Running the Def Jux Myspace, one runs into a lot of really repetitive questions such as; "Sign us, please?", "What do you think of my rap song (my girlfriend is playing the Dulcimer in the background)?!", "What is Aesop's favorite color?", "Is Despot REALLY that short?", "Could you tell El-P that the government started tapping my phones when I bought Fantastic Damage?" And so on and so on. BUT one of the most common questions we get is, "What is up with Cage?!!" Well, its about time we answered THAT one. For the rest you will just have to use your overactive imaginations. (Photo by Todd Westphal)

DJX: First and foremost, how far along are you on 'Depart From Me' and do you know when it's supposed to come out?

Cage: I have about ten songs but i keep writing new ones so I guess when i feel like I have the record I have the record. I would love to see it come out this year.

DJX: What is the album about for the most part?

Cage: Hell's Winter was about growth and learning how to identify Satan. Depart From Me is about casting him out and having a good time doing it.

DJX: What is the progress of the movie [For those who don't know; Cage's good friend and promising film actor, Shia Labouef is working on a feature length biopic of Cage's life] and will it coincide somehow with the release of Depart From Me?
Cage: Shia is doing Indie 4 [Indiana Jones 4] press and I am making a record.I suspect I will have cool news soon.

DJX:What do you while you are home working on an album when you AREN'T recording?
Cage: Lately I have been running about 2-4 miles a day.The writing and recording is all the time.No time off. Work for fun.The best is jumping out of the shower to write shit down. I have every game system and they are covered in dust and thats a good thing.

DJX: Hell's Winter had some very political tracks like Grand Ol' Party Crash, ft. Jello Biafra. Do you keep up with the current election? Any thoughts on the candidates? Or is it all just as disillusioned to you as it always has been?
Cage:You might be arrested in 20 years for asking questions like these and I can't wait.

DJX:Do you listen to anything else while you are recording or is there anything you are especially feeling right now?
Cage: This is where I should promote my friends.. but I wont.. okay I will XO Skeletons and Yak [Ballz] are blasting around me a lot right now, and opie and anthony on xm in the mornings.


DJX:Last summer you did the Rock the Bells tour along with Wu-tang Clan and Rage against the Machine, how was that for you and are you doing any major summer festival tours this year?
Cage:That was a great experience and Murs was great through that whole ordeal and it worked.
I am not sure my summer plans yet as my record will be after summer.I might just pop up in your city and test out some of the new shit live in some 200 capacity shit hole.

DJX:You run with a group of musicians/ artists/ rappers/rockers known as Cardboard city, how have the other musicians within the collective influenced your music and are you all working on any collabos at the moment/for the new album?
Cage: I am working on a song with Wes Eisold, and I don't really have any collaborations lyrically.
I am going for a more back to basics ya know stripped down of all the other voices and opinions like clothes before you have sex.

DJX:What does this album say about where you are in life right now? Is it an accurate reflection of the time in your life since Hell's winter?
Cage: I think this record is again revisiting the same aches and pains that bug my everyday life. Whether it's being strapped to a bed in the song DR.Strong or having sex with your shirt on in Fat Kids Need Anthems Too. Some of it is observational like Oh NO! It's The 80's Again. Okay that's enough title leaks.

DJX: Has it been weird for you, in the making of the movie and in some of your more personal songs, to revisit some of the darker parts of your growing up? Or even just to have kids feel that they know those experiences so well that they feel they can relate?
Cage:It's hard because Shia might call me at 4 am and say, 'tell me about the time your dad was on heroin.....'

you be the judge.


For more info on Cage, Visit his Artist page and his Brand Spankin new- ish, website.