The Extremities Go Back To Create Fresh Approach To Hip-Hop
Thursday March 20, 2008 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

The Extremities

HALIFAX — The Extremities are far from rookies on the Canadian hip-hop scene. Both Andrew Kilgour (Fresh Kils) and Shaun Ryan (Uncle Fester) have made names for themselves by producing many artists, including Jesse Dangerously, Thesis and most of the formidable Backburner crew. While both members seem to have many independent projects on the go at any time, it was Ryan's job at CBC that germinated what would ultimately become the concept for The Extremities' debut release, The New Tonic.

"The process of sampling and remixing has always been a part of what we did as producers," Kilgour explains. "But when Shaun starting digging up some real amazing recordings at CBC, we decided to see if we could take the next step with it."

Excited by the opportunity to explore the stacks, Ryan approached CBC Studio H executive producer Glenn Meisner to brainstorm. He suggested commissioning a new recording for the purpose of remixing. With Meisner's help, Ryan assembled an elite quartet of well-known Canadian jazz icons to cut the album Ton-ic to provide the bed tracks for The Extremities release.

When Kilgour and Ryan stepped into the studio to remix the album and record the MCs' parts, they felt an impetus to perform.

"Because of the level of musicianship involved with the original material, it was very important to us that our work reflect both a deep respect for that as well as a dedication to innovation," says Kilgour.

Halifax hip-hop heavies Ghettosocks, Kaleb Simmons and Fiz were called in to drop rhymes over the original jazz and dusted-off beats the pair had cooked up. The mix of jazz musicians and rappers worked and created an inclusive and creative experience. Both the MCs and the jazz musicians were consulted throughout the process for feedback and, sometimes, rerecording.

Thanks to the close collaboration and deep experience of everyone involved, The New Tonic is a hybrid jazz/hip-hop album that stands strong in both genres. Canadian MCs and producers normally struggle to find backbeats that they can gain permission to use for their albums and videos. By including the original musicians in the recording process, The Extremities sidestepped the problem.

While The New Tonic breaks ground regarding how Canadian hip-hop producers find fresh material, The Extremities are now turning their innovative eyes to performing. Not only are they bringing the original musicians into the process of producing an album, they're injecting the producer directly into the performers' realm of the live show.

"I don't think anybody's undertaking what we are right now, which is a fully mobile, performance-ready… live remix machine," says Kilgour. "The concept of producer as musician through technology is nothing new, but I'd like to think our approach to playing live is."

—Caley MacLennan