Captain Dan & The Scurvy Crew
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Captain Dan & The Scurvy Crew

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Music

The best kept secret in music

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"Yo Ho Ho"

It's probably not a typical assumption that pirates and hip-hop have anything in common. Rap music started in the Bronx back in the mid- to late 1970s, and by most accounts, pirates — those pesky thieves of the high seas — pretty much faded into obscurity almost a century ago.

But one local crew of musicians sees a common thread that most of us do not. Meet Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew — five jocular men who have spent most of their lives enamored with all things pirate-related. The group's affable frontman, Dan Dolan, has no problem admitting to his fascination.

"Even when I was a kid and my parents used to take me to Disney World," he says, "I had to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at least twice or I'd cry."

The Boynton Beach resident has spent the past ten years working in studios as an audio engineer and developing a disdain for landlubbing ghetto rappers. He was never a fan of the lyrical content, and eventually, he started wondering if he could do better — especially as a pirate.

"All these rap acts I was recording were hooorrrible," Dolan says during a recent chat. "And I'm like, 'Jesus, everyone is a rapper, aren't they?' Now, at the time, I was no rapper, not even a little bit — but one thing I am is a pirate. I've always been a pirate. So I started to think, 'These rappers are so shitty, I bet I could rap like a pirate and still be better than them'... so I started brainstorming, researching, and writing."

After putting together his Scurvy Crew, consisting of DJ Syko, Sea Dawg, Scott Free, and Aziz, Cap'n D, as he's affectionately known, began piecing together songs. Within 30 days, he'd written, recorded, produced, mastered, duplicated, and shipped his first album, Authentic Pirate Hip-Hop, which helped the band grow into a mini YouTube/MySpace sensation.

"Within the first three months of releasing it, I had 8,000 MySpace fans," Dolan says. "It was a huge response right out of the gate. To put it in comparison, the other bands I'd been performing in my whole life and worked really hard at only had 3,000 friends on MySpace."

The market that the band has managed to tap into is called nerdcore — essentially hip-hop for fun-loving dorks. The possibilities within the genre are endless, and the fan base for nerdcore is growing exponentially.

"I'm actually really popular with nerds," Dolan jokes. He's got a sense of humor about all of this, and with song titles like "Flint Lock Glock," "Black Beard's Treasure," and "Sea Monster," all performed in authentic pirate lingo, how could he not?

As for what comparisons the group sees with modern-day rappers: "It's basically that they had the persona of being gangsters and bad people," Dolan says. "They were gangster in a different era. If pirates were to come back today, they wouldn't be rock stars; they'd be rappers. I'm sure of it. They both love gold and custom hats. They're all about the booty, they have guns and murder people, they got hos, or 'Sallies,' as I coined them. They both make up words and speak in broken English. I mean, the list goes on and on."

As a part of their act, when the Scurvy Crew performs in public, they all dress like pirates, yell "Aargghh" a lot, and party like it's 1492! It's common for folks in the audience to be dressed like pirates as well (eye patches, peg legs, fake hooks) to keep the party atmosphere alive.

Of course, the group's music, on all levels, is corny and ridiculous — almost carnival-like, like a scene out of a Hunter S. Thompson book. That's not to say the lyrics aren't tight, because they are, or that the production isn't taken seriously, because it is. With pure buccaneer swagger, Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew are more lyrically savvy than a lot of the rappers on the radio today. But if you walked in on their show unsuspectingly, you might think somebody had just dosed you with a few hits of acid and the music group on stage was a figment of your imagination. Judging by the group's popularity however, that's not the case. This music is real, and Dolan doesn't see any reason why the party should stop.

"I think we got great beats, the words are witty and funny, and we're pirates," he says. "In 2006 alone, pirates were a billion-dollar industry, if you count the movies, videogames, bars, et cetera. Pirates are hot right now!" - New Times Broward Palm Beach


"Yo Ho Ho"

It's probably not a typical assumption that pirates and hip-hop have anything in common. Rap music started in the Bronx back in the mid- to late 1970s, and by most accounts, pirates — those pesky thieves of the high seas — pretty much faded into obscurity almost a century ago.

But one local crew of musicians sees a common thread that most of us do not. Meet Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew — five jocular men who have spent most of their lives enamored with all things pirate-related. The group's affable frontman, Dan Dolan, has no problem admitting to his fascination.

"Even when I was a kid and my parents used to take me to Disney World," he says, "I had to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at least twice or I'd cry."

The Boynton Beach resident has spent the past ten years working in studios as an audio engineer and developing a disdain for landlubbing ghetto rappers. He was never a fan of the lyrical content, and eventually, he started wondering if he could do better — especially as a pirate.

"All these rap acts I was recording were hooorrrible," Dolan says during a recent chat. "And I'm like, 'Jesus, everyone is a rapper, aren't they?' Now, at the time, I was no rapper, not even a little bit — but one thing I am is a pirate. I've always been a pirate. So I started to think, 'These rappers are so shitty, I bet I could rap like a pirate and still be better than them'... so I started brainstorming, researching, and writing."

After putting together his Scurvy Crew, consisting of DJ Syko, Sea Dawg, Scott Free, and Aziz, Cap'n D, as he's affectionately known, began piecing together songs. Within 30 days, he'd written, recorded, produced, mastered, duplicated, and shipped his first album, Authentic Pirate Hip-Hop, which helped the band grow into a mini YouTube/MySpace sensation.

"Within the first three months of releasing it, I had 8,000 MySpace fans," Dolan says. "It was a huge response right out of the gate. To put it in comparison, the other bands I'd been performing in my whole life and worked really hard at only had 3,000 friends on MySpace."

The market that the band has managed to tap into is called nerdcore — essentially hip-hop for fun-loving dorks. The possibilities within the genre are endless, and the fan base for nerdcore is growing exponentially.

"I'm actually really popular with nerds," Dolan jokes. He's got a sense of humor about all of this, and with song titles like "Flint Lock Glock," "Black Beard's Treasure," and "Sea Monster," all performed in authentic pirate lingo, how could he not?

As for what comparisons the group sees with modern-day rappers: "It's basically that they had the persona of being gangsters and bad people," Dolan says. "They were gangster in a different era. If pirates were to come back today, they wouldn't be rock stars; they'd be rappers. I'm sure of it. They both love gold and custom hats. They're all about the booty, they have guns and murder people, they got hos, or 'Sallies,' as I coined them. They both make up words and speak in broken English. I mean, the list goes on and on."

As a part of their act, when the Scurvy Crew performs in public, they all dress like pirates, yell "Aargghh" a lot, and party like it's 1492! It's common for folks in the audience to be dressed like pirates as well (eye patches, peg legs, fake hooks) to keep the party atmosphere alive.

Of course, the group's music, on all levels, is corny and ridiculous — almost carnival-like, like a scene out of a Hunter S. Thompson book. That's not to say the lyrics aren't tight, because they are, or that the production isn't taken seriously, because it is. With pure buccaneer swagger, Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew are more lyrically savvy than a lot of the rappers on the radio today. But if you walked in on their show unsuspectingly, you might think somebody had just dosed you with a few hits of acid and the music group on stage was a figment of your imagination. Judging by the group's popularity however, that's not the case. This music is real, and Dolan doesn't see any reason why the party should stop.

"I think we got great beats, the words are witty and funny, and we're pirates," he says. "In 2006 alone, pirates were a billion-dollar industry, if you count the movies, videogames, bars, et cetera. Pirates are hot right now!" - New Times Broward Palm Beach


"Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew Make You Shake Your Booty"

By Z. EmailSeptember 18, 2008 | 9:00:00 AMCategories: Music, Pirates

Scurvycrew It's Pirate Week here at GeekDad, an extended observance of all things piratical in anticipation of Friday's Talk Like a Pirate Day. Thus, as the blog's quasi-official music guy, I felt the need to direct our wayward readers toward some particularly appropriate tunes.

At this summer's Nerdapalooza festival in Orlando, I saw a great many strange and wonderful things. I witnessed a squad of guitar-wielding robots battle space mutants for the safety of Earth. I saw man-sized sock puppet Uncle Monsterface don papal vestments and rock out to Madonna's "Like a Prayer." I even watched a Black Mage play the accordion. But of all these surreal and admittedly ridiculous experiences, none compared to the sheer musical might of Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew.

Oh, I had heard their names before – The Captain, Sea Dawg, Shivaame Timbers – in the shanties of old sea salts up and down the coast. I had likewise heard their unique blend of baroque instrumentation and hip-hop beats (not to mention their humorous rhymes of grog, wenches, and sea life) on their albums Authentic Pirate Hip Hop and the Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners. But naught prepared me for the full-on lyrical assault of the live Scurvy Crew experience.

There were hooks. There were eye patches. There was rum. It was a nautical nightmare from the very heart of the Leviathan, in verse no less. And by the end of their set, every able-bodied man and women in attendance had been conscripted into their dastardly crew.

Should you too care to come aboard, march your peg leg over to the official Captain Dan MySpace for a taste of pirate rap at its finest. But be warned: these are salty rhymes for unruly buccaneers, with material that is quite probably unsuitable for your younger geeklings. Better I warn you now than you make me walk the plank later. - Wired


"Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew Make You Shake Your Booty"

By Z. EmailSeptember 18, 2008 | 9:00:00 AMCategories: Music, Pirates

Scurvycrew It's Pirate Week here at GeekDad, an extended observance of all things piratical in anticipation of Friday's Talk Like a Pirate Day. Thus, as the blog's quasi-official music guy, I felt the need to direct our wayward readers toward some particularly appropriate tunes.

At this summer's Nerdapalooza festival in Orlando, I saw a great many strange and wonderful things. I witnessed a squad of guitar-wielding robots battle space mutants for the safety of Earth. I saw man-sized sock puppet Uncle Monsterface don papal vestments and rock out to Madonna's "Like a Prayer." I even watched a Black Mage play the accordion. But of all these surreal and admittedly ridiculous experiences, none compared to the sheer musical might of Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew.

Oh, I had heard their names before – The Captain, Sea Dawg, Shivaame Timbers – in the shanties of old sea salts up and down the coast. I had likewise heard their unique blend of baroque instrumentation and hip-hop beats (not to mention their humorous rhymes of grog, wenches, and sea life) on their albums Authentic Pirate Hip Hop and the Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners. But naught prepared me for the full-on lyrical assault of the live Scurvy Crew experience.

There were hooks. There were eye patches. There was rum. It was a nautical nightmare from the very heart of the Leviathan, in verse no less. And by the end of their set, every able-bodied man and women in attendance had been conscripted into their dastardly crew.

Should you too care to come aboard, march your peg leg over to the official Captain Dan MySpace for a taste of pirate rap at its finest. But be warned: these are salty rhymes for unruly buccaneers, with material that is quite probably unsuitable for your younger geeklings. Better I warn you now than you make me walk the plank later. - Wired


Discography

2006- Authentice Pirate Hip Hop
2007- Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners
2008- From the Seas to the Streets

Captain Dan has several tracks available for Radio and Streaming play, contact for edited versions.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Louder than a broadside volley of cannon fire, Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew have hit the nation like a hurricane. Never before has the Golden Age of Piracy and Hip Hop been blended so seamlessly. Their debut album, "Authentic Pirate Hip Hop," was released in 2006, satisfying a growing need for pirate rap in the nerdcore and pirate communities. Their second release, "Rimes of the Hip Hop Mariners," met and exceeded many fan expectations, proving that the group was more than a simple novelty act. Both of their albums are currently the #1 and #2 best selling nerdcore albums on the critically lauded indie musician site, cdbaby.com. Their next album, "From the Seas to the Streets," is slated for release in December of 2008, and is expected to be their most revolutionary album yet.

The group has been featured on radio shows such as KROQ's Kevin and Bean, Bubba the Love Sponge, and WZZR Real Radio. The crew's music and videos have shown up on the front pages of comedy websites such as Fark, Albino Blacksheep, and Somethingawful. Recently, the group has shown up in the October issue of Blender magazine.

The Scurvy Crew boasts the most notorious group of pirate rappers on earth. Led by the notorious Captain Dan, the crew includes Quartermaster Sea Dawg, Gunner Scott Free, Navigator MC Treasure, Beat Master Azis, Boatswain Zealous1, and Shivaame Timbers(Captain Dan's arch nemesis from the British Navy).