Local Flavor: Heiruspecs

We spend a lot of time discussing local food in At the Wedge, but local farming and local food are part of a diverse cultural scene in the Twin Cities, one that includes local music, local dance, local theater and other local arts, all contributing to our local flavor.

Local music and local farming, in particular, share similar dilemmas of balancing life with hard work producing what the musician and farmer love for a supportive audience. In this series on local artists with ties to the Wedge, Barth Anderson will attempt to throw light on the similarities between these key parts of any local scene.

Sean "Twinkie Jiggles" McPherson is the bassist for the critically acclaimed, hip-hop rap group Heiruspecs. Heiruspecs formed in 1997 and celebrated their tenth anniversary on December 22. McPherson has been a Wedge member since 2002.

Wedge: What's your background, Sean? How did you start playing with Heiruspecs and how does a Minnesota hip-hop band earn such great attention and success?

Sean: I grew up in rural Massachusetts in a college town and moved to Minnesota in tenth grade. I decided to go my neighborhood high school, St. Paul Central, largely on account of the recording program ran by the esteemed Red Freeberg. His course was very business oriented. He made me realize early on how much business work went into a career in music and that prevented me to have the melt down that a lot of musicians have.

Heiruspecs started in 1997, and I'd say that we couldn't have come from a better place to have a successful music career. The network of bands, dj's, singers, artists, studios, booking agencies, labels and the like made it very easy to start working. Minnesota hip-hop was just starting to move into regional areas and establish a name for itself, and I'm proud to say that we were a big part of that.

The work ethic that we learned from older artists around us helped us to get in the van and reach the rest of the country.

Wedge: Heiruspecs have been around for 10 years now. What's it like to be a member in good standing of a rich local music scene like the Twin Cities? Is it a cooperative community or is it competitive?

The Twin Cities is a great community, and it's a lot less competitive once you're not nineteen anymore. I was a tough idiot in high school about music stuff and definitely banged my chest about my projects in a way that seems pretty juvenile now. Now at 26, I try to be as supportive as possible and not talk smack, but we all fail sometimes. Except for the great musician Martin Dosh. I have never heard him say a bad word about anyone and thankfully, I've heard him say a lot of words.

Wedge: Farmers need a variety of markets to make ends meet, and some farmers' spouses even have "off farm" jobs to help the farm make it. What do musicians have to contend with? Is it possible to make a living as a "local band"?

It is possible to make a living as a band and every band is local to somewhere. It seems impossible to make a living in one original band without touring. You will wear out your welcome long before you pay your bills. I don't tour full-time right now. I play in a couple bands and I work an outside job to cover the bills. But, I think playing in a lot of bands and being flexible can help. That having been said, one can make money playing music in town (thank god). But, it's nice to have something to fill in the edges.

Wedge: I'd imagine that local bands, like local farms, can operate with a lot of overhead. How lean do you have to keep your operation? What are some of the biggest challenges facing a local band with regional appeal like the Heiruspecs?

For a band with regional appeal it is a struggle to budget to do the right amount of touring while still keeping money in the bank for projects. It is important to streamline your operations so that you can make decisions quickly. When Heiruspecs was a full-time touring unit it took little time to decide on what gigs to take and that saved a lot of time and made us efficient. The balance between touring and spending creative time is also very hard. Heiruspecs' creativity definitely suffered under the pressure of our immense touring. But our profile improved. Balancing those are very difficult.

Wedge: If someone were unfamiliar with Heiruspecs and you wanted to put one album or track in their hands, which one would it be and why?

I think that artists are often most excited about their new work. The Heiruspecs song "I Know" that has made it onto a couple local compilations and also be on our new retrospective, Ten Years Strong, is the song I'm proudest of from the last couple years. That song is also up on our myspace page. I did a radio interview recently and the host said, "I've wondered why Heiruspecs has been so quiet in the last couple years and this song answered all my questions." The song traces the realization that there is more in life than just the underground rap-rat race. It also concludes that music is still a huge part of all of our lives and it always will be. This song helped me realize that Heiruspecs is a part of my life and my career and it is one of the greatest opportunities for me to write and perform music and spend time with some amazing people.

Wedge: Catchy songs like "I Know" and the radio-worthy "5ves" seem made for a bassist with command of the sweet groove. How did those songs come about?

Both "I Know" and "5ves" originated from my writing and then incredible additions were made by the other members of Heiruspecs. I wrote "I Know" while on tour with Lyrics Born, and I was just embracing the funkier side of bass stuff, which I had spent some time moving away from. Peter Leggett, our drummer, brought in a great part which ended up getting interpreted by a stand-in drummer, the wonderful Brett Bullion, because Peter was on tour with another band.

The hook came together with almost every member of Heiruspecs getting involved in the writing process.

I wrote the drum part to "5ves" first and then filled in the bass part. Our old keyboard player Tasha Baron (now of Black Blondie fame) came up with great piano hook. Muad'dib [vocals] sounds exactly like a turntable, but he's not.

Wedge: Tell us about the new album and the tenth anniversary show. Your fans were waiting a long time for both!

The new album was released at our ten-year anniversary show at the Turf Club in December. We did an all ages show and a 21+ show that day. The record goes back and features all unreleased songs from our two out of print records, live shows and various recording projects throughout the years. We are probably most excited about the 4-5 new songs that no one has heard outside of the band. This record will be quickly tailed by a full-length release. Since these last 5 songs we've already written 8 new ones and are currently in the process of recording them. Heiruspecs is back in hard work mode after a couple years of relaxing after our van accident in 2005 that prompted a couple years of regular life. The shows themselves will feature a huge version of the Heiruspecs complete with our old horn section, and an amazing amount of guests and old friends joined us for our ten-year birthday party. We couldn't be happier doing it in St. Paul.

Wedge: And how did you get the name Twinkie Jiggles??

The Twinkie part of the name Twinkie Jiggles is a little bit elusive. By spring of my sophomore year at Central, Martin Devaney and myself were announcing baseball games and I had invented Twinkie Day where we gave away Twinkies. Martin also threw a going away party for me one summer titled Twinkiepalooza.

I got the Jiggles bit from Felix from Heiruspecs. As a young, heavier man I was looking for a way to take pride in how my body was different than a lot of my friends. A lot of the old school breakdancers rocked jackets that said their name on the very bottom of the back. Including Mr. Wiggles, a member of the Rocksteady Crew. I decided I wanted a jacket that said Jiggles on the back to let the folks know I liked how my body moved, too. Felix christened me Twinkie Jiggles in his room with my brother as the witness. It was the first nickname that stuck with me.

Wedge: How long have you been a member of the Wedge and why don't we see you shopping in here anymore?? (Is there anything you still come here for specifically?)

I have been a member of the Wedge since 2002 when I started my Uptown residency that lasted about 3 years. I shop a lot in St. Paul now but the Wedge is where I learned to embrace co-op culture. I come back to the Wedge for the best tuna salad in the Twin Cities. I also stop at the Wedge for any bbqs I'm throwing because they have the best classy sausages and fantastic meat products. And I love my meat.

(If you are a local artist and Wedge member and would like to be featured in Local Flavor, please contact Barth Anderson at barth@wedge.coop.)