evilgiane
On Cats, Graffiti, Surf Gang Fans and more
Pure Sky feat. evilgiane (@evilgiane): The NYC producer charting independent rap’s new territories. His producer collective, Surf Gang, might be better described as a graffiti crew, a skate group, a record label, or an avant art movement — but however you want to think of Giane, or Surf Gang, their swelling influence over the past several years is impossible to ignore. Read on for our Q&A and click here to listen to an exclusive mix courtesy of Giane.
What should people do while listening to this mix?
Just go for a walk. A lot of these songs are songs I walk around n used to roam aimlessly n paint, or just homie shit I play over and over. I didn’t really try to have a direction and wanted to show ppl some fire shit they heard or not, feel me?.
What would it take for you to rap on a track?
Idk maybe soon. There are songs out there but y’all gotta dig for that. Lmao but one day.
As a producer-led crew that tends to lay low and shifts often, how is Surf Gang able to maintain such a singular artistic voice?
I think it’s really just a trust that artists have in our direction, but at the same time we also let them kinda do whatever they want and maybe sometimes we’ll edit it a little bit or just completely trust their vision.
Surf Gang fans are a crazy breed. What’s it like watching them operate?
I love it n hate it cuz they’re nuts, they love to troll me but I love it cuz it’s all love at the end of the day. It freaks me out sometimes cuz they only know evilgiane the moniker and not giane ya know?
What does Surf Gang look like in 2050?
That’s a really good question. Hopefully bigger than we are in the sense
of how far we can push Music but that’s really hard to answer because Surf Gang is just one big highway now and who knows where it will take us.
What do you love most about cats, spiritually speaking?
What I love about cats the most are they’re just like people you know like don’t get me wrong. I love dogs, but dogs will just fuck with you off the bat as where a cat is kinda like a person. If they don’t fuck with you, they don’t fuck with you and they’re very vindictive
When we talked to Cooper B. Handy the other day he said he admired how much Surf Gang drops. What’s the mindset behind having such a prolific output?
I think just really keeping the fans fed is always a good thing. Keeps people from just going bored with what you’re doing especially if you’re just trying to reach many different demographics at once.
Is graffiti a prerequisite for being a part of Surf Gang? How often do you guys write?
No, not necessarily, I wouldn’t say graffiti is a prerequisite for being a part of Surf Gang. I think I’m really the only one besides Jdn and DJ Toby that dabbles in graffiti here and there, but for the most part, it kind of just already been around before Surf Gang even was this music thing it is now. I like to joke around and say I’m retired now, but sometimes I scratch that itch, you know.
Unsung poet of our time:
The unsung poet of our time has got to be harto falion for sure.
The last couple years have been huge for you, collaboration-wise. How has the internet changed the relationship between mainstream and the underground?
I think the Internet has more broke this invisible wall that there was between the underground and mainstream, now it’s everyone’s able to just contact each other. Even if you’re trying to be mysterious you’re always just a DM away.
It’s just up to you to be the one to ignore it or not. But I don’t believe in that underground in mainstream shit. Music is music at the end of the day.
→ Find evilgiane on Instagram, Spotify, and Surf Gang’s website.
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