TSS: Alright, mixing it up a bit now. A lot of cats come out, saying everything they spit is off the top. What are your thoughts on that, is it okay to be proud of writing your lyrics down, or is Hip-Hop fundamentally supposed to be the art of freestyling?

Phil Da Agony: That’s some Jay-Z shit, bro. Like niggas made that popular after they heard Jay don’t write his shit down. I don’t really know another artist who made that shit popular before that. And dude set a lot of trends, I ain’t mad at that. But when you just come to writing your shit, you just gotta make sure you get the best shit out of it. And that’s coming from a dude like Kron said, who writes for himself and others. Jay wrote “Still D.R.E.” He does that. He knows how to approach a record as if he were another artist.

So I mean, if you’re dealing in that kind of realm, as a writer, get your publishing and everything. It’s just like back in the day, freestyling was a big part of the culture and battling and all that. People still check that shit out on YouTube, but the question is how can you translate the form of freestyling, and spitting shit off the top to equal out to making a record and make it work for you financially.

Krondon: Me, personally, because I’m a writer for myself and others, that I do both. And you can do both. The brain has two sides, which is known, and you pull from both sides. And as an artist and a creator, you pull from both sides. Now for people like actors, singers, painters, shit even ballerinas, and gymnasts, there are just certain things you cannot plan. You just cannot write a feeling down. You can describe a feeling, but the actual feeling, you cannot write it down. You can remember something, and recreate it, that’s not impossible. But at the same time, what you’re finding now, is that you have artists that are figuring out what they want to do. Do they want to give you emotion, or do they want to give you intellect? And regardless of which one it is, it’s coming from the same artist.

TSS: Also, another issue these days is that a lot of people, especially the younger generation have grown up with free music. Like they never paid for music. For them it started with Napster, then to whatever positioned itself to take its place. How would you guys convince these people to invest in Strong Arm Steady and physically purchase your music?

Krondon: I think it comes from a respect for the artist. I think that the respect between the consumer and the major label corporate structure has failed and it’s been lost and thus you have the Torrent sites and the download shit. I don’t take it personally to the artists because I think that if a person takes the time to download a bunch of your music, then in the same sense, he’s interested enough to listen.

So I don’t find it “crowded” in the industry or whatever, because things are changing all the time. Nothing is going to stay the same. But at the same time, I think it’s the consumer’s responsibility to know that if he doesn’t support us and buy our records and our tickets and merchandise and things like that, we can’t continue to do it. And everything has its time.

Take style for instance. You’re not still buying the same shit you used to, and those people aren’t happy about that but at the same time they’re investing in other things. In the same way, we as artists have to continue to re-invent and come with new and exciting ways to attract the consumer. It’s a give and take. I love Puffy to death and during the Puffy Era, he did that to the music industry. He said “ Hey you know what, it’s about this, and it’s about that.” And we believed that shit for so long, but Puffy didn’t find another Biggie Smalls. He didn’t find another Faith Evans or other shit that kept you interested. And I think it’s the consumer’s responsibility to not just listen to music that’s on TV and radio, but to look for good music, and to support that.

TSS: Definitely. Alright, couple of quick hits. What’s your favorite drink?

Mitchy Slick: Aw man, water man [Laughs].

TSS: [Laughs]

Mitchy Slick: Well nah, it depends. If you’re in a club environment you gotta have wine and you gotta have a little champagne.

TSS: Damn, y’all keep it classy.

Phil Da Agony: I ain’t gonna lie. We popped the best of the best of the bottles, from the Cristal, to the Dom P, to the Rozay, to the X.O. Hennessy to the fucking Louis. So we’ll go to any realm as far as alcohol is concerned. And we smoked the best weed and all that. That shit ain’t nothing but drugs. But like Mitchy said, we just trying to drink water. We drink that shit to the max.

TSS: Alright, and what’s the craziest thing a groupie ever said to you on tour?

Phil Da Agony: Aw man, my first tour I was on with Madlib and Xzibit and all them and I met a groupie who went one by one and fucked the whole tour bus [Laughs].

Everybody: [Laughs!!!]

TSS: Alright, one last question. Is Detox coming out or what?

Phil Da Agony: Yeah it’s coming out, I wrote all over that motherfucker [Laughs].

TSS: [Laughs] Most definitely. Any last words for the readers?

Krondon: February 22nd man, Arms & Hammers, get ready. Check out www.strongarmsteadytv.com. You can get all the information, buy merchandise, download music, watch videos, contact us, anything in the world that has to do with SAS, Strong Arm Steady. February 22nd is definitely a new chapter in the West Coast classic. You’re gonna have one more thing to add to everything the West Coast classic collection.

Strong Arm Steady’s new album Arms & Hammer is available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon courtesy of Blacksmith Music/Element 9 and will feature appearance and production from Talib Kweli, Too $hort, DJ Khalil . For more information on the California collective, visit www.strongarmsteadytv.com and follow them on Twitter: @SASgang, @KRONDON, @MITCHYSLICK and @PhilTheAgony.