Delusionists are a London-based hip hop group whose goal is “to make head-nodding, trunk rattling music and match it with lyrics of actual substance”, and judging by their first album, Prolusion Plus, they have succeeded. What sets these boys apart is their intelligence, wit and ability to not take themselves too seriously. The band recently celebrated the first anniversary of the release by making it available for free to anyone who ‘likes’ it on their Facebook page. We recently caught up with the members of the band, and talked to them about their formation, background and plans:
Tell us about the people in the group, who are they and where are they from?
Slim Pickens: My name is Brendan but these two call me Slim Pickens. I’m from a faceless town in suburbia called Guildford but because I’m in a hip hop group I call it G-Town OR Gullytown. G-Town stand UP!
Ben Black: I’m from the equally thugged-out coastal town of Lowestoft.
DBF: I’m from Lowestoft too. But we all live in London now and have done for a few years.
Ben Black: We all do a bit of everything in the group – DBF and I do most of the MCing, although Pickens is starting to muscle in on that side of things too… He also DJs and produces. In fact, most people think he makes all our beats. Which doesn’t bother me. At all. Honestly.
When did you first meet, and get together to make music?
DBF: I met Ben in primary school, he liked drawing and I liked criticising his drawings.
Ben Black: And that pretty much set the tone for our friendship, and it’s carried through to our music. I make something, he slates it. It keeps the quality high.
Slim Pickens: I met Ben at my niece’s christening, I still don’t know what he was doing there… I was backed into a corner and had to talk to him. Funnily enough we realised we had a lot in common – sleeping, eating, watching TV and stuff. Oh, and we also realised we both liked hip hop. The rest is history.
Your first album is now available free, what was the thinking behind this?
Ben Black: We sold most of the CDs we pressed up and made enough to finance our forthcoming projects, videos etc. The response to the album was great and helped give us a solid fanbase, even in parts of the world where we haven’t actively promoted it. But we’re aware that there’s a whole lot more people out there who might like us and yet wouldn’t dream of paying for music. It’s a way to reach those people and hopefully spreading the word a bit further.
DBF: On top of that, we made it free (digitally mind) to celebrate the fact that it’d been a year since it’s original release date.
Is there a new album on the way?
Slim Pickens: We have a project that will be released soon once we agree on a title.
Ben Black: We’re pretty excited by the new music we’ve got, the artwork is looking nice and I think people that have heard the first album will notice a bit of progression and added confidence. It’s also a lot more collaborative – working with people outside the camp as well as each member of the group having their say.
DBF: Which is great for the music, but also means that it’s probably gonna take 6 months to agree on a title.
What are your plans and goals for the rest of the year?
Ben Black: First and foremost we want to get this next project out, along with a couple of videos. We’re also in the process of getting some clothes designs drawn up and toying with the idea of a documentary. I’ve done a bit of outside production work and guest vocals as well so hopefully those things will get released while I’m still alive to enjoy it. Oh and we’re growing our label, Beats Laying About so look out for releases from acts other than us!
Give me some more info on the band, in terms of what you have done since you started up to the present day.
Slim Pickens: Ben and D made an EP called The Prolusion and put it out themselves.
DBF: …Without really having a clue what we were doing…
Slim Pickens: …Trunk Rattle was a standout track that people really took to. After I’d met Ben we all decided that it’d be good to press the EP with added songs and push it once again – Prolusion Plus. After that we started touring the UK to get the name out there and show people the live show.
DBF: Which is the best bit, for me anyway.
Ben Black: Definitely. The live performances are where it all comes together and people seem to “get” what we’re about when they see us do our thing – the professionalism and the fun that you don’t always get with hip hop acts. So the last year or so has really been about that, and now it’s time to hit them with some new material and elevate that live show even further. We’re no longer satisfied with being better than the main act, the next step is to BE the main act. We are not playing!
