Last Offence - The Interview

You’re coming up on 2 years as an artist. What do those 2 years mean to you, personally?

There’s a chapter for each project I guess. Everything leading up to Run A Lap was one chapter. In that period, I was able to be born in this shit. I would say that was my birth and adolescence, like, puberty period right there. I was brand new and just feeling my way through the shit. You’ve got the little Not for Non-Profit period which was more tumultuous. I got a little bit of acclaim from some people and kind of the backlash from that. Backlash from some of the decisions I made, personally.

Kind of like GaGa’s “The Fame.”

*laughs* Yeah, the funny thing is I ain’t even famous yet. But I did basically have to get, not crucified, but get my ass reamed a little bit. And I can honestly say that it didn’t humble me because I was already humble and that’s no bullshit because I’m still the same “ninja” throughout. I can’t even say it made me stronger because when “ninja’s” started saying X, Y, & Z about me, it was kind of like I expected it. I just kind of shook it off and moved the fuck on. But now I’m entering into chapter 3. Lord knows what that will bring. I think a lot of self torture. Chapter 2 was a lot of people shitting on me. Now this is kind of a me shitting on me period, at least in the beginning of it.

Self torture? Talk with me a little bit more about that.

You know they always talk about artists going insane. *laughs* Now I get it. You’re looking at what you’re doing and you’re just not ever happy. It’s never good enough and you’re contemplating quitting all the time and you’re asking yourself, “why are you doing this?” It’s just those inner demons. The psychology of an artist, you know? The neurotic neurosis…ummm…yeah. *laughs* That’s why things keep changing. Dates keep changing. Songs keep getting trashed and that’s why I have not released a song since March, which is a long time in this shit. I’ve just decided to let it go. It doesn’t have to be the hottest song on earth. Cause if I keep waiting on the hottest song on the Earth then I’ll just end up not releasing shit. So better something than nothing at all.

In terms of “hot”, are you talking about what you think is hot or what the consumer thinks is hot?

*laughs* I’m seriously thinking in terms of what the public thinks is hot. I have somewhat of an instinct. Nobody’s got a perfect instinct for hits….maybe Michael Jackson. But even Michael Jackson had a team of people around him, as most major artists do. But I have pretty good instincts about that. In my past I’ve predicted very accurately the songs people would respond to versus the songs that people would not respond to, in droves.

When you’re creating music is their a difference for you in creating for a mixtape as opposed to an album?

Yeah. I mean actually the very first thing I did, the EP, was the least neurotic project, I guess you could say. I was basically doing whatever songs I could get my hands on because I didn’t know a lot of producers. I didn’t really know how to go about getting music. So whenever I would get a beat I would just do the best I could with it. But with Not for Non-Profit I really wanted to approach it like an album. So it kind of was different there. Even though I was calling it a mixtape, I wanted it as the aesthetic of an album. That journey type feeling. So this time around, with Red Label, I’m going that same route. I’ve decided to myself that any piece of work that I put out has to be that same type of journey.



Let’s talk a bit more about Not For Non-Profit. Some artists talk a lot about what they DO have. You on the other hand talk a lot about what you DON’T have. Why did you decide to be so honest?

*LAUGHS* The thing about me is I’m a very honest person, period. So I wasn’t gonna get away…I can’t convince nobody of some shit that ain’t true. I just don’t have it, ever, in me to perpetrate a lie. It just takes too much work. *laughs* It’s just other things I would rather put my energy towards. And also I think that there’s so much fakery going around that, shit, them “ninja’s” is faking enough. It’s like I let them do them and here’s what I’m gonna do. I ain’t saying nothing’s wrong with it. I mean there is something cute about that little fantasy. “I got so much money that my lawyers have lawyers,” and all that other bullshit they talk about. I just think that, for me, that’s just not me. I just don’t care that much. *laughs*

I have to say “Rokurboy” was probably one of the best rock songs I’ve heard, this year. That’s a banging, rocking, hard track.

Yeah, I fell in love with that track. It was either that or “Don’t Go There” that was like the last (song), cause it (the mixtape) was put together and I was fixing to chuck it out there and then I heard that beat. I was like, “Hold the fuck up! I gotta do something with that.” And I didn’t want to do a traditional type song with it, you know, three verses and a hook. I just felt like it was so high octane and you only needed a good 2 minutes of it to get the point across. I just hopped on there and I’m just so happy that it made it. I’m so happy that I found that record before I put it (Not for Non-Profit) out. I think I recorded it like a week before I put that shit out.


Speaking of rock songs, there’s another beat of yours I heard on your YouTube video for The Dip and it’s this bluesy rock track ("L.O. 101").

Damn. You are like really listening. I can’t get nothing past you. Shit. That track is basically like…what do they call it? There’s an analogy people use, it’s not an Achilles heel. Oh fuck. Basically it derives from some story where it was something that somebody was trying to achieve but they could never achieve it. But anyway that’s my THAT. I cannot crack that beat. I’ve been trying to crack that beat since…a long time. But I’m getting to the point where it’s actually gonna happen. But it’s a tough egg to crack. It really is. Most of us don’t like to admit weakness but, you know.

So what do you do when you have writers block? When you come across a beat that you just can’t crack, what do you do?

Usually I dump it *laughter* I give up. Nah, I mean, you really don’t wanna force nothing. You never wanna force it. I’m trying to think, have I ever done a forced…*thinks about it*…Nah, nope. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything forced. Some beats will pull it out of you, immediately. I think I wrote “Hello Boyz” in 2 hours. It’s the funniest thing because that was another song that almost did not happen. I had run across that beat a couple of times and I just kept glazing over it. Like, I just didn’t give a shit and I didn’t see how beautiful he was. And then, you know, he did his hair differently one day and then I seen him and I was like, “hold on this motherfucker’s kind of fly.” Then once I really felt it, it took no time.



You’ve covered a lot of topics but there was one thing I noticed that wasn’t on the mixtape. You didn’t talk about love. Why was that?

I feel like…it wasn’t a lovey dovey album. Ugh how do I put this into words? I feel like as artists, I mean for me, I think we talk about love the most when we have love and lose it. So I hadn’t dealt with that yet. Everything was still sunshine and roses pretty much, during the recording of that project. So it just wasn’t in my focus.

From Not for Non-Profit what songs did you put the most effort into and love the most?

“Not Whining.” I would say “Rokurboy.” Ummm “Who We Are” even though I’m not 100 percent satisfied with how it came out. *sighs and laughs* Like that was the hardest, that was definitely the most difficult of the songs.

Let's talk about your new project, Red Label. Is it going to be a mixtape or an album for sale?

It’s gonna be a project. *laughs* It’s gonna be a project called Red Label. That’s all I can really say about it, right now.

But you are going to sell it, right?

Just to keep it 100 with you, I think some songs are gonna be for sale and some aren’t. Yeah, it’s gonna be weird. There’s this website called bandcamp.com where you can set it up in that way. Like, you can sell songs and some songs can be free. When it does come out it’s gonna be exclusively through bandcamp.com and then the songs that are free will be just tossed around through Twitter, Facebook and the MySpace type things.

I was just hoping for a physical CD that I could have. Damnit!!

I think I am gonna press up copies. This time it’s gonna be real with the little jacket, the producers and all that shit.

Tell me a bit about the new project.

Everything has changed now though since the last time we talked. It is…anger. I think it’s finally the most declarative anything I’ve done. It’s like, okay, this is Last Offence. I don’t feel like any of the projects prior have done that. That’s just the feeling I get from it. I just feel like this is the identity. You know, I did the training wheels for a while and now I’m like riding the bike.

Awww. Like the little kid on the bike, “I can do it, Daddy!”

*Laughs* Pretty much. And it keeps going through phases. Relationships have fallen apart. Some relationships have mended. Some records had to be scrapped. Some had to be recorded, just based on things that were going on. But I think we’re almost there. I’m hoping by the end of the year. I don’t wanna leave ’09 without putting something out there but…shit happens.

From the tracks that I’ve heard, it’s got depth. It’s hard-hitting. I feel like you’re going to go there.

Yeah *laughs* pretty much. It’s mean. It’s mean this time around. I can’t explain it. It’s like they changed me. Not in an integrity sort of way, though. It’s like, a lot of this is like, what they’ve made me. But yeah I’m hungry, bitch! It feels like ’96, again. That’s what Inga (Marchand) always says. *laughs*



You were just at a video shoot with FoxxJazell for her “Ride Or Die Boy” Remix. You come from a film background but what was it like, being in front of the camera, as an artist?

It was very strange but familiar. I mean I’ve been in front of the camera a couple of times before. I was in a couple of student films and I was actually in a Sharpie commercial when I was 18…just some random shit. I was one of the football players. I don’t even know if you could see me. But I thought the video went down real professional. For her to be an independent artist and for it to be low budget, it was just real professional. I was impressed.

Are we still going to see a video from L.O.

Ummm some things have changed. *laughs* Things are always changing but I think so. I actually do. I don’t think things have changed to the point where you won’t see that. I just have to get to a point where that’s my focus. Right now my focus is the music. But once the focus is the video I don’t think it’ll be long before you see it.

You’ve said in past interviews that you’re not sure if you wanna stay independent or if you wanna sign to a label, a major label. Why the uncertainty?

Because I honestly don’t think anyone knows how to do me but me at this point and a label’s gonna get in there and maybe they’ll clean house for the good and maybe they’ll clean house for the bad. It’s an unproven territory, this gay shit. So they don’t have any reference material to look back on. The only thing I really want to fuck with a label for is the money for videos. Because distribution is not what it used to be. Most people are doing this internet digital shit. The nature of distribution has changed to a point where it’s undermined the major label. So a label does become questionable. They’re gonna rape you. That just goes with the territory. You’re gonna be bringing in a certain amount of revenue and you’re only gonna get a tip of the iceberg of it. Marketing dollars are pretty much the only thing that I would fuck with a label about. This independent shit costs money so I’ma have to start selling records at some point or else I can’t do it no more. If I just make enough money to keep shit going then that’s fine with me. If I can make enough to keep shit going and not have to worry then I’m good.

This year you became a pretty active Twitterer and Facebooker. Do you enjoy it?

Twitter has this power of making you feel like you’re in the confessional or some shit and it should not be that way *laughs* because everybody can see that shit. Look, Twitter goes against everything that I am or that I was. I don’t know.

Well do you enjoy it in the sense that you are more connected to people, to your audience?

Yeah, that is cool. That’s the really cool part about it, the connection to people who really do give a shit. And being connected to other artists who I don’t get to see all the time but they’re on Twitter. It’s like kinship.

Besides Twitter, what else does Lasto do to unwind and relax?

Well lately I don’t think I have been unwinding or relaxing. I just think it’s been non-stop. Because I want something out already so I’m really not unwinding or relaxing. Everything I do has something to do with music. But sometimes I do have a moment to sit down with my friends and we’ll go see a movie or eat dinner or some shit like that. But then I’m in a rush to get back to the music, where ever that may be. I just did something really cool, last night. I just did this cipher freestyle thing for ADTV.

YAES!! YAES!! Who’s in it?
*Side Lipton: I love ADTV*

Nah, it’s just me. *laughs* But they’re calling it The Cipher for some reason. Yeah it is funny because it was just me. But yeah…me is enough. Fuck that! *laughs*

Any last words from Lasto?

There’s gonna be some miscellaneous songs that will hit the market place very soon. Some songs are gonna be coming out and they’re not going to be on Red Label. I almost want to put a title on a project that these miscellaneous songs will be on, just so they won’t confuse it with Red Label.

Get to know the artist behind the interview, here, at his MySpace page.
http://www.myspace.com/whoislastoffence