Tracker Pixel for Entry

Double your pleasure: Sean Anonymous and Sims play The Aquarium

Music | March 8th, 2017

Sims, from Minneapolis hip hop super crew Doomtree, will be performing with Sean Anonymous at the Aquarium on March 11. HPR was able to talk to both of them about their relationship, the upcoming Fargo show and what they both have been up to musically.

High Plains Reader: Last September, HPR was able to chat with you before you played at the Sanctuary Event Center with Gentlemen of Doomtree. What have you been up to since then?

Sean Anonymous: Not gonna lie, life has been wild. The last 5 months have brought some of the biggest ups and downs I've ever seen. Girl stuff, tours, family stuff, vacations, etc…

Sims

All in one month's time I: buried a loved one, did some of the most successful shows of my career, dealt with a break up and took the most healing trip of my life.

In January, all the loss had me thinking that I wouldn't ever feel happy again. One week later I was in Jamaica rapping with a reggae band at this venue on the ocean and having the best time a guy like me could have.

The phrase "without darkness, there is no light" is constantly floating around my mind.

I can truthfully say that I feel more motivated than ever. I'm never going to take life for granted again. Nor will I take my friends and loved ones for granted. (And I'd suggest the same to anyone reading this)

Also, DJ Name & I dropped a new project. It's called "2:44am", and it’s dope.

HPR: You are playing a show on March 11 at the Aquarium with Sims from Doomtree. You seem to have a close relationship with the people from Doomtree. Can you tell us a bit about how you became involved with the group?

SA: Doomtree has been killing it forever. I remember being 17 watching them play at different venues around Minneapolis. For being incredibly vibrant and producing so many amazing artists, the Minnesota hip-hop scene is still very close-knit. After a few years of doing shows, we found ourselves on bills with various DT members. A few more years went by, and now we’re homies.Being good at rap brought about a mutual respect for artistry. Being good people has only made that respect stronger.

HPR: How will this show differ from the show in September?

Sean Anonymous, Photo cred: ZAPATA! PHOTO

SA: I'd say that the biggest difference would be all this new music. Sims just dropped his latest album (More Than Ever) last fall. DJ Name and I dropped our e.p. (2:44 a.m.) in the fall as well. I'd expect to hear lots of jams off those projects.

There's something special about performing the new stuff. The energy is very present, and easy to tap into because those concepts and feelings are so fresh in you still. I can't wait to share this new stuff with our Fargo friends.

Also, we're back at The Aquarium. So it'll be a party for sure.

HPR: In November, you released your third solo effort, More than Ever. Can you tell us how this project came to be? How were you motivated to put out another album? What were your inspirations?

Sims: Sure. We as Doomtree released All Hands January 2015, and then we toured that for pretty much the entirety of that year. Then in January of 2016, I sat down and started writing songs.

I think that my approach this time around is different than in previous records. What I would do is just get up in the morning, you know, do the little morning routine or whatever, and then go down to the studio and just turn on a beat and write a song to it. You know, I wouldn't necessarily finish it every day, but I would finish like three a week. I did that for three months, or something like that.

Sims

I wound up with about 40 songs or so. I had never really made that many before. Making that many songs did a few things that were beneficial. For one, the first few that I wrote, I threw away because I was rusty. Two, I had the opportunity to just pick from different things and that helps to make a more cohesive record. It wasn't necessarily the best songs that we chose for the album, but the ones that fit together more closely. And third, it is freeing to make that much stuff because there is no pressure. The song I'm making today, right now in this moment, can be whatever it needs to be.

HPR:Since the release of the album, you have been consistently touring. In 2011, you got married and the two of you are still married today. I'm married, and I find it difficult to balance work life with home life and I don't tour. So I'm wondering, how do you juggle your work life and your married life? Is that a struggle for you?

Sims: She's way busier than I am. She owns two restaurants and is there constantly. She's very driven, very focused and very much about being on her own. We are both fiercely independent people. We give each other space. Our idea is that I am here to make sure that her individual efforts, goals and desires are fulfilled. I am her teammate, and she does the same for me. When we come together, we have to make the most of moments we have together. The communication is key. And we don't have kids, so there’s that.

HPR:I am curious, what restaurants does your wife own?

Sims: She owns Muddy Waters in Minneapolis, and the Darkhouse in St. Paul.

HPR:Do you have any advice for any hip hop musicians that are reading?

Sims: For hip hop specifically, you should listen to everybody and study everyone. Don’t rule out something because it is new or old, or too mumbly or too underground or too boom bappy, or too trap-ey, or whatever. Just be open to it all.

This is not just hip hop artists, this is for artists in general; hang in there. Keep doing it and stay centered in the intention, the why you started creating art in the first place. It wasn't to become a millionaire. It was because you needed to create something.

Please know that the things you create are actually enriching the experience of the rest of us out here -- making stuff, especially now with this new strange political climate that we are in. Right now we need to make a bunch of beautiful art to get people engaged in ways that are beyond dialogue.

IF YOU GO

Sims and Sean Anonymous

Saturday, March 11, 9pm doors, 10pm show

The Aquarium, 226 Broadway, Fargo

$12 advance, $15 door, 21+ 

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comArea children ages 10 and over are invited to join the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum to explore how rivers work at two Fargo Public Library locations this summer. Stream Table Workshops will…

Back-to-school season is on the horizon, but there's still plenty of summer left. Check out our favorite August attractions and events in North Dakota and western Minnesota. And if if you missed them, here are a few excellent May…

Friday, July 25, doors at 8:30 p.m.Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 N. Broadway, Fargo"This is what you need to know about Daikaiju,” said Kelly Weidman. “They're loud. They're all instrumental (duh). And they're the band to see…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com On July fourth, Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest took place at Coney Island. The winners, Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo, reigned victorious. Chestnut earned his 17th title by…

By Ed Raymond fargogadfly@gmail.comThere might be room for Trump on Mount Rushmore after allDuring King Donald’s first term he told Kristi Noem, then a congresswoman and now his secretary of homeland security, his dream was to be…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Simone Wairickgion@gmail.com The Red River Market returned to downtown Fargo on Saturday, July 12. The event will take place every Saturday except July 19. (That date will be moved to Sunday, July 20, due to the…

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comThe Moorhead Public Library will offer three free, all-ages outdoor concerts featuring regional bands this summer. The series begins on June 12 with the Meat Rabbits, a group that blends…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comAri Aster’s political satire “Eddington” premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May, where Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” received the prize. A…

Press ReleaseTouchmark at Harwood Groves will host a special artist reception featuring renowned glass artist Jon Offutt on Tuesday, July 29, at 2:00 p.m. in the community’s auditorium. The event celebrates Offutt’s temporary…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comPhoto by Yvonne Denault There is something intimate and personal about plays. Even in our age of multimillion dollar Hollywood productions and droves of streaming services, watching actors…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

The drug that keeps re-purposing itselfBy Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com There is a drug that is getting a lot of attention nowadays all over the world. It has various commercial names (Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus), but…

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.com Working in the Bakken oil fields of the Williston Basin is so different from my home in Fargo. I'm not judging, because the people working and living in western North Dakota are very…