Doomtree at Red 7 [Show Preview and Interview]

Which of your Doomtree associates has a style that most often surprises you/ challenges your own?

Dessa: Mike Mictlan hears and writes percussive patterns that are unimaginable to me. Listening to his work helps me think more creatively about my own phrasing.

Lazerbeak: Probably Dessa - mainly because she does a lot of singing and rapping, often on the same song, so we generally do a lot of work to the initial beat once the song is written to make sure everything fits together right in regards to both sequence and melody.

What is the weirdest unsolicited rap you’ve received?

Dessa: I was once asked to rap an eight bar with some pretty explicit content--spanking and bondage and the like. First I thought, "Dude, I write my own stuff." Then I thought, "Has this guy ever heard my music? In my rap life, I'm a total Puritan."

Lazerbeak: Too many to recall, really.

When is traveling with a crew most useful, and when is it most unhelpful?

Dessa: Loading hundreds of pounds of heavy gear into a club goes a lot faster with eight bodies lifting it. On the other hand, it can sometimes be like herding cats to get us all into the van in the mornings.

Lazerbeak: I love traveling with my crew. Even though it can be a bit of an undertaking at times to organize that many lives in one van, it always ends up being the most fun and rewarding when we can all come out together.

Dessa raps about running on whiskey and risk, while the last time P.O.S. played Austin, he saw the crowd turn on him when he said that you shouldn't drink so much. Does everyone's lifestyle sync up on the road?

Dessa: So far, we've traveled together very well. We're all close friends, and at this point, we've got our sea legs on tour. We drive all day, play all night, and if a couple of us want to hang out after a show, we do. If we're beat, we go to bed. Either way, we meet at the van in the morning at the time that Sims tells us to. He's tour managing this time around--and killing it.

Lazerbeak: Yeah. We honestly don’t have a lot of off time on tour. It’s basically drive all day, load in, soundcheck, set up merch, play the show, tear down gear, load the van, sleep for a couple hours, repeat.

Doomtree's got a lot of hometown love. Who's the best Minnesota icon -- Prince, Brett Favre, or Al Franken?

Dessa: Oh man. Prince or Franken. But I gotta say, I feel more connected to people on the basis of their ideas than on their state of residence.

Lazerbeak: Prince, hands down. He is an untouchable legend.

P.O.S. attracts a more punk-rock crowd than most rappers. Is that fun for Dessa and Lazerbeak, or do the shows get weird sometimes on the road?

Dessa: My job, as I understand it, is to give the best, most sincere performance I can, even if not everyone likes it. Part of the reason I enjoy making and consuming art is because it's a forum that doesn't demand conformity. To dramatically modify my performance--for anyone--wouldn't be a genuine presentation of what I do or who I am. If someone doesn't like my stuff, all I ask is that they give me the space to perform for those people that do like it. And for their sake, I hope they're connected with artists who move them in a way that I don't.

Lazerbeak: We’ve basically always had a super diverse fanbase from the jump. Punk kids, indie kids, hip hop heads, parents. We welcome it all. It is an absolute joy to see so many different types of people all bobbing their heads and singing along together every night.

Doomtree keeps the crew identity front and center, makes the crew sound like a team. Y'all are still solo artists, though -- Dessa's had a good year this year, and P.O.S. had a big record last year. When that happens, is there a little bit of jealousy when that happens, or is it all for the greater glory of Doomtree?

Dessa: Watching the ascent of the artists around me can definitely serve as a motivator--I get to see up-close the kind of life that I want to have. But that doesn't mean that I begrudge them their success, it makes me want to work harder.

Lazerbeak: All for the greater glory of Doomtree. Whenever one person in the crew steps up to a new level of success, that means that we have even more opportunity to extend a hand to the next member and pull them up to the same spot. We understood from the jump that not every member is gonna blow up at the exact same time. Any success, be it for a solo member or the crew in general, is a huge win for our team.

On most of the songs on Dessa's record, the "you" in the lyrics is another woman, which doesn't happen that often. Are the gender dynamics for y'all on tour similarly unconventional? Or do the dudes play like big brothers, does she end up playing den mother?

Dessa: I sometimes do feel like I've got the good fortune to have six pretty imposing brothers. But the vast majority of the time, we're a working as a team of rappers and business people. Neither of those roles are gender-specific; you're doing good work or you're not.

Lazerbeak: We are seven incredibly good friends that are lucky enough to travel the country together. I’d say each member is constantly looking out for the next regardless of gender.