Bones & Beeker Producer & Multi-instrumentalist Brendan "BK-One" Kelly Talks Making-of Inside a Different Mind Remix EP (The Witzard Interview)

"This music makes me wanna make more children. It makes me feel like things are gonna be alright," Atmosphere emcee Slug once proclaimed concerning Minneapolis-based duo Bones & Beeker. Consisting of Anthony "Tony" Newes (vocals, guitar, keys, and other sounds) and Brendan Kelly AKA BK-One (production, drum programming, keys, glockenspiel, kalimba) Bones & Beeker released a self-titled 2015 album on Wax Poetics Records. While it's hard to peg Bones & Beeker's output as one distinct genre label, they draw influence from Jazz, Funk/Soul, Indie Pop, Hip-Hop, and a multitude of genre-eschewing sounds; however, the most fitting descriptions of Bones & Beeker's overall sound I've found comes directly from the band themselves—Tony describing it as "The Toys meet Hip-Hop" and BK-One likening their sound to "a sample-based Paul Simon"—during a 2015 video interview with THEOREMATIC. Bones & Beeker also features instrumental assistance from bassist Chris Bierden (Poliça & Pony Trash) and guitarist Nate Collis (Atmosphere & Attracted to Gods) in addition to BK-One & Anthony Newes, throughout their 2016 Wax Poetics Records debut.

Now, Bones & Beeker have returned with a 6-track remix EP entitled Inside a Different Mind featuring material culled from their album. BK-One has served as Brother Ali's DJ and touring partner for a number of years now and has released a few projects in collaboration with Slug & Siddiq's Rhymesayers imprint. Following the 2015 of Bones & Beeker's Wax Poetics album, BK-One recruited a slew of Hip-Hop-minded friends and collaborators to remix tracks from their album; Inside a Different Mind EP showcases contributions from Cut Chemist, P.O.S. ZULUZULUU AKA astralblak, Brother Ali, Open Mike Eagle, J-Zone & Prince Paul's SUPERBLACK, and BK-One himself. Upon initially hearing Bones & Beeker's Inside a Different Mind EP about two weeks ago, I sent an email to a nameless 'Wax Poetics Info' email on a whim and to my surprise, got an email back from Editor, Staff Writer, and Adrian Younge Executive Producer Brian DiGenti. Long story short, DiGenti was kind enough to get me in contact with Brendan "BK-One" Kelly and now, we have the comprehensive Inside a Different Mind EP-centric interview you now see transcribed below. Enjoy and if you like what you hear, you can pick up an Inside a Different Mind EP 12-inch at Fat Beats through Wax Poetics Records.

Sincerely,

Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz
Founder & Editor-In-Chief


I. How did you initially, get the idea for your recent Inside a Different Mind EP, effectively remixing, re-editing, and re-imagining tracks from your 2015 Bones & Beeker full-length?

So much of what made the original Bones & Beeker (B&B) project fun for me was the unpredictability. Tony and I came from completely different musical backgrounds, so when we started trying to write music together, we quickly found that we didn't have the same vocabulary, the same approach, or even, the same goals in mind. We each brought in ideas that were precious to us and we had to learn how to trust each other with them. What we took away from the experience was the lesson that a good collaborator doesn't just execute your vision, they expand it into places you weren't even thinking about. This EP was a chance to to take that idea one step beyond... handing the album off and trusting our new partners to do right by it.

II. Were you personally, responsible for the re-edits of both "Heartbroken In Love" and "A Song for Al's Dead Mother?" How did you go about selecting emcees Brother Ali & Open Mike Eagle to, respectively, spit hard-as-nails rhymes atop your fresh re-edits?

Yes, I did the re-edit on "A Song for Al's Dead Mother." I learned about re-edits listening to the work of Danny Krivit, Tom Moulton, MAW, and Kenny Dope. I continue to be inspired by modern editors like Kon & Tom Noble. I love the idea of taking an already great song and trying to make something new using nothing but the source materials. It's like making a remix with one hand behind your back. When I originally made the music for "Al's Dead Mother," I took a cut-and-paste approach to the production. The whole song just moves back-and-forth between two chords, so it was easy to create dozens of 2-4 bar loops—drums, percussion, organ, guitar, etc.—that worked great with it. Assembling them all was the last thing I did and the arrangement could have gone a hundred different ways, so it was really fun to take a second pass, at that stage of the process.

There are two more songs called "re-edits" on the EP: "Heartbroken In Love" and "Each Time I Die." Despite their names, they're not technically "re-edits." It's a long, boring story, but the short version goes like this: Spotify insisted and I was too busy to argue. Brother Ali & P.O.S. are both emceess that I've worked with in the past. They're very different as people, but I think each is talented, versatile, and a lot of fun to create with. I put them over the two most popular (and easy to rap over) tracks from the album, but I wanted to make sure we included some oddball song selections in this collection, too. I always thought "Al's Dead Mother" was a hidden gem on our record and it has some big, bouncy drums hiding behind all those layers of melancholy, but it's [also,] a strange song for a rapper. The tempo, mood, and structure made it challenging, but Open Mike Eagle was perfect for the job. He's made a career out of bringing technical skill and emotional gravitas to unconventional production. Mike was on the road when I reached out, but he was kind enough to find the time and energy to contribute exactly what the track needed.


III. To my knowledge, "Lupin" (SUPERBLACK Remix) is only the second, maybe third, overall release from J-Zone, Prince Paul & Sacha Jenkins' group, SUPERBLACK. How did you collectively get them on board for this Bones & Beeker Remix EP and might you have any particular updates on their impending musical releases?

I reached out to J-Zone, who had enjoyed our full-length release. He went back to the group and worked everything out. I've always tried to incorporate some humor and some oddness into my various projects and that can definitely be traced back to lessons that Prince Paul taught me, via De La Soul Is Dead on cassette tape. J-Zone taught me that you don't have to have the most expensive records or the newest gear to make great music. And Ego Trip (Sacha Jenkins and crew) were my Bible for many years. So, getting to work with them, collectively, was a dream. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to confirm or deny any details regarding their upcoming project or lack thereof.

IV. "One of [your] favorite bands," Minneapolis-based Afro-Futurist collective ZULUZULUU (now, known as astralblak) contributed their own, completely original take on "Wind-Up Dolls," correct? What can you potentially add concerning ZUUZULUU's remix/re-arrangement?

I'm a huge fan. I had pitched them to Wax Poetics as a potential article and sent an early stream of their debut EP, hoping to get them some shine outside of The Twin Cities. Wax Poetics didn't bite and I was disappointed, so I asked Greg Grease & DJ Just Nine, if the band would be interested in hopping on this project. I wanted to position them alongside all these other, more recognizable names. The catch was that we were turning the project in at the end of the week, so they only had three days to pick a song, decide what to do with it, write, and record. I told them they could choose any of our songs and they could do anything they wanted with it. I was shocked when they picked a weird little 1 ½ minute-long interlude, then, completely re-wrote it, but I couldn't be happier with the result. It's taken a while for the EP to get a release and in that time, ZULUZULUU has changed their name [to astralblak], released several more projects, and earned plenty of recognition without my help!


V. If you were to assemble and release a second similarly-minded Bones & Beeker remix EP/album, who might you reach out to to participate?

What a great question! I loved that the Bones & Beeker album (2015) really married the sounds of our two respective worlds. This EP plays to the Hip-Hop side of our sound. It would be fun to do a version of this EP that played to the quirky Pop sound that's also so present. Without over-thinking it, here are the first six names that jump to mind: tUnE-yArDs, Brittany Howard (of The Alabama Shakes,) Paul Simon, Sinkane, Rostam Batmanglij, and The Dust Brothers. Damn, now, I kinda want to hear that EP; someone else has to do all the hard work, though!

VI. What's next for either Bones & Beeker or yourself and bandmate Anthony Newes' upcoming separate solo/side projects?

Tony has demos done for a solo album and I've got everything done for my next Hip-Hop project, except finding the right emcee for it. As for Bones & Beeker, we have two projects that are each a little over halfway done. I think, we'll be ready to start sharing info and teasers from one of them within the next several months. The other, should be done by late 2018 or early 2019. Although, I run a radio station, Tony is a teacher, and we've got five kids between our two families, so timetables have to be a little flexible these days!