Hip-Hop Attitude, Punk Rock Energy Drives EL PUS' Revolutionary Hybrid Sound on Cutting Edge Virgin Records Debut 'Hoodlum Rock (Volume 1)'
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Fresh Off National Tour With Real Big Fish, Wild and
Raucous Atlanta Based Ensemble Hits The Road
Again With 40 Dates Opening For Counterculture Giants,
The Kottonmouth Kings
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Video For Punk-Hip Hop flavored “Suburb Thuggin'”
Has Received Extensive Airplay on MTV2
Though their long in the works debut album Hoodlum Rock (Volume 1) is released by a major label, Virgin Records, the raucous and undeniably in your face Atlanta based band El Pus (pronounced POOSE) has the defiant attitude and DIY spirit of an indie—so much in fact that, by design, it's almost impossible to categorize their hybrid sound.
While some bands enjoy the formulas, the labels and predictability, El Pus—the vision of longtime friends Cufi (vocals, guitar, keys) and Cosmo (vocals, guitar, drum programming), along with bandmates C.J. (lead guitar), “The Woodchuck” (bass) and Young Pete (drums)—boldly shuns the categories, smashing all rules and regulations. Their debut is a glorious, ultra-aggressive, hard rockin' and groovin' hodgepodge of musical styles fluently expressed with hip-hop attitude and punk-rock energy.
If you want to explain the band's popularity, Cufi and Cosmo insist that you lose the Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit comparisons. “They're rock bands that found rap,” says Cufi. “That's not us. We went the other way.”
Whatever they're doing, however they're achieving that crazy-cool mix, it's taking them places far beyond their roots in Houston (where they met as college students) and their adopted hometown of Atlanta. Originally a regional sensation in the Southeast, El Pus spent this past summer playing for 1,000-2,000 fans a night as the opening act on Real Big Fish's 48-date tour. Fans who had never heard of them before the show were lining up in droves to buy their CD.
Returning from that tour—their first major national exposure as live performers—El Pus performed at five rock festivals (before crowds of 5,000-10,000) in Europe, including events in Switzerland (where they headlined), Sweden, Belgium and London. Now, they're about to spend October and November on the road with legendary freethinking, counterculture icons The Kottonmouth Kings, peforming as one of KK's opening acts on their 40 -date Supporting Radical Habits tour. The tour kicks off at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana, California on October 13.
Their excitement and charisma extends to the visual realm as well. The video for “Suburb Thuggin',” an irreverent punk/hip-hop spoof on white suburbanite kids who try to act like boys from the ‘hood, received a ton of airplay on MTV 2 earlier this year. Though the song was not formally released as a single, a handful of modern rock stations across the country got word of it and spun it. Other tracks from Hoodlum Rock receiving attention are the party anthem “Monday Morning,” an inspirational joint (“Thing Thing,” which urges kids to be themselves and do what makes them happy, no matter how their peers perceive them) and the playful nostalgia piece “Days of the BK.”
Cufi explains the natural way he and Cosmo came upon their undefinable but undeniable sound. “The reason we called our debut Hoodlum Rock,” he says, “is that we wanted to define our own genre. When we first met, we wanted to be rap stars and were huge Public Enemy fans. We weren't thinking about rock, not till we started playing it later. Just when rap was reaching its golden era, the market got saturated and a lot of the groups started sounding the same. That's when grunge was getting out there, and we loved Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. Later, we caught up on classic rock bands like the Beatles, and these mixed influences laid the foundation for our future sound.”
Cufi and Cosmo officially formed El Pus (original name: Awkward Stylistics) in the late 90's, bonded by their mutual desire to create music that was progressive, energetic and uncompromising. Both wrote, rapped, sang and produced beats on early El Pus songs until their musical curiosity also led them beyond the traditional instruments, turntables and samplers of hip-hop. "We started to mess around with the guitar and the bass," says Cosmo. "We'd know how to play just enough to play into a sampler and loop it."
Soon after they started to play gigs around Atlanta—they'd eventually open for GZA (from Wu Tang Clan), Public Enemy, Kool Keith and Prince Paul—El Pus caught the ear of Speech, the former front-man of Grammy-winning rap group Arrested Development. Speech urged Cufi and Cosmo to record a demo, and set them up with studio time, money and resources.
But then like a key plot point moment out of a movie fantasy, something happened that would change the group's sound and direction forever: someone stole their sampler!
"We had booked a studio session to record our demo," Cufi recalls. "We had all our equipment in there and also some of the instruments we used. But mainly we were just working with the sampler. Whoever took the MPC left the guitar and bass. Cosmo and I just said F*** it. We had booked the studio time already. We called up a guy we knew to be a drummer and started to jam, me on guitar, Cosmo on bass. When we started adding vocals over it, we knew we had something."
They went on to record over 20 songs in that time period, rumbling jams that mixed a rock aesthetic, a soul groove, rap lyricism and punk energy. "I don't know what happened but it really worked," says Cosmo. "All of our songs are meant to be played loud and when we got the instruments in the mix, it translated that attitude that was underneath our songs the whole time."
El Pus was signed to its first record deal in 1999, when megaproducer Matt Serletic inked them to his Arista imprint Melisma Records; Serletic brought the band on board when he became president of Virgin Records.
As for their name (remember, it rhymes with LOOSE!): “El Pus?” Cufi says. “that just means “The Sh**!” “You know,” adds Cosmo, “the new kind of sound people are waiting for.” Back to Cufi: “Our energy is a mixture of pure ‘hood energy mixed with the natural energy of rock and roll. We're definitely black, but we play punk, rock and alternative music. At the end of the day, if you have 30 traditional rap rock groups and a band like ours, we're the one that's gonna stand out"
EL PUS 2005 U.S. Tour Dates
10/13/2005 Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana, CA
10/14/2005 Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
10/15/2005 The Rock Tucson, AZ
10/16/2005 House of Blues San Diego, CA
10/20/2005 Key Club Los Angeles, CA
10/22/2005 Crossroads@House of Blues Las Vegas, NV
10/24/2005 Slim's San Francisco, CA
10/26/2005 Loveland Portland, OR
10/27/2005 El Corazon Seattle, WA
10/28/2005 Big Easy Boise, ID
10/29/2005 In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT
10/30/2005 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
10/31/2005 Sokol Auditorium Omaha, NE
11/02/2005 Playmakers Pavilion Fargo, ND
11/03/2005 The Quest Club Minneapolis, MN
11/04/2005 Memorial Hall Kansas City, KS
11/05/2005 Pops Annex Sauget, IL
11/06/2005 Intersection Grand Rapids, MI
11/08/2005 Bogart's Cincinnati, OH
11/09/2005 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
11/10/2005 House of Blues Chicago, IL
11/11/2005 St. Andrews Detroit, MI
11/12/2005 Mr. Smalls Theater Millvale, PA
11/13/2005 Peabody's Cleveland, OH
11/15/2005 Avalon Ballroom Boston, MA
11/16/2005 Webster Theatre Hartford, CT
11/17/2005 BB King's Blues Club and Grill New York City, NY
11/18/2005 Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
11/19/2005 Recher Theatre Towson, MD
11/21/2005 Chameleon Club Lancaster, PA
11/22/2005 Norva Theatre Norfolk, VA
11/23/2005 The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
11/25/2005 Fuel Nightclub Daytona Beach, FL
11/26/2005 Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
11/27/2005 State TheatreSt. Petersburg, FL
11/29/2005 Engine Room Houston, TX
11/30/2005 The Parish Austin, TX
12/01/2005 Galaxy Dallas, TX
12/02/2005 Green Door Oklahoma City, OK
12/03/2005 Sunshine Theatre Albuquerque, NM
"We are crunk music - with amps and guitars," says Cufi, one fifth of the group EL PUS.
Move over, Lil Jon'. Step on this meteor, Linkin Park . How's this for a collision course, Jay-Z? This is the ultimate mash-up: the world of EL PUS (pronounced "El Poose"), the Atlanta-based band fronted by vocalists and producers Cufi and Cosmo, and also featuring lead guitarist C.J. (aka Johnny Rock), bassist "the Woodchuck," and drummer Young Pete. Their debut album,
Hoodlum Rock (Volume 1), is a hodge-podge of musical styles fluently expressed with hip-hop attitude and punk-rock energy.
Some bands enjoy the formulas, the labels and the predictability. But EL PUS defiantly shun the categories, smashing the rules and regulations of what music should be with a bold disposition.
"We like to mix sh** up," explains Cufi, succinctly.
Cufi and Cosmo first formed EL PUS in the late 90's. Their friendship – as well as their musical foundation – was built on a mutual love of a wide variety of music from N.W.A to Led Zeppelin. Above all else, they were bonded by a desire to create music that was progressive, energetic and uncompromising.
Both Cufi and Cosmo wrote, rapped, sang and produced beats on early EL PUS songs until their musical curiosity also led them beyond the traditional instruments, turntables, samplers, etc…of Hip-Hop. "We started to mess around with the guitar and the bass," says Cosmo. "We'd know how to play just enough to play into a sampler and loop it."
EL PUS started to play around the city of Atlanta , a place that embraces musical mash-ups. Soon, they caught the ear of Speech, the former front-man of Grammy-winning rap group Arrested Development. Speech believed in Cufi and Cosmo, urging them to record a demo and setting them up with studio time, money and resources.
But then something happened that would change the group's sound and direction forever.
"We had booked a studio session to record our demo," Cufi recalls. "We had all our equipment in there and also some of the instruments we used. But mainly we were just working with the sampler." When they entered the studio, they had discovered their sampler had been stolen. "They left the guitar and the bass and just took the MPC," he says. So the boys of EL PUS did the only thing they knew how. "We just said F*** it. We had booked the studio time already. We called up a guy we knew to be a drummer and started to jam, me on guitar, Cosmo on bass. When we started adding vocals over it, we knew we had something."
Those sessions would lay down the foundation for EL PUS. They went on to record over 20 songs in that time period, rumbling jams that mixed a rock aesthetic, a soul groove, rap lyricism and punk energy. "I don't know what happened but it really worked," says Cosmo. "All of our songs are meant to be played loud and when we got the instruments in the mix, it translated that attitude that was underneath our songs the whole time."
That versatility in sound starts with Cufi and Cosmo, who still write lyrics and music for their songs on instruments they play themselves. They recruited the Woodchuck on bass, C.J. on guitar and Young Pete for the drums, and the young virtuosos opened up a new dimension for the band, both in sound and attitude.
It certainly comes across in EL PUS' raucous live show, which has earned them acclaim, accolades, no less than half-a-dozen citations for noise violations and several proposals of marriage. "We get buck wild on stage," proclaims Cosmo. With a band of rambunctious musicians locked and loaded to fill out their sound, EL PUS was finally able to deliver their songs with all the unbridled electricity that they were intended to be.
That energized spirit also comes across on Hoodlum Rock , the group's debut album. The dozen songs include some of those songs recorded during their initial sessions, mixing brashness and humor and rebellious attitudes. While Cufi and Cosmo are of the Hip-Hop generation, the genre is only one variable in the EL PUS equation. They are not an MC-fronted band, nor are they a slick rap-rock hybrid. They intricately stir their influences together, arming their weapons cache with as many styles as possible. Mostly, EL PUS rocks.
On "Suburb Thuggin'," for example, the group pulls the card of those who front - the ones who act tough but aren't - weaving their irreverence over a big, punk-hip hop track. "We make fun music, it's not always being serious all the time." "Days of the BK's" finds Cufi and Cosmo reminiscing on the innocence of their youth. "It's just us remembering things we did as kids, the finer moments we had growin' up." Another song, "Thing Thing," extols the virtues of individualism wrapped in the sugary sweetness of a catchy pop ditty. "It's about doing whatever you want to do - do your own thing," says Cufi.
Of course, there is the lingering question of the group's name, which Cufi and Cosmo address with a welcomed simplicity. "EL PUS? That just means, 'The Sh**!" exclaims Cufi. Well, of course. EL PUS does their "Thing Thing."
