“I had to touch the future so I could hear the past,” raps Thes One on People Under The Stairs’ newest release, The Gettin’ Off Stage, Step 1. The six-song set is the first of three EPs in the duo’s next stage, and the ambiguous title hints at uncertain destinations ahead: Is this the beginning of a departure, or just the next step?
When they hit the Velvet Jones stage this Saturday, February 27, with Santa Barbara’s own Chaye Tione and Santa Cruz’s Eliquate, mindfulness and ass shaking will intermingle amid questions of change, place, and identity in what is sure to be an unforgettable moment in S.B. musical space-time. People Under the Stage (PUTS), Tione, and Eliquate all make music that’s critically thinking, fiercely independent, and positively life-affirming, and the night will see one of West Coast hip-hop’s most legendary acts team up with two up-and-coming inheritors of their kindred musical mission.
PUTS, in particular, have made their mark on the world with proudly Los Angeleno music that espouses good vibes, meditation, and inquiry over egoism or competitiveness. “We’re just trying to make music for music’s sake,” said Thes One, aka Chris Portugal, in a phone interview, positioning the duo as something of an anti-Kanye in terms of self-regard. “We joke around that we’re like the Blues Brothers — we’re on a mission from God, but we don’t necessarily believe in God. We try to take ourselves entirely out of the music and touch a bigger energy.”