Gothic Theatre

Alias

Artist Website

If it wasn’t for Theo Huxtable, Brendon Whitney
might still be living in the woods of Southern Maine.
Raised by a church organist/hobby store clerk and a
firefighting jazz drummer on six acres of land in
rural Hollis, little Bren never had cable television. It
was a sad affair, and when the MTV receptors
started flaring up in his 13-year-old brain, something
had to be done. With only three general stores in
town, the musical pickings were slim, so Bren and
big sis Aubrey would stay up combing their five TV
channels for some sort of sign. And that was when
they found Theo, nee Malcolm-Jamal Warner,
hosting NBC’s “Friday Night Videos.”

Specifically, it was Special Ed’s “I’m the
Magnificent” that did it. A 16-year-old who wears
big clothes and claims to own 74 Honda scooters is hot shit to a kid growing up where the nearest person his age lives on
the other side of a small forest peppered with toothless itinerants. Bren began buying every hip-hop magazine he could
find, plastering the walls of his bedroom (shared by younger brother Ehren, age 3) with torn-out pictures of rappers
feverishly grabbing their crotches. His parents were unsure about the crotches, but supportive of his passion, so on
Christmas of 1992 they gave him his first drum machine. Exit little Bren, enter big Alias.

Alias wasn’t a drummer in the high school band, but he was a gangster with his boom box in the woods. In 1993, a
trip to the Maine Mall brought him to the feet of a real life Karl Kani-fitted hip-hop guru. Alias, 17, listened to the
wisdom spoken through the then-spotty red beard and before long found himself battling in the ciphers he’d only read
about. He moved his “studio” to a friend’s basement, taught himself to use an MPC2000 and an ADAT machine, and—
three years later—joined Sole (who’d since ditched the Karl Kani) as a member of the Live Poets.

It was in 1998, working in Minneapolis on the seminal Deep Puddle Dynamics project with Sole, Dose, and
Atmosphere’s Slug, that Alias realized he had no choice but to make music his entire life. He and his wife Jenn were on
their way to the Laundromat when they got a copy of the finished record. They sold the car, quit their jobs, packed
everything into a U-Haul and headed out west. With $300 left, they moved into an East Oakland warehouse with the rest
of the Anticon’s first migratory wave. Beyond the razor wire and the rabid, garbage-eating dogs, just behind the bullet
holes in the plywood walls, Alias concocted his first opus—a rap-heavy, poetic and brooding introspective called The
Other Side of the Looking Glass (2002).

In working on tracks for Sole’s Selling Live Water, Alias found himself moving away from vinyl sampling and lyricwriting.
He learned the secrets of the keyboard while touring with Themselves. And when he was back home (this time
protected by the luxury of drywall), Alias began crafting wordless moodpieces out of live and electronic instrumentation.
His Eyes Closed EP and Muted full-length (2003) officially marked a corner turned—rich atmospherics tied to a hip-hop
pulse, guitars and keys and tapped drums all rolling forward in one big ball of gorgeous. When Alias’ little brother heard
the music, it was decided: Ehren—who’d since become quite the virtuoso—would fly out to Oakland and the two would
make a record together. A year later they did, and the resulting LP, Lillian, was released August 2005.

Alias since has started his own label (Goodwithmoney Recordings) and more recently has released a full-length debut
(Brookland/Oaklyn) and follow up EP (Plane That Draws A White Line) for his newest project, a collaboration with
Anticon’s first female vocalist, singer Tarsier. He is currently working on his follow up to the critically acclaimed Muted.
His discography includes collaboration with every member of the Anticon roster, Sage Francis, Will Oldham, Saul
Williams, DJ Krush, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie/The Postal Service), Styrofoam, and members of the Notwist. He
has done remixes for Lali Puna, Lunz, JD Walker, Lucky Pierre, Deep Thinkers, Sixtoo, Giardini di Miro, Boy in Static,
Christ., 13&God, Bracken and The One AM Radio. He has toured the world, sharing a stage with such acts as The Roots,
Dalëk, Freestyle Fellowship, Kid 606, Xiu Xiu, Lali Puna, American Analog Set, The Go Find, Grand Buffet, Damo
Suzuki, The Notwist, B. Fleischmann/Duo 505, Non-Phixion, The Beatnuts, DJ Krush, and Fog.