did that shit on our own. We started making bullshit beats together and they grew to be better and better over time. \nWe got a bootleg version of Reason from a dude who sold it to us out the back of Guitar Center and we started making bullshit on that and it got better. We couldn’t get nobody to give us no beats. Who were we going to go to? The popular sound at the time in the A was a sound we weren’t really keen to. It was kind of overused, but it wasn’t anything we were trying to touch. \nWe were trying to do what we wanted to do. When you’re trying to do what you want to do, sometimes it’s hard to find people that got that same kind of mindset, especially at the age that we was at. We were 16 or 17 when we first started this.
\n\nDid you use any other equipment?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nBack then it was just Reason. Now we use everything: Pro Tools, Logic, Reason, and actual instruments and stuff. The first beats we ever hopped on that me and him made was literally all percussion. We recorded it at Curtis Williams’ brother’s house. Curtis from Two-9, we used to go to his brother’s house. Curtis was on the record too. I don’t even know where that song is. That song is gone.
\n\nIs Spillage Village a crew/collective or a label? Both?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nIt’s the squad; it’s the family. It’s not officially a label yet, but that will probably happen before this interview goes up.
You guys released Mad Men in 2011. Was that your first full-length project?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nPretty much. It was the first thing that we sat down and were like, “This is what we want to make. This is what we’re looking for. These are the things that are inspiring us and that are going on in our lives right now and we can’t stray away from that. We can’t make something else that doesn’t pertain to what’s going on or doesn’t help heal us in some type of way.” So that was the first time we put our experimental side of things with what was actually going on in our lives.
\n\nWhen you released Mad Men, did you perform a lot of shows in Atlanta?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nNo we didn’t, actually when we dropped Mad Men, we dropped it out of a dorm room. We were still in college. We did like maybe one or two shows off of it. In all honesty, Mad Men wasn’t well received until Shallow Graves for Toys. Even Shallow Graves was under received in the beginning. Then it kind of got a burst of energy a lot of months later.
\n\nWas rap always the plan?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nThat’s not even a weird question because it’s like a \"Yes,\" and a \"No.\" We ain’t really sit down at age five and was like, “This is what we’re going to do.” Your life just unfolds. When you follow your impulses and you do what you think is the best thing or what you know is right, then it’s like you always planned for it without even having to sit down and do the super monotonous thing of, “This is my career. This is what I want to do.” But we’re learning that now.
A lot of bros be trapping, but I already knew I couldn’t trap. You be trapping, you got to have somewhere to put that shit. I didn’t even have nowhere to put nothing.
Where did you guys go to college?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nWe went to Hampton University.
\n\nDid you make a conscious decision to attend Hampton together?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nNah. I was actually trying not to go to college. I was looking at a couple of guys around Atlanta that were starting to get their little rap shit together. I was looking at Curtis [of Two-9] and the stuff they were doing early… Then I got a scholarship and I remembered that I have a mother. So it was really hard for me. She was like, “Use that scholarship.” And then it just so happened that my best friend had a scholarship there too.
\n\nWhen rap wasn’t paying the bills, what did you do to finance your careers?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nWe were camp counselors for a while. I worked at a call center for a while. I worked at hella restaurants. I worked at IHOP. We did everything we could do to fund rap and drugs. A lot of bros be trapping, but I already knew I couldn’t trap. You be trapping, you got to have somewhere to put that shit. I didn’t even have nowhere to put nothing. That’s one thing. Number two, I smoke way too much weed to try to sell anything. It wasn’t for me.
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nN---as be trapping out their grandma’s house, for real. You can’t do that.
How’s the Ecology tour been thus far?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nIt’s a different experience than the Ab-Soul tour [we did]. The Soul tour was a trial by fire. This is like, “Show us what you learned.” This is an opportunity to use that.
\n\nWhy was the Ab-Soul tour a “trial by fire”?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nWe had to learn everything. We spent a couple months in L.A., and then the day we got home we got a call from Punch. He said, “Are y’all trying to go on this Ab-Soul tour? Y’all can be a supporting act.” We were like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” Once we got out there and we started to tour the whole country we learned so much about showmanship, about what to do when you’re not on stage but you’re still on tour.
\n\nThere’s a lot of ways that you can mess up yourself offstage. So we learned how to carry ourselves. We were doing shows at little spot dates in Atlanta or Nashville or wherever we would get a show and that would be that. But touring is different. Having it stacked up like that, you have to be real professional with it.
\n\nWhat’s the weirdest thing that’s happened on tour?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nSo much weird shit happens every thirty minutes. I saw a moose. That was weird.
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nI know last year we were in Texas and I saw this crazy fight. I saw this dude beat up on his girlfriend and then this other dude did some Power Ranger hero/Wolverine shit and saved this girl from her abusive boyfriend in the middle of Austin. It was a completely unfair matchup, too. The dude who was beating up his girl was like 275 lbs, and the dude who won the fight was maybe 130 lbs. It was crazy. He jumped at his face and attached himself to it. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It was like an acrobat beat a giant.
\n\nNow that you’re on the road, what’s your recording schedule like?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nWe don’t record on the road. We ain’t that paid to have the crazy studio in the tour bus or to do hours like that in Toronto or wherever we are at that time. So we do a lot of our writing while we’re on the road. Sitting in the studio and writing is cool, but we’re just non-conformists.
\n\nWe do a lot of our writing in motion too. That movement of riding a bike or hiking and stuff, that movement generates energy in your brain and stuff. It helps. We do a lot of our writing in motion. But when we’re off the road, that’s definitely when we do our recording and when we do our refining. We went out to L.A. for two weeks just to do some more refining of things that we had been working on since the album and for our mixtape, Torba. So we got a lot done.
What was the thought process for recording a different song for every day of the week on Torba?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nWe came up with that idea while we was on the road. Living road life is living in the present because you can’t really think about next week or yesterday or what’s going on. It’s like, “What do we have today? What is today’s mission?” You try to make sure you get all of your shit done and be as efficient as possible while going through the things that are affecting you outside of the road. That’s what we wanted to do when we approached the mixtape.
\n\nWhat’s the most overlooked Dungeon Family record? Witchdoctor? Cool Breeze?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nWitchdoctor’s A.S.W.A.T. Healin’Ritual is the most underrated album that done came out the S.W.A.T. Ever. You need to go get that A.S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual, you just need to get up on it if you really a Goodie Mob/Dungeon Family fan. If you a good music fan, you just really need it. Witch Doctor is that man.
\n\nWhat’s your favorite episode of Seinfeld?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nMy favorite one would probably be the one where George is having sex problems with some chick, and they keep having three-way phone calls switching over the whole episode. George is having sex with one of Elaine’s mutual friends and they keep talking about him. That shit is super funny.
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nKramer is funny as shit. I’m not mad at him no more. As a black guy, I’m not mad at him no more. We all fall short of glory sometimes.
What’s your favorite graphic novel?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nI’m going to say Watchmen just because that shit was so fucking crazy. I also used to read this weird shit made by Vertigo. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was basically this Christian dude with hella lusty tendencies, and he like beat himself up after he did lusty ass shit. It’s kind of crazy. I think it’s called American Virgin.
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nOne of my Dad’s friends gave met the original [Watchmen] graphic novel from 1986. I have that shit. It’s crazy. We love Watchmen.
\n\nHow do you feel about the movie?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nThe movie was, of course, an abbreviated version, but that shit was fire. Especially the soundtrack. The soundtrack really took that shit over the top. The movie was crazy – the colors, the cinematography – but once the soundtrack dropped… They had Simon & Garfunkel on there, Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Philip Glass – we used to listen to that stuff all the time during freshman year of college. That soundtrack got me into a lot of shit.
\n\nIs The Great Gatsby your favorite novel?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nNaw. That’s not my favorite novel, but The Great Gatsby is some old romantic ass shit. You just have to be into the mood to really enjoy it. But everybody can relate.
\n\nWhat are some of your favorite books?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nCurious George, The Berenstain Bears, The Autobiography of a Yogi, The Black Messiah.
The fans are going to come and go – they might even change. Who gives a fuck? Before GPS, what did we use? Landmarks. They just use that as a landmark. Whatever helps people not be lost.
Doctor Dot
\n\nThe People’s History of the United States. I would say Women by Bukowski. I’m a Bukowski head like a motherfucker. I be feeling like I am that n---a. Bukowski, Juvenile, and Dr. Manhattan is what makes Doctor Dot.
\n\nDo Outkast comparisons bother you?
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nThey did when we were like 17. We’re going to make the music we want to make anyway. The fans are going to come and go – they might even change. Who gives a fuck? Before GPS, what did we use? Landmarks. They just use that as a landmark. Whatever helps people not be lost.
\n\nDo you listen to Migos, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan and other “hot” Atlanta rappers?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nThe one that I listen more than all of them is Thug. That’s like watching a circus in your head. We used to be at open mics with a lot of them cats when we were coming out of high school.
\n\nJohnny Venus
\n\nA lot of free shows.
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nA lot of free shows at the Basement with a lot of these cats.
\n\nWhat’s next for EarthGang?
\n\nDoctor Dot
\n\nWhat’s next is we got this Strays with Rabies album. And hopefully we’re getting on this crazy tour in the fall. We got our album coming out, it’s fitting to be a doozy. It’s going to be very involved and very enthralling, very challenging. That’s what we got coming out right now. Then from that album we’re going to come out there and perform for y’all.