Madchild continues his rise to glory with latest tour

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: MADCHILD / BATTLEAXE WARRIORS
Madchild sits down with Interrobang to talk tours, lyrics and upcoming albums.

If you haven’t heard of Madchild before, sit down, shut up and get ready for a crash course in the chaotic life of a touring musician. The Canadian-born rapper rose to fame with the hip-hop group Swollen Members, releasing singles like “Fuel Injected”, “Night Vision” and “Pornstar”. As of late, Madchild’s main focus is carving out a career for himself as a solo artist. He’s covered a lot of ground so far, figuratively and literally.

Amidst his hectic cross-Canada tour, Madchild found time to sit down with Interrobang and discuss his live shows, his lyrics and what we can expect in the near future.

With the release of his latest album, Silver Tongue Devil, Madchild has been touring the country furiously. “I just did 20 shows across Canada three months ago and now I’m doing 40 more shows across Canada,” Madchild said. It might seem difficult to fill venues if you’re in a city every few months, but he said that the tour support has been phenomenal.

“It feels like a real blessing… getting onstage to a full room all night is a very wonderful experience.” Madchild said he’s on the road an average of 230 days out of the year, performing around 180 shows.

“I don’t think I could do it if I was like [I was] in the old days,” Madchild said, referring to a public struggle he had with addiction. Since launching his solo career he’s turned his life around and shows no signs of straying from the path. “I just find it’s better for me to stay extremely busy, so I really like this lifestyle, I enjoy it.”

During his tours, Madchild has come to realize just how many people relate to the topics he raps about, and how many people he’s helped through their struggles with substance abuse. Although the popular topics of fast cars and hot women may be part of life, he likes to talk about deeper things, even if they’re not widely accepted or embraced.

“It’s not something I do on purpose, but I do speak on depression, I speak on anger issues, I speak on whether I’ve got the blues that month or whether I’m having the happiest month of my life. Life’s a roller coaster, it’s pain and suffering, life, it’s joy and happiness,” he went on to say. “I think that some things really stick with people and I didn’t realize that that would happen.”

At every show he finds fans both young and old coming up to him to thank him for being such an inspiration and helping them get their lives on track. Madchild comes across as a humble guy regarding the fan responses. He doesn’t want to be a miracle savior, he just wants to write whatever’s in his head.

“I’ve always believed that true art comes from within...I don’t sit and think about what I’m going to talk about ahead of time, it just happens.”

Madchild certainly has a lot to talk about, his latest album Silver Tongue Devil hasn’t been out for six months yet and he’s already recorded two new albums and a mix tape. The first album set for release was impromptu to say the least. There was no preparation for the project, Madchild said, “When I came back I had this real fire within me… I just did 60 shows and I had three weeks at home and I did a whole album. I just sat down and basically didn’t get up until it was done.”

The album was originally titled Superbeast, but recently underwent a change to FTW or “Fuck the World”. The album will drop with Sony and precedes a long-term Los Angeles project that Madchild has been working on with producer and friend, Evidence.

Madchild takes the stage at London’s own Roxbury bar on Tuesday, Feb 2. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. With Madchild’s knack for packing a house, this won’t be a show you want to miss. To keep updated on the next albums and the Underground Monsters mix tape, check out Madchild’s record label, Battle Axe Warriors.