Music

The Doks Are In

Doks Robotiks polish live hip-hop energy on studio LP

Eric Christenson |

THAT LIVE FEELING. Gumm, left, and Konstant Movement share the mic for Doks Robotiks, who bring a tight, fun energy and jazz flavor to their freestyling hip hop roots.
THAT LIVE FEELING. Gumm, left, and Konstant Movement share the mic for Doks Robotiks, who bring a tight, fun energy and jazz flavor to their freestyling hip hop roots.

Doks Robotiks, born among young music majors during their early years of dorm life at UW-Eau Claire, started loose. A chicken-scratch note on a dorm whiteboard from drummer and jazz student Rick Haneman to rapper Stephen Sutherland – who raps as Konstant Movement – said something simple like, “Hey man, we should make some live hip-hop.”

“I came back after winter break and there was this half-assed, smudged note on my door,” Sutherland laughed. “Then we just started jamming hip-hop jazz. And it just evolved. Henry (Berggman, trombone) and Kris (Bergh, trumpet) started coming around. Rob (Hagen, guitar) came into the picture. Adam (who raps under his last name Gumm, vocals) came into the picture. … It was like fate.”

From loose freestyle beginnings and a couple of scratch demos, Doks quickly amassed a dedicated ensemble – between eight to 12 at any given moment – and started furiously playing house shows and venue gigs around Eau Claire, collaborating and learning.

Time passed, three quarters of the crew graduated and moved to the Twin Cities while others stuck around to finish school, and it was time to hunker down and record something. When they’re all in one room playing music, it couldn’t be easier. But putting that live energy on record with 10 members spread out miles and miles apart can be tricky.

“It’s hard to capture a band like ours on a record,” Sutherland said. “It’s hard to capture that live energy on wax.”

The recording process started by tracking the instruments locally a year ago at Pine Hollow Studios with producer Evan Middlesworth. Then it was several months of writing, editing, and refining the vocals and getting guest features – a lengthy process no doubt – before they sent polished tracks off to their friend Matt Mulheran, a Minneapolis DJ who makes amazing beats as Diatonic. Diatonic mixed and mastered the tracks while adding old -school turntable scratches and other production elements from his arsenal.

The final product is a 10-track self-titled effort simply called Doks, an album full of not only the blazing lyrical prowess of emcees Konstant Movement and Gumm, but also with tight jazz hooks, horns, solos, and a tight rhythmic backbone with Andrew Bocher, a dynamite keyboardist/composer, and Haneman on drums.

With so many moving pieces, it takes a special level of dedication on all fronts to pull off an album like this. “The music’s the thing that keeps us going,” Haneman said. “It’s our devotion and our eagerness to just have a good project organized with good people. We’re also really good friends, so it’s not really a task.”

For Doks, live hip-hop has always been their hook. So many rappers today make awesome stuff with electronic beats made by expert producers, but seeing live hip-hop is more about the experience. It’s something that Doks has always thrived on. “For me I’ve always connected more with harmonies and rhythms more than words,” Berggman said. “When it’s live, everyone’s feeding off each other. An emcee that goes off beats, that’s all they have to go off of: themselves.”

Fresh off a year of producing this record and a dynamite release show at the 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis, Doks is hoping to take a breather in the coming weeks before making the next move. Soon, the whole band will be out there, taking their tight, dynamic live show to new audiences.

They’ve certainly got a bright future ahead of them as the Twin Cities hip-hop game takes stride after stride toward greatness. It’s a lot to ask of a lot of people, but so far the band has come together in the spirit of putting out solid tunes with their friends.

“Like with most teams, we have our common goal, to make great music. We all have different personalities, but we’re all on the same track of wanting to make music together,” Sutherland said. “As long as we have that goal together, it’s not a problem.”

Doks Robotiks self-titled album Doks is out now. You can check it out at soundcloud.com/doksrobotiks as the band prepares for its Eau Claire release show on Feb. 20 at The Mousetrap with Idle Empress, Adelyn Rose, and Sloslylove.