By Paul Sanford
The universal language of the world is music, with its power to bring people together and ability to feed that part of our soul like no other stimulant can. Charlotte’s music scene has been constantly evolving over the years, feeding music aficionados a variety of styles and sounds to satiate their shared love of music. HIPGNOSTIC, a local group whose self-styled sound is hip hop space rock, has been hitting the local scene for years and is well loved among fans and local musicians alike. Drummer Jacob Gresham described how the five members met each other over the last 20 years at various times, at one point playing together for four years, taking a hiatus and then returning as HIPGNOSTIC, writing and recording under that moniker for the last year-and-a-half.
ROTW: What are the band’s musical influences?
JG: BearCat (Emcee) – Widespread Panic
Boss Jones (Guitar and vocals) – Gorillaz
Badger (Bass) — String Cheese Incident
Majikai (keyboards and backing vocals) — Pink Floyd
Eskimo Jones (Drums) – Radiohead
ROTW: What can someone expect who’s never seen or heard you before?
JG: Audio and visual stimulus.
ROTW: What are you most excited for about the Get Down event?
JG: Playing outside at night. The vibe and energy from a night show is stimulating. The ability to share the stage with so many cool local groups is exciting.
ROTW: Any bands or musicians in particular you’re excited about seeing?
JG: We used to hit with Shadow and Keyza Soulsay back in the day, so we’re excited to see those dudes.
ROTW: Local musicians you admire or are up-and-coming to look out for?
JG: We are good buddies with the Swim In The Wild crew and The big homies from OBL (One Big Love). Great bands, even better people.
ROTW: What’s the state of the Charlotte music scene?
JG: Overflowing with talent, just need to find a way to get more locals interested/excited about going to check out new bands.
ROTW: Where would you like to see the scene in 5 years?
JG: Locals interested/excited to go check out new bands.
ROTW: Favorite Charlotte-area venues.
JG: Nope, not doing it, not playing the exclusion game, wouldn’t be prudent.
ROTW: What can we expect from Saturday’s show? TV sets, projectors?
JG: All of the above. We treat the visual part of show as serious as we do the audio part, so expect to dance, bob your head and look at some strange shit.
ROTW: What does the future hold for HIPGNOSTIC?
JG: Currently working on our first music video, with Matt Spivey of Reel Talk CLT. Dude is the truth, video is going to be quite a sight to see. Video features a local music venue owner, a Charlotte Honeybee and a curling facility.
ROTW: Any favorite beers or drinks at Heist?
JG: I’m a fan of sours and goses so the Bug Zapper is tasty and the Beatitude Passion Fruit Tart Saison is also very good.