MC Lars
Encyclopedia
Andrew Robert MacFarlane Nielsen (born October 6, 1982) is an American rapper
, known by his stage name
MC Lars. He is the self-proclaimed originator of "post-punk laptop rap". He was one of the first underground rappers to sample and reference post-punk
and emo
bands. John Mayer
has credited Lars with coining the phrase "iGeneration", a term used to describe kids born from 1982-2000. He is the founder and CEO of the independent record label
Horris Records.
in the UK, Sidecho Records
in the US, Big Mouth Records in Japan
, and Shock Records
in Australia
. He was formerly known as MC Lars Horris but changed his pseudonym to MC Lars in 2004 for purposes of simplicity. MC Lars currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2006, he released the single "Download This Song
" with it entering the Australian Singles Chart at number 29.
Nielsen has toured and done one-off performances with many different bands and rappers, including The Matches
, Lupe Fiasco
, Nas
, Something With Numbers
, Simple Plan
, Bowling for Soup
, Army of Freshmen
, Gym Class Heroes
, Say Anything
, Streetlight Manifesto
, Suburban Legends
, Test Icicles
, Jack's Mannequin
, Patent Pending
, Bayside
, Fightstar
, Make It Better Later
, MC Frontalot
, mc chris
, Wheatus
, The Aquabats
, Ludacris
, YTCracker
, T-Pain
, Yung Joc
, Cartel
and Zebrahead
. Some of these bands play the part of Hearts That Hate for the song "Signing Emo
" at live shows.
Nielsen appeared in the 2008 independent film Community College as MC Lars.
Nielsen was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists.
before his family moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1993.
He then attended Stevenson School
and was the co-founder of the Monterey Bay Area punk rock
band Amphoteric
. He would later leave and the group would switch directions and gain a progressive metal following (especially amongst Internet listeners). Although the line-up has changed entirely, the group still resides in central California and continues to release albums independently. While at Stevenson he had a morning radio show through the school's radio station, KSPB
. The show was called "Morning Madness", which featured Andrew and his co-host, Chris Gates.
Lars moved on as an English studies
-major student of Stanford University
in California who went on international study at Corpus Christi College
, Oxford University in England. During his time at Stanford, MC Lars and fellow band member and Stanford student, Mike Love, co-created and appeared in Good Morning Tresidder Union which appeared on Stanford Cardinal Broadcasting Network (SCBN). While at Stanford, Lars drew a comic strip called 27th Street
for the Stanford Daily This was partly due to motivation from a Scottish friend of his youngdarrin. Following his graduation in 2005, it became a webcomic
. He had a radio show on Stanford's radio station KZSU
, playing nerdcore hip hop
and old school rap, prior to being discovered by Truck Records.
As with many other rap and Hip-Hop
acts, samples
play a key role in MC Lars' music. But, with intent to preserve his rock roots, MC Lars chooses to sample alternative bands such as the British band Supergrass
, Long Island, New York's Brand New
, as well as Fugazi, and Iggy Pop.
MC Lars has also shown an interest in using lyrics and song titles based on English
and American literature
. "Rapbeth" references William Shakespeare
's play Macbeth
, whilst "Mr. Raven" is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe
's "The Raven
." Also, the song "Ahab", which is featured on one of his newer albums, The Graduate, sees Lars rapping about the novel Moby Dick while "Hey There Ophelia" on This Gigantic Robot Kills
retells the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet
.
The term iGeneration
, used to describe the generation born primarily in the mid-to-late 1980s, was not actually coined by MC Lars, but it was used in his song of the same name, which was given out for free to Facebook
users in August 2006 in conjunction with iTunes
.
MC Lars' MySpace
profile includes exclusive tracks related to the MySpace social scene of the iGeneration: "Internet Relationships", "Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock", "Download This Song
" and "Signing Emo". Hearts That Hate, whose song "Cry Tonight" is sampled in Lars' "Signing Emo", is a fictional group created by the rapper. The Grammy-nominated Texan band Bowling for Soup
performed as Hearts That Hate when MC Lars has supported them on tour. A full version of "Cry Tonight" is available as a B-side to the UK "Signing Emo" single.
In early 2006, his song "Download This Song
" was featured on the pop-culture CBC Radio
show, Definitely Not The Opera, during an exposé on geeks.
to release The Graduate. Following this release, Lars toured extensively throughout the US, then he toured UK and did shows in Japan, and Australia. Not long after the album was released on iTunes
, Lars received an e-mail
from a 15-year-old fan Elisa Greubel on his web forum saying she identified with "Download This Song" since her family was one of many being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America
. This led to Nettwerk executive Terry McBride
and a team of major-label artists managed by Nettwerk to support the Greubels with their case.
MC Lars returned to the UK in October 2006, due to popular demand, to play more shows in support of his "Ahab" single and video.
Creative Commons
license on the Jamglue online mixing site as a contest. In May, MC Lars toured the UK on the third installment of the Good To Go Tour
, making friends with Wheatus front man Brendan B. Brown. In July Lars and Brendan recorded a bunch of new songs, two of which would later appear on This Gigantic Robot Kills
. In November, Lars returned to the UK on tour with pop-punk band Last Letter Read who performed their own set and then on stage with Lars, debuting Lars' new song "Hey There Ophelia".
In 2008 and 2009, Lars worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic
, Wheatus
, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple
, Daniel Dart of Time Again
, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier
of Simple Plan
, MC Bat Commander of The Aquabats
, Suburban Legends
, Worm Quartet
, Gabriel Saporta of Cobra Starship
, Brett Anderson of The Donnas
, MC Frontalot
, Jesse Dangerously
, Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup
, Adil Omar
, Linus Dotson of Size 14
, Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder
, Salvation, Jonathan Coulton
, Aesias Finale, Sebastian Reynolds, Joe Ragosta of Patent Pending
and classical musician Walt Ribeiro
to complete his album "This Gigantic Robot Kills
".
is going to have fewer guest artists and more of a return to basics so the album will to contain less punk elements and more standard hip-hop stylings like the split with k.flay. The subject matter will be "Everything from circumcision to bro culture to vikings!"
Later in the interview he revealed that he would be releasing a children's album after Lars Attacks!.
formed by MC Lars in 2006. Horris served as an imprint of Nettwerk
and Oglio
before becoming its own label. In 2008, Horris signed a two-record distribution deal with Crappy Records, founded by Jaret Reddick
, from the American rock band Bowling For Soup
. The label's name derived from a cartoon character Lars created in middle school which also served as the basis for Lars' original stage name, MC Lars Horris. In 2011, Horris signed Weerd Science
.
Horris Records currently represents Damondrick Jack, Jon Thatcher Longley, Joe Olger, Mike Russo, Josh White, and used to represent Chros Ayer, Stve Connolly, Mike Love, Jon Shiffman, and Rob Piccinni Jr.
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, known by his stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
MC Lars. He is the self-proclaimed originator of "post-punk laptop rap". He was one of the first underground rappers to sample and reference post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
and emo
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
bands. John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
has credited Lars with coining the phrase "iGeneration", a term used to describe kids born from 1982-2000. He is the founder and CEO of the independent record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Horris Records.
Career
He has recorded for Truck RecordsTruck Records
Truck Records was an independent record label based in Oxford, England. It grew out of the Truck Festival, held annually in Steventon, a small village near Oxford...
in the UK, Sidecho Records
SideCho Records
SideCho Records is an independent record label based in Long Beach, California. It has been around since at least 2003, but doesn't list a history on its website.-Artists:* Those Mockingbirds* Peachcake* Charlemagne* Neva Dinova* The Pale Pacific...
in the US, Big Mouth Records in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Shock Records
Shock Records
Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He was formerly known as MC Lars Horris but changed his pseudonym to MC Lars in 2004 for purposes of simplicity. MC Lars currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2006, he released the single "Download This Song
Download This Song
"Download This Song" is the second single from MC Lars' fifth studio album, The Graduate, and features Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup. The song uses sampling from Iggy Pop's "The Passenger"....
" with it entering the Australian Singles Chart at number 29.
Nielsen has toured and done one-off performances with many different bands and rappers, including The Matches
The Matches
The Matches are a United States-based band formed in 1997 in Oakland, California. It currently is composed of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Shawn Harris, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Jonathan Devoto, bassist and backup vocalist Dylan Rowe, and drummer Matt Whalen...
, Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...
, Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, Something With Numbers
Something with Numbers
Something with Numbers is a rock band based in Australia. The band was formed on the New South Wales Central Coast, in Australia, in 2001. They have released an EP and three studio albums in their 7 year career...
, Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
, Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
, Army of Freshmen
Army of Freshmen
Army of Freshmen is an independent 6 piece rock band based out of Ventura, California that has played over 1,000 shows in 43 states and 11 countries.-Early Years :...
, Gym Class Heroes
Gym Class Heroes
Gym Class Heroes is an American hip hop rock band from Geneva, New York. They have collaborated with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on numerous occasions, notably for providing backing vocals on the song "Cupid's Chokehold." Stump also produced the majority of their album The Quilt.The group formed...
, Say Anything
Say Anything (band)
Say Anything is an American indie-punk band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Max Bemis. The band was formed in 2000 with Bemis and four of his friends. Within two years, they self-released two EPs, Junior Varsity and In Your Dreams, and the full-length Baseball: An Album by Sayanything.In...
, Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto is an American punk band with many influences from different genres including ska, from New Brunswick, New Jersey fronted by Tomas Kalnoky....
, Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends are a third wave ska/pop band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998, and are currently based out of Santa Ana, California.- History :...
, Test Icicles
Test Icicles
Test Icicles were a short-lived dance punk band that formed in England, primarily influenced by indie rock but containing musical elements from a variety of genres . The band was formed in 2004 by Rory Attwell and Sam Mehran, who were later joined by Devonte Hynes...
, Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin is an American rock band formed in 2004, originally hailing from Orange County, California. The band began as a side project of Andrew McMahon, the frontman for Something Corporate, and is composed of guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Mikey "The Kid" Wagner, and drummer Jay...
, Patent Pending
Patent Pending (band)
Patent Pending is an American pop punk band consisting of vocalist Joe Ragosta, drummer Anthony Mingoia, guitarist Marc Kantor, guitarist Joshua Dicker, guitarist/vocalist Rob Felicetti, and bassist Travis McGee. They are from Mount Sinai, New York...
, Bayside
Bayside (band)
Bayside is an American punk rock band from Queens which formed in the winter of 2000. The band has released five full length albums since signing to Victory Records...
, Fightstar
Fightstar
Fightstar are an English alternative rock band from London. They formed in 2003 and their lineup comprises lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and vocalist Alex Westaway, bass guitarist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi...
, Make It Better Later
Make It Better Later
Make It Better Later are an awful pop punk/ska band from York who formed in October 2005. Never signing to a label but rather remaining independent, they toured the UK over the course of the few years that they were together touring with many high profile bands in the punk and ska scene until they...
, MC Frontalot
MC Frontalot
Damian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo...
, mc chris
Mc chris
mc chris is an American rapper, voice actor, writer and improvisational comedian....
, Wheatus
Wheatus
Wheatus are an American rock group from Northport, New York. They are known for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was featured in the movie Loser, as well as in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-1995-2002: Formation and Wheatus:...
, The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
, Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, YTCracker
YTCracker
Bryce Case, Jr. , otherwise known as YTCracker , is a former cracker most known for defacing the webpages of several federal and municipal government websites in the United States, as well as several in private industry at the age of 17...
, T-Pain
T-Pain
Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
, Yung Joc
Yung Joc
YaMar Jon Robinson , better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper.-Early life:Robinson's father, Vivian Young, ran a hair-care products company and helped him write a jingle for Revlon; Robinson founded his own label to release his music.-New Joc City :After Teaming with producer...
, Cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
and Zebrahead
Zebrahead
Zebrahead is an American punk rock band from Orange County, California, which fuses elements of Rapcore, Pop Punk, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, and Funk Metal.-1996–98: Formation:...
. Some of these bands play the part of Hearts That Hate for the song "Signing Emo
Signing Emo
"Signing Emo" is the first single from Nerdcore musician MC Lars' fifth album The Graduate. The song is about fictitious band "Hearts That Hate" making it big. The single became moderately popular on New England-based alternative rock stations such as WBRU and WFNX in mid-2006....
" at live shows.
Nielsen appeared in the 2008 independent film Community College as MC Lars.
Nielsen was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists.
Education
Lars was born in Berkeley and grew up in the Oakland hills. He attended the Head-Royce SchoolHead-Royce School
Head-Royce School is a co-educational college-preparatory K-12 school in Oakland, California. The forerunner of Head-Royce was the Anna Head School for Girls in Berkeley, founded in 1887...
before his family moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1993.
He then attended Stevenson School
Stevenson School
Stevenson School is a private, coeducational PK–12 school for boarding and day students...
and was the co-founder of the Monterey Bay Area punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Amphoteric
Amphoteric (band)
Amphoteric is a progressive rock band from Monterey, California. The band is composed of vocalist/guitarist Hart Hancock, bassist Bryan Blair, and drummer Craig Brown.-1996-1999:...
. He would later leave and the group would switch directions and gain a progressive metal following (especially amongst Internet listeners). Although the line-up has changed entirely, the group still resides in central California and continues to release albums independently. While at Stevenson he had a morning radio show through the school's radio station, KSPB
KSPB
KSPB is a radio station broadcasting a Variety format. Licensed to Pebble Beach, California, USA, the station serves the Santa Cruz area. The station is currently owned by Stevenson School and features programing from Public Radio International...
. The show was called "Morning Madness", which featured Andrew and his co-host, Chris Gates.
Lars moved on as an English studies
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
-major student of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in California who went on international study at Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, Oxford University in England. During his time at Stanford, MC Lars and fellow band member and Stanford student, Mike Love, co-created and appeared in Good Morning Tresidder Union which appeared on Stanford Cardinal Broadcasting Network (SCBN). While at Stanford, Lars drew a comic strip called 27th Street
27th Street
27th Street is a prominent street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. It runs East to West, but is most noted for its strip between 10th and 11th Avenues, known as Club Row because it features numerous nightclubs and lounges....
for the Stanford Daily This was partly due to motivation from a Scottish friend of his youngdarrin. Following his graduation in 2005, it became a webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
. He had a radio show on Stanford's radio station KZSU
KZSU
KZSU is a freeform FM radio station broadcasting from the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, USA.KZSU broadcasts in stereo at 90.1 MHz FM with an effective radiated power of 500 watts. The station is owned by the Trustees of Stanford University and is governed by a Board of...
, playing nerdcore hip hop
Nerdcore hip hop
Nerdcore hip hop, is a sub-genre of hip hop music characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerds, though it can appeal to others as well. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song...
and old school rap, prior to being discovered by Truck Records.
Style and culture
Originally releasing tracks under the name Lars Horris, he eventually dropped Horris which later became the name of his record label, in order to become MC Lars. In the past, MC Lars was backed by a single friend who handled laptop duties. However, today's MC Lars live experience is very different. With a punk rock band set to back him up, MC Lars plays a hip-hop set to a true punk rock background (a joining which he refers to as "post-punk laptop rap"). His band mates play live over the samples and loops contained in his recorded music - all stored on his laptop computer.As with many other rap and Hip-Hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
acts, samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
play a key role in MC Lars' music. But, with intent to preserve his rock roots, MC Lars chooses to sample alternative bands such as the British band Supergrass
Supergrass
Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....
, Long Island, New York's Brand New
Brand New
Brand New is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Formed in 2000, the band currently consists of vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Jesse Lacey, guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Vincent Accardi, bassist Garrett Tierney, drummer Brian Lane, and guitarist/keyboardist Derrick Sherman.In the late...
, as well as Fugazi, and Iggy Pop.
MC Lars has also shown an interest in using lyrics and song titles based on English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
. "Rapbeth" references William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's play Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, whilst "Mr. Raven" is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's "The Raven
The Raven
"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness...
." Also, the song "Ahab", which is featured on one of his newer albums, The Graduate, sees Lars rapping about the novel Moby Dick while "Hey There Ophelia" on This Gigantic Robot Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills is the sixth album by nerdcore musician MC Lars.Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple, James Bourne of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple...
retells the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
The term iGeneration
IGeneration
iGeneration may refer to:* i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling, a former professional wrestling promotion* A song by American rap artist MC Lars.* The internet generation, also known as Generation Z...
, used to describe the generation born primarily in the mid-to-late 1980s, was not actually coined by MC Lars, but it was used in his song of the same name, which was given out for free to Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
users in August 2006 in conjunction with iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
MC Lars' MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile includes exclusive tracks related to the MySpace social scene of the iGeneration: "Internet Relationships", "Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock", "Download This Song
Download This Song
"Download This Song" is the second single from MC Lars' fifth studio album, The Graduate, and features Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup. The song uses sampling from Iggy Pop's "The Passenger"....
" and "Signing Emo". Hearts That Hate, whose song "Cry Tonight" is sampled in Lars' "Signing Emo", is a fictional group created by the rapper. The Grammy-nominated Texan band Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
performed as Hearts That Hate when MC Lars has supported them on tour. A full version of "Cry Tonight" is available as a B-side to the UK "Signing Emo" single.
In early 2006, his song "Download This Song
Download This Song
"Download This Song" is the second single from MC Lars' fifth studio album, The Graduate, and features Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup. The song uses sampling from Iggy Pop's "The Passenger"....
" was featured on the pop-culture CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
show, Definitely Not The Opera, during an exposé on geeks.
The Graduate
In 2006, Lars worked with the Canadian independent record label Nettwerk RecordsNettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
to release The Graduate. Following this release, Lars toured extensively throughout the US, then he toured UK and did shows in Japan, and Australia. Not long after the album was released on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, Lars received an e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
from a 15-year-old fan Elisa Greubel on his web forum saying she identified with "Download This Song" since her family was one of many being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. This led to Nettwerk executive Terry McBride
Terry McBride
Terry McBride is the current CEO and one of three founders of the Nettwerk Music Group, which includes Nettwerk Productions , Nettwerk Management , Nettwerk One , and Artwerks...
and a team of major-label artists managed by Nettwerk to support the Greubels with their case.
MC Lars returned to the UK in October 2006, due to popular demand, to play more shows in support of his "Ahab" single and video.
This Gigantic Robot Kills
In April 2007, MC Lars and Nettwerk made the component tracks for his single "White Kids Aren't Hyphy" available for remix under a by-nc-saCreative Commons License
Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S...
Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
license on the Jamglue online mixing site as a contest. In May, MC Lars toured the UK on the third installment of the Good To Go Tour
Good To Go Tour
The Good To Go Tour is a British multi-artist package concert tour that features a mix of established acts from the American punk/rock/ska/pop genres and rising UK bands.-History:...
, making friends with Wheatus front man Brendan B. Brown. In July Lars and Brendan recorded a bunch of new songs, two of which would later appear on This Gigantic Robot Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills is the sixth album by nerdcore musician MC Lars.Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple, James Bourne of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple...
. In November, Lars returned to the UK on tour with pop-punk band Last Letter Read who performed their own set and then on stage with Lars, debuting Lars' new song "Hey There Ophelia".
In 2008 and 2009, Lars worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
, Wheatus
Wheatus
Wheatus are an American rock group from Northport, New York. They are known for their 2000 single "Teenage Dirtbag" which was featured in the movie Loser, as well as in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill.-1995-2002: Formation and Wheatus:...
, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple
Bloodsimple
Bloodsimple is an American heavy metal band from New York City that formed in 2002. They were signed to Warner Bros. Records.The band's name, Bloodsimple, comes from a term coined by detective novelist Dashiell Hammett. The term apparently describes the addled, fearful mindset people are in after...
, Daniel Dart of Time Again
Time Again
Time Again is a band from Hollywood, California which is represented in the bands songs and album art. The band was formed in the summer of 2004 by Daniel Dart, Elijah Reyes. Before they even had a full band or a single song written, they began printing stickers and flyers for Time Again to heavily...
, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier
Pierre Bouvier
Pierre Charles Bouvier is a French Canadian musician, who is best known as the lead singer for pop punk band Simple Plan.At the age of 13, he founded the punk rock band Reset with his best friend Chuck Comeau in which he was the bassist and lead vocalist. He eventually wasn't enjoying his role...
of Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
, MC Bat Commander of The Aquabats
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
, Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends
Suburban Legends are a third wave ska/pop band that formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1998, and are currently based out of Santa Ana, California.- History :...
, Worm Quartet
Worm Quartet
Worm Quartet is a one-man Comedy Synth Punk band portrayed on album covers as a group of four worms. The "band" has a growing cult following thanks to exposure on the Dr. Demento show...
, Gabriel Saporta of Cobra Starship
Cobra Starship
Cobra Starship is an American synthpop band created by former Midtown bassist and lead vocalist Gabe Saporta in 2003 in New York City, New York...
, Brett Anderson of The Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
, MC Frontalot
MC Frontalot
Damian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo...
, Jesse Dangerously
Jesse Dangerously
Jesse Dangerously is an alternative hip hop artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is an active member of the Canadian East Coast music scene through the release of his own albums, appearing as guest vocalist on a large number of recordings by other artists, hosting a weekly radio show, writing a...
, Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
, Adil Omar
Adil Omar
Adil Omar is a rapper and singer-songwriter from Islamabad, Pakistan. He is one of the few hip-hop artists from Pakistan and musicians from the region to write and perform in English. He has also collaborated with mainstream artists such as Cypress Hill, Xzibit, Everlast, Kool G Rap, DJ Lethal of...
, Linus Dotson of Size 14
Size 14
Size 14 was a pop punk band in the late 90's based out of Hollywood that gained some notoriety with the novelty song "Claire Danes Poster". They released one self titled album on Volcano Entertainment in 1997 and influenced later bands such as Nerf Herder, Bowling for Soup and others...
, Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder
Nerf Herder
Nerf Herder is a punk rock band from Santa Barbara formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp , Charlie Dennis and Steve Sherlock . They describe themselves as a "geek rock" band, and are known for simplistic modern punk-style songs with frequently humorous, juvenile and pop-culture-referencing lyrics...
, Salvation, Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
, Aesias Finale, Sebastian Reynolds, Joe Ragosta of Patent Pending
Patent pending
The expressions "patent pending" or "patent applied for" refer to a warning that inventors are entitled to use in reference to their product or process once a patent application has been filed, but prior to the patent being issued or the application abandoned...
and classical musician Walt Ribeiro
Walt Ribeiro
Walt Ribeiro, a New Jersey native, is a composer of classical music. His work has been primarily distributed via the internet. His symphony I.I was written for an 80-piece orchestra, but produced using orchestral sampling software. Ribeiro is also notable for his music tutorials available via...
to complete his album "This Gigantic Robot Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills
This Gigantic Robot Kills is the sixth album by nerdcore musician MC Lars.Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple, James Bourne of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple...
".
Lars Attacks! (2011-)
In an interview on punknews.org MC Lars stated that the album Lars Attacks!Lars Attacks!
Lars Attacks! is the seventh album by nerdcore musician MC Lars. The title of the album is a reference to the 1996 sci-fi comedy film Mars Attacks!.-Tracks:# "Going Back to Brooklyn"# "The Gospel of Hip-Hop" # "Lars Attacks!"...
is going to have fewer guest artists and more of a return to basics so the album will to contain less punk elements and more standard hip-hop stylings like the split with k.flay. The subject matter will be "Everything from circumcision to bro culture to vikings!"
Later in the interview he revealed that he would be releasing a children's album after Lars Attacks!.
B-sides and rarities
Some demos of songs Lars finished but will not be released include "Dharma Police", "You Might Be Stoner", "Coming Up Short", "Ana's Song", "Wikipedia Song", "I Flow Econo", "Dudes Don't Text Dudes", "Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Religion I Learned from Daniel Johnston", "Pop Life", "Don't Fear the Ice Cream Monster".Horris Records
Horris Records is an independent record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
formed by MC Lars in 2006. Horris served as an imprint of Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
and Oglio
Oglio Records
Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. They are well-known for issuing compilations of rare 1980's modern rock and New Wave songs, many of which were previously unreleased on CD...
before becoming its own label. In 2008, Horris signed a two-record distribution deal with Crappy Records, founded by Jaret Reddick
Jaret Reddick
Jaret Ray Reddick is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and lead songwriter for the Grammy Award-nominated pop punk band Bowling for Soup. He plays a Music Man Axis that has a flag of Texas design on...
, from the American rock band Bowling For Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
. The label's name derived from a cartoon character Lars created in middle school which also served as the basis for Lars' original stage name, MC Lars Horris. In 2011, Horris signed Weerd Science
Josh Eppard
Josh Eppard is an American musician from Kingston New York and the drummer for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. He has worked as a solo rapper under the name Weerd Science and was the drummer for supergroup rock band Terrible Things...
.
Horris Records currently represents Damondrick Jack, Jon Thatcher Longley, Joe Olger, Mike Russo, Josh White, and used to represent Chros Ayer, Stve Connolly, Mike Love, Jon Shiffman, and Rob Piccinni Jr.
Live accompaniment
MC Lars is often joined on stage by bands he is on tour with. He has had Bowling For Soup, Simple Plan, and Army Of Freshmen play with him live on the song "Signing Emo" filling in for the fictional band "Hearts That Hate". He's also had the band Failsafe back him on several tours of the United Kingdom. While supporting the band Zebrahead in the UK and Europe in 2010, MC Lars had Zebrahead members Ed Udhus and Greg Bergdorf on drums and guitar every night. In addition, Zebrahead Tour Manager Bobby Conner joined them on bass.Discography
- Nothing to FearNothing to Fear (MC Lars album)Nothing to Fear was the first home produced album that MC Lars, then known as Lars Horris, released under his first label in high school "Noseman Records"...
(1999) - Insectivorous (2000)
- Radio Pet FencingRadio Pet FencingRadio Pet Fencing is the third record by rapper MC Lars, the last record released with his former stage surname Horris, and his first record to be released outside of the United States....
(2003) - The Graduate (2006)
- This Gigantic Robot KillsThis Gigantic Robot KillsThis Gigantic Robot Kills is the sixth album by nerdcore musician MC Lars.Lars has stated that he worked with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the Rondo Brothers, Nick Rowe and Mike Kennedy of Bloodsimple, James Bourne of Busted, Daniel Dart of Time Again, Donal Finn of Flash Bastard, Pierre Bouvier of Simple...
(2009) - Lars Attacks!Lars Attacks!Lars Attacks! is the seventh album by nerdcore musician MC Lars. The title of the album is a reference to the 1996 sci-fi comedy film Mars Attacks!.-Tracks:# "Going Back to Brooklyn"# "The Gospel of Hip-Hop" # "Lars Attacks!"...
(2011)
Filmography
- Community CollegeCommunity collegeA community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
(2009) - Nerdcore RisingNerdcore RisingNerdcore Rising is the official debut album by nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot. The album was first released on August 27, 2005 at the Penny Arcade Expo....
(2009) - Nerdcore For LifeNerdcore Rising (film)Nerdcore Rising is a documentary/concert film starring MC Frontalot and other nerdcore hip hop artists such as mc chris, Wheelie Cyberman of Optimus Rhyme and MC Lars, with contributors from artists such as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Prince Paul, and Brian Posehn. The film, directed and produced by...
(2009)