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Where to begin is truly the question when it comes to the crew that is known as More Than Lights. You may have seen the group perform recently at the Cabooze, where they paired with hip-hop group Heiruspecs. This show sold out, as did the show before that at The Fine Line.
Natalie Fine, Zach Combs (a.k.a. Big Zach), Unicus, Reuben Rodrigues, Matiu Unega, Corey Hess and Joshua Jellyfish make up what is known as More Than Lights. The group came together in full force in 2006, when the band formed into what it is today. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Natalie, Zach, Josh, and Corey for an interview in December.
Corey, Matiu and Natalie went to high school together at the Perpich Center for Arts Educations. Corey sounded excited to tell the story of how the group first got together.
“It was kind of a cool situation how the band technically became what it was,” Corey said.
When talking about the bands beginnings, Corey explained that himself and Matiu were in a band at Perpich when the group The Three Kings sat in on one of their practices and liked what they heard.
“We finished playing our song and (Adam’s) like, ‘Man, you guys really sound great,’ and this and that and he’s like, ‘I’m just gonna throw it out there, I’m in a group called The Three Kings. Were opening for the Black Eyed Peas in two weeks, do you guys wanna be our live back-up band?”
The band was eager to play their first live show. They worked with The Three Kings for the next year or so until the group opened up for Heiruspecs at the Quest Night Club in 2004, where Mat and Corey flagged Big Zach down and asked if Kanser would be interested in working with a live band. The next week things started to fall into place.
Corey was excited to say, “We put together a practice, or just kind of a jam session, to see how it felt and things just immediately clicked.”
Natalie joined the group in 2006. That was when the sound of More Than Lights came into full fruition. The sold out show at the Cabooze on December 17th of last year is proof of just how much the band has taken off in the last few years.
Big Zach and Unicus are also in a hip-hop group known as Kanser. Big Zach explained that Heiruspecs and Kanser were at one point in the same group.
“I came up with Heiruspecs,” Zach said. “We were in the same beat boy crew when we were kids, but they were from St. Paul and I was from Minneapolis.”
The show at the Cabooze on December 17th, brought 1,200 people into the small venue. It was the second largest audience Heiruspecs has ever performed for. More Than Lights finally had the chance to perform as a group with Heiruspecs.
“I had been trying to talk them (Heiruspecs) into doing a show with us for a while and then after we sold out the Fine Line this year they were like, alright, yeah that’s hot,” Big Zach explained.
When asked where the group get’s their inspiration for the lyrics and music, Corey said,
“Positive vibes and wherever we can find positive energy… and also just the type of people we’ve been surrounded by at Harmony Park and in our travels to different parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, around the area, all those kids that are like Harmony Park in their soul, if you will, and all those kids that have supported us and even in the hip-hop community too, that has just expanded throughout the mid-west. All the positive energy from them and from all the shows that we’ve done has just been fed right back into the music.”
Corey also explained Big Zach’s style of writing and lyrical expression.
“I think that’s a natural tendency of Zach’s right off the bat, is to be cool with just like sharing his life experience, and I think his threshold of what’s acceptable may be different than a lot of people’s, but I think it provides for truth.”
Natalie explained this in more depth. “People like hearing stories, and they can relate to it when it’s true.”
The team agreed about the importance of speaking about stories that are embarrassing or less desirable to share because it’s more truthful and real. As we all know, people get off on hearing about the hardships in other people’s lives. It brings the human connection to a deeper level when it is recognized that all people have problems.
Natalie added, “I can’t speak for Zach and Unicus, but I think generally the three of us write from a personal place and we write about our personal experiences first and foremost.”
Corey spoke, as a third-party viewer, about how unique he feels the chorus or feelings from a song are with three different perspectives thrown in the mix. Zach is from South Minneapolis, Unicus is from Haiti, and Natalie, who is also from South Minneapolis, has a Jewish background.
Natalie also spoke about the differences in age; genders and races as well.
“I feel like we’re pretty varied across the scale. All of us are from different backgrounds throughout the band and I think that’s something that really adds a special flavor to More Than Lights… We’re family.”
The group gets together at least two times a week to practice, which I can only imagine is difficult with everyone having daytime jobs, except Big Zach. Zach was proud to share that he does not have a daytime job.
Zach does, however, have another source of income with his recently published book, Headspin, Headshots & History: Growing up in Twin Cities Hip Hop, which was edited by Josh. Almost 500 books sold within 3 weeks of its December 1st, 2011 release.
A copy of this book can be purchased at the Electric Fetus, checked out at the Minneapolis Public Library or purchased from Zach himself. The group agreed that Zach was one of the first to start selling CD’s out of his backpack. It sounds like he is keeping the tradition strong.
More Than Lights has two albums out, both of which were recorded and produced by Corey. The first album, released in 2009, is a full length Album titled The Electronic Prescription For All Your Funky Illz. Two of these songs were featured on the season finale of “The Real World: New Orleans”.
The second album, Fun’s On Our Team, is an EP that was released on January 21st of 2011. The release party sold out at The Fine Line Music Café.
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More Than Lights – Fun’s On Our Team EP Release Show
From this album, the group created their first music video with the song “Deja Voodoo.” Some may find it interesting to know that Dustin Thomas, a local musician himself, is the main character in the video.
Josh had a difficult time at first choosing one song to pick off the album. After a bit of consideration, though, Josh was able to choose the song “Look Around” off the first album.
“I just remember hearing when Natalie wrote a verse to it, being in the practice room and then hearing that, it was just like, I had this feeling. The hairs on the back of my neck went up, and I was thinking, ‘this is the most epic, amazing thing ever,’ like if you take something from my brain and put it out there, and then not only is it as good as it seemed in my head but it’s even better.”
Josh hopped on board with the band a few days before a show at First Ave. A heavy music background; Josh was used to playing music in front of judges who critiqued his every move.
“I didn’t like it at all, and that’s one of the reasons why I never really wanted to play music, because I would go to these auditions and I would go to these competitions and… it’s like a completely different experience. It feel’s really dead, almost like you’re a zombie.”
Josh explained how different the Minneapolis music scene is because the audience members and crowds feel so alive and bring a positive energy that reinforces what the music is representing and pushing.
The group continues to grow in popularity, especially with more than 100 performances in the last year under their belt. When asked how many of those were festival shows, Zach replied, “Not as many as we wish.”
With two official tours finished and an impressive array of festival performances, More Than Lights looks forward to another summer full of festivals. They already have participated in festivals such as : Saw Tooth, SoundTown, Shangri-La and Bella Fiore.
More Than Lights have some pretty big plans for the year 2012. They are planning a big local event in the spring & summer, to release a new album, and also to create another music video, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. On top of all that, More Than Lights was recently named best band of the year at 2012 Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards.
The crew just returned from a week-long tour in Montana with Roster McCabe. Hopefully there will be more shows this month in the Twin Cities area. We will definitely continue to hear great things coming from More Than Lights. No doubt about it.
For more information: http://morethanlights.blogspot.com/