Interview With Kentucky Prophet

What made you start doing KY Prophet?

Everything else I had been doing at the time ran its course. I knew I wanted to make a rap album, and it became Kentucky Prophet.

How did you get involved with Technology Vs Horse?

I got in through Rafe, the guitarist. They were a band before I joined them. Similar musical interests led to us trying to make it work.

How would you describe what you do in any/all of your acts to someone that's never heard you or seen you live?

Kentucky Prophet is a solo act with me rapping over an Mp3 player filled with instrumental beats. Imagine hip-hop done in the style of standup comedy, that's Kentucky Prophet. Technology Vs. Horse is a rock band that ventures out and plays a wide variety of music styles with weird lyrics.

Have you ever played with any other full bands?

TVH was the only full-band I've ever been in.

What did your time in L.A. do for you music career?

I met my producers in L.A. I met Frank Black in L.A. I became a better singer and more confident songwriter. Quite a bit, actually.

How many tapes/cds have you released and what info can you give me on them?

Kentucky Prophet has released one EP through the internet, and there will hopefully be a new album released later this year. Technology Vs. Horse has released a few things and you can buy them if you know the band.

Any estimates on the biggest crowd you've played in front of?

It would've had to be on the Frank Black tour. I'm not sure honestly. I never got a headcount for any of the shows.

Any estimate on how many shows you've played in all of your different acts?

I've done over 100 shows since the beginning of 2005. Most of those were Kentucky Prophet.

What inspires your lyrics? The Prophet and TVH songs are all so differently musically and lyrically, what motivates each of them?

With TVH, there's more collaboration. They'll come up with some music and I'll write something that I think fits it. The lyrics are pretty much whatever I want to sing about. Sometimes people give me song ideas. Occasionally they work. Mostly, they don't.

Do you have a favorite song to perform?

The newer material like "I Sell Drugs To Celebrities" and "We Drink To Kill The Pain" are becoming fast favorites for me. Four years of "Holland" and "Valet Parking At The Player's Ball" is starting to take a toll.

Do you have a song that you'd love to be able to play out but have never had the chance?

I have written a whole host of songs that will never see the light of day. The boys in TVH aren't really that enthusiastic about it when I come in with a song. It's frustrating. They don't write songs in a conventional sense. They jam on something until they've got something they want to turn into a song, then they hammer it out, then I write something for it. It doesn't help that I'm not the most technically savvy person to arrange music. It's too hard for me, so I just put songs away after I write them.

What was it like touring the U.S. and Canada with
Frank Black?

The most gratifying experience of my life. Frank, his tour manager, his band and crew, were so good to me. They made me feel like a part of the gang. I didn't want that tour to end. My only regret is that I didn't get to do the whole tour. I did half of it. I missed the Eastern Seaboard.

I heard once that musicians can be put into 1 of 3 categories: entertainers, musicians, and artists. Which would you put yourself in?

Entertainment all the way. There are times, especially during the creation of a song, that I am the artist, but for the most part, I just want people to enjoy the show. I'm a song-and-dance man. I aim to please.

What do you think of the local scene and other local bands around here? Got any favorites/least favorites or anyone you'd love to play with?

I would play with any band, regardless of genre. I don't think there is much of a music scene. There's a bar scene, definitely, but not a real music scene. They don't know who I am and they don't care about anything I did. I'm bad for business. I actually want the audience to listen to me, not serve as a background noise for a meat market.

When's the next KY Prophet album due out?

Your guess is as good as mine. We're gonna shop it around pretty soon. I hate the idea of doing it myself and pressing up 500 or 1000 copies. I think this album is a viable thing that people will be interested in hearing, and hopefully we can prove that to a label.

What's recorded work are you the most proud of?

This new album has some of my favorite things I've ever done. "I Sell Drugs To Celebrities" is one of my favorites. "Good Time Girl" is pretty good, too. "Valet Parking At The Player's Ball" and "Holland" refuse to die, which is good. I'll always have some songs to sing.

What's something interesting you can tell me about being a solo artist vs. being in a band?

I'm sure the obvious things are obvious (obviously, hahaha) but is there something that might surprise me? Being in a band can be difficult because there are so many things that can go wrong: train wrecks, out of tune, forgetting lyrics. It's easier for me to give it my all when I know that the odds of something going wrong are slim. You try to plan for everything, but sometimes it still doesn't work.

Do you prefer to be on a stage alone or with others and why?

Alone, definitely. When I'm by myself, I get to create a universe that the audience can inhabit for a set. I'm the train conductor, the storyteller, the conjurer. It's also a more cathartic feeling for me as a solo performer.

Do you have any goals that you'd set for yourself that you've achieved and do you have any goals that you still want to achieve? I'm talking about specific things that you set out to do.

I got to do a tour. Now I want to set up and carry out my own tour. I want to produce some music videos and DVDs. I want to do more, branch out. My pipe dream is that I get to do a Vegas Revue sometime. I'd like that, to sing "Never Never Land" while dangling on a wire, as the Prophettones big band played behind me with the Prophettes backup singers and the Mutant Hootchie Mamas dance troupe. I'd love to play Las Vegas. I want to play a
bunch of towns I haven't played in yet. Those are my goals.

For more visit www.myspace.com/kentuckyprophet

~Josh