mc chris Answers Your Questions

mc chris, the "beloved" rapper behinds such classics as Fett's Vette and The Tussin in addition to voicing Hesh on Cartoon Networks Sealab 2021 has responded to reader questions. The riveting results are just one click away. You know you want it. And his tour has dates in NC, SC, FL, GA and more. You know you want those too.

yo mc (Score:3, Interesting) by tekunokurato (531385)

Hey mc, we know the generalized geek rapper from the songs, but tell us about YOU. What're the hardware and OS of choice? What kind of characters do you play in D&D? What're your favourite movies/books? Top five all-time desert-island superpowers?

I have a 12 inch mac top, and it's got all the usual programs attached. We made the cartoons on macs with photoshop and protools. so i have all those programs on there as well.

I don't play D&D. I used to when i was little with my brothers, but i wasn't into all the waiting around, I guess I found it boring. I had more fun devising my own version of it, drawing maps, being more creative with it.

A few of my favorite movies are It's a Wonderful Life, Meatballs, Fresh, The Apartment, Double Indemnity, Rear Window. I like the Harry Potter books, and any tale of teenage ennui like The bell jar, or catcher in the rye, or the perks of being a wallflower. I think I'll never shake highschool.

Birthday song (Score:4, Insightful) by kirkb (158552)

Since the 'Happy Birthday' song [snopes.com] is copyrighted, would you consider open-sourcing Hesh's Birthday Song [pod-six.net] under something like the Creative Commons License? I'd rather hear it than the cheezy home-brew birthday songs that restaurants are forced to devise.

I dunno. People ask me to sing it for them at shows because it's their birthday, and I'll try to do it, even though I always mix up the room full friends, mouth full of cake line. there's no feeling worse that letting someone down that knows the lyrics better than you. especially with all the cartoon stuff. it's not my favorite thing that i've done. I don't know why hesh raps. hesh has slowly turned into me over the years.

Whose Voice Work do You Enjoy? (Score:4, Interesting) by ewhac (5844)

Your work on the Adult Swim lineup is much appreciated in our household. But I wondered whose voice work you enjoyed (not necessarily restricted to Williams Street). Who's fun to listen to? Who's fun to work with?

Dave Willis (carl and meatwad) and Dana Snyder (Master Shake) are brilliant. I love watching Dave work, because he'll start out with the scripted line then say it a million times over slowly moving towards a totally different and far funnier line. and as for dana just about everything that comes out of his mouth as shake is funny. I was lucky I got to hear all of their outtakes. and that goes for andy merrill too. I used to cut his reads up in protools. that guy likes to swear and burp, in character.

Hey chris... this is NOT how PAX will be... (Score:4, Interesting) by (PA)Storm Shadow (863825)

Making music for the Nerdcore seems problematic to me. Namely, I don't think that one would be able to put forth a bunch of intellectual property on the internet and expect this group to actually pay for it. Are you 'making it' on the take from the door at your gigs alone? (Hat's off on leaving your day job and giving it a go in either case). Do you feel pressured to put forth a conventional full-length CD for your fans, or will you continue to offer up shorter, sweeter groups of songs for free on your website?

The albums will get longer and you'll have to buy them, but I plan to make some online only songs just so I don't lose internet street cred. I'd like to do that with a cover album since we could never afford to charge people for it.

Music and computers (Score:3, Interesting) by adeydas (837049)

Since you are a musician, you must be using computers for your musical needs. Do you trust Open Source or Propriety software for that?

Also for general computing, what do you use? Can you cite your reasons for the same?!

My dj, John, makes the music on protools with a variety of plug ins. I don't really understand how it works, but I know the sound improves daily. He's constantly seeking out way to improve the sound, which is great for me. We both used macs. I've got a 12 inch lap top, he's got a G5 and 15 inch laptop. We use macs because the industry uses macs, both television and music. and pc's are lame.

Real Question. (Score:3, Interesting) by hot_Karls_bad_cavern (759797)

Did you get to spend much time with the late Harry Goz?

(Harry was Captain Murphy on Sealab, amongst many other things). What are your thoughts on him? Will we see more work with AdultSwim in the future?

I only spent one day with him really. My first day of recording. I was very nervous and I think someone had a hangover so Harry suggested some tea with some jack daniels in it. he was a really nice old guy, very professional and very funny. He was such a strong part of the show, things just weren't the same afterwards. his wife said he was very happy to go out being as popular as he was on sealab. so it was cool that he left us in style.

If presented with an actual musical instrument... (Score:4, Interesting) by smitty_one_each (243267) *

could you play it?

no. I wish I could play piano but no such luck. it's the one thing I can't do. And I wonder if I'll ever try. I feel like writing, drawing, acting and rapping is plenty for one man's plate.

Adult Swim Ties? (Score:3, Interesting) by astyanax (8365)

How about some more computer raps? "Ratz" and "Boy's dont cry" are the closest I've heard of your work to a computer-related song, any chance of getting some Linux-related rhymes? :)

I think the songs will reflect the fan base as well as what i'm going through in my life. I'm not as hardcore a nerd as people want to think I am. I'm much more of a loser. I try to listen though and get to know my fans and what they're into and then put it into the songs to an extent. I think that being solely about geek stuff like computers is dangerous though, because then you get pidgeonholed. the music is mainly about me not so much the scene.

I'll be in Ann Arbor, but what about lip syncing? (Score:4, Interesting) by ian rogers (760349)

It says on your website that you have a meeting about preserving your voice, is this a joke? Are you really having problems or foreseeing problems with your voice? Am I going to see an SNL Ashlee Simpson type ordeal happen at your show at the Blind Pig?

The jist of it is, is that I smoke too much weed which is bad for my vocal chords. but after every show kids try to smoke me up. Any blue blooded stoner would love this charity, but I've learned to get the bulk of the shows done before I start indulging. This next tour is for a straight month, so I'll be gettin the shaky hands I'm sure. And I'll never lip synch. I'm very serious about performing. and letting people see and hear that I can do these songs live.

Hard to work with? (Score:4, Funny) by myowntrueself (607117) Is Master Shake hard to work with?

I think I answered this one. Dana Snyder is one of the nicest and funniest guys in the universe. One time we were all at the Claremont Lounge in Atlanta and I showed up and he was just visiting, and he pulled out a chair for me and made me sit next to him, and we caught up. he's way cooler than me and doesn't have to treat me as nice as he does, but he does and it's cool. He's the opposite of Master Shake.

What I want to know is... (Score:4, Interesting) by th3space (531154)

Why is it that MC Pee Pants gets absolutely no respect from Satan, whereas the WisdomCube/Dubmassahedron does? To me, MC Pee Pants, while not as intelligent as the aforementioned geometric characters, is vastly more entertaining than that lot.

I think Satan likes to torture Pee Pants. Is it a surprise to anyone that Satan is cruel and vindictive? Wait till you see what he does to me next.

Question (Score:4, Interesting) by vincent404 (588127)

How did you start your act? also When and how did you get into voice acting?

I just got discovered in a bar, by Dave Willis, creator of athf and the voice of carl and meatwad. Adam Reed was with him and they both kinda snatched me up. I don't know what it was about that night that screamed, "get this kid in cartoons!" but it was one of those life changing evenings I have no recollection of because I was hammered. people ask me how to get into voice acting, and I tell them to learn to drink a pint of beer in under five seconds. that's how it worked for me.

Your Real Voice? (Score:4, Interesting) by Laebshade (643478) I know some voice actors, for example, use their natural voices for cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, etc.). When you rapped, as MC Pee Pants (or Sir Loin) for ATHF, was that your natural voice? If not, can you post a clip of your real voice?

my voice is much lower in real life, like james earl jone's. I use the high pitched version to get on tv (and get laid.)

my honest question ... (Score:4, Funny) by YankeeInExile (577704) *

Who the fuck are you, and why do I care?

No one special and you obviously don't. Nice use of the word, "fuck," though.

Re:Who? (Score:5, Interesting) by Golias (176380)

Any chance of your newer songs becoming available on iTMS?

I dunno what that is. So i'll say yes.

Comments

charity self-preservation

[garcia]

The jist of it is, is that I smoke too much weed which is bad for my vocal chords. but after every show kids try to smoke me up. Any blue blooded stoner would love this charity, but I've learned to get the bulk of the shows done before I start indulging. This next tour is for a straight month, so I'll be gettin the shaky hands I'm sure. And I'll never lip synch. I'm very serious about performing. and letting people see and hear that I can do these songs live.

At least he believes that charity is more important than self-preservation ;)

Worst. Interview. Ever.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the worst interview to ever be on slashdot, and I'm even counting the Shatner one.

He doesn't even begin to do a little bit of basic research before replying with "I dont know what that means" to several questions and moving on. He provides no insight into his own personality or character and sounds rather uninteresting.

And he's a fucking stoner. Jesus fuck.

Re:Worst. Interview. Ever.

[Anonymous Coward]

what's wrong with being a stoner?

Important note:

[geekoid]

"my honest question ... (Score:4, Funny) by YankeeInExile (577704) *

Who the fuck are you, and why do I care?

No one special and you obviously don't. Nice use of the word, "fuck," though."

ok, when that question gets modded up, it's time to rethink who you are doing interviews with, vs your target demographic.

Re:Important note:

[MustardMan]

Agreed. I see a bunch of comments here bashing him for giving shitty answers, dodging the question, et cetera. When the best your community can come up with is "who the fuck are you?" it's no wonder the interviewee doesn't do in-depth research to provide a gripping, life changing read. Besides, the guy is known for playing a fucking spider in diapers on a late night cartoon show targeted at a niche audience. Were you expecting shakespeare?

Re:Important note:

[theVP]

You know nothing about the Adult Swim scene then. Adult Swim shows were created mostly by guys with a hell of a lot of free time and creativity, and most of their cast WERE literally picked up off the street. You just didn't happen to be in the right place at the right time to become part of the "cartoon world", same as me.

Now, make no mistake, this interview sucks unholy ass.....ass that needs redemption like none other....but I really don't think all the blame could be placed on chris. I think a heavy amount of blame can be put on the fact that highly modded posts got put in the interview, and not GOOD questions that were posted. A good example is "Who the fuck are you, and why do I care?" Wow, that's a great question that could be answered by a google search. Glad I waited two weeks so that guy could find out what I already know. Glad he couldn't just avoid a topic he knew nothing about. Glad he got modded up and put in the interview.

Here's a post I made originally:
As a long time fan of Adult Swim, I have to say that I admire the creative ability of most of the people that work on the shows. As such, I know that a lot of you guys do voice acting for much more than just one character on one show. SOOOO, we know that you did Hesh, MC Pee Pants, and Sir Loin (which was still MCPP, but oh well), but who else have you been on the Adult Swim block in the past? Which show have you had the most fun on (I won't limit this to just Sealab and ATHF)? And if you don't get in trouble for telling us, are we due for a return of MC Pee Pants on ATHF in the near or distant future?

This post didn't receive a single mod point, and as such, it never got posed. Through all the over 400 posts that I looked through, I couldn't find one that better posed this question, and one that I really wanted to know that answer to. Now I'm not going to bitch about not getting my question asked. I could care less about that NOW (Since it was a 1, I assumed it wasn't going to be asked). But how in the blue fuck did "Who the fuck are you, and why should I care?" Get posed instead of something I might care about?

Or, to go along with the lame-ass questions: why the fuck was this a Slashdot interview to begin with, and in the event of future interviews, based on the method of choosing questions to pose our interviewees, why the fuck should I ever care?

No offense...

[Seumas]

I seriously don't want to hurt this guy's feelings and I don't mean any offense by my comments here, but this interview is stupid.

I don't mean that MC Chris is stupid. I'm sure he's a nice enough person just out trying to make a buck and make his name doing something he enjoys. More power to him for that. I've listened to his "music" and am not at all into it (nor am I into that Aqua Teen Hunger Force thing - I watched several seasons in one sitting and only laughed one time in 30 episodes).

I just don't think Slashdot is the right venue for this sort of thing. Or, rather, I don't think he's an appropriate guest for Slashdot. Does someone only have to use ProTools and make a reference to Star Wars or 20 sided dice in order to be qualified as Slashdot/nerd/geek material or something?

Really - Shatner, Wil Wheaton, Lawrence Lessig, Neil Gaiman, TMBG (which I only consider appropriate - despite hating their band - because of the technology they put together to serve their dial-a-song) . . . and the guy who does MC PeePeePants?!

Anyway - I wasn't looking to start an argument or put this guy down at all. He's clearly a creative guy and he's pulling some work his way. That's pretty damn cool. But in seven years of Slashdotting, this is probably the least interesting interview that could have ever been done. Not at all because of MC Chris - but because I just don't see how it fits in here. At a music-oriented/behind the scenes of producing music kind of site - it'd be perfect.

I also acknowledge that I could just keep my mouth shut - but since there are a lot of rude comments about how people feel this was a poor interview choice for _this_ site (and were many such comments in the initial thread before), I thought I would throw in a more reasoned commentary on it that didn't needlessly deride anyone.

It just seems to indicate a general "mainstream" vent Slashdot has been taking in the last year, more than ever before. It's turning into Yahoo!/Wired magazine in all the undesirable ways.

Re:No offense...

[Tyler Durden]

nor am I into that Aqua Teen Hunger Force thing - I watched several seasons in one sitting and only laughed one time in 30 episodes)

Riiiggghhhhhht. Why would you watch several seasons in one sitting of a show you don't like?

I absolutely love the show, and I couldn't watch any more than 3 episodes in one sitting. Random nonsensical humor, no matter how well written, can only be taken in small doses.

Re:No offense...

[Anonymous Coward]

geez people, is it really that hard to just click another link and move on to another story you might actually give a fuck about?

I honestly don't know wtf this interview is supposed to achieve

It's supposed to let people who are interested learn a little more about a cool musician/voice actor. What it's turned into is a whine festival for people who think /. sucks. You don't like the fact that taco could interview someone who doesn't fit your particular vision of what a geek should be? Then don't click the fucking link asshole.

How do you think I feel, the person who is actually interested in this and I've gotta look at post after post of people saying 'this is stupid' or 'who is the guy?'

If /. sucks, it's because we have become a community of jackoff's, not because it's not fulfilling your vision of what a geek oriented site should be.

Re:No offense...

[jdbo]

Losing my earlier mods for this:

10 reasons why mc chris is relevant to Slashdot:

1. he raps about being a loser and a nerd and getting beaten up in school
2. he raps about a great number of geeky pop cultural topics, including: Star Wars, Star Trek, D&D, cartoons, and comic books
3. he provides the voices for several of the most consistently entertaining characters on two of the most consistently entertaining TV shows on the air now: Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Sealab2021 (BTW if you don't particularly enjoy these shows, perhaps an interview with one of the actors isn't a very productive place to post)
4. ATHF and SL also constantly reference the same geeky pop cultural topics covered above, and more
5. mc chris was also does (did?) behind-the-scenes work on those shows, which might be interesting to those wondering about how adult swim shows get on the air
6. he has managed to make a successful career out of these non-mainstream ventures
7. the real reason that /. should be interested: despite all of the nerdiness demonstrated above, mac chris gets laid.

Yes, he's a nerd with no saleable skills beyond his own nerddom and a damned high voice - and yet he gets both the cash and the ladies.

He never claimed to be a technical genius, he's just a funny guy who has found success through rap and animation covering topics that many of us (yes, incl. CmdrTaco) greatly enjoy. That's his niche, which the majority of the questions managed to ignore... and somehow he's expected to answer questions about protools minutiae? Based on what? He raps, he doesn't make beats!

Hey idiots, you were interviewing someone called "mc chris". Ask him about his rap influences, past and present! Ask him about what inspires his music! Ask him about being an animation voice actor! Ask him... anything relevant!

ASK HIM SOMETHING YOU CAN USE: HOW A NERD CAN GET LAID, MAN, ASK HOW A NERD CAN GET LAID.

So congratulations /., your pissy questions and shitty attitude just sent packing one of this community's few chances to glean some insight on how to get some nookie. I won't pretend his answers were good, but I don't imagine anyone wanting to invest much in an interview w/ such shitty questions.

And yes, I'm regretting not posting questions myself. I figured there would be plenty of positive /. interest in a geek made good, and boy was I wrong.

interesting level of conversation

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Satan likes to torture Pee Pants

Did I just read this on slashdot? Am I missing something?

audience

[WarpedCowOwnzMe]

MC Pee pants aka HESH. DOES belong on slashdot. He is a nerd, he is news. Just like that guy in the 80's who smashed watermelons on piano's, he is revolutionizing cartoons and comedy for an edgy audience (a.k.a. the slashshot audience). If this isn't enough of a match, then the reason he belongs here is because 420 ppl are downloading his bittorrent files right now.

Worst. Comment. Ever.

[been42]

This is the worst comment to ever be on slashdot, and I'm even counting the Goatse one.

He doesn't even begin to do a little bit of basic research before replying with "This is teh suck" to the whole interview and moving on. He provides no insight into his own personality or character and sounds rather uninteresting.

And he's anti-stoner. Jesus fuck.

Worst. Answers. Ever.

[kirkb]

After planting phrases like 'copyright', 'open source', and 'creative commons' in my 'birthday song' question, I knew it would get modded up. It was a semi-serious question, though. And what answer did I get? "I dunno", followed by some rambling about how he can't remember the lyrics.

Worst. Inverview. Evar.

Re:Worst. Interview. Ever.

[crimson30]

Re:Worst. Interview. Ever. (Score:-1, Offtopic)

Whoever modded this offtopic should not be allowed to moderate. The question was a direct question about the comment in the GP's post.

I'd actually like to hear a good answer to the parent post. I'm against all drug use, including marijuana, but I can never seem to come up with a decent logical discourse to support my position against marijuana use. I'd be interested to see what /.ers come up with.

This sucked...

[cr0sh]

I posted this comment in the original "Ask /." article, which was modded down as "Troll". I later got an explanation that MC Chris did something called "Nerdcore", and I posted again, thinking that maybe he was a relevant interviewee...

It seems like I was more correct with my original assessment. This interview (if one could really call it that) seems to say "I am MC Chris - I don't really care about you as long as I make money off you...eh, I am bored". I can't really tell from the interview just what kind of person this individual is - he sounds like he is bored, doesn't care much or anything about the technical side of things... Of course, even the questions posed to him by /.'ers seem bland - so maybe he didn't have much to work with.

Maybe it is all blandness, all the way around? Heh - even this post feels bland...

Interesting theory on why this story is here

[rbarreira]

Interesting theory on why this story is here:

http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=140 997&cid=11815179

This is from the past story which announced that this interview would be done.

Re:Worst. Interview. Ever.

[carpe_noctem]

I'd actually like to hear a good answer to the parent post. I'm against all drug use, including marijuana, but I can never seem to come up with a decent logical discourse to support my position against marijuana use.

Perhaps that's because your boundaries are too narrow?

Oh yeah, that's because you meant "all illicit (according to US law)" drug use, not "all" drug use. I've never taken advil in my life... have you? WHOOPS, you used a drug!

Drugs are just like technology in the sense that on their own, they possess no ethos or morality. It's how they are used/abused that determines this. Look at how many people in the general US population are now hooked on seratonin-regulating drugs for "depression"... and yet, MDMA is still illegal. What a joke.

So yeah, if you're going to be "against all drug use" with big black X's on your hands, then I'd suggest shacking up with the Amish. In the meantime, reality isn't going to be marked by a big line in the sand as to what's "good" and "bad", so I'd suggest actually sitting on the other side of the fence before making such uninformed blanket statements.

Re:Wil Wheaton

[Threni]

Far out! And practically every last fart is modded up to the max!

Re:I know, I know...

[lewp]

As someone who felt the same way when I first moved here and was told about it, you really should go at least once. There's not a whole lot of cool things to do in Atlanta, but this is one of the ones you should at least try. Like eating at the Varsity.

They're actually about equal in terms of nastiness.

Re:Worst. Interview. Ever.

[GreyWolf3000]

I think you jumped the gun. He was defending his position that marijuana should not be smoked against the claim that marijuana doesn't do any damage to society as a whole. The hyperbole used was that marijuana was less dangerous than beer, which "hasn't destroyed western civilization yet." He responded that the capacity to ruin society at large should not be the qualitative test to determine the moral ramifications of doing (or not doing) some action.

If you have a hard time finding credible data on the subject, realize that the position is one that isn't defensible and either keep it to yourself (drop the inane comparisons to violent crime). If you can't do that you can always tell people that you have a religous belief on the subject and go from there.

And why can't religious beliefs not be questioned like any other belief? Why is his position not defensible? Remember, he wasn't defending his position as a whole with his comment, merely rebutting another point (the original source of the lame argument).

Now some talking points for you to research could be... Crack, in the 80's in urban locations, led to gang violence and broke up families. A similar phenomena is happening now with methamphetamine in the rural midwest, where people are getting poisoned by mercury and fertilzers during its production.

I appreciate your desire to spread more logical discussion (Slashdot could definately use it), but I think the real problem is that he was attacking a quite elementary point, which of course made his response equally elementary.

If I ran for President, and had all sorts of great ideas about how to change the country, I would do something similar if someone asked me something silly like "what's your stance on euthanasia?" A lame comment begs a lame response.

Re:Worst. Interview. Ever.

[crimson30]

I assume that when you say you're against "all drug use, including marijuana" you're also against alcohol and tobacco

That assumption is correct.

I personally believe these things fall into what I call "negative industry". I'm sure there's a proper term for it, but that's what I call it.

Let's take tobacco use. Think of all the work and effort that goes into the production, marketing, lobbying, sales, etc. Now take into account the medical aspect and healthcare costs. Weigh these against the benefits of tobacco use (recreational aspect). I would imagine most people would agree that the cost/benefit ratio would land tobacco use into the territory of negative industry.

So now... we get to alcohol and marijuana use. Does it qualify? I will not claim it to be factually so, but my personal belief is yes.

OTOH, I believe in personal freedom and it's sad to see those personal freedoms eroded. I would hesitate to regulate and control substances on those grounds. Perhaps if there were an entirely different way to dissuade drug use other than banning it outright?

Even the WTO thinks United States marijuana laws are bullshit.

Appeal to authority? Or are there some particular arguments from the article you might peresent yourself?

Re:# If you live on Pigeon Street... #

[snuf23]

Yeah you know like Evil Bert, doing the erk erk Pigeon?

Re:An argument against recreational drug use

[Pheersum]

But why should time necessarily be spent productively?