Project Wyze

[Tara]

I heard their song, "Nothing's What It Seems" on Fuse about a year ago and loved it. They're like a mix of Linkin Park and Cypress Hill. Anyway, I seem to be the only one who's heard of them. Do any of you know who they are?

[DudeAsInCool]

Sorry, havent heard them, but...welcome to Beatking :D

[KiwiCoromandel]

I heard their song, "Nothing's What It Seems" on Fuse about a year ago and loved it. They're like a mix of Linkin Park and Cypress Hill. Anyway, I seem to be the only one who's heard of them. Do any of you know who they are?

"Nothing's What It Seems"

Ladies and gentlemen

Presenting the outrageous

I’m music without limelight

A guitarist without stages

I’m a Hells Angel without the Harley Davidson

You’re a golden state warrior

Without Antawn Jamison

I’m your last laugh without a punch line

I’m a fistfight in your high school halls at lunchtime

I’m dangerous like car wrecks without the drunk driver

I’m that island that traps you and votes you off like survivor

I’m MacGyver without a red switchblade

I’m man made

I’m graffiti on the walls without the aerosol spray

I’m a 30-second delay without the time limit

I’m a shark-infested ocean, I dare you to dive in it

I’m that gold chain ready to be snatched from your neck

I’m that AIDS virus when you don’t practice safe sex

I’m that hole in your latex that made your whole world crash

The most dangerous 3-letter word is YAS

[Chorus]

Somebody back-up

There’s no room to stand up

Stop and throw your hands up

Nobody can do it like this

Somebody back-up

There’s no room to stand up

Stop and throw your hands up

Let’s get it on like this

I’m your last bit of oxygen

I’m Waco Texas

I’m a 13-year-old kid stealing your Lexus

I’m a trilogy without the second and third sequels

I’m a crash test dummy without the smashed up vehicle

I’m everything you dream of

I’m life without death

I’m a respirator holding on to your last breath

I’m Bill Gates’ Microsoft without Silicon Valley

I’m a natural born killer without Mickey or Mallory

You’re a chair being thrown around at a Bobby Knight practice

I’m a cross between rival gangs and celebrity death matches

I attack this like pythons, I’m a living icon

You wanna see the apocalypse, then turn my mic on.........

___________________________________________________

In Conversation With Project Wyze

CanEHdian's Dave Brosha speaks with Project Wyze's co-poet, Yas Taalat, about the band's rise as one of Canada's hardest-hitting acts. Mixing rap and hard rock, Project Wyze are currently touring in support of their major label debut, Misfits Strangers Liars Friends, which has already achieved moderate success and has made the band Much Music regulars.

Project Wyze DB:Project Wyze's origins were as a hip-hop group. Was the evolution towards a rock-rap hybrid an easy one for you?

YT: We had a very smooth transition, mainly for the reason that we didn't 'set out' to do it that way. As you just mentioned, Project Wyze originally began as a hip-hop group, and we did that for years - all the way from 1988 up until 1994. We did strictly hip-hop shows with bands like Public Enemy and Maestro (Fresh Wes). Around 1994 we (me and Bobby) got a little tired with the whole hip-hop scene; we didn't like the direction in which it was heading. We wanted to be more creative and venture into other directions. At the same time we were really into the whole punk thing, and were really moved by it and the skateboard scene. One of my best friends at the time had a punk band, and I used to go and hang out at their shows. He used to egg me on all the time to come up on stage during their show and just kick a freestyle. That's how it all began; it began with me and Bobby listening to them yell "oh come on dude, just get up here and rock out," and finally we found the guts to actually do it. It was scary, but we did it. We were playing in front of these kids with mohawks and blue hair - we weren't used to this at all - and they went crazy, the whole place went bananas. That was the moment for us. Bobby and I looked at each other and said "dude, we got something completely fresh and new here." That was before this genre even had a name; before you had your Limp Bizkits and your Kid Rocks and your Papa Roaches. There wasn't such a thing as rap-rock, rapcore…there was nothing. So, there we were: a punk band with two poets. Bobby and I would do freestyles in our buddy's punk band. From 1994 to today, we've had over six years to create this sound that we call Project Wyze. As I said, it's been an easy transition because we weren't trying to become a part of a certain genre. We were just doing something that we thought was original, that was different, and we're still doing it.

DB: What appeals to you the most about the hard-rock aspect of your band?

YT: I like the idea of a live band: the whole guitar and heavy drums aspect to it. When you're making beats and doing strictly hip-hop, you're working with samples and you're working off drum kits. Having the whole rock thing creates, especially on stage, this energy and adrenalin that you can't really get out of a DAT machine. Our albums are dope, and the music we record is dope, and it's heavy and it's punchy and it gets you pumped, but to see us live is a whole other story. It's a world of madness; you really get going. There's no way that you can come to a Project Wyze show and just sit down. Whether you like us or not, we're going to entertain you somehow. We do that through pure, raw energy, and we go bananas on that stage. I think that's the main aspect of rock music that I like. Rock is very much a part of each of the band member's roots; everyone in our band is inspired by a form of rock or metal. We're huge Black Sabbath fans, old AC/DC fans; that's in our bloodline.

DB: On the flipside, what do you think hip-hop has added to your rock sound?

It makes it very, very different and very unique. Bobby and I are skilled: we've being doing this (hip-hop) for a long time, every since we were 12 or 13 years old. We've played with some legends, guys like Chuck D (from Public Enemy) and whatnot. We consider ourselves more than simply MCs or rappers…we consider ourselves poets, because we really care about our lyrics and what we write about. There's a sense of poetry in everything that we say, and I think a lot of people relate to it. We try to bring a sense of realness to the music. What's different in our music compared to other bands is that our verses are very melodic, which ties into our hip-hop roots. You want to get what you have to say out properly, and then when our choruses hit, they hit with a thunder.

DB: What crowd do you think has taken more to the hybrid sound of Project Wyze: the hip-hop crowd or the hard rock crowd?

YT: The hard rock crowd, most definitely: the punk rock kids, the metal kids, the hardcore kids. I'll give you the perfect example: Ozzfest. Half of the main billers in that line-up are some sort of rap-rock hybrid, from Linkin Park to Papa Roach. These are the biggest bands in America right now, like them or hate them; bands and artists like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit. They all have that rap influence, but it's not due to the rap market: it's due to the thousands and millions of hard rock kids that want something new and something fresh, something that mixing rap with the rock brings to these fans.

DB: How have some of the other similar bands out there, like Limp Bizkit, inspired you?

Limp Bizkit hasn't inspired us at all (laughs). That's not meaning any disrespect to Limp Bizkit, it's just that we've been doing our thing for so long that bands like that haven't really inspired us, not to sound ignorant or rude. We've been more inspired by bands like Black Sabbath: more the old school bands, and that's reflected in a lot of our riffs. Old Iron Maiden and Ozzy riffs are really evident in our music. I don't consider people like Fred Durst (from Limp Bizkit) to be real MCs: they're entertaining and they're musicians and they try their hardest, but Bobby and I come from more of a hip-hop environment…it's reflected in our music. We're not trying to fake anything: we just do what we have to do.

DB: How do you think the band has changed since 1996's Trapz Of Poetic Poison

YT: I think that we've matured a lot. When I listen to some of those earlier songs from 1995 and 1996, I find we've become much better songwriters. Before it was all about making a catchy chorus: bang-bang, hit hard, two minutes and we're out. Now, our writing has really matured. We're more into the concept of writing ideal song. As well, the band has come a lot closer to each other to the point that we're almost family. I think that anytime you're in a situation that you feel like a family, you tend to love it a lot more.

DB: What's your ideal writing environment?

YT: One of the weird things that you hear about songwriters and musicians is that they need to find that environment, and they need to be inspired. I remember when Fred Durst was making Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water he went out to Seattle because he had writer's block. I guess he was touched by the whole Nirvana era, so he went there to get inspired. All blessings to him and anyone else that does that sort of thing, but for us, personally, we just write. Whatever comes out of our minds goes onto paper. We write lyrics everywhere, and I mean everywhere. We've written lyrics underneath a piano in a studio, we've written lyrics in basements, on the bus…wherever. I think that the simple concept of writing music inspires us: the fact that we're about to put something on paper that is brand new. That really opens our minds up. Seriously, we could be anywhere and lyrics just come naturally to us.

DB: Has your success surprised you in any way?

YT: Definitely. We're still in shock with everything that's happened. We're playing a show today in London, Ontario, and this is sort of one of our "hometowns". This is where we've met up with a lot of our members, because they were all living here at the time. The last time that we did a show in London was New Year's Eve of last year, and we hadn't had a record deal at that time. Now it's almost been one full year - a cycle - and since then we've done shows with Ozzy Osbourne, with Tool, and we're touring up and down this beautiful country of ours. I hadn't really ever been outside of Montreal in my life and now I have the opportunity to travel all the way out to the east coast and the west coast. I'm still in shock. It's amazing. It's one of those dreams that's finally come true and I don't even care if it never gets any better than this; I will be forever be happy with what we've accomplished as a band thus far.

DB: Can you describe the process of signing with a major label (Sony), and the feeling that it gave you when you heard the news that it was happening?

YT: Signing with a major label is something that you work for, work for, but never think is going to actually happen. How many bands are out there, playing shows every day, practicing in their garage, and writing songs? To be one out of a million other bands, and finally have someone as prestigious as Sony Music, as well as other labels that are all fighting for you at the same time, is like getting the gold medal in the Olympics. It's that sense of someone out there actually acknowledging that you have something to offer, and they want it. We've always known that we're good, and we've always had dedicated fans, but I think having something like a label actually sign you is your reason to feel good about everything: it's a real sense of accomplishment. That's one of our greatest achievements up to this point. We've also just got confirmation that our album with be released in the United States under Columbia/Sony music, and we have a huge release date there. I think we're only the second band in all of Sony Canada that has ever gotten a Columbia release, so it's amazing. We're freaking and we're really excited…we're ready to take this to the world.

DB: You've already toured a fair amount in the United States. Have you found any major differences between the audiences in the US and Canadian audiences?

YT: Totally. The crowds that we're playing in front of in Canada are pretty much the same. They're coming out for the music and they're loving it, so in that sense there's no difference. The only difference in playing the US is they're so many more people to play for. When you have a hundred times the population, you have a lot more people that are willing to listen to your music. Right now we're playing shows across Canada, but you can only tour up and down Canada so many times. Our limited population only wants to check out your shows every so often. I mean, I love playing places like Glace Bay (Cape Breton), and I never want to forget those smaller venues that don't have the tendency to attract larger acts, but in the United States I find that there's just that many more people who are open-minded. Another major thing in the US is radio. Radio out there is way more open-minded than Canada. To be honest, we get no radio play in Canada: I think we're played on two stations (at most) across this country. It's unfortunate, but at the same time it's no big deal, as long as we're out there playing and the kids are still coming to see us. The album is still doing amazing, and that's without any sort of radio play, which in a lot of cases doesn't happen a lot.

DB: How important is Much Music to spreading the word of your music?

YT: Much Music has been our saviour. How is a kid in Glace Bay supposed to hear about a band like Project Wyze if we're just doing Ozzfest and Edgefest up in Ontario? Much Music is that universal language that all kids come across, and all kids watch. Much Music has been so supportive of us, and we've been blessed in everything and anything they've done for us: getting our names out there, getting our faces out there, playing the songs. I think that because of Much Music, we haven't had to rely on radio in the first place, the way that other bands have.

DB: What is it about your fans that amazes you?:

YT: There is so much that amazes me about them. Here's one story: we came to Halifax just a short time ago and we played the Pavillion. We pulled into town at about 10 o'clock in the morning, and there was this line of about 30-40 kids that were there to see us. I got off the bus, and I went over to hang with them and they were just freaking out, and I was thinking "man, I wouldn't come out this early to see us". That amazes me. Our fans are dedicated to death, and I think that's why we're doing so well. We went to Ottawa, and it was the same thing. We got there at about two in the afternoon and it was pouring rain. There was a line of fans going around the building, all these kids with Project Wyze t-shirts and shit. They said "we've been here all morning", and I asked them if they were crazy. I try to pay respect back to the fans. In Halifax, I tried to sneak some fans through the back of the Pavillion. It was sold out, and I had hung out with some of these fans in line. I built a relationship with these people, and it was the worst thing in the world to see someone you just met, who's so excited to come in and see you, get bummed out because the show's sold-out and they didn't get tickets in time. I understand the club's reasons for not wanting to overfill their venues, but I was like "fuck that" and tried to sneak them in.

DB: What do you think Project Wyze's biggest contribution to the music scene has been?

YT: Oh wow, good question. Mainly, we're going to bring you something that's real: lyrically and music-wise. We're not trying to jump into a fad and we're not trying to be part of a genre. This was something that happened to us accidentally, off a dare from a friend, and we've had a chance to progress and mature and ultimately bring you something that is unique. When you listen to our album, it doesn't come across as forced; a studio band, something that a label tried to rush out because this sort of music is hot right now. It's not manufactured, it's real, it's positive. We're not from the streets of New York or the beaches of California, so you're not going to here us talk about hoochies, or guns, or cussing every other word. We bring you something that's positive and real. That's our music…that's Project Wyze.

welcome to beatking..........

Edited July 17, 2004 by kiwibank

[Crazy Diamond]

Yeah I've heard of them. My problem with them is that they're like a mix between Linkin Park and Cypress Hill....haha.

I saw them open for Bif Naked about 2-3 years ago, too much like Limp Bizkit and every other one those bands. We dont need anymore.

[Tara]

Kiwibank, you rock. Thank you so much. :D

[sicness]

hi there! yeah i've heard of them on mtv they're ok i'm not so much of a rap guy.

is that you in the avatar?

Edited August 23, 2004 by sicness