About
Sandpeople
Label: Sandpeople music
since circa 2003
Sandpeople was formed roughly a year-and-a-half ago as an unlikely gathering of hip-hop artists in the Pacific Northwest. This crew has since built itself into a 11 member unit fully equipped to fill a stage and empty a keg (preferably in reverse order). Within the first two months, and long before most Sandpeople had even met each other, their debut album Points of View was recorded and released over a two week span. That album laid the ground work for what has become a quick moving crew with extremely high standards. Having several “sub-groups” interwoven throughout the bigger collective, the crew’s catalogue has been growing rapidly since their inception and only continues to gain momentum. It wasn’t until recording for their second album All in Vain began that many of the Sandpeople were finally introduced to everyone in their crew.
“Out at Simple’s place was where I actually met Al-One. We were in the studio and I was engineering while he recorded his verse to Fall Apart. It took that long.” – Ethic
While the truth is that, until recently, this was a crew of relative strangers, the music they made would never lead you to believe it. A signature sound was forged from the outset, and All in Vain is the proof. Boasting some of the most innovative and intense production found in hip-hop today, Sandpeople are beginning to captivate listeners from around the world.
In addition to building an extensive web-based market (Myspace, iTunes, TowerRecords.com, etc.), both Points of View and All in Vain have received international distribution in Australia through the indie powerhouse Obese Records (www.obeserecords.com). Sandpeople are also awaiting a September release for All in Vain on Fat Tip Records (a division of Swamp Records) in Japan.
Members of the Sandpeople have worked with many of hip-hop's heavy hitters including: The Grouch (Living Legends), Sean Price (Heltah Skeltah & Bootcamp Clik), Opio (Souls of Mischief & Hieroglyphics), Luckyiam.PSC (Living Legends), Qwel (Typical Cats), Braille, Ohmega Watts, Sleep (The Chicharones), Grayskul (Rhymesayers), and Prozack Turner (Foreign Legion).
While the recorded professionalism of the Sandpeople is immediately evident, a live performance is where they truly shine. Their reputation for high energy shows have already led them to share stages with greats such as: KRS-One, Living Legends, GZA (Wu-tang), Souls of Mischief, Boot Camp Clik, Casual (Heiroglyphics), Atmosphere, Sugar Hill Gang, Zion I, Capadonna (Wu-tang), Guru & DJ Premier (Gangstarr), Blackalicious, Pharcyde, Lightheaded, Brother Ali, Chali 2NA (Jurassic 5) and many more.
To the untrained eye, the Sandpeople may appear to be a confusing mass of hungry emcee’s full of passion and low on serotonin. To the trained eye, this is a certainty. In the cloudy and gray corner of The States not known for its bountiful supply of physical sand, an inappropriately named force is emerging. Concerned first with making quality music that is relevant to real everyday life, Sandpeople are sure to connect with listeners where other artists most commonly fail to. As their name and inventory continues to expand, this will undoubtedly be looked back upon as the crew’s humble beginnings.
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