Mention the name Pez and immediately people will associate with the classic anthem of 2008, The Festival Song which has made regular appearances on Nova and 2Day FM playlists. However, listen more closely and you’ll discover an artist with more substance than one hit. His album, A Mind Of My Own, is refreshingly insightful with every verse displaying a unique, sincere take on life. Owing to the extraordinary level of acclaim and hype now surrounding the Melbourne emcee, he is currently touring the East Coast with Downsyde and Drapht.
Considering you’re relatively new to the scene, how does it feel to have The Festival Song blowing up for you so much? What has resulted from this exposure?
It’s been pretty incredible man. It all happened so quickly that it became almost a bit overwhelming at times! But I’ve been enjoying it a lot and just trying to focus on helping people shift their attention from just The Festival Song to the rest of my album, which is a lot more in depth and what I’m really about.
It’s certainly distinguishable as a single amongst a somewhat darker set of tracks, is it from a different personal context to the rest?
Yeah I guess so dude, because it actually stems from an old song that i did about 5 years ago, when i was in a very different head space! The track was called Summer Days and was one of the first songs I’d ever done with Matik (the producer) and was obviously just about summer. I noticed back then that it got a really good response from the people we showed it to, and I felt like the album needed something a bit more uplifting to balance it out, so i decided to re-work it. The only problem was that the whole summer theme had been done to death so I decided to fit the festival idea over the top of the old beat and chorus and luckily it worked!
The album title, A Mind Of My Own, relays strong individuality, is this an important facet of the music you make?
Yeah definitely. I think there needs to be a lot more of it, so I’m doing my best to follow my gut rather than the crowd. There’s no doubt our society is geared towards people conforming to the “norm” anyway. But also people in general seem to prefer to follow the crowd and fit in rather than just do what they actually want, which I can’t stand.
Aint Got Time is characterised by a creative urgency of sorts. Have you been eager to accomplish the release of this debut album?
Yeah absolutely. There was a dry patch for a couple of years where I really lost my way and got bogged down. So it was a relief to finally find that belief and confidence I’d been looking for which allowed me to finish the album and get it out.
You seem to be very adept with a swifter, almost double-time flow, is this something you have had to work hard at, or more a natural development as an MC?
The double time is something that just seems to come naturally to me for some reason. I guess maybe just because I grew up listening to Bone Thugs with my brother haha.
I’ve noticed when covering political concerns you speak in a more personal, subjective sense rather than espousing a strictly right or left position. Why do you have this preference?
I think just because I believe both sides are full of shit. I’m aware enough to know that the agenda which actually controls everything is well beyond either a left or right side of politics. So I end up just sort of observing things and talking about them, rather than getting caught up in the emotions of either side.
There is a healthy dose of cynicism on The Way It Should Be, which particular situations domestically or abroad evoked the lyrics?
Just the fact that the world bank controls the entire world as we know it. They control the money and the information so therefore they control the people. Also suspect shit like 9/11 which is without doubt controlled by these same people. Basically there’s too much to even try and go into detail, but I urge anyone to visit www.moviesfoundonline.com and watch some of the documentaries on there because it’s mind blowing knowing what’s actually going on behind the scenes in a bid to enslave and control the population.
“…Too much of anything goes from being ‘I love this’ to ‘I hate this’ so I definitely didn’t want people to look at my music like that! I find that I can listen to a rapper and say ‘whoa he’s awesome’ but then after 3 tracks of realising it’s all the same, I cant stand him anymore…”
On Speak Out, you instruct the listener to ‘Speak out your mind…’ Are you of the opinion that too many notable voices in today’s society may be speaking out their arse instead?
Yeah definitely. That’s what television is. Newspapers and magazines are probably worse, and anyone who actually has anything worthwhile to say usually gets there mouth shut pretty quickly in one way or another.
Speaking of stories, how did it come to be that you and Matik recorded this album?
We went to high school together. He was in the year younger than me and we didn’t really have much to do with each other back then because we were both into playing sport not music. But then after high school finished I injured my knee and couldn’t play basketball anymore, which was pretty tough to deal with. But as I was working on little raps in my room I heard on the grapevine that Matik was making beats and he heard that I was rapping, so we started getting together and working on some things. Then slowly but surely we both kept improving and here we are.
His beats are somewhat polished and mature, how long has he been at it for?
Same as me, about 5 or 6 years now.
I Wanna Go is a really sincere account of your own experiences, what lead you to cover such a pleasant topic?
I just always had the idea of reminiscing about that old stuff. And then when the beat came along from Matik with the sample saying I Wanna Go it just seemed to fit perfectly.
Did you feel the need for a conceptual balance between light and heavy lyrics?
Yeah absolutely man. Because I realise how important balance is in everyday life. Too much of anything goes from being ‘I love this’ to ‘I hate this’ so i definitely didn’t want people to look at my music like that! I find that I can listen to a rapper and say ‘whoa he’s awesome’ but then after 3 tracks of realising it’s all the same, I cant stand him anymore. So yeah it was important for me to feel like you could sit down with the album, and no matter what mood you’re in, there would be something for you to listen to.
The atmosphere distinctly changes to a somewhat more despondent vibe with the following song, Take One, was it a conscious decision sequence these two tracks together?
Nah not really, I was just playing around with the track list and that just seemed to feel right to me. I knew I wanted to end on It All Starts To Show then Shine and Heavenly, so I just played around with different tracks prior to that and Take One slotted in nicely at 10.
Has the unexpected popularity resulting from The Festival Song translated well in terms of live shows?
Yeah the live shows lately have been unbelievable! Seriously like a dream and I’m so grateful for it. Hopefully it continues to grow!
What is on Pez’s agenda in the next few months? Any interstate shows?
I’m touring with Drapht and Downside at the moment all down the East Coast and then around through Melbourne to Adelaide. And also just working on my second album straight away which I’m hoping to put out later this year.
www.myspace.com/emceepez
