Simple Success: Remix Artistes Not So Simple After All

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com.

​Several weeks ago we attended FlyFest, a day-long rap show put together intent on championing the local hip-hop scene. Among the acts that were was a duo called Simple Success. As is our M.O., we took some concert notes in the form of timestamps.

This is what we wrote:

11:21 p.m.: Turns out, a group called Simple Success is supposed to be on. They just got here though. There are two of them. A little prodding turns up that they're a remix and production duo. One is a drummer (Kyle Vento) and the other is a DJ (Edgar Miranda). They have a ton of equipment to set up, the most unexpected of which being a projector and its accompanying screen. This is likely going to be awful.

And then:

11:22: They've started.

And then:

11:23: Hmmmmm...

And then:

11:26: Holy Christ. These guys are great, the drummer especially.

He's crushing it right now. He's all aggro arm-swings and robot efficiency. The way their show works is there is a DJ who has the projector hooked up to his mixes (it's like a rudimentary version of what Mike Relm does), while the drummer beats the life out his drums and symbols.

They manage to roll up rap into a semi-conceptualized experience. They even make Soulja Boy's "Pretty Boy Swag" song sound idyllic. It's cool. And totally worth the set up. In our face, we suppose.

And finally:

11:33: CRASH, BOOM, SMASH! CRASH, BOOM, SMASH! CRASH, BOOM, SMASH! CRASH, BOOM, SMASH! CRASH, BOOM, SMASH! CRASH, BOOM, SMASH! Let's go ahead and send the 2010-11 Best Drummer of the Year award off to get Kyle Vento's name engraved on it. Every rapper considering doing a show with a live band needs to call this guy. We can't say enough excellent things about him.

It took them all of 12 minutes for them to transform us from Judging A Book By Its Cover haters to full-fledged groupies. Know this: Since that performance, theirs is one of the first names we search for when perusing the live shows schedule for the coming weeks. And with a show (finally) on the way, we tapped them for an interview.

Simple Success, "Cuz I'm Dope"

Rocks Off: The default Artist of the Week opening question: Tell everyone everything they need to know about Simple Success in exactly six words.

Simple Success: DJ. Drummer. Remix. Produce. Record. Perform.