Scheme: What’s the history behind ya’ll, how did you start?

Phillie: Well originally we started off as a senior project for school. We had a beat, one made from the computer and then I spit over it like a one time thing. Once we finished up that first track we noticed that we had a good chemistry going so we just started to do more tracks together. It was pretty simple how it came about actually, just two kids hanging together making good music and trying to make even better music.

Scheme: Cool, it starts somewhere. How long have ya’ll been doing this?

Phillie: Not too long as a group, probably 9 months but as individuals we have both been into hip hop for years, before Happy Daze, Vince was part of a Rock Band and I was always rapping.

Scheme: Okay, so you guys have been Happy Daze for about nine months but on the individual basis Vince you have been involved with Rock and Phillipe you’ve been pretty hip hop influenced. What compelled you guys to do straight hip hop versus other music?

Phillie: For me the love with Hip Hop has always been with lyrics, just the whole vibe of people being able to gather anywhere and just start spitting the hardest thing you could come up with or even doing that in front of an audience. With rock they have lyrics but there is so much going on with the music that I can’t really concentrate on the lyrics. With hip hop, typically the beat compliments the lyricist and makes their performance better. Hip hop makes you focus on your writing skills, I think with rock you can more or less hide behind the music.

Vincent: Hip Hop just has no rules musically; you can experiment and constantly create something new. I can still use Rock in Hip Hop and make it work.

Scheme: What was the first Hip Hop song you can remember as a kid?

Phillie: Ah, the first joint I can remember listening too was Tupac “Keep ya Head Up”.

Vincent: I can’t even recall it, that’s funny.

Scheme: Musically, what would you say are your influences whether it be an artist or a producer?

Vince: For me my favorite artist all around is J Dilla, he pretty much inspired me to put my all into this music and just do it.

Phillie: For me my influences as far as lyrics go is Lupe Fiasco, even if he retired tomorrow he would be my favorite of all time because he just helps me get in the zone. I’m listening to his mixtape in my car right now to help me come up with my next shit, just the way he puts words together. I also look towards Andre 3000 as an influence because of the honesty in his rhymes and the cleverness. I do like some Lil Wayne too because he brings that swag to his music, that confidence and I think any good MC needs that.

Scheme: I noticed that one of your album is called The Upliftment: The Art Class Villians, where did that concept come from?

Vincent: The idea behind that was to basically get people to notice that there are different types of hip hop. Hip hop is music where people can express themselves artistically through the music the same way you would express yourself through art. Just trying to connect people to knowing music is art but hip hop has always been the rebel art so to speak, like the villain to the music industry.

Phillie: At first we were joking around but it became real serious that our music is an upliftment because for some people music is like a drug, they really get a buzz from it. For other people, music is really like an escape, uplifting you from where you don’t want to be. We flipped the Gym Class Heros concept and made it Art Class Villains, it represents our crew of local artist that really just help each other out, Golden Monkey, Blocks-head, Rux McFly.

Scheme: Okay, now you guys are coming from San Diego. The most popular artist that I can think of off the top of my head from there is Mitchy Slick, he’s from there right? Is his style reflective of the San Diego sound or would you describe it as different?

Vincent: Right now the sound is strongly influenced by gangbanging, and I listen to that a lot because it’s what we listen to locally but it’s not all we listen to. We listen to a lot of Strong Arm Steady, which Mitchy Slick is part of but overall there is a lot of hating going on regarding the new artist that are trying to come up out here with a different sound. There are a lot more opportunities happening now with support from Armory Hip Hop, Access Music, and Earthstyle radio and The Down Beat. It’s a little hard for us to get involved with a lot of these events because most of the venues in San Diego are 21 and up and we are only 18 so it’s a bit harder for us.

Phillie: The thing is that most of the kids our age are not real hip hop heads; most of the real hip hop heads are a bit older than us. There are not a lot of people our age, at least not in our area that listen to MF Doom, Madlib, Lupe or even Murs. They will dress the underground hip hop part out here but when you try to do real hip hop music they look at you crazy. In some aspects that is fun because it gives us the opportunity to try and expose something new to people and gain new fans, it’s a challenge to win them over but when you do it’s a great feeling.

Scheme: I’m imagining that most of your audience of 18 and under doesn’t have an extensive knowledge of hip hop; most of their exposure probably stops at 1999 – 2000 or so. Being 18 yourselves, how do you break them away from what they know?

Phillie: Really I keep in mind a verse from Murs 3:16 “If I don’t walk the line between intelligence and ignorance, have a good time but make music of significance” and that signifies me. I listen to commercial music, I listen to Young Jeezy, I listen to Hurricane Chris “Ay Bay Bay” Whatever and have a good time but at the same time I balance it with Run DMC, and Naughty by Nature, Biggie, Tupac, A Tribe Called Quest, Camp Lo, Hieroglyphics, The Pharcyde you now even the Clipse. I hope that we can present that to our audience and get everyone familiar with the concept. Sure have your fun, but these musicians had fun too but with significance. De La and Tribe had a lot of fun but they also provided real messages. We hope our music inspires people to go further back in the day and learn more about hip hop.

Scheme: From your perspective, how many kids would you say between the ages of 14 – 18 listen to the music you were just naming off?

Phillie: Wow, I would say it’s in the double digits but not that far.

Vincent: I’d say maybe like 20% or so.

Scheme: Now does that excite you, knowing that there are more people for you to expose this type of hip hop too or does it discourage you that so many people do not know already?

Phillie: It doesn’t really discourage us because at the end of the day not everyone is gonna feel you and like the same type of music you like. You can’t shove it down their throats you feel me? I’m happy when I can teach a few people but I don’t need everyone to like what I like.

Vincent: It all happens when it is supposed to, it’s always great to pick up new fans and teach people but at the same time how whack would music be if everyone liked the same music?

Scheme: That’s true! When recording the album, what would you say was the toughest part of the process?

Phillie: For me it was really just making sure my rhymes were up to par. As far as beats go, with Vince behind the music we will never slack so I am not worried about that. As far as lyrics, you want to always write the next verse better than the last one so that is a constant challenge for me but it makes it fun. I don’t just rap for me, I also rap to get other peoples attention so there is a pressure there.

Vincent: Probably getting the engineer to finish up our stuff because he’s a college student who is really busy so we had to squeeze it in when we could. We did it straight bedroom style and made it work.

Scheme: If you each had to take away one thing from the recording process that made you a better artist, what would it be?

Vincent: Just learning the process of trying to perfect the music but not over killing it. When you over do it, you start to loose your creativity.

Phillie: For me I learned that there is always room to grow. When we first did the album, I thought it was really good but as you start to listen more you start to pin point places where you could grow and improve musically and lyrically. I think in do time we will both get there, but right now we are learning to take it one step at a time and improve steadily.

Scheme: With the whole process, how has the support been from your friends and family? Have you gotten a lot of help?

Phillie: It’s been pretty positive. As we said, this started out as a school project but as we got more into it we started to get more people’s opinions and that helped us a lot. To have people start to quote your stuff on myspace or hear others start saying they like your stuff it’s a great feeling.

Scheme: Do you think you’ll start traveling outside of San Diego any time soon or are you staying pretty local?

Phillie: Well we are looking at some opportunities that are coming up. I really don’t want to get too specific because nothing has been set in motion yet officially but we are looking to make some steps outside San Diego to try and grow our fanbase.

Vincent: We are down to do stuff wherever we can.

Scheme: So what’s your life outside of music? What do you do for fun?

Vincent: Really for me it’s really the music, I spend all my spare time looking for new records or going to swap meets for records. I like experimenting with new sounds or just listening to music period. I love working on my music.

Phillie: For me I am also into graphic designs, before Happy Daze started I’ve been working on my own T-Shirt design company. I actually ended up doing the cover art for the Upliftment Album. So outside of music I am into graphic arts.

Scheme: So moving forward, are you still pursuing Graphic Arts or are you going to dedicate more time to the music?

Phillie: Well, I am really trying to balance out both of them because I love them both. With music, nothing is promised so you always need that back up plan. I am going to school right now to get my bachelors degree in Graphic Arts. I love them both so it works out.

Scheme: So what’s next for you guys, have you started working on another album yet?

Phillie: Yes, we are working on another album. It’s called “ Reduction “ and we are looking for it to come out in 2009. We have already started working on it but we really want to make it great. We get a lot of comments like “The beats are knocking, but you can step up the lyrics” and that makes me go back to the lab to get stuff right. Like I said, I got my Lupe on in the car and just spend my time trying to think up something dope, just hot!! I want the next hot rhyme flow, I want to lyrically body what I did on “The Upliftment”.

Scheme: That’s what’s up, keep striving. Where should people go to check you out?

Vincent: For now the best way is to get at us on myspace, www.myspace.com/happydaze. Shout out to San Diego, and the whole family!

Phillie: Yes, and we want to give a shout out to Scheme Magazine for hooking us up with our first interview and helping us get our music up. Everyone can hit us up on the myspace page and link up with us.

To catch up on more from Happy Daze and their crew, check out their new blog at misfitsxoutcasts.wordpress.com/