I remember about a year and a half ago, I had probably one of the best times of my life at a house show–despite it having all of the ingredients for a terrible time.
I remember about a year and a half ago, I had probably one of the best times of my life at a house show–despite it having all of the ingredients for a terrible time.
It was a Friday night. A friend had told me that there was this new hip hop collective called The Satellite Syndicate playing out in Jackson Ward. Even though it was a long trek by foot, I decided to check it out. However, it started to pour rain during my walk over. Then I had a tough time finding the house, and when I got there, there were only a few people outside.
Now, on most occasions, I’d probably just say my hello’s and bounce to meet up with some friends at the bar, but this time was a little different. I was intrigued to see what the Satellite Syndicate, as newcomers to the local scene who were calling themselves beatmakers, could do. After all, beyond the mainstays–Ohbliv, Sound Genesius, DJ Harrison–there aren’t a whole lot of people in the city doing the more layered, beat-focused style of hip hop, especially as an entire collective.
When I walked into the living room, I was surprised to find a sight I hadn’t seen at a house show before. The room may not have been packed, but half the people in attendance were dancing and socializing. The other half was working on something related to the performance. If they weren’t making music, they were taking photos, or helping out with the massive projector displaying visuals on the wall. This revolving crew of individuals was supporting each other, but more importantly, having a good time doing it.
A year later, this collaborative spirit has helped the Syndicate grow. Their grassroots/DIY efforts to make a splash have helped establish their own corner of the hip hop scene here in Richmond. That first show was a collaboration with local bass music collective Undrside, and Satellite Syndicate credits that crew and other artists that have came before them for important influence. What might be the biggest reason I (and a lot of others) have taken notice of their work so far, though, has been what they bring to the table. It’s more than just a laptop and an MPC. This group of producers bring with them an arsenal of visuals, guest rappers, livestreams, and other pre-, mid-, and post-show entertainment. It’s this kind of effort that brings attention to a style of music that can get overlooked in this city.
This past Thursday I sat down with several of the Syndicate’s 10 members at their monthly gig, Unusual Breaks at Ipanema (which this time featured a set from Ohbliv). Founder BSTFRND was accompanied by producers Ozark, ScoopKid, and James Dangle, as well as rapper Doof and visuals creator/producer .oldneon (the other members–Sittasines, Juxtpse, Peyotecoyte, and Big Wave–were out of town at the time).
We chopped it up over a range of things, including their origins, why Super Smash Brothers is arguably the best video game of all time, and most importantly, why they feel their efforts are actually starting to make a difference. And with a wall-to-wall packed house at Ipanema that night, it’s pretty clear they’ve taken that inspiration from a party in Jackson Ward quite a ways.
Talk to me a little bit on how you guys got started.
BSTFRND: Well, it was a little over a year ago now, and I felt a lack [of] beat music, in terms of the hip hop scene in Richmond. I think it was after I went to a show with the Undrside collective that I felt that there needed to be more of a focus on the hip hop beat scene. So I put together the Satellite Syndicate. We threw our first show in the laundry room of this apartment I used to live in, and then just started doing a lot of releases in a really DIY fashion. Keeping things in that manner has [resulted in] a lot of success so far, so we’re just continuing forward with that.
You all bring a whole mix of artists beyond just beatmakers; how did everyone come into the picture?
BSTFRND: Well, I honestly listened to everyone in the group’s music really extensively before the group was even together. I discovered Chris [Ozark]’s old music. I was familiar with a collective James used to be in called JPS [Just Plain Sounds]. Sam [.oldneon] and I were in school together so we knew each other through mutual friends. I kind of hand-picked the team, but in reality, I think it couldn’t have been anyone else. We did have a few bumps along the way in terms of letting the roster naturally figure itself out, but now I feel like we have more than just a team. It’s really like a family.
Doof: I think the first track I ever did with Satellite Syndicate was a Sittasines track. That was just something i picked up off of his SoundCloud or something. I didn’t even know anybody at that point. Maybe the following Friday or Saturday, I went to his show and performed it. After that, I’ve always been hanging around and eventually I got in. Anybody who’s really in at this point has just been around to be considered part of it. Like, there was a portion where James wasn’t necessarily in but he was always around. Eventually everyone just meshed.
James Dangle: Jefferson [BSTFRND] came to me while I was engineering and running a venue on Southside called The Shop. Gordy Michael, who introduced us, was in Just Plain Sounds with me, Ant [The Symbol], Sleaze, Drano… a different collective, a different time. That’s how I got introduced to [BSTFRND]. [Satellite Syndicate] had rocked like three or four shows, Ohbliv came through, and it’s kind of been on the steady since.
Ozark: I’ve been a fan of beat music before I even came to Richmond, and right around the time I met Jefferson was when the Syndicate was forming. I went to the first show and really enjoyed this kind of stuff, but was falling out of grace with the acoustic stuff I was doing and wanted to change something up. So, honestly I just started hanging out and making beats with Jefferson, got my own sampler, and just went from there.
Doof: I have an ex-girlfriend who was really, heavily into Chris’s music while we were together. It was pretty hilarious because I met him and someone was like “Oh yeah? You ever heard of Inland Ocean?” “That’s him?”
.oldneon: I was around in the beginning, but wasn’t exactly a member. I was just trying out the visual things and was doing videography for awhile. And then I was like “Yo. Why don’t we try doing live visuals?” It became apparent that, with the style I was going for, it just made sense to do it for Satellite Syndicate.
BSTFRND: Before Sam [.oldneon] was even in it, he did visuals for almost all of the shows.
.oldneon: And not to hop on the bandwagon, but I got my own SP and started making my own music. It’s really cool because I’ve been a fan of hip hop and more boom bap stuff for a long time.
I think the live elements you all bring in with the visuals, streams, and photo/video
coverage really take your shows to a higher level.
BSTFRND: Yeah, that’s definitely a crucial element to the group. We like to bring in a lot of different elements to our live shows and set ourselves apart from a lot of other people. Whether it be doing physical releases on antiquated formats, just to hold on to that nostalgia a little bit, [or] taking live performances to the next level rather than just being like, “Ok, let me open up my laptop and press play.” We like to have a really unique approach to doing something that we might think is simple, but to other people can be really, really enjoyable and amazing.
Do you feel like Richmond has been receptive to your style of music? How do you see beat music growing on a regional/national level?
BSTFRND: I think the city is accustomed to it, just because of the accessibility of a band [compared] to someone standing behind a machine or sampler. The music we make can sometimes be really serious or really thought out, while people are like, “Oh, that’s just another song, you’re just pressing buttons.” There’s a lot more that goes to it, so I think the lack of credit is people not knowing, and their naivete to the scene. But it’s growing–the publicity and spread of our name and message. I think in 35 years we’ll be in a really good place, if we keep pushing forward and following through with our plans.
.oldneon: Richmond has a really dirty, gritty, raw approach. We have a lot of punk, a lot of noise, and the way we all approach hip hop has that raw sound to it, that raw essence to it. That grit, whether it’s visual noise and grain, or if it’s the noise of a vinyl simulator, or vinyl itself. I think when people hear that, it’s not that clean sound in the mainstream people are used to.
What’s it like to kick it with the Satellite Syndicate? What do you guys do on a day to day basis?
Doof: Video games.
BSTFRND: We play a lot of video games. Not a lot, I don’t want to make it sound like that, but we play a lot of a few games.
James: A lot of Steady Sounds.
BSTFRND: A lot of going to Steady Sounds and digging for records. We spend a lot of time
talking, I think. A lot of time building internally with one another. Learning how each one of us
thinks. I know I spend a good bit of time talking to all these guys, but that’s what’s most
important–just having that type of connection.
.oldneon: I think we all just ingest a lot of media. We’ll go to Justice [doof]’s and watch
Chappelle Show for six hours straight, or we go over to Jefferson’s house and listen to new
wax…or even chilling at James’s house and having a very deep conversation. Trying to ingest
things so we can push it out.
BSTFRND: Also, Smash Brothers 64.
Doof: Smash Brothers 64.
James: That’s the official spot, right there.
Ozark: I found a Sega Genesis in the trash like 3 months ago, so that’s been the steez.
.oldneon: We’re also going through a Soulcalibur II phase.
Doof: I’m almost untouchable in Soulcalibur, I have nobody to shut me up yet.
BSTFRND: Just today I was in the thrift store and I was like “Let me see if they have any VHS tapes I can watch later on tonight.”
.oldneon: Yeah, I bought this man a VCR for his birthday.
BSTFRND: He did, and at first I was like “What in the hell? Why did Sam buy me a VHS?”
.oldneon: One of the worst responses to a birthday gift I’ve ever [gotten].
BSTFRND: I was very offput, like “The fuck, Sam?” I didn’t expect a VCR. But now I really fuck with it. There’s just something really attractive to the nostalgia of a VHS tape, I think that alone embodies what we think about as a group. We like to record music to cassette tapes and listen to older music. And it’s not like we’re like, “Fuck contemporary stuff, the new shit is wack.”
I was thinking on the drive over here about how, when I think of the word syndicate, it reminds me of syndicated programming, where you’re taking different TV shows and selling them to other channels. That’s sort of a cool embodiment to the whole sampling/live show thing you all are doing.
BSTFRND: I think at the end of it all, we try to collectively embody the artistry behind things rather than being like, “How much money can I make off this?” I know [Doof] will get a beat and be like “Yo, I got this beat from XY producer.” I’m like “that’s crazy, how’d you do that?” and he’s like, “I don’t know, I just rapped on it already and he heard the track.” I’ll listen to it and be like, “Damn, this is really high quality, this is very well done.” It sounds like you’d do it for a paycheck but it’s like…
Doof: I’m making music out of a cardboard box right now.
BSTFRND: It’s not about money for us, but I think we’re all very cognisant that it’s a reality. I know Chris and I are moving more into instrumentation and move away from sampling. But really, sampling is hip hop and if someone has a problem with that, we’re just going to keep fighting the never ending sampling battle that’s been going on.
Awesome. You guys have anything final thoughts?
Ozark: If not for the lineage in the city, we wouldn’t be here.
BSTFRND: Brad [Ohbliv] started making music and paved the way, I think then Devonne [DJ Harrison] was inspired by Brad, then Xavier [Sound Genesius] was taught to make beats inspired by Devonne. And this is just stories I’ve collected from talking to these guys. I think it’s their time. Being here in the scene in making really quality music–that is a huge thing. It’s really their connection to their scene. Devonne is in Butcher Brown as well as the Sam Reed Syndicate. And then Ohbliv has such a wide reach, so people know his name that come into the city that are even just slightly in the scene.
Scoopkid: [From] what I’ve seen playing shows for the past 10 years, Devonne pretty much runs the scene in Richmond. Even before he and Reggie linked up [for Jellowstone], everyone would want Devonne on their shit. “Yo man, could you play drums on this? Yo. could you play piano on this?” So, it definitely runs deep.
BSTFRND: I couldn’t have done this without the people who are involved. Credit belongs to each and every person in this group, because there’s stuff that wouldn’t get done without these guys being like, “Hey, have you done this yet? Is this happening?” So I’m like “Yes, thank you, I see how important this is.” Really, it’s just the positive energy we all have within us, and that the city gives us.
