No stranger to hip-hop, More or Les has released two critically-acclaimed albums, has spent time touring North America and Europe, and is going to officially release The Les Kils EP tomorrow.

As an MC, producer, and DJ, with more than a decade of performance experience under his belt, I thought it was important to give this seven-track disc a listen. After that, I knew it was just as necessary to set up an interview to discuss what Les and soundboard fanatic, Fresh Kils, were about to drop.

As soon as I got Les on the phone my first question was regarding his team-up with Kils, and his answer made it very clear that this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"It's been a long time coming. Kils had more of an influence than people might think on my last album [The Truth About Rap]. He really kicked me in my ass, basically, to get it finished. In terms of songs, order, quality - all that. To top it off, it's his live production."

Sometimes when I picture a DJ, I don't see a DJ - I just see a laptop. Apparently Kils brings more than his laptop to the stage.

"He plays the MPC drum machine and an instrument, so for us doing live shows it's not like someone pushes play and stands back and play tracks from other artists - there's actually real music being created. We did a few live shows together and we developed a rapport. It made sense that we should do a full-on project together."

Their live performance was even worthy of material for the EP itself. Throughout, there are various live elements added and live audience interaction included. Upon first listen, I had prejudged these as studio creations. Les... he's a tricky one.

"That's where the interludes came into play on the EP. They are actually snippets of Kils and I performing at a few shows and I wanted to get that across."

It was at this point in the interview when it dawned on Les that I often picture DJs and laptops as the same thing.

"Sadly these days, as more tech is showing up on stage, people still have this strange belief in their head that once a laptop appears, or a technical device appears on stage, that there is no longer artistry involved. That's far from the case; Kils is a musician even in a traditional sense. He knows how to play guitars, keys, drum machine. I'm working with a musician, which is great."

I guess the only way for me to learn is to check them out tonight at Rancho Relaxo, because if I have learned anything about receiving lectures over that years, it's that I don't learn anything from receiving lectures. I'm a very visual and aural learner.

I recommend tracks 'Rip Rap' and 'Pop N Chips' from the new EP.

Photo courtesy of Must Be Santa.