Panacea Creating the Cure | Amalgam Digital Blog

Panacea Creating the Cure Artist: Panacea Interviewer: Dru Garrity

Panacea Creating the Cure

Interviewed by Dru Garrity 07-13-07

AmalgamDigital.com: So why did you chose the name Panacea?

K-Murdock: The name came from me studying word origins and etymology in college, the word is Greek rooted and means cure-all… I thought it be cool to use for a group name cuz music has always been my remedy for any and everything in regards to my own life, so we rolled with it!

Raw Poetic: Yeah, now tell me we aint the coolest geeks you ever met!

AmalgamDigital.com: How did the group come together?

K-Murdock: Me and Raw P met through a coworker of mines named Kory back in 2k3, Kory told me his roommate rhymed and was lookin to collaborate with a producer, thus I slid Jason (Raw P) a beat cd and the beat he liked the most turned out to be “Birdfeather”. After we recorded that, I was like “yo man, we should do a side project… and I decided to use “Panacea” as the name… 4 years and 3 albums later… here we are.

Raw Poetic: Alright! KB has gotten enough props here. But it is true. I was (and sill do) playing with my band Restoring Poetry in Music (RPM). I like to write a lot, so I needed that extra outlet. And Doc had the right prescription. Wow! The lines get cheesier and cheesier.

AmalgamDigital.com: Who are your influences?

K-Murdock: For me as a producer, it ranges from the usual hip-hop suspects (Dilla, Pete Rock, Premo) to cats who like Nicolay, Dj Spinna, and Nujabes who all are ill arrangers and fuse a bit of a spaceyness with the soul to create some dope music. I also am a BIG Quincy Jones fan. Outside of music, things like anime, nature, and just normal life experience influences what I construct sonically.

Raw Poetic: Lack of sleep, pill popping, depression, and, nice people! I kidd, I kidd!!! As I get older, so does my musical taste. And since most albums are stories, I’m getting into film scores. I love Punch Drunk Love’s soundtrack. And I hate the movie “Harry Potter”, but the soundtrack is simply wonderful!

AmalgamDigital.com: How did the group hook up with Glow in The Dark Records?

K-Murdock: Funny enough, we linked up with GITD via Myspace.com… I sent their flagship group (Time Machine) a friend request, they accepted and checked our music out.., 3 months later, we were signing our first ever contract and we been rollin 2 years DEEP.

Raw Poetic: I met the Glow in the Dark dudes in New York! After a few hours of observation, I finally understood the meaning…

AmalgamDigital.com: What was it like dropping an album on the new Rawkus?

K-Murdock: It was surreal to have an album out with the famed Rawkus Razorblade on the back, especially after spending the bulk of my college radio years playing and canonizing the Rawkus catalogue… though a lot has changed since the first run of the label, it still means a lot and its an honor as well as a dream come true to help establish a new era for the label.

Raw Poetic: You mean Glow in the Dark Records? Its been a real experience!

AmalgamDigital.com: Will you have any guest appearances on the new album?

K-Murdock: Aside from featured musicians (namely Aaron Gause and Patrick Fritz from Panacea’s live backing band RPM) the guest appearances are limited to vocalists (Jive artists raheem Devaughn and indie folk singer Thao Nguyen) and one guest emcee who happens to be Raw P’s cousin, Pointblank, who also furnished the ill front cover artwork too.

Raw Poetic: I think I get a 24 hour crush on every single woman I meet. I met Thao, and then wrote “Walk in The Park”. And when you know you can’t tell a girl she inspired a song, make her sing on it.

AmalgamDigital.com: Who is doing production?

K-Murdock: ALL PRODUCTION or soundscaping is handled by me, K-Murdock… it’s a 2 man effort, all beats by me, and all rhymes by Raw P… that’s it, Panacea!

Raw Poetic: As you can see, Doc don’t fuck around on this subject. So all producers give up on adding beats to a Panacea album. This dude WILL use that Rawkus razor Blade!

AmalgamDigital.com: What do you think of the current hip-hop scene?

K-Murdock: Too many cats screamin “REAL HIP-HOP”, its annoyin cuz if you and what u do is really REAL, u need not say it at all, cuz its just understood and respected. I would mention the lack of balance on the radio and video screens or lack of cats really trying new progressive things with the music, but you guys already know that’s the case… right?!? Haha

Raw Poetic: ohhh. The old current state of hip-hop question, eh! In the infamous words from the Russian Dude in Rocky, “If he dies.., he dies!” If hip-hop was Apollo Creed, I’m the Russian dude… and that was meant to make no sense.

AmalgamDigital.com: Do you think the internet has or will destroy the music industry?

K-Murdock: With the current state of the industry and sales being down in cds and consumers distrusting the majors and the artists they back, I think god for the internet, cuz it allows the previously unheard to have a voice and build a fanbase just via myspace and youtube, its easy to get ya music heard, it just better be good when it is… plus, its just a sign of the times… any time a new medium comes out that significantly impacts the way we buy and sell our music, these kinda questions and concerns almost always arise… we embrace the change and just keep focusin on making good music, that’ll NEVER change!!!

Raw Poetic: Unless one of us has a sex change like one of the dudes who did the matrix! Then we’ll start doing jungle remixes of all our songs and dress like Morpheus and Neo. That would be dope!!!

AmalgamDigital.com: What are you working on next?

K-Murdock: We just wrapped recording the next album for 2008, and already are in pre-production for the 5th album for 2k9… so stay tuned. New projects comin from our camp like my instrumental series, “Mood Muzik”, Raw P’s solo album and a full length album from our band RPM called “Pyramids in Moscow” avail soon via digital download…

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 1:52 PM and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.