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G&D Interview

G & D

Contributed by Alex Viard on 10/12/07

As they release their first joint project, The Message Uni Versa, Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow talk about their new group G&D. From their Las Vegas home, the couple give us a run down on life, music and the Uni Versa… Georgia did most of the talking.

DROP: Who and what is G&D? How’d you guys meet?
Georgia:G&D is Dudley and I, and we are here to bring a message of love and unity to everyone in the form of music. It’s Such a special project to us and It’s filled with excitement. It’s sample free, all of it is strictly from the heart. That’s how Dudley and I met, on this mission, on this mission to awaken. Now we’re together doin the same thing. We just want to encourage togetherness and encourage reality through reality.

DROP: With titles like Expressions (2012 a.u) and Olesi: Fragments of an Earth - you guys have a good amount of cosmic influences in your work. Breakdown your whole concept of earth and the “Universe” as you/guys see it?
Georgia: It’s really like it’s a unified thing. Earth, as far as we’re concerned, is in great danger as far as the human species is concerned. She’s in great balance also. What we’re trying to do is speak of the balance and speak of the imbalance so it can be brought to everyone’s attention. The earth is a beautiful place and it’s a lot like us except that when she cries, it’s like tsunamis and stuff (laughs). So we’re just trying to speak on her behalf, even though she speaks for herself we try and speak on her behalf. And the universe is like the name of the record Uni Versa, means you know - universal - and it means we all have to get together and learn how to talk with one another and learn how to deal with one another otherwise we’ll be missing the whole point of our existence. It’s something that always expands that always contracts. There’s always conflict and there’s always resolution. In a world right now where conflict gets the most media attention and hype, even in our emotional psyches. We’re trying to promote the resolution also and Uni Versa is calling out for resolution within the universe.

DROP: What role does God play in your lives?
Georgia: Every single thing I do man, every single thing. I love God, God is inside of us. I see God like the sparkle that animates life, not just some grey haired bearded person that’s in the sky. God’s the spirit of the mountain, God’s the spirit of the little kids, the wind blowin through the trees, It’s all that, even inanimate objects. So as a result, God is in everything we do. We wake up thankful and meditate all the time, we live this. We both turned our lives around a whole bunch. Cleaning up our diet to respect where God lives. It’s a daily walk and that’s why we want to share it. It don’t’ got an actual name on it but It’s my purpose, It’s my religion to keep it funky and conscious, meaningful funk.

DROP: What role does politics play in your music?
Georgia: It’s crazy because with politics It’s like a whole bunch of people you never see.

That’s a popsicle honey (to a young girl, laughs)

As far as politics go I’m just into equal rights and I don’t know if that’s political but I just think that’s just a natural thing as a human being. When it comes to politics they’re messed up. It’s like another industry like the fashion industry or something. It’s like high school or something: “Who’s gonna be the prom king?” “Who’s gonna be the prom queen?” Except this time it’s real lives at stake and I’m not feelin’ it. We live in an age of neo-colonialism like we’re in the 40’s - I don’t appreciate that. This whole secular lifestyle has gotten out of hand. I do believe in freedom of expression from everybody, I grew up seein’ a lot of stuff. There’s no spiritual option/outlet in American society where we live in right now. So I have beef when we impose that upon other nations that do love and are family oriented. I have beef when we step off and go to places where we’re not even needed. People say ‘Middle East this, Middle East that’, but I see it as ‘just take a look at Africa’. It’s Africa, before all of the lines were made and all of the geography, that was a whole other battle. Just to have territories and stuff all of that was a game to have us fightin’ each other. It don’t take us nowhere. It was in a book, it went somewhere in book that Donald Goines wrote cause he was getting his expression out, but it doesn’t yield no life. It only yields hate and paranoia.

DROP: Have you traveled to Africa?
Georgia: I’ve been to Africa before and it changed my life. I went to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland. Been to China, Germany, been all overt the place , been travelin’ a long time. But I love it, getting to know how to travel and havin’ that opportunity to travel because you get the chance to spread you love to more people and get more understanding to understand how people communicate. The more you travel the more you see it’s the same. The message with G&D is there’s nothing wrong with speaking the truth and being your God self. It’s not so much as judging the impurities as much as being who we are as people. And right now we’re living in an age where the grassroots movement is more fruitful than any type of machine that’s created. And it’s a real encouraging time we’re living in, that’s why we’re utilizing it to say something positive. Both of our dream is to create a groove so thick that people could actually not hold a gun and listen to it at the same time. Like if they heard our music they’d have to drop their guns and start dancing.

DROP: What kind of music has inspired you?
Georgia: Everything, all around the world. I’m talking about ancient Chinese opera music to Tutsi music, to Yemenite music, James Brown, everybody, George Clinton, Herbie Hancock, all the masters. Babtunde Olatunji, we do it in the spirit of people who are creative, Bootsy (Collins), Betty Carter, you know… and Milton Nacimento all day! I love Brazilian music, I was always in to those chords and stuff.

People always ask us why use the same keys and stuff, I don’t’ even believe in keys and chords. That’s why I like Brazilian music because It’s all legal. There’s been so many times when beautiful people of this diaspora - of all this tragedy - we’re children of these tragedies, but so much beauty comes from us and we are still the leaders. It makes makes have a sense of responsibility. It doesn’t make me feel like I’m bombed for being black, it don’t make me feel none of that. It makes me feel that I have the responsibility to set an example for generations to come.

(Georgia disappears for a second to tend to the young child… then reappears.)

DROP: Georgia, is that your child?
Georgia: This is Dudley’s baby, but she’s mine now. I love her and that’s my girl. Four years old and full of life!

(Dudley speaks)

DROP: Are you working on any solo projects in the future?
Dudley: Well It’s not actually solo cause I’ll be working with someone.

DROP: But under the Dudley Name?
Dudley: Yea, I’ll be working on the new Dudley album right after G&D. It’s called Mastering Peace Theatre. It’s a pure message of unity and divinity.

DROP: Is it another Madlib production?
Dudley: Not right now, I got a few Madlib productions coming out. Right now I’m just focusing on the messages. If they down with the message then we work and we do what we gotta do. But right now It’s purely strictly about feeling and reaching and curing.

Love your neighbor like you yourself and do it for real, not just cause it looks good. And no more war because murder is murder and killing is killing. Stop killing the youth cause they the youth, we need them to lead us. One life, one love, one God.