INTERVIEW WITH AVOCADO

Yo Avacado! Whats up? Time for an introduction!

What's crackin? My names Kyle Gray but most of the most of the nerdy hip-hop world knows me as Avocado. I do all the filming and editing for the Grind Time West Coast division and recently I've done the GTNW division, Grizzlemania graphics and I have done some motion design for King of the Dot. There's more jokes about my arms than I'd like and I wear shirts with sleeves to work contrary to popular belief. YAH!

What is some of your work people might be familiar with? I heard you’ve done some work in the movie industry is that true?

Yes sir, I do visual effects and motion design for a living. I've worked in commercials, music video's, documentaries and feature films. In terms of movies, I've worked on a lot of "great" films such as GI Joe, Invictus, Men Who Stare at Goats and Knight and Day to name a few.

Explain the name Avacado:

Well this is a pretty personal question. A while ago I was dating the love of my life and would do anything for her. She encouraged me to advance in my career and was always there for me when I needed her. She was a big part of my life. Her lifelong goal was to move to central california and own an avocado farm. I worked my ass off for 2 years saving up to move and we started to gather enough money to invest in her dream. A week before we got confirmation from the bank for a loan, she was killed in a car crash. I named myself Avocado in homage to her. Nah, Avocado is just a stupid name and I chose it cause its funny. :)

What’s it like being the cameraman for Grindtime?

Imagine sitting in a circle full of dudes, its hot as fuck, them spitting all over you and having to tell people at the bar to shut the hell up every 4 seconds. SOUNDS FUN HUH? haha nah its actually pretty fun, I'm a big fan of battles so I really enjoy contributing to the artform whatever way I can and having a front row seat to some of the most historic battles of all time is a plus.

Where is one of the dopest place you’ve filmed at?

The last 4 bay area events have been at the same location which is a big warehouse, its pretty good and housed the MOB audience comfortably which was around 500-600 people. The first BOTB event was at a regular venue in oakland with like maybe 20 heads. BOTB2 was in mosswood park in Oakland, that was pretty cool and it was a fun environment. I've also filmed in LA at project blowed for BOLA1 and I've been to portland twice to film two different GTNW events. Basically all the places I've filmed at have been dope except for the venue for BOLA2, that place was extremely small and the owner of the venue was a complete dick.

How much work goes into filming a big event like MOB?

Oh god man, a lot. It's just crazy cause these events take so much time, work and money to pull off correctly. Grind Time has literally gone from a group of friends chilling under a fucking park bench to these huge events attracting hundreds of people from around the world. I give a ton of props to Lush One, who gets a lot of unwarranted flack for shit thats out of his hands. The dude made such a big difference in grind time and the battle world in general, he literally REVIVED a dying art. But yeah I mean these events are literally planned for months beforehand, like any big event. At MOB for example we had a little platform built so everyone could see the battlers and we used a microphone to gently help the mc's with projection so everyone could hear. We try to cover all the aspects of making watching battles FUN when you're there, obviously shit slips through the cracks

but I like to think we're on top of shit for the most part.

What is some of the craziest shit you’ve caught on camera so far?

Madness being the hype man for a rapping bum was pretty dope. I think the craziest shit though was when they cut the lights out on dizaster during his battle with arsonal and he KEPT RAPPING. That shit was just so cinematic and awesome, the only light was the one from my camera and they just cut the lights out on him in the middle of his round. He didn't miss a beat and finished his round IGNORING the fact that the staff at the venue was flashing the lights and turning on music over the speakers trying to clear people out of the venue.

How did you get this opportunity?

Well I made a documentary about the west coast battle scene a while ago, "Fresh Coast". You can look it up and watch it on grind time's youtube channel. And I knew Lush from that and he basically approached me about filming the first bay area event and we just kept working together from then on out.

What other ways are you involved in Grindtime?

I film some events but I also do all the editing and graphics for the GTWC and recent GTNW division events. I get a lot of help though, my in house editor, Humberto Hidalgo, cuts some of the battles. Also Corey, the MAIN cameraman and editor for grind time, helped me out out A LOT at MOB. He also got his camera stolen there which was awesome. Corey does not get enough props for what he's done, he edited EVERY grind time battle for a while and was filming a good 90% of them which he still does.

Will you always work with Grindtime or will you eventually pass the torch as new opportunities present themselves?

Well Grind Time has always been something that I do as a hobby, I don't really let it get in the way of my professional work but recently it has been a lot of work. I mean I have uploaded battles from Las Vegas when I should have been out drinking, in Colorado when I should have been hanging out with my family, in the grand canyon freezing my ass off at 1AM next to a possible serial killer haha. I'm sure Corey feels that same way but the work that goes into uploading just 1 battle is pretty heavy and can get pretty time consuming for a "hobby". We'll see but right now I love it and I sort of feel like its my baby so its hard for me to turn my back on it.

You made it out to the Northwest to film the Bridge City Battles, how did you like the environment and do you plan on going back?

I LOVE PORTLAND! This recent trip sold me on it. I've been up there multiple times and I love the town. I like how its a city with a small town feel. A lot of people hate on all the hipster's up there but whatever man I lived in San Francisco haha. And last but not least, I LOVE THE WOMEN up there. Jesus christ me and Reverse Live were walking around before the battle just wondering when we were going to see a girl we weren't attracted to. The girls up there have style, dark features and attitude. I plan on going back at the next event for sure, ILLMAC I see you! "holla back surgery whats goody two shoes?"

Have you gone out to the east coast to film yet? Is that something you’re interested in?

I went out to brooklyn to interview Critical, Iron Solomon and Poison Pen for the Fresh Coast documentary and I loved it. Brooklyn is such a fucking cool city, how could you not love NY? I am REALLY interested in filming a battle out there. POISEN PEN I see you!

You get a front row view at all the battles, who would you say your top 5 battle rappers are or can you decide?

Oh man that's a hard question haha. Well my personal favorites are

1. passwurdz

2. illmaculate

3. dumbfoundead

4. nocando

5. thesaurus

I guess that really exposes the biased nerd in me haha.

How much pussy does the camera man really get?

Well i just woke up with some visions of last nights encounters with the police, making out with a girl and something that resembles a bite mark

Plug your info so your fanbase can grow! (Don’t forget your appreciation thread on rapmusic!)

hahah shout outs to belowtheheavens for making that, I see you stock! Well if you want to hit me up with any questions or just to say hello hit me on twitter at twitter.com/avocadoisgod. If you want to check out some work I've done go to www.kylegrayvisuals.com. My reel up there is actually old, I need to change that.

Any last words for the readers?

Thanks for all the kind words, you guys really make my day sometimes. Shout outs to all the RM heads, Goon Squad, Lush, Drect, Corey, Dirty Bird, Greg for doing that dope ass portrait and everyone who follows me, I still trip out when someone says they are a fan of me. Believe me its appreciated. Thanks also to the Bodyguard for giving me this interview, much appreciated! Also everyone should be on the lookout for Grizzlemania 2 in Miami. There are only 10 Battles and they are all dope, 4 battlers are BIG names that are being pulled out of retirement for the event. Start making your travel plans now....

thanks again guys, peace.