Epitomising the vibrant new generation of local hip hop, Spit Syndicate command attention with a brand of music packed with energetic flows, great conceptual variety and a unique, hybrid sound. Their debut album, Towards The Light, is a wonderful spectrum of emotions and ideas. From party fueled tracks like Here Today, Gone Tomorrow to the raw sentiment of On And On, Nick Lupi and Just Enuf approach many topics with audacity. This passionate sense of style is underpinned by a number of producers including: Jase, Fame, M-Phazes and L.A. heavyweight Ro Blvd. I spoke with Nick recently and here’s what he had to say.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that you churned out your debut demo The Future’s Bright, how does it feel to have risen to prominence so swiftly?
I don’t think we’ve risen to prominence, that’s probably a bit generous. 2008 has been a good year for us, we’ve got lucky with some shit, but at the same time, a lot of the moves we’ve made this year have been a few years in the making. We’ve been putting a lot of time and effort and cash money into this little Spit Syndicate operation since early 2006. Still, there’s so much to do. Plus, we’ve made a fair few fuck ups thus far, you gotta keep learning from them. But to answer your question: it feels lovely
You refer to mistakes thus far, what has been learned from these trip-ups?
The recording process is probably the best example, from just how to handle ourselves in the studio, to the process of selecting beats, writing lyrics, getting musicians and vocalists in to record. Even the logistics of doing it all, the way we did it with different producers in different locations, etc, it was a huge learning process. Next time it’s going to be done much more efficiently. But it goes the same way with writing lyrics, some of the shit we wrote for the album we wouldn’t dream of releasing nowadays. There needs to be progression. Our live show has improved too, and that comes from just doing shows and shows and shows. It has all been a learning process.
So basically, the lessons you would expect from recording a debut album?
Exactly right. it’s your first time doing it, we did it pretty much completely on our own too, there wasn’t much input from executive producers or a record label.
There is a great deal of musical talent that features on your new album, how did you go about selecting and pursuing those who you were after?
The majority of the guests are just close friends, so there was no real selection process. Solo features prominently and that dude has talent out the ass, as well as being our homie. The vocalists, like Sarah Corry and Miriam Waks, are again friends of ours who we wanted to be involved in the next project. Same goes with Rowan Dix(DJ Joyride), he now tours with us and has always played a big part in our music.
How did you decide between having an individual produce the entire album or enlisting a number of producers as you did?
There were a whole bunch of different sounds and producers which we wanted to work with, I don’t think we really could have gotten what we wanted from a single individual producer. I think single-produced albums are wicked, definitely something we’d like to do in the future though.
Did signing with Obese open up a wider spectrum of possible beatmakers?
Not too sure; we’ll hopefully be doing some work with Plutonic Lab and I guess that’s a result of starting to build a relationship with Muph and Pluto, through tours and shit like that. But not in a huge way, no, a lot of the liaising with beatmakers is carried out by us at this stage.
As you were recording Towards The Light, how did you hope it would be received with audiences?
We obviously wanted it to be well-received, but we were a little bit unsure about how people would receive it. There’s some different sounding shit on there, some of it is a little bit smoother and softer than a lot of other releases, we’re still finding our feet in terms of developing our style but that’s standard for a debut album recorded at our age. We didn’t think too much about people’s reception to the album though.
You two straddle a musical line laced with swagger and traditional hip hop sounds, is swagger the primary lyrical objective for Spit Syndicate?
I don’t know if swagger is the primary objective. I don’t really know if there is a primary objective with our lyrics. Everything we do we like to try and do it with a bit of class, a bit of style, but that doesn’t mean we’re trying to be cool all the time. Doing it with class just means being honest, poignant and, often being completely vulnerable. Swagger isn’t at the forefront of our minds all the time, like when writing personal or emotional songs. Obviously, we like to pull the swagger out when we’re writing those sorts of songs, but it’s definitely not a primary objective at all
“…Everything we do we like to try and do it with a bit of class, a bit of style, but that doesn’t mean we’re trying to be cool all the time. Doing it with class just means being honest, poignant and, often being completely vulnerable…”
How was this musical hybrid initially received at Obese when recording the album?
Well, we had all but completed the album when Obese got the rough version. We still had two songs which we wanted to add to the album, we just didn’t know what songs they were(we hadn’t written anything). Obese dug the album, really liked it, they let us know what they thought was lacking and they provided a bit of constructive criticism, but not a great deal, I’d say.
In the booklet for the album, you pay respect to those you have lost, how has their memory manifested in the music?
Well, in Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, we talk about living for the day and how life is precious. But on a more general level, we hope that we’re making our friends and family and crew proud through our music, including those who are around and those who have passed on.
A lot of your lyrical content seems to be influenced by the fairer sex, is this a fair assessment?
No, I don’t think it would be a wrong assessment. We like girls. A lot of the Australian hip hop which has been released gives the impression that rappers don’t like girls, or they don’t acknowledge girls. If that ain’t the gayest shit out, I’m not sure what is. We don’t write songs completely for girls, we write songs for everybody. A lot of our songs which are ‘influenced by the fairer sex,’ as you put it, have been very well received by dudes, because they, like us, like girls as well. Who woulda thought?
The lyrical focus of the album changes direction on the track The Lucky Country. Can you describe the events which compelled you to write such a song?
Well, the first verse wasn’t inspired by any one event, it was more of a personal reaction to the racist undercurrents present in Australia, particularly the way in which the indigenous people of this country have been and continue to be treated by mainstream society. The second verse was inspired by the Cronulla riots, which had a pretty significant impact on most people in and around Sydney, it was a truly ugly day.
The political angle is a distinct change from the rest of Towards The Light. What was it about the subject that grabbed you so much? Why choose these issues?
I’m a pretty politically-minded person, I guess. I think it’s important to know what’s going on, why it’s going on. Some of my favourite hip hop is politically charged, so I’ve always wanted to write a song like The Lucky Country. It makes sense to write about the things which you feel strongly, passionately about-this is what generally produces the best music.
Are the anecdotal verses of On And On inspired by a situation you’ve seen personally or in a more dramatised, general sense?
My verse is loosely based in a situation which I’ve seen personally, within my extended family. Jimmy’s verse is based directly on his own experience and I think Solo’s is based on personal experiences too, also those which he’s seen unfold around him. The song is entirely based on real people, real stories.
All Summer Long was a highlight of Horrorshow’s recent album, The Grey Space. What led you to collaborate with Solo once more for an epilogue of sorts to the original track?
Both songs came together in a funny sort of way. I shouldn’t really tell it, because it was more between Solo and Jimmy. Our friend Jono, lead guitarist from a band called Made in Japan, wrote a guitar line and added some bass and drums to it, sent it to Solo and Jimmy separately. Both really dug it. Jimmy and Solo were painting one day and had always discussed the idea of writing a song about the one that got away, about that one particular girl. Nick went away and wrote a chorus to the guitar line that Jono had sent through, Jimmy went and wrote a verse to it as well. So what ended up happening was an extended, full version featuring all three of us on our album, and then one which was just with Solo on The Grey Space. I guess Jono hadn’t written the music for anyone in particular, we all took a liking to it and wanted to write to it. That’s the way that I understand it anyway, like I said, it was more of a Jimmy and Solo thing.
What is on the agenda for Spit Syndicate in the subsequent six months? Aiming to release another album in 2009?
Yes, we’re aiming for late 09. We’re slowing down on the gig front, just working on some new material, we should hopefully have the bulk of it done by next year but we’ll have to see how we go.
