Shabooty Interview Series: Henry Hill

henry hill interview

Henry Hill … where does one start in describing Henry Hill’s storied life, a life that has inspired everything from books, movies and restaurants. Henry is the main character (played by Ray Liotta) in the true-life story, and Marty Scorsese classic: GoodFellas. Henry is a former mobster, who was in the witness protection program, but has since reemerged, turning his celebrity into a showbiz career. If you ask me, he has also provided some of the most memorable and entertaining appearances by any guest ever on “The Howard Stern Show“. Caramel macchiato, anyone?

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Shabooty: Hey Hendry! So, are you buddies with Ray Liota?
Henry Hill: Not buddies, but I do see him occasionally. I ran into him a couple months ago in Venice around Christmas time — Cool dude.

Stern fans want to know, what’s your opinion on Lisa G [Howard100 News reporter]?
Don’t remember her…

Is your favorite coffee drink a caramel macchiato?
Love those things, but too fattening.

Have you ever played GTA(GrandTheftAuto), the video game? (main character voiceover done by Ray Liotta).
Sure yeah, I’ve played before. (But I don’t own it).

You’re now doing your “mob-art”. Who/what are your inspirations in art?
I love art, been to art museums, enjoy it, looking at it, long as it’s decent, but it’s all decent.

How is the art selling?
It’s doing well. Keeps me out of trouble, roof over head, I enjoy doing it, [it is] therapy for me.

Are most of the paintings mob related?
Some of them are, some aren’t. Whatever I’m in the mood to do… I love to do skylines of New York, all kinds of weird shit.

You have a spaghetti sauce?
Yeah, Henry Hill’s WiseGuys Sunday Gravy –it will be in grocery stores this year.

What new Hollywood endeavors are you working on?
I finished the script, “Final Four” –about the Boston College scandal. I’m working on a TV thing with a couple cool dudes. Part reality [show]… spent months filming already [to prepare a pilot/teaser to shop around to the networks] –maybe A&E.

Drinking these days?
I sneak one a week… once in a couple weeks [I might have a] couple beers.

How’s the health?
I have an operation upcoming. Wednesday I have a pre-operation cat scan for my double hernia.

Who’s your favorite actor?
[Robert] Dinero’s one of the best, love everything he’s in.

What’s the better mob movie - The Godfather or GoodFellas?
What you think I’m gonna say? Godfather was real hollywood-ish, it wasn’t a true story ya know, but a great movie. Don’t get me wrong on the Godfathers –just GoodFellas is a different kind of movie, Scorsese’s movie, ya know… true story.

When was your first appearance on Howard Stern?
12 years ago.

How did that show booking come about?
I don’t remember how –they contacted me. Howard’s a fan of the [Goodfellas] movie.
Artie Lange was in town last month, gave me backstage passes, and had me on stage and introduced me to the crowd.

Would you say stern fans love you?
Yeah they really do, it’s weird.

Thanks Henry!

~~~

Henry Hill’s “The Wise Guy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes From My Life as a Goodfella to Cooking on the Run” is available on paperback. Henry says it has good stories and many Italian recipes, which he learned from his mother, that you’ll enjoy. You can pick it up at any book store or online [Amazon].
You can find Henry’s other books here: Amazon.com: Henry Hill: Books.

Henry is now in semi-retirement, finishing up two new books –another cookbook, and The Untold Stories of Henry Hill, a book about Goodfellas, and what didn’t make the movie. Scorsese thought it would be x-rated because of the swearing and the gore, so he cut out a lot of interesting stuff, worthy of a book.
This September, Henry is re-opening a restaurant in West Haven, Connecticut, called Wiseguys.

And lastly, be sure to check out Henry’s original artwork, available on eBay.

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DefJux - Catching Up With Cage Before He Departs From Me

The DJX site has been redesigned and now has daily content. They posted a quick interview with Cage on what the f- that man’s up to these days. The thing I love about Cage is that all of his fans are fucking crazy fucksticks. (Yes I am a Cage fan, but that’s besides the point).

Excerpt:

DJX: First and foremost, how far along are you on ‘Depart From Me’ and do you know when it’s supposed to come out?
Cage: I have about ten songs but i keep writing new ones so I guess when i feel like I have the record I have the record. I would love to see it come out this year.

DJX: What is the album about for the most part?
Cage: Hell’s Winter was about growth and learning how to identify Satan. Depart From Me is about casting him out and having a good time doing it.

DJX: What is the progress of the movie [For those who don't know; Cage's good friend and promising film actor, Shia Labouef is working on a feature length biopic of Cage's life] and will it coincide somehow with the release of Depart From Me?
Cage: Shia is doing Indie 4 [Indiana Jones 4] press and I am making a record.I suspect I will have cool news soon.

DJX:What do you while you are home working on an album when you AREN’T recording?
Cage: Lately I have been running about 2-4 miles a day.The writing and recording is all the time.No time off. Work for fun.The best is jumping out of the shower to write shit down. I have every game system and they are covered in dust and thats a good thing.

Read Rest>>

~~~
…

Cage fans are crazier than Real World MTV fans when they realize they’ve added a fake Joey (real world hollywood) profile on facebook -rofl:

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Del the Funky Homosapien Interview By Aesop Rock

del
Aes Rizzle better known as Aesop Rock interviewed Ice Cube’s cousin, better known as Del the Funky Homosapien. Here’s an excerpt:

Q: How old were you when I Wish My Brother George Was Here came out? Can you speak on those days at all, working with Ice Cube, Da Lench Mob, having a song like “Mistadobalina” get airplay at a young age? Did it all kind of pick up out of nowhere?

I was around 17 when we did I Wish My Brother George. Back then I was just coming out of high school, and had been going out to LA pretty much every summer working with Sir Jinx. Jinx was my mentor; he coached me through creating songs and using the equipment at the time, looking for breaks to cut up and sample. Just learning the ropes, what it took to create an actual LP. I was bugging Cube about helping me do something. My style at that time was extremely abstract. Pretty much just rhyming to hear myself talk, styling. Jinx would direct me in ways that would challenge me creatively. Coming up with concepts, little funny stories, stuff like that, stuff from my own experience. I guess he thought I was dope, because he ended up working exclusively with me. He actually was going be with me on that first LP as a group, but it didn’t work out that way. But Jinx was a real factor. He introduced me to a lot of the LA underground scene. Jinx is Dr. Dre’s family and he went to school with Cube. They had a group named C.I.A. in school with K-Dee. You may remember K-Dee from the Street Knowledge days. Anyway, this is how it all started. Cube basically had plug with Dre through Jinx, Jinx helped me out as well. This is when Cube started to jump off with N.W.A. They were really starting to get it poppin’.

Now, Cube is my cousin and all, but he wasn’t about to just help me be a liability. He also kind of trained me as far as writing some songs that the average person might be able to stand, at least. My shit used to be sooooo way out that only certain types of cats could appreciate it. And back then there weren’t that many. I was around gangsters and weed slangers all day in LA. Or just regular cats in the hood. They called me Crazy Del back then because I was known to just do the fool out the blue. Being in that LA environment did give me a chance to learn how to relate to cats that weren’t super hip-hop heads.

DJ Pooh produced the LP. I had a lot of fun with him and he helped me out a lot as well. A lot of the material for I Wish My Brother was written while recording the album. That’s why everything was on some real shit, because I was living in LA basically; gang violence and all. So that’s what brought out that perspective on the LP. “Mistadobalina” was one of the songs that I did myself at home in Oakland that was actually accepted, even though the crazy sampling and the abstract lyrical content is still there. At least people could tell that it was about someone that I didn’t like. So that’s one of my favorites that I did. The fact that it bubbled kind of didn’t really hit me. I’ve been through a lot of stuff, so I’m not impressed easily. It was great to be touring and doing the rapper gig, but I didn’t get souped.

Q: And beats … you did everything on the new record, and you have a nice history of production on your resume.

The classic E-Mu SP 1200: Sir Jinx had one and Cube had one. So I would sneak onto Cube’s SP when he would go out with some chicks and leave me at my aunt’s house. But I watched Jinx for years do everything on that. He didn’t really teach me, I don’t remember asking him. Initially it was just from watching him use it year after year. My mom ended up buying me my very own later on.

Q: Your approach to writing and delivering lyrics has always been a major part of what helped set you apart from everything out there. Can you tell me any methods you find yourself using during the actual writing? (Do you write in a notebook or computer, do you scribble notes or thoughts on paper all the time, mini-recorder, do you always write in the studio, are there things you always avoid, etc . . . )

I’m usually creating music on my Macbook with Ableton. Rarely at this point do I just write notebooks of miscellaneous rhymes that end up thrown away. I focus on creating things with purpose. Once I make a beat or someone slides a beat my way that I feel inspired by, I may start writing. I also write on my Macbook. So everything is somewhat organized and ready to go. I try to write to a beat so that I have an idea of how I want the lyrics to work together with the music. I don’t try to destroy the track anymore; I try to unite with what the music is doing. This is strictly first listen type stuff I do to keep people listening long enough to even have a chance to care about the actual content. Depending upon the nature of the song I may be more fundamental in my approach or I may become more technical, but really I try to blend both together to create some kind of peaks and valleys.

Full Read

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Yak Ballz…

Here’s an interview that Yak did with Karmaloop. The only thing I got out of it was that, don’t bring 40oz’s to interviews, unless the person being interviewed is as cool as Yak, and won’t bash you over the head with the bottle. Though I will say, if you gonna be rediculous like that, at least come correct with a nasty-ass brass monkey (aka the poor man’s mimosa)!

a 40 of Olde English 800 mixed with some OJ.

Typically one drinks the 40 down until the beer is level with the top of the cylinder of the bottle, then fill the bottle back up to the top with orange juice.

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Shabooty Interview Series: Alex Pardee

Alex Pardee
Photo by Jon Dragonette

My childhood friend growing up -reminds me of Alex Pardee. Sure he looked like him but, he was a genius, he oozed creativity, he was two years younger than me –yet he was the one teaching me shit.

My childhood bestfriends have a truely weird way of popping in and out of my life. My other childhood friend who went into the airforce, randomly stopped by my parents house years a few ago and we caught up that evening. He told me about his life in the AF, various STDs he got, and sadly that’s all I remember, the STDs. We lost right back out of touch after that encounter.

And sadly, the last place I saw my friend that reminded me of Alex Pardee, was in a lame mall parking lot. He had grown a full beard, and still had the razor-sharp sense of humor. Since then, I think he is lost somewhere in Canada, taking countless greyhound bus-rides going after one form or another of Canadian poontang.

So, what do you get if you took Canadian poontang, a Paul Bunyan beard, a few STDs, a genius, a canvas, and threw all of that fantastical shit together in the form of artwork? You get some really wicked Alex Pardee -ishh…and by STD I mean SuperfragilisTicexpialiDopeshit!

For Alex’ wikibio go here. He’s illustrated The Used’s album art, he’s working on the forthcoming Cage full length album’s art, has an animated project with WarnerBros, and represents a couple artist collectives Cardboard City, and Zero friends.
“Alex Pardee’s unique style is one conceived through watching years of horror movies, writing graffiti, and listening to gangster rap. His work best represents that of a circus sideshow cemetery. Final pieces are often brought to life by translating random shapes and colors into signs of torment and absurdity. By juxtaposing these two conflicting moods, Alex makes his works more personal to his viewers, forcing them to project their own feelings and emotions onto each character in his twisted universe.”-Wikipedia.
Alex Pardee, folks.

Shabooty: What was being on the set of Transformers like?
Alex Pardee: Probably exactly how you can imagine it. Fucking amazing. There were miles of fences around this large airplane hangar (that I later found out was used by Howard Hughes) and as soon as we walked in my head was just cocked back and I was staring up the entire time at this ridiculously detailed set. We were in the Hoover dam set and Shia [Laboeuf] like basically made us close our eyes as we walked into the middle of the floor and then when we opened our eyes we saw these 50 foot tall robotic legs covered in ice. It was fucking Megatron and it was insane. Cage, my friend Jeph and I were geeking out so much it was stupid. We got to see all of the cars and play around in the library that they just blew up, it was retarded. I doubt I’ll do something that cool ever again. Shia’s the man.

What’s the most $ an original piece of yours has sold for?
I sold this six foot deformed woman mannequin sculpture with a trapezoid head that I made for 7 grand, which was crazy, but I’m usually pretty affordable.

Do you have a single favorite piece that you’re the most proud of?
Escaped Convict(ion) is my favorite of my recent work I think. I came up with the concept when I was working with a band, and they loved the concept, but when I finished the art, they changed their mind and wanted to tone down the violence and start over with a different concept, which is was kinda bummed about at first, but the final art turned out cool, and I ended up using the Escaped Convict(ion) piece for my own shit and got prints made and sold out of all 200 prints. So it worked out better for me in the long run and everyone was happy.

[Hypothetical] If you woke up tomorrow morning with no arms, would you begin trying to paint with your feet?
Maybe, but only after I figured out how to jack off with my feet first.

What’s the status on the cover of Cage’s next album Depart From Me? Tell us as much as you’re allowed to about the concept.
Now that gays can get married, Cage and I ran out and got married, and now if I tell you anything he’ll probably divorce me and get half of my 40 bucks. Fucker.
We’ve worked on a few different concepts, but the album itself keeps taking on a new life while he’s tracking it and writing, so we are going to keep fleshing out the visuals until its right. I would like this album to be the dopest shit I’ve ever done. I’ve been a Cage fan and friend for years so now to finally get a chance to do one of his full-lengths is exciting as shit.

Even when you were in kindergarten, were you the bomb-ass doodler?
I don’t really remember, I drew all the time, but I don’t think I was ever considered good at anything when I was younger.

Are you good at the etch-a-sketch?
Nope. I suck.

Are those portrait / caricatures that you see people doing at mall kiosks -at all your forte?
Nope. They suck.

Have you met Jeremy Fish? What you think of his artwork?
Nope. He sucks. Nah, just kidding, Jeremy is fucking rad. I have met him a bunch of times and he is one of the most generous, amazing characters in the art world. And his work is perfect. I admire anyone that can create a universe that represents their mind, and I think Jeremy has done that tenfold. We are working on a collab for a skateboard right now for his Superfishal line.

Who are your favorite musicians?
Cage, Aes, Yak, El, and all of the CCWM fam. The Gurp City guys like TOPR, Z-Man, Luke Sick and Conceit are amazing. That new Portishead album is pretty dope. I don’t know, my fav groups of all time are probably Wu Tang and At the Drive In.

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Cassettes Won’t Listen Interview @ SXSW 2008

CWL getting interviewed at SXSW in Austin, TX 2008.

I am madd-looking forward to Cassettes Won’t Listen’s upcoming tour…I think he mentioned summer, or fall-ish. I will post dates once they’re announced.

If you haven’t seen the video for CWL’s single, Paper Float, go here. (It’s a spin-off on Office Space). He’s a bro. And after the break… my weekend “by the numbers.”

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Shabooty Interview Series: Todd Westphal

MURS at Paid Dues - Photography By Todd Westphal.

Without the Todd Westphal’s of the world, Tila Tequila would just be the cute Vietnamese girl that works at the local pho restaurant in Houston, Texas, USA Today would be in black and white, and MURS wouldn’t look so cool in a goddamn CITGO jumper. If Todd Westphal released a viewmaster reel set of his works, you would see a collection of your favorite music stars (Chuck D, KRS-1, Cage, Murs, Glassjaw, Slick Rick, GZA, Aes Rizzle, etc), a few brides (that would turn even me into the Uma Thurman stalker), and every other cool fucking thing you could think of (outside of defecating in your neighbor’s front lawn and taking a picture, but then again, who can ever get the lighting right on a shiny turd). Todd Shoots Rappers, and gets away with it. Todd Shoots America…and foreign models. Todd shot the shit with me (in the neighbor’s front lawn). Here’s what came of it. . .

Shabooty: Hey Todd!
Todd Westphal: Bootles

What camera do you use?
I shoot canon 5-d’s and a Mamiya rz when I’m feeling like a workout.

Are you the official photographer for “Cardboard City/Weathermen (CCWM)”/ Def Jux (djx)?
The nomenclature doesn’t stick - I would say I love a bunch of those guys, from Ameach to Palko [Cage] to Yak [Ballz] and on it goes, I’ve had a great chance to ‘do work’ so to say, and have my stuff be used in albums and in places like myspace and the net. I like my stuff getting out there. I want people to see it. I want people to look at a pic I took of them for the rest of their life and think, you know, that pic there caught me as what I really was at that moment in my life. That’s where the love of this whole thing lies for me. RE: the whole CCWM thing. I am an artist. This isn’t high school. I’m happy to have my friends and family. I’m happy to be in the club. Happy to share time with real artists - whatever click they roll with. Good energy is good energy.

What do you say to peeps who would say ‘good photography is just a matter of luck: being at the right place at the right time’?
I don’t really like peeps because they are this oddly bright artificial yellow color and really aren’t they just marshmallows anyway? I’ve never really liked marshmallows or other gooey things. No flan for me, Mr. Cosby.

Where’d your relationship with the “jukies” (Def Jux artists) start?
I was hustling myself out in a few directions back in 2003 and stepped to Amaechi as a kid who wanted to do some work and connect up in the music game and take pics. Really, it was my meeting with Amaechi that made me excited to be a part of what [Def] Jux had going on. He stepped to me a half year later to shoot Walz’s Year of the Beast and some other promo work and I’ve been doing random projects with them for a few years now. I feel like family, but its probably more like I’m ‘uncle Todd’ that shows up at Xmas dinner and isn’t really blood but seems to always be around. I like a bunch of those gals and cats like fam though for sure. Lot’s of Love up in this MF right here.

Any relation to Paul Westphal (basketball fame)?
He is my long lost 2nd grade teacher’s bastard mother’s child’s dog sitter I think - at least I think that’s what the book says. No, but for real though, Paul Westphal is the reason people spelled my name right in the 80’s.

Do you laugh at people with only a 1GB SD card?
Not so much as towards them - kidding. I like to help people take better pictures. Seriously, I can geek out on talking about photography all day. I should get paid for it. What kind of piece of plastic you shoot with?
[Editor's Note (EN): I copped a PowerShot SD450 Canon a few years back, as a defense mechanism to impending relationship doom --I knew I needed a camera to line up those Myspace Mirror Pic Jumpoffs that the chickas love!]

In a closed setting indoor photoshoot, do you set the mood with music? Or do you let the subject pick the music?
Music is important but I like to think I dont need any specific thing to pull off any shoot. So if the artist or subject wants to listen to something, I’m in, but I can get so focused (pardon pun) on shooting that I can even miss little details like that. Plus a model shoot doesn’t necessarily mix with Ice Cube’s Death Certificate when it pops up randomly on my ipod. - sometimes though it does.

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Shabooty Interview Series: Dizzee Rascal

Dizzee Rascal Interview
Photo of Dizzee Rascal via Myspace

Dizzee Rascal, the UK grime rapper has crossed the pond and is in the states for a spring ‘08 tour. He’s hooked up with Def Jux which has released his album, Maths+English here in the great USofA. I had a chance to sit down with Dizzee and kick it. I’m sure there was no way that I’d be as interesting as whatever happens in the back of a tour-bus, but I tried my best!

Shabooty: Hi Dizzee, Who’s your favorite soccer team?
Dizzee: West ham, ’cause I’m from East London

Do you rock the jerseys too?
Nah - we don’t call em jerseys, either. …[we call em] a ‘kit’ [clothes].

Are you a fan of Ali G (Sacha Baron Cohen)?
Yeah I like Ali G, I like Borat, yeah man, you look a bit like him.
Ha ha, yeah esp. if I wore the wu-wear shit, eh?

What you think about Beckham and Posh Spice?
He’s a wicked football player ain’t he, he does his thing man, yeah he’s good.

Are you down with him repping LA like that?
His futbol [career] has taken him to LA, I ain’t got no problem with that.

How much was hooking up w/ EL-P a business decision and how much of it was a match in your personalities?
I signed before I even met him…but now we fuck around, have drinks etc, personally we get along really well.

There wasn’t some fancy business development meeting where he wooed you over a yacht and champagne?
Nah…

Was Pimp C’s death hard for you, when you heard the news?
It was a bit unexpected. It’s just a shame, as a fan, I was a fan first. He’s one of the first rappers that I listened to that actually died while i was actually into ‘em, 2pac kinda died already before I really got into him. But with Pimp C –I listened to him and then got to work with him, so it was a bit of a weird situation. It’s sad…sad man.

How’d you get the name Dizzee Rascal?
I was Dizzee at first, I used to mix drum and bass records, and I got the name Dizzee and a teacher called me rascal one day in class. I liked the name so I kept rascal. People still called me Dizzee, so I just put the two together.

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Shabooty Interview Series: Henry Hill

DefJux - Catching Up With Cage Before He Departs From Me

Del the Funky Homosapien Interview By Aesop Rock

Yak Ballz…

Shabooty Interview Series: Alex Pardee

Cassettes Won’t Listen Interview @ SXSW 2008

Shabooty Interview Series: Todd Westphal

Shabooty Interview Series: Dizzee Rascal