The Gateway Drug: Siouxland's Choice Awards Interview

Here is the full transcript of the latest Siouxland Weekender interview with The Gateway Drug, celebrating the group's fourth win in five years being named "Top Hip-Hop Musician / Band" in an annual poll of readers. (Conducted by Kay Kemmet.)

Kay Kemmet: How do you become the best local Hip-Hop band/musician?

The Gateway Drug: Pro tips: Play a lot of shows (anywhere and everywhere), give away a lot of free CDs, promote online and try to diversify the crowds and scenes you play to. A lot of shaking hands and kissing babies, too. Just never confuse the two.

Starting outrageous rumors about yourself can also boost your population. For example- I'm sure you well know that DJ Poyo is more than capable of eating 80 pancakes in one sitting...sitting atop a moving train, that it, without spilling a drop of syrup.

KK: How do you manage to stay on top?

GwD: We always strive to play more shows than anyone else in our genre (as hard to define as The Gateway Drug may be genre-wise) to as many different crowds as possible. We joke about being available for bar mitzvah and quinceañera bookings, but it's not that far off. We've performed at colleges, the Southern Hills Mall, a coffee shop, house parties, radio shows and many other atypical venues aside from a pub or bar.
In addition, word of mouth gets around; people recognize our name even if they've never listened to our music.

KK: Describe the music you make.

GwD: Emotionally poetic words painted within eclectic and uncontrollable Hip-Hop beats.

KK: How is what you do different from what other Sioux City bands are doing?

GwD: We don't take a cookie-cutter approach to making music. Just look at us; we can't possibly fit any mold if we tried. We stay true to our roots in putting out songs that have deeper personal meanings in a world full of shallow music. We don't rely on gimmicks or appeal strictly to the masses. We generally weird out the masses. And we like that.

KK: What are your musical aspirations?

GwD: The ideal goal is to make enough money to support our families by doing what we love: music. Touring, recording, living the dream...
And even if that never happens, The Gateway Drug hopes to continue to progress and stay passionate about the music.

KK: How does winning this award make you feel?

GwD: It's a great feeling to know that other people appreciate our message and can relate to the daily struggles and higher issues we tackle within our music. Moments like this help us push on and confirm that all the long hours spent writing, recording, mixing and rehearsing are well worth the effort.

KK: What else is new with your band?

GwD: Since releasing "Two Dogs and a Dragon", we've been spreading around a new bootleg called "INTENTS MIX", made up of previously unreleased songs. But the main focus is working on a few top secret collaborations with local emcees and musicians to finish our forthcoming "Life Mid-Crisis" album. We are also trying to integrate our shows with the Alternative Rock scene to bring a Hip-Hop/live band fusion at our already high-energy shows.

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The Gateway Drug, along with The Kelly Quinn Band, Red Dirty Turkeys and Emily Johnson & the Audacity Blues Band will celebrate being voted Siouxland's best musicians at the Siouxland Choice Awards Party Thursday March 6 at Vangarde Arts (420 Jackson Street, Sioux City). Doors open at 6:00 PM. $10 cover to check out four winning bands from four different genres (Hip-Hop, Blues, Rock and Country)!