Tyrone’s Jacket | Interview
I was stoked to meet Tyrone’s Jacket backstage during a festival they played with our friends Fortunate Youth and Iration. The trio is made up of the beautiful Ry Toast, the lusty Mudlux and smooth as silk, Knowaking. After watching the last few songs of their set, which was packed with dance action and high energy beats, I had to get an interview to find out how the LA band and their psychedelic show came together.
In the music video for ‘Do That There’, the band becomes a clan of rowdy, lo-fi kung fu characters that dukes it out with various enemies. It’s pretty amazing to see and the dubbed voices put it over the top of amazing. We have to give credit to Evan Sloan putting up a worthy Kung Fu battle against the band as the White Tiger. The rock riffs crunch into bright melodies that induce impromptu dancing from music lovers near and far. You won’t be able to ignore the transitions of styles in these jams. They move from stoney reggae vibes into pumped guitar riffs, always dancing, of course. It’s an instant party at their live shows. Definitely check out P.T.H and ‘Do That There’ by Tyrone’s Jacket and all of their music videos on YouTube. You will get lost in their different styles of film and music. We met up for a stylish smoke and a classy conversation with the band.
Photo by Stephen D. Dietrich | @sd_dietrich
Where are you all from and how did music become part of your life?
MUDLUX: Knowa and I both grew up in Los Angeles, Ry is from New Jersey. Our Producer King David is also from Los Angeles, we actually went to Kindergarten and High School together. For me, music was all around me growing up. My father was a musician and my mother an artist. I started my first band with some friends in middle school but even before that I can remember always wanting to be a musician.
KNOWAKING: Mud and I are from LA, RyToast is from Jersey. My father is a founding member of the Commodores, so making a living as an entertainer was not far fetched, in fact it was a comfort. The vibe to do what I’m doing now was ingrained in my subconscious I think, there’s a rhythm to it. As a youth, I enjoyed music casually, hip hop/r&b mainly. My older brother Adam was the rapper of the family, I would do the beatbox. Soon I began freestyling and it turned out that I’m pretty good. I fell in love with it and diligently began studying hip hop culture, sharpening my abilities. This was around 8th grade, I’ve been on the mic ever since.
Music was a big part of my childhood. My mom had great taste and she definitely shaped my musical perception. She started taking me to concerts in NYC when I was 6. When I found hip hop, everything shifted for me. Suddenly, listening wasn’t enough. I knew I needed to find a way to get involved. I always made mixtapes for friends, brought the boombox on the bus on the way to basketball games, and always came correct with the sound track to practices and lay up lines in high school. In college, my roommate was an MC. I got turntables not long after moving in with her. We spent hours in my room with her on the mic and me on the 1’s and 2’s. People would come in and out, join, start a cypher, leave, and we would still be there. It became an obsession. It still is.
When and how was Tyrone’s Jacket founded?
MUDLUX: Four years ago, I was working a job where I had gotten injured. I was picking up a piece of trash that actually had a razor blade tucked in it. The cut was bad enough that I was able to file for workers comp. I was not happy doing what I was doing at all, but I had recently met my soulmate (Ry) and she had just moved in with me when I got a call out of nowhere from Knowa saying he wanted to make some music.
KNOWAKING: 2016 I believe it was, out of necessity. Something inside was bursting to manifest, and my brain was clouded for so many years that I took myself through torment to ultimately hit rock bottom which forced the purge that has allowed me to reform. I reached out to MUD with red eyes and broken teeth, and we started piecing things together. I had been experimenting all my life to find this. The universe shows signs.
Photo by Victoria Craven | @cravenshoots
What cosmic forces brought you together?
MUDLUX: Universe is no joke. We talk about it all the time, there are no mistakes, you know we are all connected and there is a reason for everything. Tinder, the injury, the call, our manager Michael, meeting our Producer King David (who I actually went to Elementary school with), our first big tour with The Dirty Heads, I mean it’s all been leading us down this path.
KNOWAKING: I like this question. Now, I can’t say for sure of course, but it is entirely possible that something cosmic is responsible for the existence of Tyrone’s Jacket. I met Ry initially at a music festival in California, I saw her walking by and noticed she has a dope Rakim tattoo. I complimented it in passing as strangers. Fast forward a year later, I’m having a party at my house, I invite Mud and he says he’s coming over with this queen that he’s been dating. When they arrive and he introduces her, as we shake hands I notice her…wait for it… Rakim tattoo!! It’s Ryan! Maybe simply a small world, or maybe inter-dimensional play at work and it’s totally a big deal.
RY TOAST: That moment at Knowa’s party was lightning for sure. I didn’t know it at the time, but looking back on it that was prophecy. I met Mud on Tinder, which seems random BUT check this: Mud is a huge baseball person, played D1 in college, etc. His favorite player is Nolan Ryan, and he also shares a birthday with the Hall Of Fame pitcher, January 31st. My government name is Ryan Nolan. When I told him that, lightning struck again. It’s deep. Ancestors, sports, tinder, source magnificence, butterflies, demons, and magic.
Photo by Victoria Craven | @cravenshoots
What is the biggest change the band has been through in the last year?
MUDLUX: Not so many big changes I’d say as there are small incremental changes (all for the good). We’re aware that we have something very special and so we’ve all made sacrifices in our lives to keep this in front of everything else that we are doing.
KNOWAKING: I cut my dreads.
RY TOAST: Knowa cut his dreads.
Tell us about plans for the rest of this year?
MUDLUX: We are finishing mixes right now, so depending on that we could be releasing our first EP before the end of the year. Definitely another single / video. You’ll have to stay tuned.
KNOWAKING: What Mud said is accurate.
Photo by Victoria Craven | @cravenshoots
Each of you have amazing style. Which public figures past or present inspire your style?
MUDLUX: You mean Thrift-shop chic? My family never had money for expensive clothes so we borrowed our style from the racks of the closest thrift shops. It’s the best way to express yourself without contributing to the waste. I have a collection of old wrestling tees (s/o out to our boy Ted and his site @wrestling4sale). I just love the oversized prints and the out of this world characters of the wrestling world. For stage I like bold looks but in general if I see things that I like and it’s inspiring to try it on me, than I do it.
KNOWAKING: I feel like style is a matter of attire, and is also about attitude. The eyes, the thoughts, the pace ya know. The way a person treats people. These folks are a few of the many that have a philosophy I have studied and been inspired by: Bob Marley | Tupac | Bruce Lee | James Baldwin | Dave Chappelle | George Carlin | The Commodores (Motown in general) | Queen | Sam Cooke | Little Richard | Dead Prez | Herman Hesse | James Brown.
RY TOAST: My favorite thing about style is taking something hideous and making it dope. Those are the kind of clothes I am drawn to. Anyone can look sexy in a little black dress. I want to make a banana yellow snow suit sexy. I call it: Bonerkilling. Also: Grace Jones, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Bowie, Frida Kahlo, Biggie.
Photo by Stephen D. Dietrich | @sd_dietrich
How do your concepts for music videos come together?
MUDLUX: We put a lot of energy into the videos. Everything right now is DIY so it really comes down to what we can imagine vs. what’s realistic for us to execute from a budget perspective. Like “Do That There” for instance had several different treatments before we landed on the Kung Fu theme. First we talked about Knowa being a guru type figure, teaching a yoga class (think of Bikram). We studied the film “Holy Hell” which actually has a similar film treatment to what we finally used. Ultimately we thought this was somewhat in bad taste (we kind of learned our lesson from “Guns In America”), but it would be also difficult to pull off (location, actors, etc.). The next idea we had for it was based off of this YouTube video we found “The 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship.” It’s amazing if you drop the track and put the video on mute (doesn’t matter where you play it) the dancing matches up. Kind of like watching the Wizard of Oz and the Dark Side of the Moon type thing. It’s amazing. We decided if we were going to go in this direction we wanted the sound stage the outfits the dancers, everything (even a B/C list Hollywood actor to play the Alan Thicke role). We actually consulted a couple choreographers but it was clear this was out of our budget as well. The Kung Fu idea just made sense for us in the end, we were really inspired by the 70’s films “Born Invincible,” “Drunken Master”, “Ghost Faced Killer”, “Way Of The Dragon” but also 80’s sitcoms like “The A-Team” and of course “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys. The next videos we have in the cue are taking on a much more serious tone. Humor will always play a part in our brand, it’s the highest form of intelligence in our opinion, but we are looking forward to having a more mature conversation with our audience.
KNOWAKING: It comes down to simply doing it, not talking about doing it. I was surprised how much time can be spent on talking about what should be done as opposed to just doing it. The idea is that we want to make something and we are going to see it through, along the way we bring our skills to the table and then we see what we have when the dust settles. Sometimes there is a great idea right there from the start, and we develop from that, other times there’s no idea and we say ok… we need an idea so we then put some intention to coming up with one. That becomes the focus, once the idea is there we then take the next step.
Photo by Victoria Craven | @cravenshoots
If Tyrone could own only one jacket, what kind of jacket would it be?
MUDLUX: Going with a shiny sports jacket, satin and nylon…with pleather tassles.
RY TOAST: Something with fringe, denim, bedazzling, patches, and stains.
KNOWAKING: Vintage handmade Commodores world tour joint from the 70s.
Where can people find your music and other gear?
MUDLUX: Our music is available on all streaming sites (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). We have the early tracks on our Soundcloud and you can download some of those for free on our website: http://tyronesjacket.com Also you can purchase gear like concert tees and tanks.
What is the toughest part about making a song into a badass music videos?
MUDLUX: It’s a process for sure. Right now, we have three videos in various stages of production all with their own unique set of challenges. I’d say the biggest thing is after the video is out there what to do. That’s the step we want to really focus on with our next release(s). I think “Do That There” has only 1.5K views right now and we spent years putting together that package (literally), so getting more eyes on our content and putting thought and strategy into our releases is really important for us moving forward.
KNOWAKING: From a creative standpoint, imagining what the videos could be like if we had greater resources. It’s so much fun to make them, and at this stage we do everything grassroots/MacGyver style.. which actually has a charm of its own I think. If we had the means to make a bigger production of it we could really explore our imagination further. But it’s all part of the process, and we are doing our best so relatively speaking I’m sure we are in flow and I believe that those resources will come if we keep going.
RY TOAST: Finding creative ways to get your style across with no budget.
Tell us about making your latest music video release, Do That There?
KNOWAKING: Two words… BLOOD SPORT. We had to channel the passion of the Kumite. I’m really into the grace and meditation of martial arts, and have always been a fan of Bruce Lee in particular, but actually as a kid my favorite was Jean Clean Van Damme. It actually hurt me to hear one day at kickboxing class from a teacher that Van Damme wasn’t a real fighter and it was only for movies. But anyway, honestly it’s hard to remember exactly how it all started, that video took a lot of time from starting it to releasing it. We created characters for ourselves and made a backstory so we could mentally prepare to become them on screen, then we decided our costumes and assembled them. RyToast is dope with the ensembles, she does arts and crafts so with a little elbow grease we made a little something something. Went to downtown LA in broad daylight on a weekday with a handheld camera and ran around shooting scenes, stuff like that. Mud is great with the editing and such so we were talking about chopping it up Kung Fu style from jump. Evan and I coordinated the white tiger Frank Fu fight scene which I’m really proud of.
RY TOAST: We spent one hilarious day running around the streets of DTLA in kung fu outfits. Sweating, kicking, punching, running, and laughing our asses off. It was classic shit.
Photo by Victoria Craven | @cravenshoots
How do you use cannabis in your daily life?
MUDLUX: Try not to abuse the medicine. Listen to your body. Be mindful of what’s important. I love cannabis and I’ve been using it for years, but it wasn’t until the TJ journey began for me where I really started to feel it was accepted. I’ve worked a lot of straight jobs, and I’ve failed drug tests even, so it’s caused problems for me in the past but to each his/her own. Things are changing. I smoke flower primarily and I feel it helps me relax and see things from a different perspective. At home I also like to infuse coconut oil with cannabis. I learned to develop a salve with one of our friends and partners who started a brand called “Tres Brujas.” The formula has amazing healing power (topical) that helps with aches and pains and even bites or treatment of tattoos which we have a lot of. I also cook with it as well. It’s a magical plant.
KNOWAKING: I love herb. I like to smoke and write, I like to smoke and think, I like to smoke and dream. There is an influx of flower laced with chemicals now that it’s become more popular so I try to be careful what I smoke. It’s meditation for me, I prefer to smoke in a chill atmosphere, I’m not much of a club guy really. I smoke a ton of herb constantly, probably way more than I should smoke. I have bouts of extreme anxiety and dissociation, panic attacks. When they’re happening, I tell myself I will never smoke again another day in my life, but sure enough the next day I’m right back to it. This has been going on for many years and to be honest I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. It’s a very strange relationship.
RY TOAST: My relationship with cannabis is very alive and dynamic. I have extreme stoner phases and I love taking breaks from it as well. I have to be very present with myself to keep tabs on it. If I’m off balance in some way, getting high will exacerbate that feeling. I used to smoke everyday. It helped me move through creative blocks, and helped me sleep when I was having intense insomnia. Right now I am happily on a break. I needed to clear out some mindspace and get my energy on point. TJ is poised to make some major moves right now and I’m enjoying my laser beam focus at the moment.
What do you think about the recent popularity of CBD products that has led to people being arrested for possessing CBD/THC products?
MUDLUX: We are overcriminalized, overstimulated, and under-educated in this country in general. The police are militarized, and there are neighborhoods living in terror. That said, we try to abide by the rules of law, not to get caught up so if they say no weed (like in Texas for instance) then like we said in the song we “ditch it at the border, then re-order”. Because at this point, where we are at, we got some things to do, and so nothing is worth going to jail or losing your freedom over. We wrote P.T.H. because we really just wanted to put a song out there celebrating our appreciation for the plant. Songs like Rita Marley’s “One Draw” just make you feel happy and are great to smoke too, and so that’s what we were trying to do in our own way.
KNOWAKING: When you have large groups that aren’t on the same page, they can talk as long as they want but it will be hard to communicate, it’s all a big mess and it’s a shame. There are a lot of people in trouble. I don’t see how in the heck CBD is something someone could be arrested for.
RY TOAST: It’s madness that anyone could be arrested for such a thing. Think about it: it’s not the plant or the product. What they deem illegal is actually state of consciousness the plant creates. Same with psilocybin mushrooms. So the government is basically trying to control your consciousness through these laws. NO FUCKING THANK YOU!
Photo by Stephen D. Dietrich | @sd_dietrich
How do you think society can benefit from total legalization of cannabis and hemp products?
MUDLUX: I’m not naive. It’s not going to solve everyone’s problems by any means, but you know pain management and mental illness are two areas I think we really like to take advantage of people as a society. Look how happy people live their lives and then try to emulate that for yourself. The universe is infinite and mysterious so whatever helps you visualize your dreams I say go for it.
KNOWAKING: As I see it, a potential problem with this is the same as anything that becomes mass produced, quality control. The cannabis industry is now in the business of profit maximization more than ever, so imagine buying a pack of marlboro joints… don’t you think they are going to put chemicals in it like cigarettes? Marijuana is so popular that of course the system is going to control it, tax it and weaponize it. That said, it’s not all cynical as there are certainly benefits, economy etc. In general, the flower has so many helpful medicinal and practical uses, it’s undeniable. Hemp alone could be used for so many things, but we know that old story about hemp vs. paper.
RY TOAST: Getting rid of opiates is a big one. Freeing people who are in jail for these “crimes” and getting them back to their families where they belong. Normalization of cannabis the way we have normalized alcohol, possibly starting to replace alcohol. Although I do not believe it is healthy to replace one vice with another, cannabis is undoubtedly a healthier way for us to relax. It’s a completely accepted substance, so we never question it, but almost all the worst things that have happened in my life have had something to do with alcohol.
Sensimilla can reveal you to yourself, so praise the earth. The sensimilla will all-evi-ate your pain, so we praise the earth! ‘P.T.H.’ by Tyrone’s Jacket
MUDLUX – BIO
Full name: Carl J. Stoeber aka “MUDLUX” aka “Coach Carl” aka “Cousin Carl” @mudlux_ Height: 6’3” Favorite food? French Fries Favorite movie? Man this is too hard. Last year my favorite movie was “Heredity” but you don’t get “Heredity” without “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Exorcist,” so that said anything involving a satanic cult I’m down to watch. Guilty Pleasure? Some nights when I’m beat I’ll stay up late watching horror flicks by myself. Ry usually walks in the door right during some weird naked scene, and so I’m used to that awkward feeling of embarrassment. Oh, also anything with Nicholas Cage in it. He’s on another level. He’s in some absolute classic films, but he’s also in like a thousand films all with the same basic plot line and for some reason to me it’s ALL gold. Please keep doing your thing. Celebrity Crush? Ry / Cody Bellinger Favorite album from the 90’s? Sublime – “Robbin’ the Hood” or The Pharcyde “Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde” What is your favorite hobby outside of music? Cooking and working out.
RY TOAST – BIO
Full name: RYAN MICHELLE TRUJILLO NOLAN @rytoast Height: 5’ 10” like Cindy Crawford Favorite food? VEGGIES! Favorite movie? Zoolander and Stepbrothers Guilty pleasure? So much kimchi Celebrity Crush? Mud Favorite album from the 90’s? Redman Doc’s Da Name 2000 What is your favorite hobby outside of music? Yoga and art!
KNOWAKING – BIO
Full name: Noah KingHeight: 5’7 Favorite food? Pastries Favorite movie? Mad Max Fury Road Guilty pleasure? Ice cream Celebrity Crush? Jean-Claude Van Damme Favorite album from the 90’s? The Roots Things Fall Apart What is your favorite hobby outside of music? Basketball
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