Rapper and Battleaxe Warrior, plus Swollen Members member Shane Bunting aka Madchild will always represent Canada even though he has called Los Angeles home for the past year.
Madchild plays Inferno, Jan. 1.
“I love L.A. But I’m always proud to be a Canadian and I’ll always represent Canada,” he said, driving through the Rocky Mountains, to play several Western Canadian dates including the Jan. 1 show at Inferno.
“ I love L.A. There’s beautiful sunsets every day and I can walk my dog on the beach,” he said, adding he will always return to Canada to perform.
“B.C and ALberta are also beautiful but in a different way. I’ve toured Canada three times this year. Who does that? Tours Canada three ti times in the winter,” Madchild said, adding it doesn’t rain as much in L.A. as it does in Vancouver.
He moved to L.A. for a change in scenery , not to mention a change in weather and for his career.
Everything happens either in L.A. or New York. There’s a lot here. There’s Sirius XM radio and B-Real TV, so things move fast. I’ve met people and I’ve got a lot of friends there, so I found I could accomplish so much more in a short amount of time,” he said.
“Some parts of L.A. aren’t good, but I live in a pretty fancy neighbourhood,” he said.
He released a new CD (His first one while living in L.A) “Silver Tongued Devil” earlier this year which he needs to support.
“I guess it is my first album in L.A. It’s done great. It was number two album and made it into the Top 200 albums of the year. So it’s really done well,” he said.
“ An album used to be a part of a certain point in your life (for audiences). An album used to remind you of that time in your life. But it’s not that way anymore. Rappers usually have three month careers now. Even Dr. Dre released an album people had been waiting 20 years for,” he said observing even it had a short shelf life.
“ Unfortunately there will never be another Dylan or Jimi Hendrix. That’s just how it is,” he said adding it is rare for a musician to have staying power, so he feels blessed to have maintained a career rapping for 17 years.
“ I feel blessed to be able to do this for the past 17 years and I’ll do my best to continue it,” he said.
A lot of the songs are about his recovery from an expensive , $3 million addiction to the painkillers oxycodone and percocets.
“There was no real information about them then. I was an addict and I didn’t even know it. Before I could take or leave drugs. I didn’t want to stick a needle in my arm,” he said, emphasizing he is not completely sober.
“But I could take it or leave it. When I was with the Swollen Members I’d drink. But then I could be home for three months and not have any,” he said, adding he feels responsible to his fans who come to him for advice , having heard his story of addiction and recovery.
He noted he has changed.
“ I don’t play video games anymore, I watch movies now and I never got into social networking. Someone else does that for me. I tried it once and never went back,” he said.
“ I spend 16 hours a day making music,” he said.
A song that stands out on the new CD is the explicit “ Slut,” about being single and on the road early in his career, which is pretty controversial on today’s politically correct times.
“How is that different from ‘Dickhead’” he asked. “Dickhead” is sampled at the beginning of “Slut.”
“Audiences have a sense of humour. I have girls running on stage during the song singing along with the words to ‘Dickhead.’ The bottom line is it’s just a song. I haven{t even released a video for it. It’s the wild west out there today. Today, 10-year-olds can see porn on the Internet. When I wrote it I didn’t sit down intending to write another ‘Dickhead’ it just happened. Its about young girls in their early 20s it is what my life was like in my early 20s on the road back then,” he said.
“That’s my life,’ he said adding he will be performing four or five of the new songs in Lethbridge.
“I may even play Slut,” he continued.
“I love what I do and a lot of the shows have been sold out. So let’s have a blast. I love my life right now,” he said.
Tickets for the show cost $15. The music will begin at 9 p.m. at Inferno. It will features special surprise guests.
