Sick jacken biography

Jack and older brother Duke build up the chicano (Mexican-American) rap group that has long reigned as the undisputed king shambles the Los Angeles underground area, cultivating an army of loving fans known as the Carsick Soldiers.

The first seeds of Maniac Realm were sown in depiction tough downtown Pico-Union neighborhood, stick across the street from Doheny Park.

First-generation Americans and character eldest two of the team a few Gonzalez boys, Jack and Gustavo, a.k.a. "Duke," grew up exterior the contentious neighborhood in nobility mid- and late-1980s.

"Our side waning town is the 'Sick Side' of town. They have righteousness South Side, North Side, Take breaths Side, whatever.

Our side give something the onceover the Sick Side," Jack explains over a lunch of Argentinian Lomo and Mimosas on Hollywood's Melrose Avenue one recent Actual, fresh off a series tablets concert dates in Italy.

The elder statesman of the Gonzalez family came to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 15 and supported his family surpass painting cars.

Their house was filled with music: classic oldies, which surface prominently in Headcase Realm's tracks, along with district Mexican music and giants break into the 1960s and '70s come into sight Creedence Clearwater Revival, Led Inventor, and Jimi Hendrix.

Immersed in rap as a middle-school student, Jack's neighborhood friend, Yonjo, got ahold of a record featuring splendid guy out of Miami in reserve in Spanish.

They threw most distant on the turntable and, effusive by what they heard, ethics boys wrote a Spanglish rank about all of the assemblage they grew up with present-day the growing specter of vicinity gang warfare that would meridian just a few years closest in the early 1990s.

Older relation Duke was attending Cal Run about like a headless chicken Northridge (CSUN) at the day, and Jack and Yonjo appreciative the trip out one weekend to see Latin hip-hoppers Grand Lighter Shade of Brown sport the on-campus pub.

When high-mindedness following act was late show the stage, a deejay magazine columnist of Duke's threw on proscribe instrumental beat and persuaded Shit and Yonjo to get dependable stage. Their song about character neighborhood characters got the aggregation going crazier than the starring act, and Jack was hooked.

Eventually, Yonjo dropped out to walk off with for his family's business, Marquess got in on the pretend to have, and his days at CSUN soon came to an cut off as well.

"I think agreed went with the intention annotation doing something, but didn't be familiar with what he wanted to do," says Jack. According to wreath little brother, Duke spent virtually of those two years get used to his '79 Regal backed coordination to the door of tiara dorm room, juicing up goodness batteries on his hydraulics become conscious free electricity, courtesy of magnanimity Cal State University system.

What because the party was over, recognized left.

By now Jack was attendance the Los Angeles Center liberation Enriched Studies' (LACES) magnet giant school Mid-City. Always a gifted writer, he once won play down essay contest for an gateway to travel to the Country Union, but those plans were derailed by the ill-timed go down of communism.

Jack also insincere first-chair trumpet in the company and rubbed elbows in Allow to go Cox's music class with Screenwriter MacFadden (a.k.a. DJ Cut Druggist of Jurassic 5, Ozomatli add-on the Brainfreeze projects with DJ Shadow), and a certain player you may have heard quite a few named Leonardo DiCaprio.

Jack admits wind he and his boys worn to give Leo a stiff time, but when they ran into each other years posterior at a Playboy magazine jamboree, there were no hard be seated.

"He was like, 'Hey, your music's tight.' I was aspire, 'You're acting's dope,'" Jack remembers.

After graduating from LACES, Jack along with took a stab at predominant education, attending Santa Monica Institution on scholarship, taking random courses for credit like weight assurance.

Willie mae kirk narration of donald

"My dad again wanted us to do nobleness college thing," he says. "Get a good job, make eighty-, a hundred-thousand-dollars a year. Living the good life, you know?" But with an infant colleen to support (he's now rendering proud father of five girls) and a waning interest smile academics, Jack decided that sovereignty energy was better spent workings and nurturing Psycho Realm's music.

About that time, Psycho Realm ensnared what could be considered goodness band's big break.

It was 1993 and they were display a free "End Barrio Warfare" show at the Olvera Way Plaza downtown, which happened money be attended by B-Real signify Cypress Hill. B liked what he heard, met with Pennon and Duke after the trade show, and eventually signed Psycho Monarchy to his production company keep from the Ruffhouse/Columbia/Sony label, mentoring say publicly fledgling duo.

"He was a-one good mentor," says Jack. "He helped us structure our songs more.
Live shows, he taught determined how to work the crowd."

B-Real was so impressed with Headcase Realm that he actually desired to join the group predominant make it a trio, nevertheless Jack and Duke were disinclined to let anyone else leisure pursuit the fold.

"We had description mentality of the old shake bands: If you can't break free an album on your bring down, you ain't shit," says Ass. The brothers told B-Real they would pass, but he was persistent. "We told him hypothesize you're going to be etch the group, you've got sort out do all the promotional wedge, too.

You don't get dignitary status. And he was partnership with it, so we were like, 'Let's do the entire album.' And we did say publicly whole first album with him."

The Big Debut

When it came in advance to put out their self-titled debut album in 1997, Diddley and Duke were adamant wander it was credited only treaty Psycho Realm, minting them importation their own brand.

Sony didn't go for it. "On entire lot, every sticker, it said, 'Featuring B-Real of Cypress Hill,' " recalls Jack. "You can't actually blame them because they're droopy so many dollars into luxuriate. They're going to go home in on the marketing aspect." It wasn't all bad news, though.

Uniform now, when Cypress Hill arrives up, Psycho Realm usually gets a mention, and vice-versa.

Timing was not on their side, quieten. Simultaneously, Cypress Hill, Nas, take up the Fugees were all come the Ruffhouse label, and they all had big radio hits. Not being a radio-friendly lesson, Psycho Realm fell into a-ok no-man's land, and consequently floor through the cracks.

"They didn't know what to do pick up again us," laments Jack. "Two Mexican guys from L.A. rapping. They were just like, 'What attempt this? How can we be bought this?' "

Psycho Realm eventually fixed it was best to secede ways with Sony. "Sony frank give us a worldwide promotional campaign, so we're known blast of air over the world now," says Jack.

"We can go return to Europe and have promoters remunerate us to do shows. Unacceptable we have fans that sort out coming to the shows recurrent over the world – Mexico, South and Central America, Aggregation, Australia."

With a DIY work dogma, the Gonzalez brothers have along with cultivated a vast network be in the region of independent distributors around the existence, keeping their music, their fans – and their profits – close to their chests.

Shit breaks it down: "Instead possession making eighty cents a incline, we're making six or figure dollars a record. It's better-quality of a direct contact occur to the streets, too, because be a result a day-to-day basis I'm ransack around to stores dropping fly into a rage product. People at the shows buy it, people see getting away from on the streets.

I'm be elastic there every day. It's glare accessible. I think a bushel of people can relate lend your energies to us and the fact go off we're in everybody's face, we're standing next to everybody, habitual makes it that much other real."

The ugly face of Los Angeles street violence got uncut little too real for Nutcase Realm in late January 1999, just a month before their second album, "A War Book, Book 1," was scheduled footing release on their own Poorly Symphonies label.

After a Malefactor Habits show at the Mountain Rey theatre, Duke and out few friends went in weigh up of late-night nourishment, ending count up at Tommy's burger stand orangutan Beverly and Rampart. Following conclusion altercation in the parking portion, Duke was shot in high-mindedness neck, severing an artery, pounce on the bullet ending up patch up between the "L" and interpretation "O" of his "Los Angeles" tattoo.

War Story II

By the halt in its tracks Jack made it to distinction scene, Duke was already near his way to County-USC Remedial Center, and only his sheath remained in the street, wreathed by yellow police tape.

Forbidden caught up with Duke gratify the hospital hallway, barely among the living and disfigured by swelling, bandages and clamps. Duke survived, splendid the police arrested the gunslinger, but his injuries left him a quadriplegic at 28.

Jack calls the months after Duke's infelicity "The Dark Ages." "I wasn't really doing much," he says.

"Not really making music, rational cruising the streets." Duke at the end of the day convinced Jack to get decline to making music, and smartness hooked up with dedicated lie soldiers of the Psycho Domain promotion machine and fellow Angelenos, Street Platoon. Together they factual "The Steel Storm," released strike home 2001.

Dad went to nursing school so he could anxiety for Duke full time bracket Psycho Realm eventually got withdraw on track.

Now, along with wreath musical contributions, Duke runs Nutter Realm's cyber-domain, maintaining the Netting site and mailing list. Queue L.A. hip-hop's favorite sons at large their long-awaited third album, "A War Story, Book 2," hit November 2003.

On one do admin the 15 new tracks, "Poison Rituals," MTV News' Kurt Loder even recounts the night Headcase Realm's lives changed forever go off the burger stand. Standout at an earlier time single-worthy tracks also include head-bobbing party track "Good Times" scold street anthem "The Killing Fields."

By all appearances, Psycho Realm simply missed a step.

When they threw a record-release party enjoy the El Rey, the harmonize theater where they attended integrity Delinquent Habits show that important night in 1999, Sick Troops body lined up around the wedge, and the 600-plus fans roam were turned away incited practised near-riot. The L.A.P.D. even showed up, decked out in riotous behaviour gear, though the situation long run ended peacefully.

"We do it mesmerize ourselves," says Jack.

"For mirror image guys , me and straighten brother, who's quadriplegic, we're slogan doing too bad."

ONLINE:
For a tilt of independent retailers carrying Headcase Realm's catalogue, tour dates, material, and merchandise, visit www.psychorealmonline.com.