Epic Beard Men/SKIP/DiViNCi/Jon Ditty

Sunday, April 15th 2018

Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin FL

It’s May Day as I write, the day for the world’s majority working class.  I’m torn between whether it’s a more appropriate celebration to expound efforts on this, my unpaid creative interest, or fuck it off for another day and suffer for nobody including myself.  I've taken on an arguably unreasonable amount of write-ups since one particularly exciting weekend for music a couple of weeks ago (which is why this one comes delayed), my desire to squeeze life in around employment stints causing its own stresses, and showing which force is still doing the mental framing.  The Jon Ditty track Off the Clock (featuring BC & Stick Martin) hits home on some of these feelings, and if you can find five minutes to yourself you should try it on for size.  On the evening in question I would unfortunately miss his set, a bummer because I know from experience that he was likely to be the first of many bearded men who happen to be epic.  Happily, he has many upcoming events around the Bay, including free gigs and multiple open mics hosted and organised by the wordsmith himself.  

It’s an additional shame that I missed out on Ditty because everyone performing tonight has various underground root connections, making for an insular package.  And from the moment we arrive and then increasingly onwards, Dunedin Brewery is packaged to the gills to witness it. DiViNCi is the producer for Orlando’s Solillaquists of Sound, and has worked alongside such heavyweights as Lauryn Hill, Nas, MF Doom and El-P.  If you’re not familiar with this curriculum vitae (a document type invented by DiViNCi’s namesake and fellow prolific artist, incidentally), he’s here to make clear how he earned it, using every muscle in his body to strut across multiple drum machines in a fashion that is absolutely mesmerising.  My enveloped head swirls to the pianos and rapid interlocking beats, interrupted only by goers squeezing past me to acquire beer. On the one side DiViNCi is manipulating juicy square Starburst buttons while the human to digital connection of keypad mashing takes place on the other. His voice enters only on occasion, manipulated like a turn of the century French dance outfit (Daft Punk, Air).  One segment ends in a blaze of assault rifle fire so giant I’m convinced he has to be winding things up, but blissfully, there is more.

And even more.  Leonardo takes a short breather while another renaissance man, Skip, gives us an anti-instrumental in the form of a short comedy set.  Then the beats return and the rapper proves himself to be as intense as his DJ associate, which is to say: as fuck.  It’s like listening to Mike D with the youthful acceleration and latter day haircut of David Beckham. Skip takes his own necessary interludes too, allowing a DiViNCi bed reminiscent of the Chemical Brothers’ Elektrobank to step into the spotlight, before giving way to a creepy ska and keyboard underbelly for the last duet.  Skip seems to have his finger in a million pies, never taking the time to sleep (spare a few moments on the Dunedin Brewery stage, something Jon Ditty did the other time I was here. Maybe it’s comfier than it looks?)  His new release Cover The Earth is available for free download if you contact him, the Sherwin Williams-inspired name and artwork being one of many corporate culture jams from his Franchise Industries (graphic designer being another hat he wears, and no doubt designs).  And I can’t find any of his music online, but he does have a cool show where he builds a giant Operation game for a community health event that gives you an idea of the joy he gets from creating artistic tension.  I would not be at all surprised to learn that he took his alias from the hyperactive mid-90s wrestler of the same name.

We go from EDM to EBM, with Skip and DiViNCi tagging in the Epic Beard Men.  The transition is smooth as Sage Francis and B. Dolan jump from the dark electro of arcade-opener Dumb Ass Kids to the jump-up-off-your-couch co-op of the chiptune scored Five Hearts.  “Let’s show these nerd rappers how hip hop is DONE!” shouts Sage to a keen crowd.  Which is pretty bold speak for an act whose recently released, free and highly recommended debut full length Season 1 has cover art depicting them as Trekkies.  But bold words and boom baps are what power the Epic Beard Men, as similarly voiced and opinionated as they are facially haired.  As an Epitaph teenager, I was drawn here by the ever reliable Sage Francis, having only known B. Dolan from his feature on dan le sac’s absolute stonker Good Time Gang War a few years ago. Tonight I find Dolan to be every bit as commanding as his counterpart, the doublet breaking out his solo throw-downs Which Side Are You On? (predating the Rebel Diaz/dead prez/Rakaa interpretation) and Film The Police, dedicated to Oscar Grant (an N.W.A rework that affirms “but still fuck the police” in its final lines).  Correspondingly, the Men also perform Escape Artist from Sage’s A Healthy Distrust.

The audience is already lapping everything up when Dolan selects a willing participant to have their fortune predicted based on her glass having a “psychic aura.”  Or something. I don’t really go in for such things, believing that good fortune generally comes when you Do It Your MotherFuckin’ Self, as the Beards later proclaim.  Having a supportive mother helps a lot too though, with Sage’s being present stage left (how many of your favourite rappers could bring themselves to perform under such scrutiny?)  The place is now so crowded and excitable that I’m taking notes while gripping a pint glass in my elbowpit, my friends are listening to the show from the front porch outside, and B. Dolan is tripping backwards into the Epic Beard Men canvas and threatening to knock over the DJ table.  The night is neatly rap-wrapped with Damage, sampling Ante Up by M.O.P. (their opening song also sampled M.O.P.  Talk about Strange Famous). A free Sunday evening event with the Epic Beard Men is the perfect time to play hard, even if you have to work hard the next morning.  Just remember to grab another five minutes to yourself by skipping the shave.

Epic Beard Men are currently nearing the end of their U.S. tour, but will be hitting the UK in late August.  You can hear and download Season 1 at bandcamp.