Scheduled to play the Inferno on Sunday, Oct 1, Pigeon John is one of the best live performers in underground hip hop, a showman who mixes a melodic delivery, self-deprecating lyrics and a positive, everyman attitude together to create a truly engaging live show.

Boundless energy and an offbeat sense of humor add to this recipe as well, and PJ’s new album, “Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party,” showcases all of these qualities. Featuring guest spots from underground legends J-Live, Brother Ali, RJD2 and others, the album is PJ’s most solid and consistent project to date.

Pigeon John will be performing alongside Akrobatik and Busdriver, two other emcees with great stage shows. The event starts at 9pm and is 21+.

Pigeon John talked to Dane101.com’s El Guante over the phone a few days ago.

Dane101: I see you have a Bay area release party tomorrow to kick off your US tour. What’s it like to play the Bay, particularly when reflecting on your whole career as a West coast act?

Pigeon John: Yeah that’s the first show at UC Berkeley, a big small show. I like the Bay—the first time I was there was hip hop in the park at Berkeley. I had known Murs and Eligh and Scarab out of high school before they joined Living Legends. It was like familiar territory for me. The late 90s is when I first started going there and I’ve always loved it. It’s like LA in a different universe. And there are so many styles of hip hop in that one area—Living Legends, Hiero, Quannum, Too Short, even MC Hammer—a very open area as far as music.

Dane101: How’d you hook up with Busdriver and Akrobatik for this tour?

Pigeon John: I know Busdriver from Project Blowed and I opened for the Perceptionists (Akrobatik’s side-project) in Boston—we befriended each other from that. After three shows, I liked his stuff and he’s a great live performer—he makes me feel dumb as a rapper. I wanted that East coast representation on the tour—tt balances it out. Everyone doing hip hop music in three very different ways. Sometimes hip hop shows get a little mundane if it’s just one style all night long.

Dane101: As one of the most engaging live performers in hip hop, can we look forward to anything special on this tour—I’ve seen you perform solo, with a band, with a small band, etc—what’s the format this time around as a headliner?

Pigeon John: I’m keepin’ it semi-simple—drums and a DJ. Performing new songs is the main event for my show. We restructured the show a little—we have more time and I get to do songs I’ve never done live before—from the new and the old records. bTwice from Brainwash Projects and LA Symphony is DJing—it’s going to be an eclectic night. Being a professional opening act—I know how to do that—it’s refreshing to have the space to breathe as a headliner—it’s exciting.

Dane101: So the new album— it seems a little more streamlined and polished than your previous ones. Did you have a particular goal coming into this project?

Pigeon John: This one I wanted a big splashy event. I’m a big fan of the first Pharcyde album and in my mind I wanted to make my version of that type of record. Listening to beats from all around the country, I pieced together the beats that fit together, flow well, and have a positive vibe but not so positive that it’s cliché. It’s my first time working with RJD2, J-Live and Brother Ali. It’s been a freaking pleasure. I’ve also always wanted to work with live strings and horn players and all that. I reached out to different players for this album too. So basically we threw it all together and made a big CD.

Dane101: Do you make a conscious effort to break the mold, to do something different? Or does that just reflect your personality in general?

Pigeon John: It’s natural—I hope it’s natural, stemming from the GoodLife, the old open mic I went to as a kid. You’d get booed off the stage if you sounded like anyone else—they were real tough. There was no room for you to sound like Jay-Z or the typical New York rapper. And I got booed off the stage plenty. It kind of got me through my influences though, to where it’s more of a healthy influence rather than a “I like Jay-Z so I’ll rap like him.”

Because of the way I grew up in hip hop, I see it as natural to just find your voice—I think that everybody has a tremendous amount of originality. I love when I hear an emcee not care any more. An example of influences and a person growing out of it: Lil’ Wayne. He’s grown into who he is. Some people are born with it—Wayne has grown into it. Others: Andre3000, the Beastie Boys playing jazz when no one was looking for that and then making “Sabotage” as a punk anthem. PE, Tribe—they purposely turned off the radio and didn’t listen for months while making “Midnight Marauders” so they wouldn’t sound like anyone else.

Dane101: Related to that last question, hip hop fans can be pretty fickle and closed-minded at times. Have you encountered resistance along the way?

Pigeon John: I’ve experienced that definitely. But I think with the GoodLife—I know where I’ve come from. My personal experience with hip hop is like having a son—people say you don’t even love your son and you can literally laugh it off. That idea of you separated from hip hop doesn’t even exist. Also, when I do the show and grab the mic I think that when I’m starting to rap, I’m really trying to kill it—like Brother Ali—he murdered me on my own song and I know that—but I expected that and that’s why I put him on the song. We murder each other in our own ways. I’m confident that I’m killin’ it in my own way. No one can say “that dude is wack.” They can say they’re not feelin’ it, but that’s different.

Dane101: What are your future plans?

Pigeon John: I’ll be touring until December. After that, me and bTwice (Brainwash Projects) got an album coming out next year—it’s the bomb.

Dane101: Thanks. Any last words for the Madison fans?

Pigeon John: I’m comin’ for you Madison. Come out to the show--- it’ll be fresh.