MC Frontalot (aka Damian Hess, Wesleyan class of ’96) isn’t your typical MC. For one thing, the San Francisco-based musician is partial to what we might call the “Dwight Shrute” aeshetic: during shows, Frontalot ditches typical hip-hop garb in favor of pastel short-sleeved button-downs, dress pants, a tie and chunky Buddy Holly glasses. For another thing, the sub-heading of his webpage is “Nerdcore Headquarters.” In the last few years, the Wes alum has found himself at the vanguard of nerdcore hip-hop—he even starred in a recent documentary on the genre (“Nerdcore Rising”) and earned accolades from high-profile magazines like Newsweek and Spin. Argus writer Stephanie Freitag recently corresponded with Frontalot via email to talk about his time at Wesleyan, his recent success and what exactly “nerdcore hip hop” means.

Stephanie Freitag: How did you get started? Did you always dream of becoming a famous MC?

MC Frontalot: I always dreamed of becoming a famous novelist, actually. The only music classes I took were a couple sections of Experimental Music, though the second one (Electronic Music with Ron Kuivala) definitely laid the foundation for putting hip-hop tracks together on a desktop. Being a rock star is a pretty good alternative to being a novelist, so far. I get to write professionally, even if it’s always verse.

I did get started on the rapping pretty early, sometime in high school. But I never shared it with anyone. I was somewhat embarrassed by how wack I sounded. Even at Wes my little rap group (Devil Card) was kind of a secret. We tended to perform for an audience of three ashtrays and a four track tape recorder.

SF: How did you come up with your stage name “Frontalot”?

MCF: I figured that the amount of fronting I had to do was notably large, just to pick up a mic and pretend like I ought to be the center of attention. Rapping, as I understood it, was predicated on the constant assertion that one’s raps were superb. I didn’t feel that I had that to offer. So if I was going to do it anyway, and there was going to be a lot of fronting involved, I decided to be forthcoming about it. Also, I was pretty sure there would never be another rapper who wanted that name. Having Google results that are unique to you is a vital branding consideration.

SF: How would you describe your unique style?

MCF: As unique. Also, as derivative. Maybe I would describe it as a seething mass of contradictions.

SF: Who are some of your favorite hip hop artists?

MCF: Del, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Blackalicious, Pharcyde, Digital Underground, Public Enemy, NWA, Nas, Jay Z, Brother Ali, Mos Def, Busdriver, MF Doom.

SF: Do other genres of music inspire your own? If so, what kind?

MCF: I listen to a lot of indie rock and electronic pop. My all time favorite is Tom Waits, and I will never get tired of putting him on way too loud.

SF: For those of us who have never heard nerdcore hip hop, how would you differentiate it from mainstream hip hop?

MCF: The main idea is that you don’t have to be one of the cool kids in order to be a rapper. This is an inversion of common sense. From there you move on to the themes: gaming, comics, science fiction, computers, etc. And I think most of the nerdcore that holds interest has something about alienation or loneliness underneath.

SF: How did you get involved in the documentary Nerdcore Rising?

MCF: The director asked if she could bring a film crew along on our first national tour, and my van happened to be pretty large, so I said yes. This was an extremely wise decision on my part, since the movie turned out to be awesome and has been winning awards in various film festivals for the last 10 months.

SF: What was the music scene at Wes like when you were a student?

MCF: WESU and Eclectic ran the show. Anyone good who came to campus came through their invites. We had Morphine, Tribe, De La, P-Funk, Ani DiFranco, and a million and one hitmakers from the 7″ new release bin. The on-campus bands were hit and miss. White Boy Drummer [WBD] and Triple D Effect were the good rap acts when I was there. Gaby [Alter ’97, Frontalot’s keyboardist] was in a funk band called Grandma’s Closet, and Brandon Patton (my bass player, Wes class of ’95) had a world music party band called Iguana. I remember a bunch of Eclectic kids had a noise band and a bunch of WestCo kids had a hippie jam band.

SF: While you were a student, you opened for P-Funk during Spring Weekend. What was that like?

MCF: I guess if you want to get technical, WBD opened for Velocity Girl, who opened for P-Funk, and I was only a guest vocalist in the WBD set. But it was the first time I was rapping in front of more than a dozen people. I’m pretty sure I sounded like hell and was quite glad that the headliners’ van hadn’t shown up yet. For years afterward I thought that my having ostensibly opened for P-Funk was going to be my claim to rap fame. I did not think I’d be getting huge pictures in Newsweek and reviews in SPIN.

SF: Would you ever consider coming back to Wes for a show?

MCF: Oh, hells yes. Sign me up.