Yes, AND Much More, as Seen At the 2009 Long Beach Comic (LBCC)!
Above (l-r): The creative team of Iota_Arcane & D. Castr at the Taco Comics Table in Artists Alley of the Long Beach Comic Con!
To the Top Right: The Front Cover to the 1st Issue of Iota_Arcane's Imaginary Slave!
To the Bottom Right: The album cover to Iota_Arcane's 'Dead Androids' album!
Above: Iota_Arcane & D. Castr of Taco Comics at the 2009 Long Beach Comic Con!
TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':
Tina and I saw a lot of comics creators at their tables in the Artists Alley at the 2009 Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC)...
But none so wild and crazy as Iota_Arcane and D. Castr at their Taco Comics Table!
Indeed, I've held off blogging about their works for a while, because they just didn't 'fit into' this blog in the 'normal' sense.
Now that doesn't mean their work isn't good, it's just that the work is more of what used to be called 'underground' style, and their music is more hip hop style than what I usually would mention here, if I mentioned music at all. It's a comic book blog after all, you know!
What grabbed Tina's attention was that the comic book shown at the top right was generated from a 'track' on Iota_Arcane's CD titled 'Imaginary Slave'. So the fact that the music media spawned a comic book was interesting to Tina.
For myself, I thought it was a cool background story. The music is hip hop, not my normal listening to music venue. The comic book as you can see from the front cover is kinda weird, but just as 'far out' as the underground comics from the 1960's - 1970's we are selling in our online store.
The tune that plays in the background on the video presented above is kinda catchy... more so than the CD, but again, that is my personal taste in music. I blog about what I like here, and the combo of a CD track to a full blown Comic Book is a story that I like.
As a side note, here's Iota_Arcane's notes on the CD itself: This is a collection of old songs & poems I have been performing live for years. I linked up with a old friend Deadend from Head Hunterz Crue and I was lucky enough to have him do all the production and recording for this project with Dj Step Daddy on the Cuts. This is me doing me. It is super unorthodox with no standard or rules. Just shredding in Rhymes. D. Castr did the cover art. D. Castr and I also have a comic book out based on the "Imaginary Slave" song on this album that correlates with the comic book".
I'm presenting their story here for YOU to check it out further, IF this style of art and / or music is more your speed than mine.
They were fun guys and passionate about their Taco Comics Table at the LBCC. They deserve to have some publicity about their creative products. They are not sitting around waiting for fame to come to them. And also not sitting at their table not paying attention to those passing by. Indeed, they both could have figured that Tina and I were definitely not 'hip' enough to share their creations with, but they were definitely energetic and friendly enough when then realized that Tina and I expressed interest in what they were doing.
Since the LBCC, they have since gone on to do a couple more comic cons that you can see at their websites.
You can check that and them out further at the following links:
My thanks to both Iota_Arcane & D. Castr (David Castro) for the time they spent with us at the LBCC. And for the promo comic and CD for a possible mention / review in this Blog.
January 27th, 2010 by latinabeatz Taken from LatinaBeatz.com
This was such a fun interview to do. “Iota_Arcane” is not your usual emcee trying to get out there, He uses not only his Love for Hip Hop but also his Humor and creative imagination to bring his music skills with “Comical” illustrations to life.
In this Interiview Iota_Arcane speaks about how he got the name, his new album “Dead Androids“, his appearance on “Americas Got Talent” as “The Worlds Fastest Poet“, He also explains how “Comic Books Are Hip Hop” and illustrated that created his own Comic Book “Imaginary Slave” published by Taco Comics, following up with a very interesting comic manual on care & maintenance titled “How 2 take care of ya”, Iota also shares how he got his hosting gig on HuskeyRadio.com and how even though he’s a“White boy in a black sport and speak fluent Spanish” , plus tons more with exclusive tracks below! Enjoy!
I am really looking forward to this Interview, You are hilarious, You make me crack up!
Thanks, Charm is an asset when you’re broke.
Where did the name “Iota_Arcane” come from?
I have considered myself a MC since 1998 when I put out my first single. At the time up until about 2007 I went as Androydz. I was born in 1978 and during that era Star Wars was huge. My real name is Andrew and my parents have and still do call me Androydz because of the close spelling and the Star Wars droids. In 2007 my good friend Order from U.T.I. said I should change my stage name and start fresh. We sat around for at least a month or two and he came up with iota. I really liked it and figured we had to add something to it because it was so short and needed to be original. He mentioned iota arcane and I was all about it. It fit my persona perfectly. I added the underscore in between the names to reflect my computer nerd background and to make it look like a dos prompt and it’s been nothing but goodness ever since.
The name is iota_arcane. Merriam Webster defines as: iota Pronunciation: ..ī-ˈō-tə.. Function: noun Etymology: Latin, from Greek iōta, of Semitic origin; akin to Hebrew yōdh yod Date: 1542 1 : the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet 2 : an infinitesimal amount : jot ..
arcane Pronunciation: ..är-ˈkān.. Function: adjective Etymology: Latin arcanus Date: 1547 : known or knowable only to the initiate : secret .. ; broadly : mysterious , obscure ..
Let’s talk about the Dead Androids which is hella dope! Serious Hip Hop, I love the beats & mixing. Reminds me of a Hip Hop mashup, What was the mission with creating this? ….
Dead Androids was all the songs I had been performing live since 2000 or so. I was on the TV show “Americas Got Talent” last summer as The World’s Fastest Poet and before it aired I wanted to have a project out just in case people inquired about iota. Click Here to buy Dead Androids off CdBaby.com
I asked a good friend and musician I am a huge fan of Deadend from the Head Hunterz Crue if he would be down to do all the beats on the E.P. to have ready before the TV show aired. We have been friends for over 15 years before any of us did music and he was down. I think the project turned out so well because the songs on this album I have been performing live for almost 10 years. I took my favorites and redid them. I did all the recording in one take with no adlibs all off the dome. All those songs were from my Androydz days and because Deadend did the beats I thought it’s a perfect closing to call the project “Dead Androids.” The song on the album “Imaginary Slave” is a comic book and I had the Comic Book Artist D. Castr from Taco Comics do all the album artwork to correlate the project with the comic book. Gutter Water Music was down. We pressed it up and added it to the Catalog. Click here for the link or watch below
Tell us more about “Imaginary Slave”, I think it’s one of the most creative things I’ve seen, How was that process? -Where can people get it?
Well thanks for the compliment. Comics are Hip Hop. I never imagined myself being a Comic Book Writer. Somehow life works in mysterious ways. I was opening up for Copywrite in Long Beach in early 2009. D. Castr was at the show and after my performance he approached me and said you are very animated, have you ever thought about writing comics. I was like no but I would love to. Click Here to Read the Taco Comic Article on iota
By May 09 we had our first copies of the “Imaginary Slave” hot off the press and premiered it at the San Jose Supercon comic book convention.
Click Here to Read the Comic Taco Article on “Imaginary Slave”
The best thing about the comic is it all rhymes and I can perform the comic acapella poetry style which is always good times. From the Imaginary Slave I wrote an Imaginary Slave care and maintenance manual on
“How to take care of ya.
”Click Here to Read The Comic Taco Article on “How to take care of ya”
I think it hilarious like seriously you wrote an instruction manual on how to take care of something imaginary. Taco comics also published a collection of my poems. A poetry book entitled “Jot Equivocal.” Along with those 3 books I wrote “Odyssey and Oddities” scheduled to get printed up in 2010 about Zombie Dinosaurs in the Center of the Earth. I am also in the works writing stories for Taco Comics for a story called “Beardo” and I am about to write Imaginary Slave #2 along with this universe I created called “East L. Aliens”. The “Imaginary Slave” sold very well. We showcased it at 5 differentComic Con conventions in 2009 and had nothing but very positive feedback. This is available at tacocomics.com, accesshiphop.com or myspace.com/xnationalz
Also in 09 you released Black Blood of Venus, Is it just all beats? The artwork is sick!
BBOV is an instrumental Album I put together with my good friend Namo. We decided to release it only digitally. I really like it. It sounds like futuristic music from the planet Venus. I sit back and listen to it and trip out like who the hell am I. Click Here to buy “Black Blood of Venus” on cdbaby.com
Is that different from the Instrumental album “Lophy Cacophony” you released in 08?
Lophy Cacophony was my first project under the moniker iota_arcane. It was my rebuttal to the Hyphy Movement of the bay. Me being from Socal I use a lot of antique, analog, low bit hardware to make beats. Hyphy meaning Hi-Fidelity I flipped it up on some grimey Lo-Fidelity beats. I really enjoyed creating this album. The album cover alone took me one sitting of 15 hours straight on Photoshop high on Vietnamese coffee to complete. It is definitely its own original sound. Click Here to buy “Lophy Cacophony” on cdbaby.com
Would you say you’re more of a Beat Maker than a Lyricist?
I would say I am more of a Lyricist but I love making beats. I have played the drums since 5th grade. I make music just for fun. I collect old drum machines, records and music equipment. I am infatuated with creative writing. Lyricism is creative writing. I love to take the English language and dissect it. Make it my own. Put things in a way that is not correct but makes sense and sounds fresh. I also love free styling. I think I broke my brain. Back in the day I was so into free styling I never wanted to say the same thing twice. Now when I try to memorize a song I wrote my brain has a hard time because I am so used to trying to say new things all the time.
What’s the process like when you start to write?
I just write. Sometimes I write to a beat, sometimes I just write to nothing or an emotion I am having. My friends trip out because I do not count bars. If you were to count my bars I have songs with like a 47 bar 1st verse and a 24 bar 2nd verse. I go by my rules. My writing collection is insane. I have saved almost everything I have written since 1998. I have it in a giant box. Some of the things in there are on cardboard, paper towels, back of phone bills, it’s really neat.
You host on HuskeyRadio.com, how did you start with that?
Yes I host Musick to Get Shot by every Thursday night 8-10PM on HuskeyRadio.com. It is awesome. It’s really a dream come true. I have so much fun and Huskey is family. It all came about out of nowhere. DJ Shownuff was the resident DJ and they needed a host. I had the privilege of being offered the position by Show and took it and ran with it. It’s definitely the highlight of my week. It is the dopest radio show in L.A. bar none.
What do you think of the state of Hip Hop?
Hip Hop is a trip. The minute you think it’s over and washed up dead from mainstream raping. You go to a little underground show and its packed. Filled with positive energy and people are vibing out, having the time of their life, listening to great music and hanging with friends. I think people tend to forget that Hip Hop is a Community and each one must help one. I wrote a hook a long time ago and I think it is golden. “Don’t ask what Hip Hop can do for you; ask what you can do for Hip Hop.”
Who would you like to work with?
Wow tuff question. I am willing to work with anybody who has a fire in their soul to make something happen and has the talent and skill to back it up. The complete package so to say. Thing is I think folks forget that the Music game is the hardest industry in the World. For example you can go to college. You can graduate Med School and after 10 years of education you are pretty much guaranteed a job somewhere. I have been doing music for 12 solid years. I have put out 8 albums, toured the USA and would love to quit my day job and just do music and or art to survive. I mean even less than minimum wage as long as I got shelter and food I am good. Nowadays I don’t know if that will ever be a realistic possibility.
On Dead Androids, you have an all Spanish track “No Me Digas Nada” now, first assumption of you is not one that you speak Spanish lol, how did you learn “La Lengua” (The Language)
Why because I am White? Just Kidding. Yes I am a white boy in a black sport and speak fluent Spanish. I have spoken Spanish since I was 4 years old. I have lived all over Mexico. I lived in Acapulco, Guadalajara, Los Mochis, Nogales and Hermosillo. I love Mexico. I remember where I grew up a lot of people had family from Mexico or South America and they spoke zero Spanish. This was cause for endless fist fights. Funniest thing ever was when I was in 1st grade. At the end of the school year the counselors come in and evaluate the students. I remember them asking if I spoke any other languages I was like I speak Spanish. When I started 2nd grade the next year they threw me in an E.S.L. (English is Second Language) class. I was a little kid I had no idea. I was really confused why nobody spoke English. Apparently they had never heard of anyone who spoke two languages at 6-7 years old and that the 2nd language was Spanish not English. I like to think of myself as a dope rhymer. Why not floss in other languages you can speak. I think my style in English is the exact same in Spanish only different dialect.
Is there a Spanish Comic Book in the works?
I do want to do a Spanish comic but with all these stories to write this year in English I may be postponing it until next year.
Where can people contact you for music/collabs/interviews/etc?
You can contact me at GutterWaterMusic.com, TacoComics.com, HuskeyRadio.com or:
Direct E-mail- iotaarcane@gmail.com
Myspace.com/xnationalz
twitter.com/iota_arcane
As promised here are 3 exlusive tracks from “Dead Androids”
