Bury Me With My Money, the 16th release from rapper local rapper Michael Myerz, is as raw and dirty as the yellow caked teeth of a crusty Euro-tramp washing themselves in the Thames. The EP was produced by Ben Hopkins, otherwise known as Damocles, and is the first side of his double EP. Myerz lives up to his moniker on the record, creating a sound unique to his personality and characteristics as a young, white Jew with a relentless, ever-changing ebb and flow to his lyricism.
This is Rocky Horror hip-hop. The EP is full of toe fungus and fugal, dystopian rants from gender fluid trannys and the king of darkness, Dracula, himself. The early ’90s are at its heart but it has themes that aptly take on the shape of the underground music scene in Atlanta. Myerz will be celebrating the EP release tonight at 529 under the banner of A. Rippin’ Productions, for whom he works.
Recently, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Mr. Myerz about not only the process by which he delineates the bizarre and the weird with a hot butter knife soaked in garlic breath beats, but also the simple things of life; you know, the music industry and how much one must ascribe to it to become a recognized artist.
How long has this EP been in production and what was your writing process like in creating it?
Technically, “Brooks” and “Bennie” were recorded 3-plus years ago when I moved to Atlanta, but the rest of the EP was recorded in under a month. The writing process was basically me going to Ben’s place, us sitting down, him going through different sounds, drums, melodies, etc., and then picking which ones were best, arranging them, and then going back to my place and writing to them. We’d name each song a weird title and I would sometimes use the song title to create the lyrics.
Did the process change or adapt to the style of production?
The process has been different just because these beats were unlike anything I’ve ever rapped on and they are crafted to my style so well that it was super easy to write to. There were no rules essentially.
You are young, yet very experienced within your genre having released 15 prior projects, and you have already worked with a handful of great producers. How was working with Damocles different than other producers you have worked with before and how did that help to shape the final product?
Working with Ben, as I said, was different because we made the majority of the beats for Bury Me With My Money and Kosmic Krust together. Also, Ben and I are best friends and most producers I’ve worked with are fucking assholes who think they know everything about everything. Ben is the right type of insane and I love him for that. We combine our insanity together to create dopeness.
Where did the title of the EP come from and how does it relate to the themes presented in this cohesive yet eclectic collection of tunes?
The title comes from a video game called Sunset Riders on SNES. When you kill the first boss he dies and says in a 16-bit voice, “Bury me with my money.” The title relates to the themes of the album because there is a lot of mockery and satire on materialism, commercialism, etc. Also, when I die I want to be buried with my money, maybe light my casket on fire, and shoot my money out of a cannon and watch people fight over my money.
Who did your artwork for the EP and what was the concept behind it? Does it tie into the title?
My friend Jake did all the artwork for the EP and he has done a lot of my music videos, shooting for shows, and other art. I met him in one of my film classes and he has been a crucial part of Michael Myerz. He had drawn these little heads barfing on each other that spelled out ‘Bury Me With My Money.’ I dug it and then he used a picture that I sent him from my phone which was a still from Killyjoy 2 which is a shitty horror film and then just put it in a gold frame he found on Google images or something and bam there was the album cover.
To me, this bleeds early ’90s vibes yet it has a feeling that it is unstuck in time. What are your influences, how are they reflected here, and how do you feel you have used them to stretch beyond your origins as an artist?
Nice Kurt Vonnegut quote with the unstuck in time shiz. My influences are what ever is going on around me. My environment has a lot to do with what type of music I make. I watch a shit ton of VHS and lots of weird shit in general. I’m always thinking of weird shit and my imagination just goes and goes, which is why I never hit writers block. I’m the nightmare from the ’90s and I live my life like I’m stuck in the ’90s but blended with current stuff, so I’m somewhat relevant. Not like I give a fuck about being relevant anyway. I mean basically throw me in a mall for a few hours and I’ll have song ideas for all the dipshits I see walking around. Great, now I gotta make an album called, Stuck in a Mall 4 3 Hours.
Time and place have a way of making their mark on an album. How has living in Atlanta shaped this project and what do you feel about the current state of your genre in the music scene?
Living in Atlanta has made me want to make really weird shit, weirder than anything I’ve done in the past. This city is FUCKING WEIRD! It’s also SUPER contrived in a lot of ways so I wanted to push out the contrived bullshit and replace it with weird, original content. As far as my current state of my genre in the scene goes… A lot of people don’t get it, they pigeonhole me into categories like ‘Nerdcore’ or ‘Comedy Rap,’ forgetting that I’ve made song literally about any topic you can think of, but then there are also a ton of people who totally get what I’m doing so it’s ying and yang, you know?
Has the local music scene been supportive of your contributions to it? In what direction would you like to see the scene develop and how do you see yourself being a part of that change?
As I said, the scene has been 50-50. You got amazing,awesome people who fuck with my stuff, you get radical sauce people like Amos Rifkin [A.Rippin’ Productions] who gives weirdos like me and many others the chance to play dope shows with dope acts and then you got your stupid hipster fuckhead who will say they’re interested in an event I’m having and won’t go to the show, or dumb shit heads who think they’re too cool to fuck with me cause I don’t fit the mold of a cool rapper. I’m not trendy; I’m me and people sometimes are intimidated by that and judge what they fear. Maybe I’m paranoid — well, I am — but I know I’m right about what I’m saying. There is a ton of bullshit, but that’s everywhere so I don’t let it discourage me too much.
I want to see things change in this scene, I want people to go to shows regardless of if it’s cool or trendy. What are we in fucking high school? “Oh I’m not punk, I’m indie so I’m not gonna go to this show because all my friends won’t be there.” UHHHH, WHAT THE FUCK? GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE ASSHOLE! SUPPORT MUSIC BECAUSE IT’S GOOD NOT BECAUSE IT’S COOL! I’m a skinny, rapping Jewish Kid and I help run death metal shows. I don’t give a fuck! Sorry, Ben, you gave me a megaphone and I’m using it.
All these people say they are about the local music scene and all about the “community” but don’t do shit to support it other than taking Instagram pics at shows they don’t even give a shit about other than the fact their friend is on stage looking so cute with the equally cute drummer. Goddamnit. RANT DONE. I will change this scene because I will keep on being a dickhead and shoving my dick in people’s faces until we all just support each other and work together to benefit everyone with whatever music or art they make. Now I will also say there are a TON of people who are making this scene awesome, whether that be a band, a promoter, a fan, whatever, like I said, ying and yang. So people reading this can make me out to be an asshole but aren’t we all assholes?
What would you like fans to know about what to expect next?
Fans and haters can expect more music from me, more music videos, more shows, more merch. I’m taking over motherfuckers! [I] haven’t even released this double EP and I’ve already recorded two songs for my new-new EP that I’ll drop in October.
Michael Myerz will celebrate the release of Bury Me With My Money tonight at 529. Supporting him will be Day Old Man, HeY!ALLigator, Wrap Retract, and Spore Lord. Doors open at 9 p.m. $8 gets you in.
More Info
Bandcamp: michaelmyerz.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @MichealMyerz
Instagram: @mrmyerz
SoundCloud: @mich4el-myerz
Twitter: @MrMyerz