BAND: Slightly Stoopid
INTERVIEWER: JenJen Reyes (jenjen@bandvibe.com)
DATE OF INTERVIEW: 04.06.06

BAND MEMBERS:
Miles Doughty - Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Kyle McDonald - Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Ryan Moran- Drums
Oguer Ocon -Congas, Percussion, Harp, Vocals

Slightly Stoopid is a local southern California band that brings out chillaxin music vibes with their deep jammin' beats. They just recently played over at Canes Bar and Grill in San Diego for Canes 10 year anniversary. I got a chance to talk with Miles Doughty and get a little inside visions of Slightly Stoopid.

JenJen: Do you have a ritual to sike up the band before going on stage to perform?

Miles: Our ritual pretty much is making a couple red bull vodkas, have a couple Bs, and just get out there. We usually just get our party on.

JenJen: I hear ya. I normally have a few red bull jagers before shooting shows.

Miles: Yeah, we do a little grey goose and red bulls. It’s bomb.

JenJen: What musical genre do you most like to experiment most with when writing songs?

Miles: We listen to everything. So it’s like when we write songs, everyone’s influence comes out in the style of the songs we’re making. We always try to put things together where it’s like reggae and hiphop, or blues and hiphop. Y’know, like that kind of stuff. Punk, rock, whatever.

JenJen: Oh, so you do combination mix ups?

Miles: Oh yeah. Well, it’s kind of like because we grew up listening to all those kind of music. We like the style and it transformed to us, y’know?

JenJen: Does it also depends what type of mood you’re in?

Miles: Yeah, for sure. Y’know, whenever you’re trying to write a song, it usually comes out. But if something happens, it gives you something to write about. But usually it’s like not really like a message to goes behind it, it just kind of flows when you’re jammin’ and things start coming out. That’s how we write.

JenJen: What influenced you to remake the song “Leaving on a Jet Plane”?

Miles: John Denver writes a lot of really good lyrics. It’s kind of ironic and crazy that he happened to die on a plane. I didn’t jam with the song because he died on a plane. I always thought it was a cool melody. Like the lyrics that he was singing and everything because it’s so true being on the road all the time and always gone. It seems fitting.

JenJen: I’ve seen you perform live 3 times now. Slightly Stoopid is so respected at the music venues, and I’ve noticed at each show that you all are allowed to blaze it up with the crowd. Where there times when you were declined to performed if you smoke a joint on stage?

Miles: I had a club freak out. Y’know, they come up and say “Stop smoking weed in the building, please”. But they never shut it out before because of it. There’s been times where there was tension, but s***, its just weed. We’re not killing anybody. It’s just fun.

JenJen: I’ve heard that the Purple Urkel and the Jamaican, what’s your favorite and why? Also, what do you recommend?

Miles: My favorite weed is the “Purple Cush”. It just taste like the heavens. It’s good.

JenJen: I’m pretty sure free time is very precious to you. What do you like to do (besides music) on your leisure time?

Miles: We chill. We surf. We play some golf. We kick it. Y’know, we just relax and kick it with the homies and family.

JenJen: What is the most creative gift you have received from a fan?

Miles: Y’know those little honey bears that are filled with honey?

JenJen: Oh, like the little honey containers?

Miles: Yes, the little containers but looks like a bear filled with honey?

JenJen: Yeah.

Miles: These people out in east coast somewhere made a little bong out of it. They called it “The Sweet Honey Bear”. It was pretty funny. The bong worked good, and I actually still have it. I got it a couple of years ago. I don’t use it really, but it’s actually a good f**ken hotel B, and you get the perfect hit off of it.

JenJen: Was there honey inside of it too?

Miles: No, it was empty. They cleaned it out completely. They put in a 4 inch stem in there with the grommet and everything. They put a bowl in it and handled it to me at the show. It was pretty crazy.

JenJen: With the newest album “Closer to the Sun”, the CD brings out a very chill vibe with good beats and good mood feelings. What areas/locations were you in that inspired your song writing for this album?

Miles: We were a little bit everywhere. We’ve set time in the islands. We record at the beach in Redondo Beach area. We were in a really nice little setup with total access. There were 3 rooms where you can jam in, get your blaze on, and just record music. So the studio vibe was good.

JenJen: So majority of your time was at coastal areas?

Miles: Yeah. We did some stuff in Philadelphia too. But yeah, coastal.

JenJen: Who are your favorite bands to tour/play with?

Miles: My favorite bands to tour with… Fishbone is dope. The Expendables was fun. G-Love is always dope to tour with. We did some shows with Dave Matthews, that was cool. Touring with Yellowman was pretty dope.

JenJen: Here are some questions I have on behalf of a few Bandvibers. What city/country that you haven’t visit yet, that you would like to perform at? (Chloe Walker, 21 - Pharr, TX)

Miles: We like to play down in Brazil.

JenJen: Any particular place?

Miles: Rio.

JenJen: The song “Officer” kicks ass! We’ve had cops roll our parties twice now due to blazin’ and drinkin’, how many times have your parties been stopped by cops? (Randall Siegrist, 23 - Ventura, CA)

Miles: Probably, two dozen times.

JenJen: What’s your most ridiculous rider you’ve requested on a performance contract? Any chronic related riders? (Tracy Hanson, 27 - San Diego, CA)

Miles: We always ask a quarter of chronic at every show, but a lot of times it’s illegal for venues to give weed to the promoter, y’know? So they’ll cross that off on the down low, but they’ll hook you up later. We always have a bottle of Ketel One and Grey Goose, and food, whatever we need, but we try to put a little weed in the end.

JenJen: What is the most important thing a band must do to make it big in the music and entertainment business? (Matthew Machler, 28 - San Diego, CA)

Miles: The most important thing is that you have to tour. You gotta be persistent and consistent, and always stay on the road. You gotta just stick to the grind. Get your name out there and make it happen.

They are currently touring in Australia and will be hitting up the islands of Japan, and Hawaii within the month of April. For more official information on Slightly Stoopid, please log onto:
http://www.slightlystoopid.com/
http://www.myspace.com/stoopid

Check out Bandvibe's photo coverage of Slightly Stoopid: