British group’s latest album continues to defy clear-cut genre

  Island Records Stereo MCs is opening for Jane’s Addiction
this Saturday.

By Kate Bristow
Daily Bruin Contributor

After nearly a decade of complete silence, English
techno/hip-hop group the Stereo MCs is back in the game. Its latest
album “Deep Down and Dirty” was released in late May,
its last record released a whopping nine years earlier.

The Stereo MCs is currently on a full U.S. tour with veteran
alternative rockers Jane’s Addiction. It will be playing at
the Hollywood Bowl this Saturday.

With its previous albums, “33 45 78,”
“Supernatural” and “Connected,” the Stereo
MCs brought something unheard of to the early ’90s British
and American music scenes. Centered in dance music, yet incredibly
devoted to live performance, it stunned viewers with the amazing
energy that emanated from the group on stage.

“We just kind of get some energy over and put our songs
over (the crowd),” said Nick “The Head” Hallem,
DJ and producer of the Stereo MCs. “I mean, I guess you
either like it or you don’t, same as any group really. I
think we just kind of come over a bit different than most things
you’ve seen.”

“Deep Down and Dirty” is largely reflective of the
band’s past recordings. Embracing hip-hop influenced vocals
and pulsing dance beats while performing rock “˜n’ roll
influenced shows, the Stereo MCs musical genre is nearly impossible
to pinpoint. It has created a class of its own and nobody has been
able to attach a label to it as of yet.

“The record company has never really known what we were
anyway, and in a way I kind of like that,” said Hallem.
“It’s like, it’s music, you know. If you can get
people into it, who gives a fuck what it is?”

Hallem himself would not even place the group in one set genre,
nor name any band he felt they mirrored or drew upon. In various
music stores, its albums may be found in any number of aisles or on
any number of shelves: in the techno section one day and in hip-hop
the next.

“I think that (categorizing) really kind of limits what
people do musically and that’s why you end up with 60 groups
that all sound the same, you know, because a record company has
success with one act and then suddenly it’s like everybody
that sounds exactly like that wants to side in it,” Hallem
said.

Part of the reason the group faded out of the limelight for so
long was that it does not agree with the hype surrounding the music
business. Its priority lies in making music, not selling albums,
and the record companies they worked with did not seem to agree
with that philosophy.

“Just being successful wasn’t what it was all about
for us,” said Hallem. “I think there were elements of
success that kind of exposed a lot more of the bullshit of the
music business to us, and I think we needed to get away from
it.”

After the 1994 BRIT music awards, where its walked out with
“Best Band” and “Best Album” for
“Connected,” the Stereo MCs disappeared from the
mainstream. It left behind three albums and a popular song
frequently used in musical backgrounds of commercials and movies,
but other than that, not a peep was heard from the band.

For nine years Hallem and childhood friend and vocalist Rob
Birch holed themselves up in an underground recording studio in
South London and made music. Not wanting to deal with record
companies and tiring tours for a good long while, the Stereo MCs
took a vacation. Birch and Hallem, however, waited patiently for
something truly great to flow out of their synthesizers, mixers and
microphones.

“We didn’t really come up with stuff and be like,
“˜Oh yeah, this is our next record,’ and rather than it
being like, “˜How are we going to sell more records now that
we’re more successful,’ what we kind of thought was
“˜Well, let’s wait until we’ve got what we
wanted.’ Because ultimately that will be more satisfying than
just putting a record out to cash in on the success that was
there,” Hallem said.

“Deep Down and Dirty” was exactly what it was
waiting for. The album is no less great than the first three,
perhaps greater, and it fully maintains the same mysterious
un-nameable vibe that first made the Stereo MCs famous. The album
has received rave reviews across the country as well as in the
U.K.

“In the end we’ve been kind of making the music
we’ve been wanting to make for a while now, and we still feel
good about it,” Hallem said. “We feel like we’re
progressing now and that’s better for us than just like being
hot for three years and then just like breaking up.”

The Stereo MCs are currently touring with Jane’s Addiction
and will be playing Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the Hollywood
Bowl.

With reports from Chris Moriates, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.