Interversity: Mansbestfriend

Musical mastermind Tim Holland aka Mansbestfriend has taken some time out to answer our Interversity questions this week. The Portland, ME-born MC came into his own as a founding member of the Anticon collective (alongside Pedestrian) in 1998. As Sole, Holland achieved critical success despite his "pop" ambitions; now with his Mansbestfriend moniker, Holland is looking to do some things a little differently. As with Aja West, these answers are thoroughly unedited. Enjoy.









Mansbestfriend - Stuck in My Head Since I Was 12 - Poly.sci.187 (Anticon. 2007)

1. What led you to creating the Mansbestfriend alias?

i suppose, being around musicians all the time i wanted to make my own music. i wasnt working a day job or anything, so in my spare time i wanted to make beats, that didnt have any pre-concieved notions...

2. Before you ever press play for Poly.sci.187, there's the distinctive dinosaur cover-art. What's the story behind that?

hmm. well, i had a line a few years ago about how fossil fuels is actually dead dinosaurs, and thats what we drive our cars on, and thats pretty fascinating to me, and of course, like all good children, i loved dinosaurs. over the years i have drawn that dinosaur, or a mushroom cloud when people ask for autographs. i became quite fond of the dinsaur and wanted him to accompany me on this journey.

3. I think at one point last summer I remember hearing how the air conditioning in your office was broken. How much do temperature and climate affect the way you write or what you write about?

well, thank god, i dont write my songs in a record label office! but temperature has a serious effect. i couldnt write a damn thing in barcelona, it was so hot there you could fry an egg on my back. lately ive enjoyed the seasons here in arizona. i write my best stuff when its a bit brisk, if its too hot i just wanna splash around in some water.

4. At the University of South Carolina, POLI187 would've been a freshman-level course about "controversial world politics." Obviously the "Poly" in the album is a little twist, but why specifically 187?

187 is the police code in california for murder. so, im sure its a play on "revolutionary suicide." basically, what it means, is you can think about this stuff all day, it'll dry you crazy. most people prefer NOT to think about these things, the news is depressing to them, they dont like to talk about things that might make anyone uncomfortable, which is why, as you say, im posing questions on this record, trying to bring it to a personal level, because its killing people everywhere, its not just news you can ignore, it cant be reduced to an artificial debate about troop withdrawal, you curse israel god curses you, or whatever the current hot (non)topic is. we are a stupid stupid stupid peoples and we will reap what we have sewn, in our own lifetime, its just a matter of how much, how fast, and how catastrophic our decline will be.

5. Is there anything you hope to achieve with Mansbestfriend that differs from when you're Sole?

sole wishes to be rich and famous. mansbestfriend truly doesnt't care. mansbestfriend is the raw, unchannel musical impulses of tim holland, and sole is the best attempt tim holland can make at clever "pop" songs. mansbestfriend tim holland is the main producer, for sole tim holland would never dare, and would go crazy to try to produce his own record, thus removing the fun that occurs through collaboration.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

the first rap i ever heard was some boombox on some 80s movie and the guy said "as im dropping my science in this language called english" and that one line flow made me want to rap. and i basically picked my craft up based around those lines, well, i like to drop science anyway.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip. What would you listen to?

silver mount zion "horses in the sky"

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc.?

books mainly, i try to rotate it a bit. my absolute favorite writer/thinker is guy debord, he fills all voids for poetry, antagonism, analysis, etc. for poets i like lord byron, villon, greg korso, bob kaufman, then bob dylan, pete seger, woodie guthrie, don delillo, kurt vonnegut, etc. i havent had the patience to read much lately.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

web forums i guess. usually i'll just hear about something, and seek it out.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

any question where i have to simplify a very compilcated idea/process into a 2 sentence blur. questions about anticon, race, america, etc, questions where it seems the person asking doesnt really care about the answer, is just trying to fill up a page, and will just use my quotes to fill their pre-concieved notions.

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

lately i've been into oboes, nice thick distorted. i like goddy pretentiuos sorta walls of noise. i like real good elctro drums. i like very almost invisible crunchy synths. i like strings. i like nice analog dubby sounding delay. i like the way serge gainsburgs records were recorded in the 60s, or really all music in general back then.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

probably the rap section. the only time i go to record stores is when im on tour, and when im on the road i need good mainstream rap to keep me going.

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

my last daydream was about growing soy in my living room on a laddice, and then making my own tofu.

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

um. the perfect album to me is original, it has incendiary lyrics, it moves me in all ways at once. not much music does this for me, literally, the only new music i really stand behind is silver mount zion.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which if so?

not really.... i check out wonkette, i like the way thats written.