An interview to make you "Jump Around" before Everlast's free concert Friday, Jan. 20 at the House of Blues at Showboat.
It’s not the easiest thing in the world to pin down the exact sound you’d expect to hear from Everlast. Sure, he’s a pure hip-hop artist whose group House of Pain set the world on fire in 1992 with the song “Jump Around.”
Or he’s a great social commentator with 1998’s “What It’s Like.” Or he’s Whitey Ford, or a member of the supergroup La Coka Nostra. Or then he can be using a little video magic to duet on a version of “Folsom Prison Blues” with the late Johnny Cash.
Everlast brings all that to the House of Blues Party Pit Friday, Jan. 20, for a free, yes, free concert.
Everlast is promoting his new album Songs of The Ungrateful Living, which features a pretty solid first single, “I Get By.” That is when he’s not doing shows on a House of Pain reunion tour or La Coka Nostra.
“I’m sort of just trying to find the right tour and filling in the gaps with shows at clubs and things,” he tells Atlantic City Weekly.
Fortunately, Atlantic City is filling one of those gaps.
We caught up with Everlast by phone from his home in Los Angeles.
You have a history of releasing free music on the Internet, especially with La Coka Nostra. Did you know that the show at HOB’s Party Pit was a free show?
I don’t know if my management was aware of that, but I can’t say I had foreknowledge of that. But it doesn’t bother me at all. I mean it’s not exactly free for me. Whoever is sponsoring it is sponsoring it. But I am actually trying to pull off a few more of these so, you know, my management probably was involved. But it has been one of my goals to get some major sponsorships and do maybe some more grandiose free shows in the major cities. You know some old-school in the park for free concerts. Old-school, but with bands you wouldn’t normally get to see unless you paid for it.
You’ve said in interviews that you feel you’ve brought back much of your hip-hop sound on the new CD. How would you describe the album?
At this point, it’s kind of like I have what I do. You know, beat-orientated, blues-driven, acousticky kind of music. You know folk, hip-hop, country, whatever you call it, I have what I do. On the last record [2008’s Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford] I think musically what I tried to do was just to really sound different than any other record and experiment with sounds. And I think it is the most different record I’ve made. So it’s like going out and adventuring and learning some stuff and then coming home and applying it. And that’s how it is on this record. I went out and adventured on the last record and now I’ve come home and I’m applying that adventure to the tunes I got going on now. I mean the last record was the least hip-hop record I’ve done. Even though there’s hip-hop on it, I think the choices of instrumentation and the bells and the rings, I tried to go almost the opposite of what my instinct would be.
You’re latest single, “I Get By” is kind of reminiscent of “What It’s Like” in that it has a very pertinent and timely message for a lot of people who are struggling economically right now. How did that song come about?
It kind of started with me and my buddy DJ Z-Trip just messing around in the studio. We were throwing ideas around and he was like, “You should do a song about getting by.” And I was like, “You mean like a really uplifting kind of song?” And he was like, “Nah, I mean barely getting by. That’s my kind of thing.” And it just stuck in my craw and then the right moment came and the lyrics just kind of happened. I just write things that mean things to me. I mean it has to touch me if I’m going to expect it to touch anybody else. I just try to find meaningful things to say and the most simple way to say them. You’re not trying to be too clever or outsmart people, you just want them to say, “Oh yeah, me too.”
In some of the promo stuff released to the media, they’re saying that you will be playing your entire catalogue of songs at this concert. I doubt that can happen, but ...
Oh man, that is definitely not happening with the whole catalogue! That’s a lot of records. I don’t know about that! [Laughs] That would be like a five-hour show. And for free, get out of here. But seriously I’m pretty confident that no one will be disappointed.
Do you have any memories of Atlantic City from the times you’ve played hear before?
Honestly, it’s funny, but whenever I think of Atlantic City, I think of one of the first times I was there. I went into the casino to play and I was playing blackjack. And I think I hit a 14 or something. And it was all old people at the table and I hit this 14 and I swear to God they all turned around and yelled at me [laughs]! And I was like, “What the hell is going on? What the fuck, it’s my money?” And they’re all like, “You fucked it up.” I realized it was a different kind of gambling. People were really burned. The seniors were not feeling it. But the thing about coming to all these towns is that you’re usually there for only one night. You never get to find out really where the best restaurant is. I mean where are the cool people and what’s the best club? You usually end up going where the security guard thinks the best place is.
Everlast
Where: Showboat House of Blues Party Pit
When: Friday, Jan. 20, 10pm
Free
“This is the first show that I’ve been a part of that will blow our minds and reveal things that will explain almost all our questions."
"I was so bitter and full of angst back then. It’s not so easy to go back there that much but we’ve done it. But I’m almost 30 now. I’m a different person."
As I write my weekly columns, typically I need silence all around me, but sometimes if the TV is going or my iTunes are playing, it can help me think better. Go figure. Lately I’ve been enjoying different music tunes, other than the typical dance beats I usually listen to. I can’t help it, I’m stuck in the ’90s when it comes to music! However, in recent weeks I’ve been hearing a lot about this country rocker dubbed the Jersey Outlaw, Jimmie Lee. He takes his passion for poker and marries it with the perfect lyrics and musical beats to keep you moving and singing along. Lee says, “Poker is a good part of my life, and I consider myself...
Surely concert-goers will be jumping around for this one.
“Showboat has always dared to be different, and the sheer spontaneity of the House of Blues casino is reflective in our overall success. It creates a party-pit atmosphere like no other.”
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1. Chris Cassinelli said... on Jan 20, 2012 at 06:22PM
“It's great to have an artist like Everlast that can change up his sounds and bring it back full circle, still dropping hits. His fans are always waiting to see which direction he will go and what knowledge he will drop next. Thanks for all the hard work and the art you have created thru your unique sounds! From a fan that still has my autographed single of "I Got the Knack" on my wall, hope to catch another show soon...
Chris Cassinelli
Granite Bay, CA (Sacramento)”
2. Scott said... on Jan 20, 2012 at 11:23PM
“No matter the independant sophomore slump, or the new second chance at stardom, Everlast came back AGAIN, sportin' the senior swagger, with the heart & soul in tow! I'll see him every time he comes to Chi-town!”