Scapegoat Wax

If you’d have checked in with Marty James, the mastermind behind Scapegoat Wax, a year ago you’d have found him in one of two places: making beats and recording in his bedroom, or playing a college house party somewhere around Chico State. Since signing with Grand Royal things haven’t changed much; he’s spent the last year in the proverbial bedrooms of Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys), Mickey P (Beck), and Eric Valentine (Smashmouth) singing, recording, and producing songs such as “Aisle 10”, “Freeway”, and “Space to Share”, respectively, for the album OKEEBLOW, due on Grand Royal/Virgin June 19th, 2001.

Scapegoat Wax’s OKEEBLOW, which according to Marty could mean “An okie like me from the sticks, singin’ – you know – blowin’”, glides from pop to hip hop and back again, skipping genres without jumping the rails. It’s a soundtrack only a kid from a small place could create, containing pop rock and hip hop influences filtered through a truly gifted songwriter.

“Hello, Allison, I wanna hold your hand.” goes “Aisle 10”, the first single from the album. It’s the refreshingly humble (and of course true) tale of Marty pursuing a woman who frequents the store he used to work at. Produced by Marty along with Beastie Boys’ producer Mario C, the track’s funky beat, out of tune guitar, and a chorus that’s difficult to stop singing once it’s over make it a perfect introduction to the world of Scapegoat Wax. “Aisle 10 touches on all the genres you’ll hear in the rest of OKEEBLOW,” says Marty. “The rest of the record branches off from here.”

The Eric Valentine produced song “Perfect Silence” showcases Marty’s incredible melodic and vocal prowess as he sings about the power of non-verbal communication in a relationship. More melodies flow on “Crawling”, a slower track which in its finished form lives on a bed of guitar and boom-bap beats, but started as quick stream of consciousness. “I wrote it quite a while ago, without any music. It really came out quickly – in about 20 minutes.” Marty says. The touching “Space to Share” tells the story of two homeless people who lived on the steps in front of his house. But the album isn’t all hooks and choruses. The serious and selfless ode to his mother “Light of the Moon”, the effortlessly smooth funk of “Freeway” and hard-hitting “Eardrum” feature Marty as a unique MC with songwriting in his soul. Also, while this is an album rich with pop sensibilities, it was built using tools from the hip hop world. “All of my songs start off on the SP 1200 (sampler),” explains Marty. “I use the MPC 3000 (sampler) to take them to the next level, and by the time I get to the studio the song is pretty much finished in the MPC, all that’s left is to add live guitars, bass, or whatever’s needed.” There’s nothing else quite like OKEEBLOW.

Growing up in Northern California, Marty started making music when he was 12, inspired by his rural hometown full of students and old-school hippies. “It’s an honest place,” he says of Chico. “I saw the humble side of a small town, which comes through in my music. I’m not into flashy and I think that came from growing up in Chico.”

Marty wrote his first song, “Running Like A Criminal,” when he was 13. Two years later, he was booking himself studio time in San Francisco with money he’d saved from birthdays. There he learned how to use sequencers and drum loops and started recording his first demos. In 1999 Scapegoat Wax finally released their first album, “Luxurious”, on Goodvibe Records. Shortly thereafter Beastie Boys’ visionary label Grand Royal came courting, encouraging Marty to dive deeper into his singing and songwriting. We think you’ll be pleased with the outcome