Hilltop Hoods

There is no doubting the impact of the Hilltop Hoods on the Australian hip hop scene. Their music, particularly the release of acclaimed album, The Calling, has precipitated immeasurable growth and interest in the local scene. 2009 sees the release of their fifth full-length album State Of The Art. The 12 track offering features hefty conceptual forays on tracks such as She’s So Ugly, Parade Of The Dead, Last Confession and Fifty In Five. Suffa elaborates…

In terms of your music, what were some of the most important realisations following the Restrung project?
Firstly that we really like strings as well as Jamie Messenger’s arrangements so we got him back for State Of The Art. Also I guess that we weren’t limited and that we could use session musicians. We had been in a mindstate that we couldn’t for ages.

It seems to be a habit of yours to open with an introductory track like: Testimonial Year, Recapturing The Vibe or The Return. With three years separating each of your last few albums, is this something you feel necessary? Or more a product of the subconscious?
To be honest, we only realised that ourselves the other day. I think it’s because we’re so emersed in it that you don’t realise things like that. Maybe it’s because we do those sorta tracks and when we’re done with it we’ll be like ‘that would suit going first.’

Did you approach State Of The Art as a holistic concept or is it more just a loose idea?
Umm well I came up with the title early on and we really liked how many options there were coming from the title. You’ve got State Of The Art where you can say ‘this is next level shit’ or you’ve got State Of The Art where you can talk about where the art is at the moment-tracks like She’s So Ugly. State Of The Art also came from South Australia which is basically an arts state, we’re a festival state-whether it’s Fringe or Adelaide Festival. We liked how many angles there were with it so we tried to tie it in throughout the record.

How did the collaboration with Pharaohe Monch come about? How was it having him out for the week?
When we were starting the record our manager asked us if there’s anyone we wanted to work with on the new record, that was the only name we gave him. Me and Pressure have been massive Pharaohe groupies since we were 13. I think by the end of week he knew how familiar we were with his music. The first night he was up, I came out with a pile of Organized records and his solo joints for him to sign, probably about 20 records. He was really chill though, when I showed him the rare Bring It On 12″  he was like ‘where the fuck did you get this?’ and drew a little character on it so that’s super valuable now.

Was there anything in particular that evoked the zombie motif on Parade Of The Dead?
I’m a massive zombie film fan-28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Land Of The Dead, Night Of The Living Dead-all that shit, it came from there. So when I made the beat, I was like ‘this is some fuckin’ dirty, zombie-fighting type shit.’ I asked Pressure if he wanted to do a zombie track and he was down.

Does stress and pressures increase with the release of each album? Or do you learn to deal with it over time?
I dunno the booze has destroyed my memory so I don’t know how I felt before the other albums. I guess there was a bit of pressure with this one the new label so we want it to go well. I mean, I guess it does a little.

Can you tell me how, if at all, you approached Fifty In Five differently?
Initially when I started, it was just for shits and giggles. I found the sample for it from a record called 2010 asking what the world would be like then. So I had just the break on loop and I started writing it and then I’d came back the next night and add another four bars. The next day I’d add another eight and a few weeks later I’d add another 16 bars until. I think it’s like 108 bars long now. I wasn’t even going to use it and we got John Bartlet from Lowrider to play piano on it and he just did these riffs over it that really solidified the track. My brother playing guitar on it did the same thing. I guess the approach was different in that I’ve never written a track that long. The recording session were pretty full on, I think we did 10 or 12 recording sessions at 3 or 4 hours a piece.

“…The three of us are definitely more proud of State Of The Art than any other record…you always say that about your new record but I really feel…that this is the album that I can carry in my backpack, hand to any artist and be really proud…”

So it was definitely an organic development over time?
Yeah it was, it was a really nice process because everyone that contributed, also rejuvinated the track for me. When my brother came in to play guitar he rejuvinated the track for me, John Barlet did the same when he played keys on it. When we were clearing the sample, the artist that wrote the original really loved our track and where we were going with and also wished us luck, so that was really nice.

Conceptually, State Of The Art is decidedly heavier than previous Hoods albums. Do you think this has yielded your best?
Umm, hopefully. The three of us are definitely more proud of State Of The Art than any other record. Having said that, you always say that about your new record but I really feel that this time. I really feel that this is the album that I can carry in my backpack and hand to any artist and be really proud having it represent us as a group. I think that we do best with the heavier tracks for sure.

The release State Of The Art also heralds the beginning of Golden Era Records. What can you tell me about its future?
Well at the moment we’re just concentrating on getting this record out. Then over the next few months we’ll be signing Briggs. Then we’ll be getting his record out. We’re also working on a few other deals for early next year.

For those who might not be as familiar, could you explain the impracticalities of clearing samples you intend to use?
That’s the thing, when you’ve got a release date for a record you have a work date from that release date. So with a rock band, they can have it finished and just get it out. But with a hip hop, you’ve gotta have samples cleared before you can even begin getting your artwork done or mastering done. So yeah, it is a longer process for hip hop acts. I think it’s probably a longer process still for Australian acts because it’s a bit harder to get some of the clearance houses to get people moving when you’re not an American artist.

What about the practical consequences of these constraints?
Well I guess the biggest thing about it is time, you eat up a lot of time trying to get these samples cleared. For us, the other element is there’s a lot of records that as a producer, I would never even go near because I know we would never get them cleared. That’s really frustrating. However it probably makes me look in less obvious places which I think is a good thing in the end. I hear a lot of records these days that are just about about putting a track to a popular tune, that shit’s just lazy to me.

So has this provided the impetus to utilise session musicians or is the absence of red tape merely an added bonus?
The tracks where we got session musicians on, it just felt like there was a gap that had to be filled there. Lowrider is the band we’ve used for most of the session work. Just having worked with them for touring and stuff like that, we just really like what they do so we knew that they would get what we do and we knew that they could fill those gaps.

Do you feel that the traditional touches peppered throughout State Of The Art are important considering the evolution of your fanbase?
She’s So Ugly is definitely a nod to I Used To Love Her by Common. As for the references throughout, that’s for people of our vintage-The Treacherous Three reference in The Return and the Main Source reference in Classic Example.

How does it feel to see tickets for the State Of The Art tour selling with the same enthusiasm as those of summer festivals?
Yeah it feels good, especially when you take such a long break to finish a record. It’s always a risk taking that much time, if you’re away for too long and when you come back and it’s like you never left, it’s a really good feeling.

www.myspace.com/hilltophoods