*Discovering their passion for hip hop during the “backpack era” of the late 90′s, they began making a name for themselves in showcases, cyphers & battles throughout the city’s South Side. Around this time Dave began djing locally and producing in efforts to develop a unique sound. Collaborations with fellow artists and friends such as underground legend, Skech185, resulted in 2001′s “A Tale of Two Cities”, 2002′s “Drawbridge EP”, 2003′s “Idle Hands” & “7 Years In The Making” and 2004′s “SK Presents…”.

The Paxtons’ sound is characterized by massive arrangements, profound lyricism, pop culture, and an unwavering love for the hood. With influences ranging from 90s Hip-Hop to New Jack Swing to Chicago’s House Scene, expect nothing more than an emphasis on quality music that resonates as a soundtrack for everyday life.

*taken from The Paxtons’ Bio

MMIM:Who are the Paxtons?

TP: First off, we are brothers from another. We met in 7th grade back in ’96, on the school bus. And we have been cool ever since. We started rapping and writing around 2000 or so, I think after the backpack era, we started doing this music thing. At the time, we didn’t have any beats, and we weren’t about to pay anyone for them, so we thought how could we do this ourselves. So we got into producing, and we are trying to make everything sound CD quality music. And that’s how I ended up going to school for audio engineering. And here is a little known secret, Dave started to get into Photoshop so he put together the album covers, he was into graphic design. But that’s how we got into our secondary paths. Mines is more engineering stuff but we both rap and produce. I’m the engineer he [Dave] does graphic work.

MMIM: You guys are from Chicago, and there is a lot of success coming out Chicago. You have Lupe, Common, Kanye, The Cool Kids…is your style patterned from these artists, or different?

TP: Coming from Chicago and with that being the Midwest, it’s never really been a big export place in terms of music. New York had big rappers, the south had UGK, 8ball and MJG, Scarface and Geto Boys. The Paxtons – we are ourselves but we kinda “soak” up a bit from everywhere. We are influenced by everything that came through the Midwest. From a lyrical standpoint, people have said, “oh you guys remind me of Common”. And honestly, I think that just comes from the slang we use or the delivery. All of that is apart of where we are from.

MMIM: I know you guys got a mixtape out titled, “Members Only”, what was the inspiration behind that project and how long did it take to complete?

TP: We did the mixtape in a week and a half. In that week in a half, we just sat down and picked beats and recorded songs, and it was done….yeah that’s not the truth, so let me stop (laughs). But naw, so with the mixtape, we honestly wanted to get back to spitting. We had a break from the whole music scene. I was doing the engineering thing and Dave was doing Graphic Design. So we finally got back in the same city, so we said, “let’s get back into music”. So we were talking a lot of ideas, and we had some songs, verses and stuff like that. Like in March or April, we hooked up with our manager, and talked about putting a mixtape together. So we got a couple of tracks together and then he was like, “can you get your mixtape together in 2 weeks?” And we were like, “yeah we should be able to do that.” We just kinda went everyday after our 9-5, writing, coming up with concepts, and that was pretty much it.

TP: As far as the title, we put a lot of our personality into it. We were trying to come up with a title that signified that somebody was going to be let into something that was special. So with our personalities being put into our music and we are giving our listeners ourselves. So it was kinda like, you were a member of The Paxtons by listening and understanding our music. It’s exclusive because it’s coming straight from us.

MMIM: Do you ever worried about how your music is received?

TP: Only in its quality. Not so much, “I wonder if they would say this or that about me.”

MMIM: Being in the music industry, what have you experienced that you would say you like or dislike? What advice would you give to up and coming artists?

TP: I would honestly say that there are a lot of people who are professionals and some that are not professional. And the big thing is to never be discouraged by lack of professionalism. It is very easy to be deterred. And also with this being 2008 and the digital age, the Internet is the largest way to market music right now. So it’s not the 90s where the labels were looking for rappers, ya know? Everyone has access to the Internet, and to this whole global media. And with that being the case, you have to be able to do a little bit of everything. Not only will you have to be an artist, but you may have to do your own artwork, you might have to get someone in your camp to do your videos, but you will have to be able to be flexible and cover all the bases of being an artist.

MMIM: I like that way of thinking, and it makes a lot of sense with the way things are going now with music.

MMIM: How can your fans reach out to The Paxtons?
www.paxtonavenue.com and well as the MySpace that we check frequently, www.myspace.com/thepaxtons or email us at info@paxtonavenue.com