Cypress Hill Meets Reno Phil (Part 2 of 2)

Continued from Part One…

Altieri: With all the different musicians in the Reno Phil, we all have our different ideas in approaching something like this. Usually it takes a conductor to keep one sound together. So we’re all going to be doing something brand new, and it’s really very exciting. We have to come in there with open minds and be ready to adjust quickly.

The real challenge is when things go a little bit off-kilter or not quite what we’re expecting. I do my homework; I learn the charts as best I can. But that’s the thing: you can learn the charts, but things can still get a little crazy. Yet all of us are able to adapt quickly. And some of the best music comes from the spontaneity of the moment.

Bobo: On tour, we do our regular shows, and we do symphony shows. And to be honest, sometimes it’s kind of difficult to switch back and forth: “All right, we’re doing a normal set this week, and then in five days we’ve got a symphony show!” Because you have to really get into that mode: the way you play, the way you’re thinking. So the whole thing has been a challenge, but it’s been great.

Hip hop and other popular forms of music are about spontaneity, being in-the-moment. But orchestras work from sheet music and a planned program. How do you reconcile those different approaches?

Bobo: You have to be respectful to what they do and how they do it. You’re in their house. We are lucky to be able to do this; not many hip hop groups can say that they performed with an orchestra. We like to make it a real combination, and with the orchestras and conductors that we’ve worked with so far, it’s been just that.

Altieri: We blend using the forces of a classical or “classical symphony” with modern genres that may or may not have musical notation. It’s trailblazing.

One of the things that I do as a conductor – especially as someone who specializes in pops – is that when I see the arrangements, oftentimes I will come up with my own ideas and tweak them. I might throw out some ideas to increase the energy and the overall flow. That’s part of the fun; that’s the way that art evolves.

Even with written arrangements for the orchestra, I’d imagine that spontaneity is baked into this collaboration. It’s not as if Cypress Hill and the Reno Phil will have days to rehearse together…

Altieri: We’ll get together [before the concert] just to see if our charts line up with what [Cypress Hill] is doing. Because sometimes things don’t quite line up like they should. So you’ve got to have somebody at the helm who can think on their feet and try to “right the ship” in real time.

That’s part of the fun too: you don’t really know [what will happen]. I’ve done some concerts where we’ve blended orchestral music with a DJ. Yeah. The DJ has his ideas of what he’s doing, but those aren’t necessarily notated. That was a real challenge, but it came off quite well. So I found out a long time ago, and it’s now a little mantra that I use: “It’s fun to be fluid.”

Are many of the musicians in the Phil fans of Cypress Hill, or of hip hop in general?

Altieri: Absolutely! You can’t live in a vacuum. Myself, I knew “Insane in the Brain” quite well. And in doing my research, I’ve gotten to know some of the other tunes too. It’s gonna be a lot of fun collaborating with Cypress Hill.

Bobo: Oh, yeah! In all of the orchestras that we have played with so far, we’ve met Cypress Hill fans. It’s not like they’re these stuffy musicians. You have some who grew up listening to Cypress, yet they play classical music. And there are a few – OGs, I call them – who have been doing this kind of thing for years; they really appreciate this combination of hip hop and classical. And it’s always cool to be able to sit down and talk with them.

There’s a certain contingent of season ticket holders who come to everything. Do you think that the audience for this concert is likely to be primarily those people, or might it draw in people who have never seen or heard the Reno Phil before?

Altieri: You’re asking the million dollar question! The Reno Phil is always trying to branch out and find new audiences; that’s always a goal.

But that’s also the beauty of the art. We’re trying to branch out into new avenues, and who knows? There might be some dyed-in-the-wool Beethoven fan who decides they want to check out a little hip hop and see what else we can do. Because that’s really part of the excitement of music making. What we do with pops is suggest to people, “Hey, if you like that, come to listen to this and expand your horizons a little bit.

Is this collaboration indicative of the Reno Phil’s direction going forward, working with more artists outside of the classical and orchestral idiom?

Altieri: The hip hop angle is a new one for us. But yes: we’ve done rock, and we’ve done country. In the summer we’re doing a concert with a Beatles tribute band. Just a couple of months ago, we did “Nashville to Neon.” That was a purely country and western show. There are starting to be a lot more orchestras tapping into the country music market. Those artists are saying, “Isn’t it fun to have a symphony orchestra backing you up?” Because it’s a powerful sound when you’re able to put that many more colors into your show.

This whole collaboration highlights the idea of pushing boundaries, of trying new things. That seems to be a common thread that unites the Reno Phil and Cypress Hill.

Bobo: Yes, and in Cypress Hill we have a true brotherhood. We’ve kind of grown with each other. Back in the early days, everything was just so new. It was just, “Hang on! We’re all experiencing this together!” As years have gone by, we’ve been able to maintain that brotherhood and still enjoy making music together. And we still enjoy being on tour together.

When we come together, everybody falls into their spot, and then we enjoy trying out new things. When we’re in the dressing room, somebody might say, “Yo, this might be cool; let’s try this.” And then – even without a rehearsal – we’ll try it at the show. If you’re locked in like that, anything is possible.