In 1993 the airwaves were bombarded with the bagpipes and beats of House of Pain-three white boys rapping about the usual suspects, using 'Irish pride' as their gimmicky backdrop. By 1997 the group disappeared. DJ Lethal now scratches for Limp Bizkit, and as everyone must know, lead rapper Everlast created a nice little solo career for himself (selling over a million albums last year.) Like a fallen 80s child-star, "Danny Boy" O'Connor, the other lyricist, unfortunately become a 'whatever happened toä?' question in the minds of many.

Almost. The 31-year-old rapper has recently joined forces with a 25-year-old mysterious mix-master named Eric to perfect his new project: Xsupermodels. O'Connor breaks a taste off for the world temporarily through a 4-song self-produced EP (which at presstime was untitled and the group yet unsigned but being courted by major labels.) You could call it a comeback. The familiar gravelly voice and seemingly effortless lyrical flow are still there, only now backed by a tapestry of sound threaded with the old-school rap, techno and hardcore influences this bi-coastal native obviously loves. His hip-hop roots show well in "Blaze," the opening track featuring RYU from Styles of Beyond while the closer-- '9000 Series' -stars the one and only Divine Styler.

So what lead to this creation? What happened during the last few lost years? And what did he buy with all of his H.O.P. loot? While You Were Sleeping abducted Danny from a San Fernando Valley Starbucks and probed his most intimate areas for answers. The subject agreeably complied. Documentation of our conversations occurs below.

What's happened in your life since House Of Pain?

Soul-searching. I didn't want to make a 'House of Pain Lite' or 'House of Pain Part 2' record. I think I evolved as a person. My taste has changed. There's not many hip-hop albums that move me, like there was in the 80s when Def Jam was kickin' out an album every year. I got into more experimental music, drum and bass...stuff like that. Me hooking up with him (Eric), there's a generation gap between me and him but it works good.

Were you ever into punk rock?

Yeah, that's why I like your shirt-Sick of It All-those are my boys! We did a remix with them-our second video, "Boom Shakalakalaka Boom." H2O. Toby's my boy! Toby's a perfect example of the kind of kid that got supercharged on that. I was that same kind of kid. Growin' up I listened to my mom's Motown Records, I listened to rock like every kid did. I was into DC hardcore shit: Reagan Youth, Bad Brains, Minor Threat. When I came out here (to California) in high school I got into all that Oxnard skate-punk: Ill repute, Stalin 13, Dr. Know and all that shit. But I was still into hip-hop. You'd see a PE record next to a Minor Threat record next to a BG Express. I think with H.O.P. people were like okay this is coolãthese kids don't look like MC Serch, they're not doing the running man or wearing high-top fades. Here's some bald kids with Celtic jerseys. The time had come. I take a piece of this flame and that and build my own fire.

The way technology is going now we can do this in our living room. If you can dream it you can make it, and that¼s where we're at now. I'm trying to mix that digital pure sound with that raw animal (grr) vibe. By the way, I saw Toby on the sobriety channel, or "Recovery Channel." I've been sober 15 months-that's what I was doing after H.O.P., drinking and using drugs.

Did you go through rehab?

Yeah I did. I went through rehab and it didn't work. Then I went and used for about a year and a half and tried to stop for a couple months, then went back. But now I go to meetings everyday.

What was your drug of choice?

Sort of. Speed. It was like 'if I could just get one more hour in [the day] I could figure this whole fuckin' life out.' And it never worked, so...I feel like I've come full-circle. H.O.P. was a great ride, and it opened my eyes to a lot of shit, good and bad. I think now, for me it was making that choice. I know the good things come along but I also know the heartaches and the letdowns. Playing the waiting games with labels, playing this and that, but as long as we like what we're doing at the end of the day and I believe in it...I mean, I've got other aspirations as well. I do graphic design, but music keeps coming back. It's not the easiest thing I could be doing and it's not always lucrative-'prince one day, pauper the next.' I could find a steadier ride. Being sober I might want to look for that...but I've got to go for it. That's why it took so long. I had a couple bands between now and House of Pain, but now I've found my niche.

What are some of the craziest memories you have of touring with House Of Pain?

I don't have any-I was always drunk. No, I remember a lot of shit. But it was so big, so quick. Immediately we got signed. Within 30 days that single was put out, within 30 days we were in the studio for another 30 days...everything used to come in under-budget which was the blessing of H.O.P. cuz it was so quick. We never really cleaned it up-it was all pre-production with rhymes, we mastered it, mixed it a little, but they never wanted anything refined, which worked great. Overnight it was double-platinum. We never went on that 'U-Haul Tour' ya know? We were always on those 5-star buses at 5-star hotels. We were opening for the Beastie Boys our first tour, got kicked off the tour...brought Rage Against the Machine on their first tour, brought Korn, brought Limp Bizkit on their first tour-big shows. Once we got thrown off the Beastie tour we thought oh shit, it's over. But 4 or 5 days after that the news got out, and we were offered headlining tours around the world. We did a lot of shit with Cypress (Hill) at the time. We took risks with who we brought out. At the time Epic had R.A.T.M. and they didn't know where to put that thing. I worked at a record store for 2 years before H.O.P. and groups like 24-7 Spyz, we'd have to put on their record "file under rock," because it looked like a reggae record and some thought it was a hip-hop record...they didn't know where this music went! In 90/91 there was no rap section in our store. Rap would get scattered between R&B and sometimes rock, depending. Reggae was "international music." You get in the wrong section you wouldn't sell that many records.

Like, 'Living Color' in the Reggae section? 'Oh, they're black, let's put 'em here.'

Exactly! That's what would happen.

Are you still friends with the other House Of Pain guys and how do you feel about their success?

I think it's great. It doesn't hurt me a bit to keep that interest going. We were doing our deal with Lethal, and he's got a label deal at Geffen, which has been reduced-they're all in-house and consolidated now-Geffen, Interscope-and they weren't quick to move on it, so I was like 'yo if we don't get it done, you gotta let me go do what I wanna do.' Durst wanted to sign us, but he didn't want to step on anybody's toes...so now me, Lethal, Durst, and him are all doing this deal. We're still good friends. It's funny how Lethal was part of House of Pain and got in Limp Bizkit and helped them move to their next level as well. It's growth! I think that's good. A lot of good came out of House of Pain and I never look back. There were some bad memories, some falling-outs, ya know...it was so quick...but so much more good came out of that. Not only for me but for where I am today. In music I think H.O.P kicked down a lot of doors, just like Beastie Boys kicked down a lot of doors, like a lot of groups who came before us. I'd like to knock it down a little more.

Why do you keep moving back and forth between LA and New York?

I get bored. I'm a thief, or I'm a sponge in a sense that I need constant shit to influence and inspire me. In LA a lot of times I can soak it up for a couple of months and then I feel like the sponge is getting dry and if I'm travelling constantly I don't notice it as much. I mean, I know every store around here in a 20-mile radius to find albums, every club. If I was in NY and the Blackalicious Show was in any little spot, I'd be like 'let's go!' but if I'm here and it's at the House of Blues I'm not going. I'm not gonna be part of that whole 'hip-hop at the H.O.B.' or if someone's playing the Key Club you won't catch me there 'cause I just don't like it. I feel like it's like "Coca-Cola presents..." ya know? I don't like that. Brooklyn Academy, let's go. Ice Cube I'd probably go see.

I want to finish this deal, finish this record, then go base ourselves outta NY. I might be back in a year or two, but for now we need to shift gears. I'm full of this already.

What'd you spend your money on from House Of Pain? Do you have a favorite purchase?

I bought a house, Ferraris, Harley Davidsons, jacuzzis, girlfriends, jewelry. Slowly but surely I got those all repo-ed. I went through a fortune. But it was so surreal-it didn't matter. But it matters now-it only makes me smarter for what I'm doing now. I talked to my mom today and we don't talk that often, but I called her and she said "are you excited?" I was like "Nah, it's not the same the second time." And she's like "I didn't think it would be. Just be smart. You've learned a lot. You've been through a lot. Just don't make the same mistakes." I have a responsibility to Eric, too. I'm trying to tell him the best I can what wasn't told to me. With H.O.P. it was like management had this attitude toward us like 'what they don't know won't hurt them' kind of shit. "Don't tell 'em this and don¼t tell them that. If Everlast is gonna do this, don't tell the rest of the band..." and then it comes out later down the line. When you take liberties like that and decide for me, that's not good. I feel I have a responsibility to keep him (Eric) abreast of what's going on. He's got a good head on his shoulders.

Tell me about XSupermdels? The name, How'd you meet...?

I'm one of those dudes who thinks of a new name for a new band every 20 minutes. Xsupermodels stuck because of the way I felt. It's a reflection of the music business or life in general. You can be the 'man of the hour' one minute or that could be the nicest model car and next year it's just a used car...and it doesn't make that car not good. Like with technology, from a 303 to 808. 808 bass is still that killer shit, it was a mistake almost. They made a thousand of them and discontinued them. And now if you're doing trip-hop or house it's the most sought-after. 'Xsupermodels' is an entendre about shit that's no longer looked at as 'of value.'

We had mutual friends, that's how we met. He was making beats in his bedroom and our friend Tommy introduced us. We plugged in a mic and started messing around. I was fucking with a lot of producers, and when you try to tell someone 'yo, I wanna slow that bpm down and rhyme over that shit,' they're just like "really...uh, great." A lot of producers are closed-minded. If they're just starting out they wanna be like the well-known ones-they wanna be "Dr. Dre" or something. Eric's knowledge of drum and bass, and an ill record collection--I could learn stuff from him, not just lead him by a string, cuz I've done that for a few years after H.O.P. I'd be like "I like that old Clash vibe with some Tool and Beach Boys" and people are like 'dude, you're losing me." Eric was onto to something and understood what I was talking about.

Do you have a big record collection?

I have a comprehensive collection. I just got rid of a lot of dead weight. I get anthologies. If I get Massive Attack, I'll get everything they ever did, or Art of Noise, or Kraftwerk. I like Seal and want every fucking single. Certain artists I just go after. I'm anal-retentive, putting them in the clear plastic things and alphabetizing them.

What are you listening to right now?

A group called Tipper. It's kind of like Massive Attack on steroids. Like Ed Rush Optical mixed with Massive Attack.

What do you do for fun now when you're not doing music?

The opposite of what I used to do. Playing that 'Tony Hawk' game on the Playstation. I do the simple things-come get coffee, ride a bike, shop for records-all the shit that I thought was lame when I had money in my pocket and the world by the hair. I can't believe I overlooked all those simple things.

-courtesy of "While You Were Sleeping"

www.whileyouweresleeping.com

-end of interview

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