Catching Up with Oreo Jones and Sirius Blvck

Photo by JustJess Photography

After a rather tumultuous year, Indy’s Oreo Jones and Sirius Blvck are looking to close out 2020 with some levity via their latest collaborative project, Unconcerned.

“There was no way we felt comfortable to drop it with everything going on,” says Jones, reflecting on the back-and-forth he and Blvck initially had in regards to releasing the project. “But then in hindsight, this is something that everyone needs right now — it’s a little decompression. I think the beauty of this record is to reminisce and think about brighter days ahead.”

Released on Dec. 3 via Fort Wayne-based label Near Mint, Unconcerned marks the first-ever collaborative project between the pair of Indianapolis hip-hop staples. To commemorate this historic moment, our Seth Johnson caught up with Blvck and Jones for an interview, discussing their longstanding relationship as artists, the legacy of DJ Indiana Jones and much more.

SETH JOHNSON: It seems like the two of you have been pretty busy this year. Can you run down all the projects you’ve put out in 2020?

OREO JONES: This motherfucka is the MVP of that. [laughs] I did Raintree at this time in 2019. So musically, that’s all I’ve put out.

SIRIUS BLVCK: Yeah. I put out three projects this year: Godspeed, the Ovrslept project and this project with me and OJ. I also put out a little three-song EP a few months back.

JOHNSON: Before we talk about your collaborative album, Unconcerned, I have to ask: do you two remember the first time you ever met?

BLVCK: To my knowledge, the first time we ever met was when I came to Helter Shelter for Gateway 3. I believe we had talked before when I was in Indian City Weather. I remember Wayne did a Barfly with you [Oreo], Indian City Weather and Ace.

JONES: Yeah. It was some random Locals Only night, where we all played together. One of my first significant memories of you was at the Betty release show. You hit me up and were like, “Yo. Let me do a track.” And I was like, “Yeah bro. I’ll literally let you do a track on my set. Send me that MP3, and we’ll get it cued up.” I always thought that was important because GG [Grey Granite] did the same thing for me when literally no one else whatsoever knew who I was.

BLVCK: When I was in Indian City Weather, we’d google “Indianapolis hip-hop,” and the first names that popped up were Grey Granite, Freddie Bunz and Oreo Jones. Taylor Bayne [Indian City Weather drummer] and me always used to listen to The Delicious EP. And then, it just so happened we linked up.

JOHNSON: When was the first time you two collaborated on something?

JONES: I did a feature for NIq that took forever. [laughs]

BLVCK: Yeah. It was on Rite of Passage. It was a song with Grxzz (a.k.a. Jeaux Seph) and OJ. It took me like two years to get this man on a track, but I finally did. I booked this studio session downtown with my engineer Riefler. This man [Oreo] rolls up with a shorty, and she just sits on the couch and chills. He’s like, “Alright. Let me hear the beat.” [laughs] He busts out a verse, and he snapped. It was a beautiful moment because I got to see OJ in his zone.

JONES: That was an experience. This dude [the engineer] had piranhas at his studio, and he was feeding piranhas in his studio.

BLVCK: His whole studio was blood red too. He was an old, cool dude.

JONES: Yeah, he was the shit. But he literally was like, “I’m about to feed these piranhas. Y’all wanna see this?” It was crazy.

JOHNSON: When did you two first start talking about the potential of a collaborative project?

BLVCK: We started talking about it six years ago. When we were on tour, we finalized the idea that we were going to do this record. So we set up some time with our engineer and started recording at Nate Karamanski’s. We kind of just went on the fly with it. We did a whole weekend and recorded quite a few tracks.

JONES: We played a lot of them live too.

BLVCK: So we were talking about doing this record, and it finally formed when we were on tour. We recorded these tracks, but then they just never got released.

JOHNSON: Where are those tracks now? Did any of them make their way onto Unconcerned, or are they gone for good?

JONES: They’re in the vault. [laughs by both] “The Belancholy” made it, which DMA produced. His shit is just so fucking timeless. It literally stands the test of time.

JOHNSON: When did you two start recording Unconcerned then? Also, what producers did you work with on the project?

BLVCK: We started recording five years ago, and then we came back to it this year in February. We booked a time with Riefler, went out to Fort Wayne and recorded. We kind of went on the fly with a lot of it. We had some shit written. But for the most part, we pieced the whole thing together that weekend.

The producers were some new cats. Bobby Tryll did a couple beats — he did “The Multiverse” and “’91 Subaru”. There was Dark Planet, who’s a producer from Fort Wayne that’s also in a band called Joyhouse. Our engineer Matt Riefler produces under the name Philo T, and he produced “We Live in a Society…”. Harry Otaku is also on the title track.

JONES: And DMA is on “The Belancholy”.

BLVCK: We had a good time recording. We just went in and had fun.

JOHNSON: What plans do you have now that the project is out?

BLVCK: We’re definitely going to do some videos. We have a video planned with the man, Jake Huber. We’re also going to do something separate for the track “Biodome”. And then, OJ and I are going to shoot something ourselves at some point. So we’ll definitely have visuals.

JOHNSON: Lastly, since I have you both on this call, would either of you like to reflect on Ron “DJ Indiana Jones” Miner and his legacy? I know you both knew him quite well.

JONES: I’m just really happy that I got to show him the record and show him the stuff I’ve been working on in the later chapter of his life. Before he passed, I was kind of in a slump, and I was just trying to figure out who I was as an artist. I feel like it was very important that I had a conversation with him before he took flight. He was just like, “Yo. If you ever feel that way, you can always hit me up.” That’s just a testament to who he was as a person and a mentor, and he always repped so fucking hard for Indianapolis.

He always loved and appreciated all the stuff that we did, and I think that really gave me the juice. We literally dropped this record on the day that he passed. Coincidentally, Niq and I were on a Zoom with Rhymefest, who he used to manage. We found out literally minutes before we were on it.

He’s just a testament to how strong of an energy a person can have, and how it can translate to the city in general and everyone that’s in the same community. How important it is that we still keep going and keep our legs moving.

BLVCK: Ron was an inspiration to this city. I’ve never seen such an imprint. I got to soak as much game as I could in those moments that I was blessed enough to be there for, and I appreciate that.