Sure, we’re always curious to know about an artist’s upcoming release, most recent tour, or arsenal of analog gear, but XLR8R‘s also got a curiosity for quirk. Thus, each week, we email a different artist and find out what makes them tick, in the studio and in life. This week, we hear tales of fighting, PSPs, and devil worship rumors from Cincinnati/Brookyn hip-hop trio Tanya Morgan.

What are you listening to right now?

Von: A Tribe Called Quest, The Love Movement

Donwill: Some stuff that got forwarded to me in one of those “hey check out this new artist!” emails. It’s kinda bad.

What’s the weirdest story you’ve ever heard about yourself?

Ilyas: I’ve heard I was a devil worshipper. Lol.

Donwill: I heard that we are signing to atlantic. Lol.

Von: Hmm… I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything crazy about me.

What band did you want to be in when you were 15?

Ilyas: I wanted to be down with Death Row. Glad that was out of reach.

Donwill: Definitely NWA or The Ghetto Boyz.

Von: I wanted to be down with Bad Boy when I was 15. Lol.

Worst live show experience?

Ilyas: Performing a long set with little rehearsal and being completely winded and exhausted halfway through the set.

Donwill: Anything involving outdoors and rain. We have played outdoors several times and each time it rains. I don’t really like playing outdoors in general, to be honest. It always makes me a little nervous. I think it’s like reverse-claustrophobia.

Favorite city to play in?

Ilyas: Home in Cincinnati. Nothing like getting love from home in a town where local acts typically don’t get love.

Donwill: It’s a toss-up between Toronto and Chicago, but I think Chicago is winning right now.

Von: I love Denver. That’s my spot.

Who’s the most interesting hip-hop artist you’ve collaborated with?

Ilyas: My dude Mysterious, who did the first and last joint on The Bridge EP, the title song, “The Bridge,” and “How Low.” I’ve seen this cat do four bangers in about an hour. And he is still one of the producers that don’t use pacing programs. He plays everything out live. It’s crazy to see him sprinting around the studio, hittin’ different keyboards adding elements to a beat until it arrives at the finished product.

Von: 88 Keys, because he makes so many beats on the spot and throws them out a half hour later if they’re not good enough for his liking.

What is your favorite thing you own?

Ilyas: My PSP. I can listen to music on it, play video games, hop on the web, and watch “movies.” Lol.

Donwill: My sidekick, for now. When iPhone decides to let you highlight and copy/paste text, I’ll make the leap, but for now I’m good.

Von: I guess that would be my laptop, because I can make music on the go with it.

Name one item of clothing you can’t live without.

Ilyas: My spiked leather armor I’ve grown accustomed to wearing recently. I love it. It feels like I’m walking around with legal weapons. Lol.

Donwill: I’m a sneaker head, so by default, I’d say shoes. Nothing specific though. And I need a new pair.

Von: My favorite item of clothing is a Yankee fitted. I don’t always wear one, but it’s a New York classic accessory.

What’s cuter: Kittens, penguins, or Scarlett Johansson?

Von: Scarlett!

Donwill: Scarlett Johansson’s kitten. Can I say that?

Ilyas: In the same context as Donwill, kittens. All lined up in a room, purring. Lol.

What did you always get in trouble for when you were little?

Ilyas: Fighting. Period.

Von: I was a class clown until 9th grade so that… definitely!

Donwill: staying out late or getting caught sneaking outside when I wasn’t supposed to be.

Which pop star would you most like to work with?

Ilyas: Andre 3000.

Donwill: John Mayer.

Von: Kanye West.

What’s the last thing you read?

Ilyas: A book called the The Laughing Jesus [by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy].

Donwill: Umm… something on gawker.com about hipsters.

Von: An article about Rube Goldberg.

Complete this sentence: In the future…

Ilyas: You better buy Brooklynati or the world will cease to exist.

Donwill: Obama will be president.

Von: Cars will not fly.

Stupidest thing you’ve done in the last 12 months?

Ilyas: Split my eyebrow open. Lol.

Donwill: It involves spending money. I’d say getting a lap-dance. Lap-dances are pretty dumb.

Von: I couldn’t put it in an interview!

What’s next?

Ilyas: Wowing the hip-hop world in 2009!

Donwill: Finishing up Brooklynati and touring again. The circle of life.

Last Week: Dinky

When XLR8R visited Portland’s David Chandler (a.k.a. Solenoid, DJ Brokenwindow, Mr. Pharmacist) back in 2004 while we were putting together our Bedroom Rockers book, we could hardly find a place to stand amongst his overwhelming amount of synths, instruments, records, and tchochkes; the IDM/techno/electro specialist is a gear-loving packrat of the highest order. But when he’s about to set out on tour, his first priority is traveling light. And fortunately, those weight restrictions open up a world of creativity when it comes to performance. So save yourself those extra baggage fees, and check out Chandler’s tips for keeping your stage setup slim.

1. Use the club’s hardware
If you know that the club you’re performing at has a cool DJ mixer or some outboard effects box lying around, get the model number and look it up online to see what it can do (RTFM!). If it has a lot of good EQs or kill switches, plan your set around taking advantage of them. See if you can do a set with no external effects at all, and just work the DJ mixer instead.

2. Slim down
Try using only a drum machine and one synth. You’ll find you have to focus on deeper aspects of your hardware (knowledge you’ll be able to take advantage of forever after). See if some “bad” sounds in your crappy drum machine might be useful if pitched up or down or treated drastically. Maybe a low tom can be tweaked into a great bass drum or sequenced as a bass. Most people never use 90% of their technology’s programming potential, so explore one synth really deeply and leave the second one at home.

3. Use your drum machine’s memory
If you have a song with only a few patterns, duplicate copies of your good patterns into other slots and shift a few notes, pitches, or volumes. Try changing the syncopation at the end of the bar. To have these variations available when you are improvising can give a lot of room to play longer. Besides, bringing your drum machine to a gig with empty patterns is silly. A full memory takes up the same amount of space in your bag as a half-empty one.

4. Use the extra outputs in your hardware
Instead of running your drum machine out to just stereo channels, try assigning the bass drum or hi-hats to one of the extra outputs. Obviously, this would let you create isolated effects (classic Detroit techno often abused this idea in a charming way), but the most practical result is that you can isolate control of the volume and EQing. This lets you create subtle variety while still staying with a single looping drum pattern.

5. Keep your sounds varied
Use those LFOs and chorus speeds to give your synth sounds or samples an almost imperceptible sense of variety. Don’t leave an LFO untouched. Using a little LFO against the pitch of a melodic sample creates a subconscious sense of instability, which a person’s brain will fixate on. LFOs changing the pitch of rhythm samples may ruin a beat’s perfect timing, but that can be a good thing. “Perfect” quickly becomes monotonous, and a tiny modulation can prevent your audience from tuning you out. Unchecked monotony is how drum machines and sequencers got a bad name.