MC Lars: Halloween post-punk laptop rap

Fresh off a UK tour with Wheatus and summer’s Warped Tour, MC Lars is bringing his tongue-in-cheek white-boy rhymes (he calls it “post-punk laptop rap”) to The Merrow (1271 University Avenue, Hillcrest) on Thursday, October 31 for a special Halloween edition of the monthly Nerdcore Nights.

Despite his July, 2009 moratorium on nerdcore hip-hop (“I never self-identified as a ‘nerdcore rapper’ and always cringed when people said I was. Because I knew the end was in sight.), MC Lars tells the Reader: “The genre has stood the test of time — people get and like it. It's probably the closest approximation to what I do and some of my best friends are nerdcore artists so it's definitely a badge I wear with pride these days.”

"The Party Strikes Back" features fellow flow-friendly geeks MegaRan, K Murdoch, Professor Shy Guy, Amanda LePre, D&D Sluggers, and monster-themed burlesque performances from local lovelies Pink Boombox Burlesque.

Come flaunting your favorite Halloween cosplay attire (think Zombie Mario or Frankenstein Avatar) for a chance to win a $20 bar tab, the latest edition of The Walking Dead comic, and special merch from the performers.

“I personally love [nerdcore] because I grew up in Florida where rap and hip-hop are prevalent, so I like the music itself — I just could never identify with the content of the music, especially being an educated, self-respecting woman,” says Nerdcore Nights promoter Aubree Miller

“I always felt like I was betraying my womanhood or my intelligence by listening to mainstream rap or hip-hop and with artists like MC Lars or other nerdcore acts, I can appreciate the beats and the message at the same time and feel good about what I am listening to. I also grew up in the punk scene, so the DIY indie rapper aspect appeals to me as well — just doing it yourself and working hard for what you have.”

In anticipation of his Hillcrest Halloween appearance, MC Lars talks to the Reader about his punk roots, DIY music, and his own bookish genre of “lit-hop.”

Chad Deal: How has your punk background influenced your present career as an indie rapper?

MC Lars: Being a punk artist taught me how to book my own shows, design my own t-shirt and flyers and run my own label. I've always been pretty "hands on" with everything — thankfully, the spirit and energy of punk rock translates well to hip-hop.

CD: What does it mean to be an indie rapper or a DIY artist?

MC L: For the past decade (!), I've been putting out home-produced albums independently. The climate has never been better for an artist like me, I always was a fan of giving away my music before that became the norm, and it's resulted in my being able to make the kind of music when I want and how I want. Sites like Kickstarter have been a huge help because they allow me to monetize the brand in a way that I could never before.

CD: Tell me about lit-hop.

MC L: I've always been a fan of literature and when it struck me that poets wrote over a similar meter as hip-hop (the 4/4 breakbeat), it was really exciting. I do a lot of talks at schools and love bridging the indie rap and education world. We are working on a hip-hop kids' TV show with robots that travel through time to meet famous figures from history.

CD: Do you have any other classic author's works you intend on basing a record on?

MC L: I'd love to do Virgil, Milton and Eliot... there's always more Shakespeare ideas too! I want to do a full Shakespeare album. I love taking the dark authors' work and making music from that, since I am generally a happy guy. That's why I love Poe so much and definitely and am going to play a lot of Poe songs at the Halloween show.

Cover is $8 and the first 15 attendees get access to the Merrow’s new stage-side VIP lounge.