DSX SPEAKS - FIRST INTERVIEW IN OVER 2 YEARS
(BLACK CELLO MAGAZINE, 5.14.2008)
|
In the summer of 2000, two grade school friends, Stone (b. Chris Metropolis) and Duck (Peder Mercedes), were your average kids with two common goals: money and chicks. Born into an upper class, caucasian neighborhood, the two spent countless hours brainstorming how to achieve said goals. With lo-fi recording equipment and a desire to kick-start the Brentwood music scene, DSX was born. Today is the first time in over 2 years that DSX has spoken to the media. June 9th will mark the 2nd straight year that DSX has not performed publicly. I made the journey from San Francisco to visit Duck & Stone in their Atlanta, Georgia hotel room, where they are rumored to be working on a new album. Hunched over a sack of White Castle burgers and in between sips of Coke, Duck & Stone recall their career up to this point: "I never really thought it would get like this," cautiously states Stone, "Duck and I began to fight over quite trivial things. It all started when he claimed that Taylor Hicks wasn't a 'real' American Idol. At that point I just lost it." Duck recalls differently, "I don't remember it that way. I remember Stone entering a state of exclusion from the outside world. Endless days in his room listening to Elliott Smith smoking flavored pipe tobacco. Things just got way out of hand." "Either way you paint it, we had a falling out. We began to fight over the same girls, sesame seed origination, and the last pair of 34 waist D&G Jeans at the (Nashville area) Green Hills mall. DSX was whittled down into nothing. An afterthought." Just 4 years removed from High School, Duck & Stone have separated themselves from the fame their 3rd album, Shanghai Tanghai, achieved for them. Duck comments, "It was just not fun anymore. I love Brentwood, but when I can't buy eggs without some soccer mom recognizing me, it begins to wear you down. 'Instead of Brentwood, Brenthood' being yelled by pre-teens from mini-vans just doesn't have the same luster it used to." Stone adds, "Adventure, Excitement, a rapper craves these things. We've grown, we've moved on. I live in L.A. now and drive cars that cost more than most people's houses. I have a black toilet. My toilet is black. Write that down." Arrogance permeates the room along with the stench of brandy and women's perfume. At 22 years of age, Duck & Stone have devolved into a shade of their former selves. Riddled with desperation and despair on their faces, DSX is heading into their 8th year of hip-hop domination. - Clyde Murkswell, Black Cello Magazine |
DSX BIOGRAPHY - BLACK CELLO MAGAZINE 2004
|
DSX, which stands for The D & S Experiment, which stands for The Duck & Stone Experiment, is the musical lovechild of longtime friends Duck (b. Peder Mercedes) and Stone (b. Christopher Metropolis). The Brentwood, Tennessee based duo, both 22, first met 12 years ago in the third grade. The two grew up playing video games and watching television together. "I'm pretty normal, I think. He has always been the strange one," Duck admits, referring to his bandmate. "One time, he told his dad that he was spending the night at my house, but he really went to see a PG-13 movie instead. And then another time, both of us went to school without brushing our teeth. I still don't see how he talked me into it. Just crazy shit." "Dude, I remember that." Stone responds. "I was right there. I totally remember that." It's this sort of chemistry that has kept DSX around for three albums in four years, with another LP in the oven. Since 2000, the boys from DSX have been writing, recording, engineering, and producing their own brand of humid Southern rap, funk, pop, and rock solely on their own resources. From their humble beginnings as a novelty gag-group with lo-fi recording equipment, DSX has evolved into the lady-killing duo responsible for such groundbreaking tracks as "Funk tha Funk," "Shanghai Tanghai," and the Johnny Cash-influenced "When You Come Home From Work and Dinner Ain't On The Table (You Feel Like Breakin' Shit)." Although both members are superbly talented musicians and producers, they have always let the music take a back seat to the message of their songs. As the band explains somewhat modestly, "We've never really been concerned with musicianship. I've never really thought something like, 'Oh, I bet an F# would work better right there.' It's more like, 'Okay, how can I get this girl to actually take off her pants without making her think that I just want her to take off her pants?' And I think that's what makes us so popular." In a society that underestimates the importance of individuals unafraid to address taboo subjects, DSX has solidly embedded themselves in the seed of a musical institution. - Michael Collins, Black Cello Magazine Apr 2004 |