If you’re looking for a wild, high-energy show, look no further than Paco the G Train Bandit, who will perform in Bushwick this Friday night at The Paper Box. With burlesque acts, bands, rappers, live Reggae, DJs and performance art running all night, there’s something for everyone.
“It’s a wild dance party with awesome people,” says Paco. “Brooklyn Wildlife throws great events. This one in particular is going to have two stages of live performances.”
Paco’s sound is a unique hip-hop fusion blend: “It’s turn-up. It’s lyrical. It’s new, innovative, and original. It’s political. It’s raunchy. It’s heartfelt. It’s content is as diverse as our lives are,” he says.
You can listed to his recently released mixtape, Mucho Gusto, here:
AANY’s Flora Theden caught up with Paco to talk about the upcoming show, his favorite spots in New York City, and the current artists who inspire him:
What song are you most looking forward to performing?
Definitely this new joint I have with BS called “Maury Povitch”. We haven’t released the song yet, but the production that Speed Basser laid down for it is insane. I can’t wait to see how it knocks on the system at Paperbox. It’s also the first collaboration I’ve done with BS, who has been a regular on my #DirtyLife Cypher Sunday series. It’s gonna be a lot of fun to party on that one. But besides the premiere of the brand new song, I’m excited about performing Mucho Gusto. The whole mixtape is set up as if it were a live set, with smooth DJ transitions between songs to keep the energy moving, so it’s ideal for live shows.
Where in NYC do you hang out?
Bushwick, Lower East Side, Williamsburg (although less and less so as my favorite music venues are closing down, RIP Glasslands, Spike Hill, Public Assembly, etc). I think Bushwick is where the scene is moving. Every day new venues are popping up and featuring the best indie artists in the city. Both more conventional (organized and with official permits and all that) like Paperbox, and venues like Secret Loft, which continue in the tradition of Bushwick’s underground warehouse parties. And the people who go to these parties are the kind of people you always hope to see at parties. They’re there to have fun, get drunk and enjoy the music, not to stand on the wall looking stank and act like they’re above the whole thing. That’s probably my biggest pet peeve with NYC events sometimes is that people don’t bring a lot of love to shows all the time. But at the same time, when they do bring the love, it’s fucking magic.
Who are some of the best performers around right now? What other artists
are you listening to?
Oh man, the list is too big. A lot of the music I end up listening to is local indie music, it’s one of the perks of running a studio for indie artists. So in that regard, I’ve been bumping a lot of Brittany Campbell, Crimdella, Eliot Perk, Fresco Van Gogh, July Quin and Radamiz. All of them have either just released a new project or are steady grinding on one and it’s coming soon. In terms of industry artists, Logic’s album (*Under Pressure*) was incredible. Schoolboy Q’s* Oxymoron *blew my mind. The way he weaves details into his lyrics make everything he says so much more real than the average rapper. It reminds me of early Wu-Tang. And I still have
Childish Gambino (*Because the Internet*), Chance the Rapper (*Acid Rap*), and Kendrick Lamar in pretty steady rotation too even though they’re a little older. Outside of hip-hop, SZA, Jhene Aiko, and Patty Crash are killing it right now. The new D’Angelo album was crazy good too. The band he put together for it really brought a new dimension to what he was doing in the 90s (but I’m also a huge Questlove fan, so maybe I’m biased, haha).
WHERE: Paperbox – 17 Meadow St. Brooklyn
WHEN: Friday 1/16 @ 9pm
