With a strong musical background, Slug Christ’s path towards success in the rap world has been an exciting one to follow. Just after the release of his project Judas’ Betrayal and the Three Day Burial of a Salted Slug, we got to speak with the Atlanta native on the project, his musical upbringing, mathcore, and the exciting new projects he has been working on.
photography by @bobbyleepalmer
Underground Underdogs: So I know you’ve touched upon this before, but I’m very curious about the origins of the name Slug Christ?
Slug Christ: The first time I called myself Slug Christ was in a song from my old band An Isle Ate Her called “Easy, Charles Pt 2.” There’s a lot of different ways to look at Slug Christ. A slug is a small, unwanted and insignificant creature. However insignificant it may be, the slug still leaves its mark on the world by leaving a trail of slime everywhere it goes. I find that endearing. I was born and raised in a strict southern Baptist house, so calling myself Christ was like the most blasphemous thing I could think of. Plus, I like something small and disgusting juxtaposed with something perfect and all knowing.
I love it. I think a lot of people are curious about your background in bands, particularly your “mathcore” bands. What was your experience being in bands like, and when did you make the transition to a solo act?
I started making music in bands when I was 14. Those first few bands were horrible, glorified cover bands. We’d play 5 covers of our favorite bands, than two original songs lol. It wasn’t until we started An Isle Ate Her that we started making justifiable and important stuff. I did vocals in those bands, and I think being in a few bands as the front man primed me for a rap career, because the two are basically the same thing. On top of being the vocalist in mathgrind bands, I also played guitar and sang in an indie/surf rock band, vocals/guitar in a classic hardcore punk band and other little various one off projects. I think having a background in all these different genres lends to my singular and unique style.
Do you feel like your vocal style has had to adapt over time for these various projects, or has your voice always been relatively the same?
My voice has always stayed the same, it’s just kinda more about figuring out how to implement it in the style you’re doing. Like, I couldn’t rap well when I first started, even though I had a long history of singing in a few different styles. I had to learn the right way to use my voice.
What was the appeal of mathrock for you? I’d imagine it’s a fairly difficult genre to get into.
I like math-whatever music for a few reasons. I like anything unique and math music is some of the most unique music you’ll ever hear. Also, I respect the musicianship. I’ve always been into music theory, so I love counting beats and figuring out the crazy time signatures they’re using.
That’s super interesting. When did you first learn an instrument?
I got my first guitar when I was 12, so I started pretty early; always knew I wanted to do music. I didn’t get a good understanding of it until I was like 17 though.
I’m very curious how you connected with everyone in Awful Records, because you definitely stand out to me on that label.
Well, when I doing An Isle Ate Her, the bassist in that band sold weed. I was chillin’ with him when Keith Charles came through to cop from my bassist. While we were there we showed each other our music and he really fucked with my shit. He told me he was playing a show that weekend. So, I went to the show and it turns out that it was an album release show for Ethereal’s album abstractica. So I met Ethereal at that show, then the next time I hung out with them it was at Father’s apartment, and that when I met Fat and sorta just met everyone else quickly after that.
Thank God for weed. I’m also really interested in how you and your manager Dommy Divine met up?
Dommy would send me clothes from his line, Divine Minds. He booked me for a show, then booked a few more, and just became my full time booking guy.
Being a more classically trained musician than many rappers, who are some of your favorite artists in the rap world?
Well, my favorite rappers don’t really have anything to do with musicianship. I like rappers mainly for things other than “skill”. They’re BasedGod, Wayne, Flocka, and Sosa.
Definitely classics. So do you feel like in some ways rap allows you to remove the pressure of musicianship? Or rather, does rap offer you more flexibility than other genres?
I actually feel like rap is one of the most limiting forms of music, especially when you include what people wanna hear. Now, it’s like if you aren’t rapping in triplets about selling drugs, no one’s gonna listen to you.
I definitely agree with that, that’s absolutely why you stand out so much, with your lyrics about religion, the universe, and addiction. What’s your response to someone saying they can hear the pain of addiction in your music?
I think it’s common to hear that in my music, I don’t think its the pain of addiction, I think it’s just pain. The addiction is a byproduct of the pain.
Ingesting a mountain of drugs, sacrificing my body to be able to tap into an altered consciousness and make some transcendent art. Kind of like, I do this so you don’t have to.
Let’s talk about your most recent project, Judas’ Betrayal and the Three Day Burial of a Salted Slug.
So Judas’ Betrayal… is the sequel to an older album called The Crucifixion of Rapper Extraordinaire, Slug Christ. It’s the second part in a trilogy.
That’s really interesting, what made you want to expand on The Crucifixion…?
Well when I first made that album, I intended it as a trilogy with The Crucifixion, The Burial and The Resurrection. It just took way longer to put part two out because of other projects.
I noticed for both album covers you were depicted with a woman, unlike your other album art. Would you say there was any other themes you intentionally tried to carry over? I personally wouldn’t have known they were part of a trilogy if you didn’t tell me yourself.
I rather have people kind of read it into themselves without me ruining it.
That’s the best way to do it. So, Judas’ Betrayal… opens with the track “Feel Saner.” Was this a project that follows a search for ‘sanity’?
Hmm, maybe in some senses but not really. The title comes from the line “rape my soul if it makes you feel saner” which means like “take all your anger out on me, even though I don’t deserve it, if it makes you feel better.” Like, I’ll be your punching bag.
Where would you say these feelings are originating from? Not everyone wants to be a punching bag.
It goes with the Christ motif, sacrificing yourself for the happiness of others, which circles back to the meaning of Slug Christ. The Christ concept is something rampant in my work. Ingesting a mountain of drugs, sacrificing my body to be able to tap into an altered consciousness and make some transcendent art. Kind of like, I do this so you don’t have to.
Can you tell me a little bit about the track “All Washed Off?” What was the process and inspiration behind making that track?
Musically it’s inspired by shoegaze bands of the early 90s, tempo, dreamlike soundscapes, the washed out chord progressions, the engineering/production and with a hint of guitar. The lyrics are mainly a recollection of a certain night I had with someone, a really powerful night. I had to get the event out of my head and on a song to like, I don’t know, process it all.
It’s a really beautiful song, one of my favorites.
Yeah, me too.
Something else that stood out to me about the project was the solo feature from Lord Narf. What was the reasoning behind that?
Certain releases have a lot of features, this one doesn’t. It’s just cuz on those that have a lot of features I was living in the Awful House or wherever we all were at the time, but lately I just been by myself in the crib solo, which is how it goes with the majority of my music. When I made “Fell In Love Inside a K-Hole” I just instantly heard Fran on the track, so that’s why she’s on there. All the other tracks I just heard me alone.
That’s awesome man. It was a really complete project that I really enjoyed listening to. What can you tell us about any projects you’re working on now, and your plans for the rest of the year?
Me and Nedarb are working on a weird down tempo ambient epic ass release. This ambient EP will have a lot of features from the underground, and is unlike any music either of us have made before. I’m filming a lot of videos for Judas’ Betrayal…, the next one to drop will probably be “Feel Saner.” I’ve been writing short horror stories which are all in the same universe, some plots affecting others. That’s been really fun. Made a super fye track with Father which’ll be on his upcoming album. I’m also starting a band with some cool people. And since moving to LA, I’ve just been working with everyone I know who stays out here. It’s been fun.
