Andrew Robert Nielsen (aka MC Lars), is the self-proclaimed originator of “post-punk laptop rap”. Post-pu-what? Not something most people are familiar with… But that’s the way it goes when you’re a pioneer in your space. Wikipedia describes his unique style as follows: “With a punk rock band set to back him up, MC Lars plays a hip-hop set to a true punk rock background (a joining which he refers to as “post-punk laptop rap”). His bandmates play live over the samples and loops contained in his recorded music – all stored on his laptop computer.” Some would say his music also falls under the larger umbrella genre of “nerdcore“.
MC Lars epitomizes what we’re talking about when we shower praise on all the DIY musicians out there, determined to stay true to their art and not succumb to the temptations of going mainstream for the sake of appealing to the masses – and using the wonders of the internet to do so. MC Lars can be found on the web at:
Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Blog
He considers himself a part of the iGeneration, “a group born and raised in the time of the Ninja Turtles, cassette tapes and new wave music, who now live in the age of Gossip Girls, iPhones and screamo bands” (read more of his bio here).
Besides being a talented musician, MC Lars also does comics and podcasts. Oh, and he owns his own record label. Because, you know, he “sees little need for the traditional label trappings and would rather storm his own trail through the Internet”. Atta boy.
In storming that trail, he has boldly embraced the growing trend of engaging fans by letting them interact with his music and the culture created around it. Be part of that culture now, by remixing some of his stems. Download the stems and remix in your own software or use the online MixMaker to piece together your song, then upload back to the Wizard for others to listen to, vote on and share. (Check out more artists to remix here).
