Atlantis Has Risen
By Miss Maya Haidar
“What kind of a man would I be if I wasn’t always reacting to something?”
I am greeted by a barefooted, sleepy-eyed slim figure in a dimly lit room. He leans back into the leather couch and his smile fills the air around him. So do his ideas, as I was about to find out. He curls up to share his thoughts on his latest offering of sure hits and good vibes. We also discuss making magic, avoiding voodoo and of all things, soup.
MissM: What was the overall inspiration for this album?
K-OS: I think the pressure of fear. After the last record connected with so many people my first reaction was to go away for awhile. I felt like I had to have some more experiences before I wrote the next album…I didn’t want it to feel contrived. Fear really inspired me…I feel like there is a magic to music and [I’m] always afraid of losing that magic.
MissM: Let’s play word association. I’ll say something I felt from the album and you say the first thing that pops into your mind.
MissM: Elvis, sixties pop.
K-OS: Wow. Rebellion.
MissM: Old school hip-hop.
K-OS: Nostalgia. Or sadness. Sad nostalgia.
MissM: Introspective walk, post-party.
K-OS: Drunkenness.
MissM: James Brown.
K-OS: Rebellion.
MissM: Love/hate city life.
K-OS: Escapism.
MissM: Spiritual Reckoning.
K-OS: Hell and not sleeping.
MissM: In the song “Sunday Morning”, you sing about wandering around on Sunday morning almost like you’re searching for something. What are you looking for?
K-OS: Joyful Rebellion really was about rebelling against my parents [religious] beliefs, paradigms and the disciplines I was raised with. If Saturday night is the rebellion then Sunday morning is the day of rest. Now I’m really just searching for a reality that is not reactive and not trying to live my life just to go against my parents’ beliefs.
MissM: What’s the title of the album [Atlantis Rising] mean?
K-OS: Wow, that was Katrina, the sinking city. I toured with India Irie and went to New Orleans and I was kinda scared when I got there. There is a vibe of all that voodoo and you just look into the eyes of some people there and I wouldn’t say their possessed, but they are definitely livin’ in that mode… They throw these stares at you. I walked around Bourbon St. for about ten minutes and then just got back on the bus.
MissM: The song “Flypaper” suggests a love/hate for big city life. What is it you’re addicted to living in the city?
K-OS: I really wanted to get away form everything, but I ended up taking my cell phone, my computer, and my music equipment to a remote area just outside of Victoria, BC. I realized that I was trying to kid myself…I didn’t go out there to be close to nature, [I went] because I’d zapped out what vibes I could from the city and tried to get inspired by nature. Really, I was just this guy frontin’ in the forest and as soon as I admitted to myself and the universe why I was there then the music came. I wrote “Flypaper” and “Valhalla”. “Flypaper” is about the restlessness you feel when you are out of the city too long.
MissM: How long did this album take from start to finish?
K-OS: Let’s say six months. I didn’t think it would happen that fast, but once the songs started coming out... One song would give birth to another and you start to understand yourself more.
MissM: If you had an imaginary tour stop, where would it be?
K-OS: I would love to play Arizona, somewhere open, in the desert maybe.
MissM: To anyone who has never heard your music, what do you want them to know about you?
K-OS: The more I talk about my music, the more I feel that the music really speaks for me. I am a big fan of Bob Dylan and he talks so much in his music that when he’s asked to explain himself, he’s always so weird in interviews and stand-offish. I understand that because I really want the music to say it all.
MissM: And finally, if the music industry had a potluck, what would you bring to dinner?
K-OS: Well, no meat because I am a vegetarian. I think soup is always good because you can throw in a whole bunch of things. You can hide things in soup. You take a sip and it makes you feel good but you don’t really know what’s in it. You can get a lot of things into a pot of soup.
It is a rare thing to come across a disc that you can just press play and love all the tracks, but this is one of them. Be sure to pick it up and hear for yourself.Atlantis: Hymns for Disco is out in stores October 10th.
ENTER VERVEGIRL’S “SUNDAY MORNING” CONTEST Grand prize is a pair of tickets to see K-OS live in concert in Canada on a Saturday night! You and a friend will be flown to the concert destination city, meet K-OS, and (just when you thought life couldn't get any sweeter) you'll receive a new (Motorola Q or Blackberry Pearl) cell/photo phone to document the experience and call your friends on “Sunday Morning” to tell them all about it! You'll also go home with a copy of Atlantis and a K-OS CD/DVD catalogue. 5 Atlantis CD's up for grabs as well!
pictures courtesy of EMI
