Virginia Beach - Even as they are setting up, you can tell No Eye-D is a fun band.  They casually make jokes and boldly declare that they will start with a battle to see who the best MC in the band is.  Tomass plays a gritty rock riff while Micah lays down a thick bass line.  Cataclyst gets to go first, laying down line after line of tantalizing lyrics.  They all sing in unity for the chorus, and then it's straight on to Belladonna.  Don't underestimate her because of her gender - her rap style is definitely polished to perfection, and she throws away any doubts of weakness with style.  Cataclyst goes up next, bringing more of his style while the other MCs back him up and accentuate his lines.  Mike, the drummer, keeps the band together with tons of cymbal and snare, cooling off the heat of the lyrics with his fine-tuned drumming.  You can tell they're experienced beyond the mere one year they've been together.

The next song takes a softer side, with Micah's bass taking the lead on the trip to your ears.  It's a relaxed tune with a bit of reggae influence, but the lyrics keep up the pressure so you don't mistake the band.  With so many influences intertwined into one wholesome sound, the unique Know Eye-D vibe is refreshing in an era where people copy each other without a thought.  They'd be hard to imitate with any success, the unique personalities of each member flowing into one amazing song.  Manifesto finally gets his turn in this song, and the crowd cheers with reckless abandon.  His hands move to accentuate his lyrics with the upmost precision, and he definitely shows that three MCs isn't too many when they each bring something to the table the others don't.  It ends mellow with a melody of voices and drums.

Micah and Tomass switch instruments to play a Know Eye-D classic "Lonely Road."  Compared to the in-your-face style of the previous songs, this one is more a song of regret and the demons that you face.  Micah doesn't play the verses the same each time, instead choosing to mix it up with a bit of difference to convey his emotions in a way the words can't.  Mike keeps a steady hip-hop beat, switching up his speed without warning yet still keeping the band tight and concise.  If Tomass is having any trouble on the bass, he doesn't show it and keeps the bass rolling down a mood setting riff.  Manifesto shows his spirit as he turns to Mike and dances around a bit before turning out and showing off his singing voice, creating the dark and lonely road the song talks about right in the middle of the bar.

The original set-up is back, and Mike's drums hit me first.  Micah plays a bass riff you'd expect in a funk song, with Tomass melting his reggae riff for a batch of fast power chords in the chorus, and it works.  Cataclyst puts a minor effect on his voice to give it an almost haunting echo, and before you know it Tomass gets some time to play a blistering guitar solo that assaults your ears with meticulous skill.  Cataclyst starts shouting out lyrics at a million miles a second, keeping his voice clear enough to where it doesn't all mix into itself, and the crowd responds in kind.

The next song has been altered from its original version, but they tell us to sing it if we know it.  Imagine my surprise as all three yell in an immaculate chorus, "We don't need no education!"  The guitar moves with their haunting combination of voices.  Micah goes absolutely wild at this point, moving up and down his fret board as fast as the MCs do.  This isn't a mere cover, however, and in the Pink Floyd classic they bring that Know Eye-D lyrical style we know and love.  Tomass reminds you with the most metal version of Pink Floyd you have ever heard.  Manifesto demands for Micah to bring it home, and the funk gets turned up a notch as he slaps the bass in a manner that'd make your thumb raw.

Another Know Eye-D staple plays next - "Psycho Groupie."  Bella's voice takes a thick sound for this one, showing off a strong singing voice that has been nurtured since she was singing in church choir at a young age.  Manifesto and Cataclyst take their turns at creating a hurricane of lyrical content that could easily blow over your heard if you aren't paying attention, and then all of a sudden everything is quiet as the hook plays, courtesy of Tomass.  They don't let up the pressure for too long, however, and before you know it Manifesto is letting you know just how crazy this groupie is, but he respectfully informs everyone that he wouldn't plunder those fields...although there might be some other possibilities.  The music stops, and Belladonna says playfully, "We might get in trouble in about two seconds."  They never play the same old song, signified by going into a distinctly punk version of the chorus, and start yelling "Psycho! Groupie! Cocaine! Crazy!"  This is, of course, a line from a famous System of a Down song, but this is not a cover.

The next song shows off the radical synergy of the band and the multitude of styles and influences present here.  At first you might think it's reggae, with Micah's rolling bass and Sublime-esque riffs playing.  Tom rocks out on his guitar while Bella's powerful voice brings that seriousness to the front, and you know this song, "Take a Stand," isn't done by a band that doesn't take itself seriously.  A lot of soul lights up the room, an apocalyptic bass tell of impending doom, and their voices ring out through the tiny room.  They definitely need a bigger stage, because when they blow up they'll pack an entire stadium without a sweat.

Manifesto leads the next song, stepping to the front and pointing out to the crowd with a bit of swagger.  They build up hype easily with a period where only the drummer plays while Manifesto comes to the front and asks "Who's killing it?"  The other vocalists reply in kind to each of his questions, and then they get a turn to show off themselves.  The drums in this song definitely take a forefront musically, and he repays it in kind with crazy drum rolls up and down his kit like it's something a child could do.  The song might be a bit of them showing off, but if you had their skills you'd be showing off too.  They don't build themselves up without solid proof to back it up, and you'd be insane to accuse them otherwise.

The next song is a nice treat - "Pillow Talk" is a well-known Know Eye-D song among fans, but the music was entirely made up on the spot.  The musicians are comfortable with each other and the MCs, creating a full sound that gives them plenty of room to rap freely.  If you couldn't tell by the title, the song is about the secret handshake.  The crowd eats it up and dances along to it - definitely something I could imagine playing in a steamy club.

The next song was completely made up on the spot, musically and lyrically.  If you thought Catalyst was going to slow down due to this, you're very wrong.  He obviously has a quick mind and begins rapping almost immediately, and within a minute he has the song's hook and a nasty verse.  Bella follows up, showing more of that band hive mind we love.  When she says beats out her lyrics, the other two almost seem to know what she is going to say and yell out the hooks with her.

The next song starts with a riff similar to "Crazy Train."  Micah takes to the slapping with this song, making his bass pop like a balloon while the MCs cement it in stone that Know Eye-D is the future of their genre.  They mix so many things into one cohesive sound, the talent here is downright amazing and raw.  Even their covers are theirs, but this is definitely more Know Eye-D than Ozzy.

They haven't let up for a single moment the entire set, so while they figure out their next move you can see the fatigue set in a bit as they sit down and give their weary bodies a bit of a rest.  Tomass starts playing random riffs until they hear one they like, and the break is over as Catalyst and Manifesto warn the crowd of danger, setting down the lyrics of another Know Eye-D hit, "Fuck You."  The song is definitely different than the track on their band's site, the entire sound oozing of something that was carefully crafted.  It has a definite punk influence, and the three MCs bring that raw style to the forefront, creating an impressive hybrid between two genres that seem to have nothing to do with each other.  The song ends with them shouting "Fuck me!" to the crowd, before responding in kind with a "Fuck you!" right behind it.

The last song is about Tomass's tattoo.  In the center of his chest is a red heart, with wings protruding out of the side and crossed swords under it.  While you might think this is nice at first, he shatters any of that when you see the skull engraved into the heart, trapped inside.  Bella, the writer of the song, tells everyone about it in true choir girl style, and then it is Catalyst's turn to bring his vicious flow to the forefront.  Manifesto, not one to be outdone, brings his own speed to the game.  They then inform us that the song started as a rip on his tattoo, but turned into a fully fledged improv song.

One thing I've discovered in the short time I've spent with Know Eye-D is the trials they go through in everyday life just to go onto that stage and perform.  James and Crystal, aka Manifesto and Belladonna, have children together with all the complications that ensue.  Micah is in almost as many bands as he has fingers, the latest one being Jackmove's newest bassist which has a demanding schedule.  Mike has his own solo project that he works diligently on as well as his art.  Joe Rowe, aka Catalyst, has his own art in the form of signs and banners, from spray paint to decals. 

33: Tell us a little bit about the history of Know Eye-D.
Tomass: EoS was where it was at.
Random Drunk Guy: I need a lighter!
T: There was that dude, he has nothing to do with it.  EoS (Evolution of Sound) was a four piece set at the time.  They had DJ Trigga on turntables, and it was Joe Rowe, James, and Crystal, and they ended up losing DJ Trigga.  Once they lost DJ Trigga Joe was rolling out, and he was doing his samples, he made most of the beats.  So he was rollin' out with just a laptop-
RDG: [Unintelligible noise]
T: Shut up, shut up.  Go away.  Come back in a minute.  But anyway, Joe was doing all the beats on his laptop, so after Phil's Grill closed, we were kind of jamming and doing a little bit of shit at Phil's Grill, and we all worked together at the [deleted], but don't put the [deleted] in there because fuck them.  Joe was pretty much the brains behind all the beats, and he had a side project going on with Micah and Mike, and they were doing their thing.  One thing lead to another, we were smoking a bowl in the back of my truck and we were just like, "Hey, let's start doing a full band."  We were all working together fuckin' cookin' and were just good friends.  Joe, take it from there.
Joe Rowe, Catalyst: That's it, so then we sat down.  Came up with a name and decided it was Know Eye-D because four out of six of us either had no ID at that moment, or haven't had IDs due to, you know...the law.
RDG: So, so...what are you actually using?  Is it a Mac or, ehh, Dell?  [Everyone starts laughing because no one has a computer]
T: We use Mac.
RDG: Mac?  Yeah?  That's all I wanted to know, that's all I wanted to know.
T: We Mac on the Dell.
JR: Anyway, we started wigging out and combining three bands into one, DHH (David Hasslehoff's Haircut), Rio, and EoS.  Of course we picked up Magic Mike, and we started making a little bit more money here and there, the crowd gets a little bit bigger, people start singing the words...and we have Know Eye-D.

33: What inspired the mixture of rock and hip-hop?
Magic Mike: We all came from different directions.  Tom is from a punk scene, EoS is like a rap scene.
T: Mike's got a classic rock background, and Micah, he's just fucking nasty.
Micah: There's really not a scene for just hip-hop and R&B now, so it's like you can only get into clubs if you play an instrument.  So the one way to get hip-hop into clubs is if you play it in a live setting, you know?  Otherwise you have to be a DJ, you can't really be in hip-hop, there's just no room for that.
T: I wouldn't even classify us as a hip-hop group though.  We take inspirations from everywhere from Rancid, A Tribe Called Quest to Wu-Tang Clan, to Bootsy Collins, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd.
M: I'd say we're more inspired just by rhythm than we are by anything else.

33: Micah is in Jackmove, you guys got EoS, Tom is in DHH, and Mike has his solo project, so does that ever interfere with Know Eye-D or get in the way a little?
T: Uhh, it's kind of hard to book around everything.
JR: Actually Mike, Micah, and myself, we have...
T: Leisure Suit Larry and the Lounge Lizards.  A cover band that we all play with.
M: I've actually got six projects going on.
T: Micah's a busy fucker, man.  And Joe Rowe, he's got his own side shit...what's it, the Monks?
JR: Ronin Monks.  It's a group of universal MCs worldwide that all collaborate via online, collaborate on different tracks via email.  They have different sectors of the entire world with over twenty different countries represented.  At least one MC per country, all kind of fighting for that online visibility.  Got to keep the visibility going everywhere.  We've got it on the local band scene, the internet scene.  We're hitting it from every angle that we can.
T: We've approached a DIY lifestyle, like do it yourself, but after this summer's over, in fall we're going to take more time and put more into shows so that when you come see us play it's going to be like a different world.  Each show is going to be like a punch in the face.
JR: So we're plotting.  It'll be this summer this time that we'll release our new show format.
MM: Louder than the bomb.

33: How does a typical Know Eye-D song get formed?
T: I'd have to say that fifty-fifty we go two different ways.  We've taken classic EoS songs, which Joe Rowe made up using drums, keyboards, formulated and planned...EoS had structured songs before, and we just took them and translated what needed growth and turned them into Micah, Mike and myself, our interpretation of this song.  The songs that we've been working on together, we basically just come up with a riff, and we all put it together, and we build on it as family.
JR: Kind of just like a jam session, from where we started doing open jam night together...
T: We're like brothers and sisters.  If someone comes up with something then we work on it together as family.
M: I think that's the big part of it, we really appreciate each other.
JR: Fight hard, play hard.
M: Yeah, and we're completely different but that's what's really cool.  That's really what's really cool.  Because Tom's punk.
T: Yup!
M: And the three vocalists come from obviously a much more hip-hop/R&B scene.  Mike, well, he's different than any-
MM: Different styles, man, we have-
T: Hey, hey momma said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove! [Voices the classic "Black Dog" riff]
MM: I do some roots, man.  Jimi Hendrix, I like Jimi Hendrix a lot.
M: It just works, it's an alchemy, and it's weird.  There's no way to describe why it works, it just does.
MM: It's universal, it works for everybody.
T: The key element to Know Eye-D is that before we were ever a band we were all friends.  So the fact that we were all friends before makes us family first and foremost before anything even comes musically.  That's what makes it so easy to do what we do, because we all love each other and we come from different backgrounds, so it's real easy to butt heads.  At the end of the day we all see that we're going for the same shit.

33: What's the craziest night you guys remember?
T: Williamsburg!
M: Yeah, Tom got belligerent and attacked the audience.
T: I hit Crystal in her titty, and her head with the fucking guitar, and after we were done playing I face-planted into the sidewalk.  I wasn't even playing in key, the song revolved around whatever key I picked to play.  Joe wanted to kill me, and then his boy Johnny, his whole PA got fucked up.
MM: It was bad.
T: I don't know I think that's probably one of the best.  Beagle Bash was a good one because FM99, which is a rock and roll radio station, actually showcased us on the radio and on their website the most out of any other band that played, and we were hip-hop.  And they don't even play hip-hop.  But if you look back at the pictures, it was all about Know Eye-D that night.  Shelly, who's a metalhead, she was all about Know Eye-D.

33: What do you see in Know Eye-D's future?
T: Putting together a sicker live show, possibly adding a keyboard player slash guitar player.
MM: Lots of east coast tours, college tours.
M: Yeah, we may have another member in the very near future.

33: Anybody we know?
T: Yes, but we'll talk about that at a later date.  It's somebody that you possibly know.  Taking over the world, that's what we're fucking gonna do.  We're taking Virginia Beach and putting it on the fucking map.  Fuck the world.
M: We want to bring music to people, because everybody listens to everything nowadays, and I think we're a pretty good melting pot of styles and sounds.  That's what I think it really comes down to.  Hip-hop and R&B is kind of what rock and roll was twenty years ago.  It's like the new pop music, or whatever.  That's where we're taking it.  We're assimilating, we're using what is current. 

33: Do you think the fusion sound that you have is the future?
MM: It's our sound.
T: It's our sound, I don't give a fuck what anybody else thinks.  We love what we do, so if everybody else jumps on the boat...
M: The future is everything.  Everybody is listening to everything; no one just wants to listen to one genre anymore.  You can't help but hear everything.
T: I think between Micah and his fucking mind, Joe's mind, Mike's mind, my mind, Crystal and James's mind, things that we come up with?  I mean, there ain't nobody else doing what we're doing.
M: And not nearly as much talent packed into one fucking band.
T: So if people don't like it, fuck you.  Fuck me?  Nah, fuck you.

33: Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans?
T: Thank you very much for the love, thank you very much for the support, without you guys there is nothing that we can fucking do because you're the ones that come to our shows, you're the ones that pay money to help us out, you're the ones that wear our t-Shirts, you're the ones that bump our CDs in your car.  Without you we couldn't do anything, so thank you very much.
JR: Agreed.
M: I want to say that they are the only reasons that I get up and do what I do.  They're the batteries.

If you've spent the last few years listening to the radio and thinking that rock riffs and hip-hop lyrical styles would create an impressive sound, Know Eye-D is the evolution you have been waiting for.  With their impressive array of fusion capacity and influences, they are ready and waiting to blow the world up.  If you listen to everything, then try listening to everything at once.  Their covers alone spam over so many different genres and styles that it's mind-blowing.  You owe it to yourself to check out Know Eye-D.

Know Eye-D is hitting the studio this summer to record a full-length album, which means the t-Shirts and CDs for sale at their shows are officially limited edition!  Get yours now so you can brag about how you were there from the start before they became big.  If you miss a show, send them an email, and they'll get back to you.  Also be sure to check out the new album when it hits.  If it has even half of their live show infused into it, then it will be a must have!

If you like Jackmove and Micah's excellent bass skill, you'll love Rio.  It's got an authentic reggae feel and a whole different vibe from the Jackmove you're used to!  Not to mention Dr. Skanky, Micah, and Samson.  Allow yourself to experience the real feel of reggae right here in Virginia Beach.

Know Eye-D on MySpace

Rio on MySpace

By Correspondent: Ryan Mason

Ryan Mason was born in Hampton in 1989.  He grew up listening to the generic bands on the radio before discovering classic rock and expanding his horizons.  Now you'll find him listening to just about anything, from Pink Floyd to the Sound of Animals Fighting.  Naturally this lead to him playing music himself, and he is the proud owner of a Gibson SG and a 5-string bass guitar.  Unfortunately, he sucks at them both, but hey, there is always Magazine33!  Some other bands he likes are Stiff Little Fingers, the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Incubus, Hendrix, Lamb of God, the Doors and Gorillaz.