You are generally perceived as being pioneers of the “Rap Metal” genre. Can you tell us as to how you were able to successfully fuse what appear to be two totally disparate and unconnected music styles?
The answer is rather simple. We all had a love for Hardcore and Punk, as well as Hip Hop. Prior to downset, we had a band called Social Justice which was even more tuned to crossing over these styles and we just threw in a pinch of Classic Rock, and Metal, and we came up with the Downset sound. Fuse influences by early Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies along with Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, and throw in some Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and you have downset’s theorem. There were a handful of bands that did what we were doing; we just made it a recognizable form.
What was the surrounding rap and metal scene like before you started and how do you think it reacted when your sound was finally formed?
Well like I just said, there were only a handful of artists doing what we were doing at the time. No one was really paying attention as far as mainstream is concerned; bands were just doing their thing and performing with like-minded bands from the hardcore scene. When we started to perform this style even back in Social Justice, people ...