South Bend, Indiana's Double B and Seattle, Washington's Dan Fajans - the forces behind Never Sleep - both moved to Olympia in the fall of 2009 to enroll at The Evergreen State College. In addition to providing a college education, Evergreen has served as a launch pad for the duo - leading to high profile shows populated by a large and growing fan base. 

What drives them? Each other. 

The chemistry these two rappers have on the stage is strong enough to make you think they've been performing together for years, when in fact it's only been about six months. Recently I had a chance to sit down with the two self-proclaimed nerds at Oly's friendly hipster establishment, Le Voyeur. I talked with them about their music project, Never Sleep, which is quickly gaining attention from Evergreen students and the entire South Sound.

"Party music by self conscious people is our genre of hip-hop," describes Fajans. 

"We never wanted to make preachy music. That shit is not fun to watch live, which is why we do what we do" adds Double B. "I wouldn't really label us emcees even. We're just dudes who rap in a music group. We have lots of respect for the hip-hop culture, but the culture is very different from us."

Double B and Fajans even have a song called "What the World Needs Is Another White Rapper," which is as self-deprecating as it sounds.

"I grew up in a hip-hop music era and I learned how to rap well, but I don't personally think I live and breathe hip-hop at all. I'm actually a really good juggler and (Double B) is a good moonwalker. We're pretty normal guys who just enjoy making music," says Fajans.

How can two normal guys who aren't hip-hop at all gain such a strong following in the hip-hop community? By creating music that is enjoyable to listen to as well as to experience in person. They give credit to Candidt of Oldominion (known to practice his show three times a week with his brother even when he has no upcoming performances) for the inspiration. 

"Every time we see (Candidt of Oldominion) live, it's all eyes glued to the stage," says Fajans.

While both Fajans and Double B are rappers, they‘re both producers as well -  each contributing their own lyrics and making half the beats for the project.  You may have heard or seen these guys on a flyer over the past few months as "Double B and Dan Fajans," but recently they decided to actually give themselves a name that is a little more creative - Never Sleep.

"We are both big-time insomniacs and it was actually exciting at first to meet another artist who was up as much as me and had the same musical work ethic," says Fajans. "But the name actually came from my girl. She would chant it endlessly and so we decided that the phrase would actually fit pretty well as our name considering our sleep patterns."

Look for free music samplers from Never Sleep in the next couple months at any of their live shows. And come see why these "too nerdy to be hip-hop, but too cool to be nerdcore" rappers are making a name in Olympia.

Never Sleep

With Mash Hall, Night Fox, Free Whiskey, Q-Storm
Friday, March 4, all ages, $5
The Midnight Sun, 113 Columbia St. NW, Olympia
360.250.2721