Sage Francis
Tour Dates
Wed 02/04/04 Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
Thu 02/05/04 Burlington, VT Club Metronome
Fri 02/06/04 Boston, MA The Matrix
Sat 02/07/04 New York, NY Knitting Factory
Mon 02/09/04 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Wed 02/11/04 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Thu 02/12/04 Charlotte, NC The Room
Fri 02/13/04 Atlanta, GA Echo Lounge
Sat 02/14/04 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbit's
Sun 02/15/04 Miami, FL I/O
Mon 02/16/04 Orlando, FL Back Booth
Tue 02/17/04 Gainesville, FL Market Street Pub
Wed 02/18/04 New Orleans, LA Parish @ House of Blues
Fri 02/20/04 Austin, TX Emo's
Sat 02/21/04 Denton, TX Live Room
Sun 02/22/04 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory
Mon 02/23/04 Santa Fe, NM The Paramount
Tue 02/24/04 Tempe, AZ Club Freedom
Thu 02/26/04 San Diego, CA Canes
Fri 02/27/04 West Hollywood, CA The Troubadour
Sat 02/28/04 San Francisco, CA Slim's
Sun 02/29/04 Eugene, OR W.O.W. Hall
Mon 03/01/04 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
Tue 03/02/04 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
Thu 03/04/04 Salt Lake City, UT Albee Square
Fri 03/05/04 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
Sat 03/06/04 Fort Collins, CO Aggie Theatre
Mon 03/08/04 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
Tue 03/09/04 Iowa City, IA Gabe's Oasis
Wed 03/10/04 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Thu 03/11/04 Madison, WI Luther's Blues
Fri 03/12/04 Milwaukee, WI The Rave / Eagles Ballroom
Sat 03/13/04 Chicago, IL Abbey Pub
Sun 03/14/04 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Tue 03/16/04 Lansing, MI Temple Club
Fri 03/19/04 Providence, RI Lupo's At The Strand
- Do
you recall the subjects of your first raps? How were they recieved
by the people who best knew you?
"My first rap was about how I would punch your face if you ever got close to me. I recited it to my grandmother at a Chinese restaurant and she was appalled. After that all my songs were about this one russian kid in my 6th grade class. Dis raps. Cold war rhetoric. Then all I did was sex raps for a while. My friends like the Dis raps and sex raps a lot. I could go on forever like this, but I digress."
- For people who may not know can you explain some of the battles you've won
and explain a little more about the differences between an MC battle and the
National Poetry Slam.
"I won my highschool's MC Battle of the month two consecutive times. At the time it wasn't called an MC Battle but it is better for my publicity if I call it that. It was actually a spelling bee. The difference between a Spelling Bee and the National Poetry Slam is that...poets can't spell for shit. "
- Your upcoming Sage/Non Prophets tour is named
"The Fuck Clear Channel Tour". Does the title have a specific meaning geared
just for you or is it that you want to bring attention to the fact that a
corporation like Clear Channel is
fucked up?
"I think it's kinda gangsta that I am doing a 40 date tour of the USA called FUCK CLEAR CHANNEL and that title will be on posters and in publications. I am successful without their bullshit, thank you very much."
- Is this the first time touring with Joe Beats?
Will he be playing music for you or will you have the Live Band this outing? Basically what can people
expect on this tour?
"Yes, sir. Joe Beats is actually part of the live band. He will also be on hypeman duties during the Non-Prophets set. That is if the girl's can keep their meet hooks off his nose after the live set. We are going with acoustic instruments and hard ass 808 drums. Some very familliar sounds in the beat dept, some unheard of shit in the music dept. If I can get this projector working I will also be displaying images of my dick dressed up in silly little outfits."
- Do you have any stories about a live performance that maybe went a little
south on you?
"To be honest, adversity tends to create a great situation for my style of performance. My worst show may have been in some small town of Massachusettes. I played in a church or some shit. And I had some drunk kid come on stage and I took off my pants and then he started dancing all sexy on a chair. Turns out it was a mainly gay campus. I didn't know. Regardless, I had my pants around my waist and a kid dancing all sexy on my chair. And then I slapped him and pushed him off stage. All this great shit happened and there was no response from the crowd at all. I guess that's a good example of a show going south?"
- The new CD "Sickly Business" was just released
on the non-prophets site. Is it a lot of Non-Prophets stuff that didn't make the album?
"No, although there are two songs on it that we decided didn't fit well on the HOPE album. One is too political and one is too personal. That's not what we were going for with HOPE. But, like the rest of the cds in the Sick of Waiting series, it is a compilation of older material, unreleased tracks, freestyles, live performances, and material that appears on other people's projects. I am also proud to present the music and poetry of a couple friends of mine, because it's hard for people to get their hands on truly original and uncompromising material."
- Do you produce? If so do you have any aspirations of making an entirely
self-produced album or are you happy with other people handling most of the music?
"Yes, sir. I am definitely happy with other people handling my music because it allows me to focus on everything else, but I am more than capable of producing an entire album on my own. Maybe I will get to sit in a cave for 10 years and come out with an album called Autonomy."
- Any thoughts you'd like to share on America's fast food consumption?
"I do not blame people for eating fast food. It is affordable. I've been there. I lived off of Dunkin Donuts bagels for YEARS. I simply did not have enough money to eat HEALTHY. Well...what fast food does is it gives you access to unhealthy food at a very cheap price. I blame companies who are responsible for serving such unhealthy food. I blame companies who lack ethics in many areas of their business. We are surrounded by fast food, and most people don't make enough money to look beyond it. It is very rare for me to eat fast food these days because I actually have the money to own a house with a fridge to keep the expensive healthy food in before I take it out and place it in the oven and turn on the gas to cook it."
- What do you think of the news the new Eyedea & Abilities
album will be distributed by Epitaph?
"That's a strange question. I think....Epitaph has a deal with Rhymesayers Entertainment to distribute the records of their artists. I am out of that loop though. My world has been very shielded from what other people are doing and I don't know if it is great or not."
- The artwork on the Non-Prophets album is one of the best packages I've
seen. Did you guys come up with the design? Is there any explanation to the meaning of it all?
"It was a concept I gave the art guy at Lex Records. He brought it to life. Jesus on an anchor...kick ass. haha."
- Do you have any messages for random kids who want to battle or does the
intro to Garden Gnomes sum it up pretty well?
"If you battle me you will not win. So make sure you come prepared with a tail between your legs and plenty of faggot jokes. Just kidding...you're the best. Don't ever doubt your dick size."
Click Here for Garden Nomes Sound Clip. Real Media Format.
- What's coming up next for you?
"The Fuck Clear Channel Tour, a European tour, but mostly I am concentrating on my Epitaph album. I have been doing a lot of writing and the production is coming along. I am not excited to go through the process of what it takes to make an album complete, but it's about that time."
Anyone you want to say hi or fuck you to here?
"If anyone has stickers (preferably smurf stickers) and would like to get on my good side, please send them to:
Sage Francis
PO Box 2509
Providence, RI 02906
USA
thanks!"