Q So, you've been away for 3 years... where have you been and what have you been doing?

Dave: There's been a period in releasing this album, it took quite a while; with members coming and going, there's been legal stuff, a whole bunch of work, Rock Arena, having children and a whole bunch of things.. We've been around in bits and pieces, lots of overseas touring. We're DJ's and Producers, so we've been learning, having a good time and making music with people we wanna work with.

This album spans 4 different periods: it was mixed in UK - in-between tours, we'd collaborated with vocalists Abstract Rude 5/6 times on tours overseas - we got to collaborate with other MC's live worldwide.. it's mostly incidental, but wicked fun, and the album reflects this….

Lots of stuff has happened inbetween making this record; new partnerships and breakdowns, I've lost a lot of friends – mishaps and strange times, have a look at the booklet with the stories of the whole thing, the process of the record being made. People have left, come back, joined for the first time, all kindsa strangeness. It's been a learning experience and we've made a lot of new friends and collaborations with MC's, DJ's, Producers we've met along the way, it's been a total journey…


Q. How was the new album 'More' put together? Were the tunes there before the vocals/vocalists, or were tracks written collaboratively, beats and vocals at the same time?
Katch: Some beats were written before any emcees were in mind, at first a lot of tracks were handed in then taken overseas for another writing session - then taken back into a studio to be recorded with a band - then taken back to editing sessions with another engineer at our home studio. Some tracks as a basic idea were sent to artists who then recorded either with us on tour or at their home studio or in a studio, then sent back to another editing session here again at the home studio. We then sent it back to the UK with Dave for a final mix then we did some more edits in the UK, and then mastered it.

Davedog: The whole thing was done mostly on computers - then we did the whole thing again in a session with a live band, 2 horn sections and lots of musos. The live set was given to Brad, he chopped and mixed it up and we put together the DVD. So it's been a mixture of styles and production.

Q. Was 'Peace and Love' written with Demolition man in mind or was there hope to get a reggae MC or was he involved in the creation?)...
Katch: I remember being in the studio when this song was being worked on and they were trying to put all different accapellas over the top of it in a studio to make a bootleg. I was always feeling it as an instrumental – Brad (The Nextmen) went back to the UK and had worked with Demolition man prior and asked him to do the track. Apparently he just walked in, had a notebook of songs, flipped thru it all till he hit the right tune and there you had it - 'Peace and Love'. He did it all in under an hour full professional - he really knows what he wants.
I also heard he had written it like 10 years prior to even hearing the track which if it is true, then a lot of artist should take a leaf out of his work book. That's the shit I keep hearing how Tupac use to work.

Q. The album benefits from a number of influences, from funk to reggae through jazz. Were these elements ingrained in the writing/making or added as tracks were developed?
Katch: We have always have come from those backgrounds, so I think this time around it has become more refined to a certain format and flow instead of like the last 2 records. Working with Brad probably helped us to expose this more; some tracks were written on the road touring or were remixed and handed back to Brad for the approval of his magic stick.

Q. Tell me about the Instrumental pieces on this album.... Influences, people, inspiration etc... There's some lovely deep jazz and downbeat. Is that someone's particular output?

DAVE - KATCH AND BRAD

Katch: Dave got the band fired up to do the 'Smoking in the Darkness' track. I have the rehearsal sessions that we recorded for it. There was about 2 hours of practice and then there is the take that you hear recorded live and if you listen closely you can hear Dave directing in the background. It was actually inspired from a Ramsey Lewis track.

'2sides instrumental' was written By Brad and there were 2 MCs on this track, but at the time we were going to press there were different ideas and legal people involved so we dropped the raps. It's a shame people miss out on stuff because of the paperwork involved. This destroys the whole concept of why you do music.

'Thunder' I had written basically after years trying to write beats again. I had just finished the Definition tour and was thinking about the album and just came across this guitar riff and wrote the tune to an accapella (that we had been working on the album with but we weren’t felling it at all) from Finsta who is an American Mcee whose worked with DJ Krush / Beat miners and the Nextmen of course and his group Finsta Bundy. Brad really dug the tune and worked on it at the time of press we hadn't heard back from him so we decided to put it down as an instrumental as it had that vibe anyway but the track is available as an exclusive download on i-tunes and will be out on vinyl next year

Q: Are there plans to support the launch of the album with a tour and if so, when and where? (In the world).

Katch: Definitely a massive national tour next year and we are going back to the UK and EU next year for festivals but at the moment Dave and myself are DJING around the country as 2dogs or Resin Dogs sound system. Basically it’s a DJ set with a drummer and sometimes we bring an emcee to do some songs or a guest from each state. Dave and I usually host it though or tell jokes and shit, its actually how we use to do resin dogs before we got a band together so we just DJ our own tunes and do live remixes of stuff with drums and jam stuff.
We are doing that up and down the East Coast all summer wherever you get sun.

Dave: This has been the biggest reaction from any of our music ever – it's been a ship on a journey picking up players at port, some people stay longer, some people get off half way through… we're really, really proud of this album, musically the way it's sounding, to play it live, and our reputation for live performance…we're a big family; visual, musical, managerial, we're all still flying the flag for all those people and making it work for everyone who put something in.

We're honoured to be considered veterans, me and Katch are the last 2 core members still in the group. There's a scene, and we feel blessed to be creative and not be moulded and have to change.

Resin Dogs album 'More' is out now through Hydrofunk/MGM. Brassic Funk and Hip Hop stylings Baby. As if you didn't know.

KMD