Dray: Hello again. Thank you for your time. At what age did you first start rapping, and who were your first influences?
Tiny: Between age 10 and 11. Influences came from both westcoast and eastcoast early 90's hip hop.
Dray: When did you first hear Quarashi's music, and what were your thoughts?
Tiny: 13 I think, when they first came out and when I heard it I felt it was a positive step for the hip hop "movement" in Iceland.
Dray: Did you know any member(s) of Quarashi personally before joining the band?
Tiny: No, but Ómar sat in a judging panel once which nominated me the most promising rapper. I think I was 15 at the time
Dray: Who asked you to join the band? How did that person hear about you?
Tiny: I recorded a song called "Straight Execution" when I was 17 years old, it was Solvi who heard it and asked me to meet him about a year later.
Dray: Can you remember the first track you recorded with Quarashi or any one of its members? Can you remember your first live performance with Quarashi?
Tiny: Yes of course, the first song I recorded was "Race City" and the first gig I did with them was at the Icelandic Airwaves "Nasa".
Dray: What is your favorite Quarashi song that you had a part in? What is your favorite Quarashi song that you were not a part of?
Tiny: My favorite song that I had part in is with out a doubt "Stars"... my favorite Quarashi song that I had no part in is "Switchstance". I like how raw it is like something recorded in a basement or a garage after school...
Dray: Did you have any part in the writing process of Quarashi songs other than your lyrics?
Tiny: I wrote all my lyrics, some choruses and the collaboration part with me and Omar in "Murder Frenzy".
Dray: What was your favorite and most valued experience during your time with Quarashi?
Tiny: My most valued experience has to Japan, I played in front of a 20,000 people crowd in Tokyo, and in Osaka 15,000 people.
Dray: Did Quarashi ever have any plans for the USA during your time in the band?
Tiny: Yes eventually I think, but after touring Japan and then Iceland, morale was low. Stoney quit the band, then Omar, and they wanted to concentrate on their own things rather then make another run at the states. Stoney quit I guess from being kind of pushed to the curve in Guerilla Disco. Solvi tried to include him at one point, but he was less and less involved in the songs and maybe it was his own lack of interests... I mean the band had been working for 6 or 7 years before I joined. In that time a lot of issues came up and were dealt with differently... don't know if there was already some bad blood between them. Solvi once said that a band was like a marriage and a business relationship, that's kind of how Quarashi was, and when I joined the love was fading and partners were losing interests... that said, we had a great time, and I still have love for those guys today.
Dray: There were rumors that songs from Guerilla Disco were being aired on New York radio stations in the USA, and the band even played a few shows in New York during that time. Are any of these rumors true?
Tiny: We played in New York but that was before Guerilla Disco, and I have never gotten any royalty checks from the states for the music I've been involved in as far as I'm concerned.
Dray: After the Quarashi break up, did you keep in touch with any of the members of the band? Did you do anything musically after the break up, and what do you do now? Do you want to continue making music?
Tiny: I've kept in touch with Solvi regularly since the break up. I meet the others from time to time since we live in the same city and it's small. [Tiny also raps in his new band, "Musik Zoo" (http://www.myspace.com/musikzoo). You can hear one of their new songs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyntKEPIrpc
Dray: Again, thank you for your time.
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