The Lunarpages “cool factor” just increased dramatically because we actually discovered that we host MC Frontalot! He is described as the founder of the movement now known as nerdcore. Nerdcore Hip Hop is a growing sub-genre of hip hop where geeks donning pocket protectors bust rhymes about geeky subjects.

How long have you hosted your site with Lunarpages and which hosting plan are you using?

MC Frontalot: We just started in this year hosted on a Private Cloud.

Describe your average visitor to frontalot.com.

MC Frontalot: Probably a nerd person! Or a robot. Robots seem very interested.

Do you get much traffic on your site and does your LP hosted server handle it well?

MC Frontalot: We tend to see a couple thousand uniques per day. It spikes quite a bit when a tour or new album is announced. The bulk of the data transfer is mp3s and hi-def videos, and most of the http requests hit the forums. Server response and bandwidth have both been great so far.

Tell us a bit about your site and what you do there.

MC Frontalot: The site is built to distribute music and videos to the fanbase, and to serve as a meeting place for them. It also functions as an introduction and gateway to nerdcore in general.

Tell us about the design of your site.  Did you design it yourself?

MC Frontalot: I was a web designer before the music career took off, so I’ve always done all my own design on the site. However, its entire back-end exists due to the kind and valiant volunteer efforts of my dev team. If you’re going to be an indie musician, I highly recommend being one who appeals to the nerd crowd. It is great for high-value fan contributions toward the overall success of the enterprise.

How did you come up with the name MC Frontalot?  Is there a story behind it?

MC Frontalot: I figured it was a name that no respectable rapper would try to steal from me.

What is Nercore Hip Hop/Rap?

MC Frontalot: It’s like regular rap, except that you don’t have to be very cool. As a byproduct of that, I get to rap about comic books and data encryption without worrying that MTV will not think I am glamorous enough.

Name your top 5 nerdy characteristics.

MC Frontalot:

1.  I started the Monty Python fan club at my high school.

2.  I can only see about nine centimeters without my glasses.

3.  I seriously consider canceling performances when I can’t find my inhaler.

4.  I read three different articles about ‘perfect numbers’ before I finished my coffee this morning.

5.  I invented nerdcore hip-hop.

You have loads of fans on Facebook!  How has social media helped you to promote/grow your music?

MC Frontalot: The FB and Twitter followings are great for getting the word out about projects, but they are more fun for saying nonsense things, and for having the kind of interactions (brief ones!) that make me feel connected to the world when I am a year and a half behind on my fan mail.

We are told that you are “The World’s 579th-Greatest Rapper”.  Congratulations   How was this number determined?

MC Frontalot: Scientifically. By scientists.

How many albums and songs have you released?

MC Frontalot: Four. The fifth is called ‘Solved’ and it will be out August 23rd.

Which song is the fans’ favorite and why?

MC Frontalot: Different parts of the country seem to favor different tracks. Boston yells out for ‘Secrets From The Future.’ San Francisco and Minneapolis want to hear ‘I Heart F**s.’ Austin is obsessed with ‘First World Problem’ and Orlando always has requests for ‘It Is Pitch Dark.’

Do you write most of your own music and lyrics?  Give us a sample (G rated of course) of your most inspired work.

MC Frontalot: I write all the lyrics (except for those brought by guest stars), and I co-write the music with my longtime collaborators Gm7 (Gaby Alter) and Baddd Spellah (David T. Cheong).

I don’t know what my most inspired work might be, but here’s the beginning of ‘Better At Rapping:’

Wish I were a little bit better at rapping.
I’d put the feather to cap in the manner of mapping what happened:
now Frontalot achieved something. That’s what they’d say.
He went from terrible to mediocre. Maybe okay
could be in the cards later. As of yet, not quite.

Do you have an additional job or is Nerdcore Rapper your sole profession?

MC Frontalot: It’s been full time since 2006.

Do you have a typical place where you come up with your songs?

MC Frontalot: Anywhere, everywhere. Long drives are good for humming to myself until a hook emerges.

How do you record and produce your stuff, and what equipment and software do you use?

MC Frontalot: I do live drums in a proper studio, everything else at my project studio at home in Brooklyn. My DAW is Reaper with a wide array of plugins. My audio interface is an Edirol UA-101. There’s a good and fairly current gear breakdown here.

If you weren’t a Nerdcore Rapper, what would you be?  Do you have any other qualifications?

MC Frontalot: I always wanted to be a novelist, probably one of the few fields where it’s even harder to get attention for your work than it is in music.

Can you play any instruments?

MC Frontalot: Acoustic guitar. My competence is roughly campfire-level.

I was reading an interview with you where they mentioned a documentary you appeared in called Nerdcore Rising (2008).  Can you tell us about it?

MC Frontalot: The director, Negin Farsad, did an amazing job on it. It’s on Hulu and Netflix Streaming, so anyone can take a look at the moment. It’s a great intro to nerdcore and to the band, following us on our first national tour in 2006.

Do you practice in the mirror with a hairbrush?

MC Frontalot: I was thinking that was a silly question and then I realized that I kind of do that, when I’m practicing lip-sync on a recording for a video shoot. I mean, I don’t own a hairbrush. But still.

Do you tour much or play many live gigs?  Any favorite locations?

MC Frontalot: We get on the road about 1/4th of the year. I love going through New Orleans, Asheville, Ann Arbor, Seattle, and the towns I mentioned in the ‘requests’ question above.

We have to ask about your song “I Hate Your Blog”.  Whose blog is it about? (hopefully not ours).

MC Frontalot: It is not about anyone’s blog. But it is about everyone’s blog. That answer is more impressive if you picture me with a white beard, dispensing confusing wisdom from my mountain hermitage.

How has the internet helped you as an artist?

MC Frontalot: I would not have a music career without it.

How do you prefer to spend your offline time?

MC Frontalot: Prefer to spend my what now? Sorry?

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Thanks MC Frontalot.  It was a blast chatting with you!

If you would like to submit your site for Site of the month for July 2011, become a fan of Lunarpages on Facebook and then add your site to the post for July!