Features

Hi Jay, thanks for taking time out to answer some questions. You said boredom was the main motivator for making the WUG blog but also that no other blogs were on your level, what did you mean by this?

How many puppets are there in your RSS feed reader? Nothing is puppet-oriented! So I had to do something…Instead of checking out an mp3 blog, a graff blog, a toy design blog, a football blog, a sneakers blog, a blog about new technologies, I decided to fusion them all on the same blog: what-up-gangstars.com! I have a busy life. No time to waste!

When you're not blogging, what other things do you like to do?

Smiling at girls, showing them that I’m sweet, chilling with my homie Bam Bam, organizing parties, watching Entourage, going out from Monday to Sunday weekly, downloading new apps for my iPhone, playing Pacman on my old Atari that my Uncle Louis gave me, horseriding around Montreal… 

I don't know too much about your city Montreal, besides Chromeo coming from there and the ‘Just for Laughs’ comedy festival. Have you always lived there? What are the good parts and bad parts about it?

I’m a born and raised Montrealer. If you don’t know Montreal yet, you will be hearing more and more about it now that I’m here!  The good parts: girls (they are beautiful and open-minded so to speak…), poutine, Omnikrom, Montreal Canadiens (our hockey team), not too many surfers. The bad parts: the Expos (our baseball team) moved to Washington, Elisha Cuthbert moved to Los Angeles (why? WHY?), 123klan are in Montreal.

Your friend Bam Bam is a DJ. What kind of music does he play and are you guys gonna put on any club nights for the blog?

Bam Bam is the best puppet DJ in the world. He’s a walking encyclopedia of hiphop, reggae, dub and dancehall. When he’s on the 1’s and 2’s, he’s in the zone. Meanwhile, I’ll be picking up the girls that are hovering around… The last party we threw was for the blog’s launch with my homies from Meilleuremusiquedumonde.com. Click here for the video.

The next one will be beginning of March.  It’s going to be grand! But I can’t tell you more, it’s a secret… If you want to be on the guestlist, just holla at me… I’m the man!

How has feedback on the blog been so far? Do you feel discriminated against due to being a puppet? Do people take you seriously?

Feedback has been fantastic. I am definitely becoming one of the hypest bloggers in Montreal. About racism? Nobody has given me trouble for being a puppet. Nevertheless, sometimes people look down on me. It would be in my best interest to grow a bit…

How did you get in touch with the guys from 123Klan? What are they like to work with? What is it about their designs which first caught your attention?

It was at a party. I was pretty deep in the game and I approached Scien & Klor to give them my visit card. I had just puked and didn’t even know where I was or who they were…I was lured in by Klor’s glorious rack. A month later, I ran into them at an A-Trak show. I couldn’t remember them, but they remembered me very well …We chilled, and ran into each other several times and that’s it! I find their style is too street-oriented, but you know, they were the only graphic designers I knew.

Did they also design your t-shirts? Have the shirts been popular so far?

Yes, they designed the What Up Gangstars t-shirts, but not MY t-shirts. They forgot to print a few puppet-sized shirts…And if they read this interview, I’ll probably never get them. But, yes, the reaction has been amazing. When I held my contest, there were entries from all over the world: France, Holland, China, Colombia, Sweden, Mexico and of course… Moldova… Crazy!

You're only 20 years old. Any ideas about what you wanna do for a career yet or are you just having fun?

I’d like to become an actor like Ice Cube or Method Man. That, or become the first astropuppetnaut.

What is your favourite movie?

Hands down, thumbs up: Rocky II (The Eye of the Tiger)

Would you date a human?

Sure. Your question should have been: “Would you date more than one human on the same day?” and the answer would have been unadmittable.

Do you have any contact with other famous puppets, such as Flat Eric from Mr Oizo's 'Flat Beat' or Australia's most famous puppet of the 90's, Agro? (I think you would get along really well actually)

I don’t know them personally, but a lot of people are stalking me since I’m almost famous. Everyone gets their moment in the spotlight. Hoping mine will last long…There aren’t many sexy puppets. That’s why I'd rather go out with humans…

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

CEO of Apple or Head of Editorial Team at CNN. Worst case scenario, I’ll be tanning on the beach with Will Smith, Lady Gaga, Steven Seagal and Alf.

Lastly, can you give ACCLAIM a shout-out in your next video?

I’ll try!

You can follow the adventures of Jay Louis and his video series at this puppet blog what-up-gangsters.com.