From TDot Stand Up through Give No Quarter to Cut You Down, Primal Winds is proud to present the next instalment in their anthology of concept-themed rap albums. Road Warriors is a post-apocalyptic drive-to-survive journey through the worlds of Mad Max, Death Race, Tank Girl, Twisted Metal and more. Driving metaphors weave in and out of the vivid imagery and world-building story-telling as told over a soundtrack of high octane rap-metal, hardcore hip hop, horrorcore, industrial, and even a splattering of post-apocalyptic 40s jazz. Featuring a remix from Juno-nominated producer Fresh Kils and vocal appearances from Fortunato, Warrzone, Julian Swift (from the Cola Heads) and Lucy Lovesick. A guaranteed gas on any road trip, Road Warriors should be used with extreme caution: this album contains music of highly contagious energy levels and lyrics of a devastating nature!
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Primal Winds about the new album, technology, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from? What style of music do you create?
District Prime – I grew up in Mississauga then spent some of my high school years in Scarborough. After that, did some moving around the GTA before settling in downtown Toronto. Various crafts of hip hop have inspired me overtime but mostly the underground East Coast movement has been my main focus.
Iron Wind – Born and raised in Toronto, I spent most of my childhood in Etobicoke. This is where I started to learn the art of beatboxing at age 12 performing in talent shows and various events and even appearing on Much Music throughout my younger years.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
DP – I mainly do it cause I love to rap and make combinations of words that are unique to me. Growing up there was some friends I knew that could freestyle and I wanted to learn how to rhyme and count bars so I could joint them in this activity of wordplay. Demonstrating wits and skill, it was a fun thing to do during the cold winters in a building stairway or on a nice summer night down at the park. I never thought anything of it other then its competitiveness and a way I could channel all the thoughts going on in my mind at the time. Meeting the right people with the same desires has brought me where I am today.
IW – Music has always been a passion of mine since I learned the art of beatboxing. It was beatboxing that opened many doors for me and allowed me to grow as an artist in the industry. It was later in high school that I began to focus on writing lyrics and producing hip hop music, starting with Playstation’s MTV Music generator and then working my way up to more advanced methods from the MPC 2000XL to Fruity Loops, which I use currently. Listening to early 90s hip hop such as Wu Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes and KRS One has been a big influence on me and my journey as an artist.Over the years I have adapted a unique style to my wordplay with sharp, witty rhymes accompanied by a powerful energetic flow. This is where I began to realize my potential. Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of affiliates under the Wu Tang umbrella and had my first solo project “Storm of The Century” backed by Protect Ya Neck Records. A few years later District Prime and myself decided to get together and create a collaboration project entitled “T DoT Stand Up”. It was at this time we discovered our combined potential which led to the birth of Primal Winds.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
IW – After releasing our previous projects, Give No Quarter and Cut You Down, we wanted to bring something new to the forefront that we had never done before. As a producer I wanted to explore the idea of fusing metal and grunge elements into our hip hop music. I started to compose beats with high-octane adrenaline-pumping sound which then gave us the idea of creating a post-apocalyptic themed hip hop album inspired by the Mad Max films. After the first single was recorded, “Stand By Me” featuring Fortunato and Lucy Lovesick on the vocals, other bangers began to follow, giving birth to an amazing listening experience. We wanted listeners to feel the action-packed storytelling on every track as they listened to the album. What also makes this project unique is that it is the first Primal Winds release backed by Hand Solo Records, a reputable label based out of Toronto, Canada.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
DP – Anyone can be heard nowadays and that is definitely an advantage for new and upcoming artist. Having a platform such as the internet has launched the common artist further then they could have without the backing of a major label. This has caused many disadvantages as well. With programs designed to make a person sound better then they actually are, to the game being diluted with talentless performers and pay to play gigs that anyone with money can buy their way on to a stage that used to take skill to get on. Back in the day you had to grind on the streets and venues to get your audience. I feel the digital music age has damaged the culture in ways but has also given it new exciting paths that we can shape for the future generations.
IW – I would have to say that in the industry nowadays it’s a lot easier to make it as an artist due to social media and all the platforms that offer music distribution such as Distrokid, CD Baby, and Bandcamp, to name a few. As an artist however one of the biggest challenges I face is marketing and promotion. The digital era is so vast that it has been a constant struggle when promoting our brand or expanding our fan base. The pros to this however allow for us to share our music with a wider audience and demographic of listeners. It also allows for easy access to our discography on social media platforms like Facebook, Spotify, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and more.
What was the last song you listened to?
DP – Lately I’ve been listening to Lithium on SXM cause I prefer alternative rock when I drive, but my iTunes has our song “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” featuring royceBIRTH as the last track playing on my cell.
IW – To be honest I haven’t really listened to much music as I have been mainly focused on the music production side of things, however I try to bump some Wu Tang from time to time.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
IW – I remember growing up I used to listen to a lot of vinyl records; one of them being the Thriller album by Michael Jackson. To me, nothing can compare to the authentic sound that vinyl records produce. It’s more clean and more crisp than any form of music that I’ve ever heard so vinyl will always be my first choice. CDs however have changed the way music is heard today and is more cost effective when manufacturing a large quantity of albums. To me there is nothing like purchasing a cd. I’ve always appreciated the creativity behind the artwork and presentation. Having a CD in hand beats bumping an MP3 any day.
DP – Anything physical is just cool to have but obviously any digital format is preferred so I can take my music library everywhere.
Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
DP – I’m currently paying for Apple Music and rarely use it. Lost my Spotify password and need to reactivate it. And Bandcamp is very user-friendly, in my opinion, so I like to use it for our album uploads as well as to download other artists’ material I vibe with.
IW – The more music platforms we have the better I always say. Over the years more and more music platforms have dominated the scene making it easier for artists to get their music heard. I always get a warm feeling of accomplishment every time I see a Primal Winds album on the roster.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
DP – Best places to contact with Primal Winds would be on either of our FB or IG fan pages.
Twitter: @Primal_Winds
Facebook: @PrimalWinds
Instagram: @PrimalWindsMusic
Anything else before we sign off?
DP – Would like to say thanks for the Q&A and for taking interest in our art. Keep an eye out for more of Primal Winds content in the not so distant future with some visuals from Road Warriors and our next album, The Renegades, dropping early 2020 under Hand’Solo Records.
