Dialektix: new poetry
by Joey Tipton
The Metropolitan

The synergistic method of using words and music to express one’s artistic outlook is a process that cannot be definitively spelled out. For Dialektix MC Jarvis (Travis Kellogg) the experience of putting words to paper is a salvation.

“I use my poetry and I use my rhymes as medication — as therapy,” Kellogg said.

For Kellogg the path to becoming an MC is really about “sitting down and writing and making myself feel better.”

He says that while the common image of an MC may hinge on the bling-bling of MTV stars, “It’s just about being a person.”

Dialektix was formed in 1999 when Kellogg met Mike Fall (MC Mest-one) at the Colorado Institute of Art. Originally working with Denver DJ Ty Tek, Kellogg and Fall built a working relationship that centered on enhancing each another’s capabilities as performers. As a group, they have earned notice by consistently setting goals.

“We’ve been raising the standards. We made it a goal to play at (a particular) venue, and the next thing you know somebody hears us and we were playing the Bluebird like we wanted to,” Kellogg said.

On the stage, the two MCs offer an element that sets them apart from other acts. “It becomes the uniqueness of the style that we do. Our technique, when we trade back and forth — even our personalities — is what defines us,” Kellogg said.

The creative process that produces the work of Dialektix is just as unique as the group’s stage presence. Kellogg has many rhymes for which the group has not yet made beats. As a poet and a writer, Kellogg gives a glimpse inside his creative mind. “I have ideas and I have them structured to a goal,” Kellogg said. No matter what he is working on, Kellogg always sees it as a piece of a bigger picture.

In the production of the group’s self-titled, second full-length CD, Kellogg said, “I had these two back-to-back rhymes that were just complete rants. So we structured the beats to my rhyme.” The result is his piercing solo “Structure Made of Sound.”

Without a doubt a major contribution to the rise of Denver’s hip-hop scene, Kellogg is determined that Dialektix is a humble force to be reckoned with. With his charming Oklahoma drawl in full effect Kellogg said, “Dialektix is out to prove that we’re going to do what we’re going to do. There’s not anybody that’s going to stop that.”

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Grammatically speaking the A:D:A:P:T CD release party is a mess.

The bill is full of names like D-Minus and obeah, E23, the pHarmanaut, and em.chia. Even the CD, entitled “soundings1,” is like an electronic snub to proper English language and punctuation. A diverse mix of experimental electronica, the CD boasts such grammar horrors as en.ve.lope, george&caplin, recor, devslashnull, ovni, equulei, crix madine, and others.

Perhaps the only thing even more eccentric than the spelling at the A:D:A:P:T show will be the performances. Several of the artists from “soundings1” will be performing DJ sets mixing sounds from the compilation, beats from each other and material from other sources.

D-Minus and obeah of equulei, a duo of sampling mastery with musical influences ranging from industrial and IDM to modern classical and hip-hop, will be using clips from popular film, music and story over their textured beats. A twisted tribute to the modern age, ovni will be using their unique three-piece digital media “band” to improv with dueling laptops and live video montage. Curator of visual soundings, Trace Redell, also known as the pHarmanaut and Galactus Zeit, will be battling it out with Matthew Chiabotti of em.chia as they take on each other’s work in a live performance. DJs Nathan and Twine will also be making a special live appearance. As if the senses weren’t already overwhelmed, there will also be a visual assault with video projections from An-Ism and the premier of devslashnull and Brian Kane’s remix of “Nosferatu.”

The Museum of Contemporary Art/ Denver has been hosting visualsoundings for about a year. As part of its prospering education program, visualsoundings has helped to expand the horizons of many local and national electronic artists, the focus always being the avant-garde digital command.

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Relationships are a pain. Breaking up is even worse. From the first kiss to the first fight, there’s that inevitable moment where anyone with an ounce of feeling realizes that, man, breaking up really is hard to do. Morrissey knows this. Thom Yorke knows this. Chris Carrabba fools young girls into thinking he knows this. And listening Lucero’s lyrics, it can be assured that frontman Ben Nichols definitely knows this.

Lucero plays sad country roc, although the country music that Lucero plays is not quite the stereotypical chart-topping hits of Nashville. Their sound is a bit harder to pin down. It isn’t the radio-friendly music that is spouted out by the likes of Garth Brooks or Travis Tritt. It bears little resemblance to the pop crossover of Shania Twain or Leann Rimes. Lucero’s brand of country is what happens when a punk rocker is left with a guitar, a broken heart and a Hank Williams record. It’s the rawness and aggressiveness of straight-ahead rock with just a touch of Southern twang. As Nichols writes in the band’s biography, “(Our) idea of “country” being somewhere between the Pogues, Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, and Tom Waits. Brian (Venable, Lucero’s first guitarist) said early on he wanted to be in a pretty country band that could play hardcore shows and piss off the punk rockers.”

From their inception in 1998, Lucero has been a busy band. They have put out three full-length albums, one seven inch and a compilation album of songs they have contributed to movie soundtracks. Also, despite having gone through a couple of line-up changes, they have continued to tour almost non-stop. And all along the way, through not much more than word-of-mouth and impressive live shows, they have gathered quite a decent underground following.

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