Bias B

In terms of execution, Bias B’s latest album Aerosol Era would have to be the best Australian release of 2009. It’s a potent documentation of the trials and tribulations of Melbourne yards in the late eighties and early nineties. A true king of the scene, Bias has shunned widespread appeal in favour of presenting a poetic snapshot of graffiti culture with utmost integrity. Aerosol Era encompasses every inherent facet of graffiti in an amazing collection of 12 tracks.

At which point did you decide upon compiling a concept album?
It has been something i have wanted to do for a while now. My graffiti days were the best years of my life and I’m always catching up with old mates reflecting on when we were young and out of control. I grew up with Duet and Puzle who I still see often and they were putting the Kings Way book together which really brought back the golden memories. We were calling each other to get all the info correct to make sure it was spot on. They helped me with some paint colors and crew names and they would call me for some old Hurstbridge knowledge. I started putting it to paper and 5 months later I had an album finished. I wanted it to be straight up Melbourne and to write a piece of history which will teach the new comers where the roots of the culture began.

Did Aerosol Era enhance your appreciation for the place of imagery in your lyricism?
I think that there is so much imagery and energy within the Graffiti culture that it all just fell into place. I’ve always been someone to try and create an image for the listener and tell a good story so with Aerosol Era it was really easy to bring up those memories and create an album that captured the feeling of those early days. You had to live it to really know what it was like but the younger guys still feel it so that means a lot to me.

Fresh Flavours has all the elements of a nostalgic track recounting past dalliances with the fairer sex. Is this the impression you were going for?
No not at all. I began by writing down all the colors I could remember. Then I was speaking to Duet and Puzle to get some more but tried to keep it as only the colors I used. I grouped them into brands such as Touch-Up, Killrust, etc and then worked out what rhymed with what. When those combos ran out I started going with colors that began with the same letter. When I used to rack paint I would come home and just stare at all the colors. It was like you could taste the colors. That’s where the Fresh Flavours title came from. Stocking up on the paint gave you a feeling within that was on the verge of love so I can see where your question is coming from.

Aerosol Era also makes highly effective use of sound effects. Did you have this in mind from the outset or was it something you figured with producers on the go?
It was the idea from the start. Train rocks, boom gates, the rattle of the tins. Most of them were recorded in one night with Mixa. He borrowed some equipment from school and we went out on the lines. I ran up and down the tracks, jumped fences, threw bags of paint on the ground, recorded dogs barking and hit up some fencing with the bolt cutters. I wanted to make it as real as possible and think I pulled that off.

Right at the heart of the hook for Style, there’s a couple lines: ‘y for the youth of yesterday’ and ‘y for the years that pass by.’ Do you think this is the essence of Aerosol Era? Progression and acknowledgement? Romanticising the golden days?
The years and youth passed is definitely the essence of the album. I believe history is the most important thing in anything you do. Learn where it came from before you try to take it further. At the time I don’t think anyone realised how big the graffiti culture was. We were just living it at the right time in the right place. I would give anything to go back to 88-89 for one more day. The days may be gone but the memories will never fade away.

Is there a slight contradiction on Racked That in a sense of a magician never revealing the method or did the desire to tell a great story win out?
Racking techniques were never the secret only the spots it was racked from. Same goes with yards that could be painted and different ink mixing techniques. The knowledge was handed down to the younger writers but the whereabouts of the paint, markers and easy spots to paint were kept quiet as long as possible.

“…I’ve had some older writers tell me they felt like crying and had tear in their eyes while listening to Aerosol Era and reminiscing…”

Do you think racking and graff go hand in hand?
In our days definitely. These days it would be much harder. Paint cost too much to buy and the thrill of stealing it was the same as going out and using it bombing. It made you feel so alive.

What was it about the Mobb Deep original that compelled you to cover Temperature’s Rising?
I have done many covers over the years and its always the same way they come together. I’ll be listening to something and start making up lyrics as a joke. I changed Temperature to Tempera-the most popular marker of the late 80’s-and visualized it as raising my drink to someone. My Tempera’s Risin’. Putting up a tag in respect of falling kings.

Are there certain songs on the album that you would be inclined to listen to, say, when looking through collections of photos from the past?
Definitely Melbourne Memories. Most of the old guys wouldn’t even need a photo album. You can sit there and visualize the works of the artists in your head. So many classic walls and trains that got painted and styles that got created. It started as 3 verses. Then I added number 4 which was 16 bars. Then I went back and dropped another 8 in between the 12th and 20th bars and even then I have left many names out. Even today more names keep coming to mind. That is why I kept it 86-94. Maybe 94-onwards could be another track itself. Even then it will never end. If anyone got forgotten I’m sorry. Only so much I could put into one song.

Were there any particular musical releases that inspired and spurred on the creative process behind the album?
Not really but I wanted to include The Escapes Of Futura 2000 somewhere in there. That was a classic track from Futura 2000 produced by the Clash back in the 80’s and a track that writers the world over could relate too. For anyone that doesn’t know he was one the kings from New York in the 70’s and 80’s and is still very productive. I used a cut from it on Aerosol Era which ends the track really nicely. “I saw names everywhere, style color and flare, I knew I had to join in, I knew my answer was there.” From the outset I wanted everyone involved in the album to be a part of the graffiti scene also. The only exception being Miss Brown who is Decider’s wife so she just scraped in to fit the criteria.

Do you think the geographical references littered throughout Aerosol Era are paramount in shaping this candid account of the graff scene?
Yes definitely. Melbourne was known as the New York of Australia and had the best writers in the country. It was very important to give the geographical references so people knew where I was at and can go back today say “hey I’m on platform 10 Richmond station. This is where all the kings hung out”. Or stand outside 301 Flinders Lane and look up knowing that that was the head quarters for the transit police and where many graffiti careers ended.

What’s the reception to Aerosol Era been like? Have you received much feedback from writers in particular?
Before it dropped there was the usual outcry from toys saying why are you doing an album about graf. You don’t paint anymore. That’s toy. How many panels did Bias ever do bla bla. The thing is I wrote this for the kings and the writers I grew up with in the golden era of Melbourne graf. When I get people like Dskyz USA, Puzle and Tame DMA telling me how much it means to them to bring back those memories-that’s what its all about. These are the people who made me love the culture so much and in turn made me the person I am today doing what I love today. I’ve had some older writers tell me they felt like crying and had tear in their eyes while listening to Aerosol Era and reminiscing. That is 10 times more important to me than getting radio play or making money. Its giving back that feeling the older generation gave me. So it didn’t matter what the toys said. I wrote this one for the kings so I didn’t expect the toys to understand.

What’s your favourite track off the album and why?
I would almost say Militant Mind State because of the beat and the samples. I think it catches the vibe well. And is different to everything else on the album. No. 1 pick though is Melbourne Memories. I impressed myself by putting that together. It’s only names and it may alienate many fans who don’t know the people I’m talking about but its about the structure of the lyrics that make it my favorite. I think I pushed myself a little harder on this album and the response has been awesome. I have not actually seen or heard a bad review yet. Thanks to everyone who picked it up. I hope it gave you an deeper insight into the best years of my life growing up in Melbourne City.

www.myspace.com/bias_b

Fluent Form

Hailing from Melbourne’s south east, Fluent Form dropped his debut Chapters Of Substance last year. Independently hustled, it was a gritty, sullen introduction to the talented wordsmith. Come 2009 and he’s already knocked out another full length album, The Furnace. For the most part, it’s a dark manifesto, serving as an outlet for rage and dissatisfaction. Produced by Geko, Doc Felix and Must amongst others and featuring Brad Strut, Ciecmate and Fatty Phew amongst a host of Melbourne talent, The Furnace is another praiseworthy notch in the MC’s belt.

Over what sort of timeframe was The Furnace recorded?
This album took about 7 to 8 months to complete. For some, that may seem like a quick amount of time for producing an album but we could have actually gotten it done in an even shorter amount of time. I’m diligent with my writing and I make sure to write everyday and as Geko handles most of the production, we share a similar work ethic. He’s always pumping out the beats and that allows us to make quality music without taking strenuous amounts of time to do so.

What lessons did you take from Chapters Of Substance into the process this time?
Not to rush into things. Don’t be to eager to drop a release. Hone your style, find your niche and really deliver your best work. Also, doing the distribution myself for Chapters Of Substance was a good lesson on how things operate outside the musical part of this game. I had great feedback which I drew upon when creating The Furnace.

Every Step exhibits perspective on your path thus far. What has most profoundly influenced the music you make?
Definitely my environment and life’s lessons. I’ve matured so much in the last few years and looking back on the shit I used to get up to, I can’t help but think to myself “what the hell were you doing?” But like most musicians, inspiration can come from anywhere. I draw upon everything.

The video is fairly simple but potent at the same time. Who made it?
My man Discourse produced that gem. I oversaw the clip, But Discourse really brought it to life with his vision. Classic clip, I’m very happy with it. It is definitely the most budget clip haha. Was awesome to see our method work so well. We didn’t even have a green screen. We just took out an old green blanket from the cupboard and used that!

How do you interpret the title The Furnace?
Good question. For me it entails everything. My burning desires, rage, my fuel that feeds me, burning wack toys haha, life, lessons, greed, envy, growth, anger, obstacles, reward, death, life…everything.

What’s the response to the album been like so far?
I’ve been blessed to always receive great feedback. I must be doing something right. People have definitely seen it as a big step up from my previous work and that’s what I wanna hear. Some of the heads that I really respect and look up to have all loved it. So it’s great. I’m proud of this album, just hoping I can reach a lot more heads with it. You gotta keep evolving.

“…I wanna tap into your soul, your mind, your being and make you think. Make you feel a rush, make you see where I’m coming from or even bring you down into my depths with it…”

The Furnace is filled with vivid concepts and imagery, especially on tracks like Short Stories, Do you enjoy operating in this voyeuristic vein?
Definitely…I wanna tap into your soul, your mind, your being and make you think. Make you feel a rush, make you see where I’m coming from or even bring you down into my depths with it. The power of music is phenomenal and to be able to make another person stop and think about something you’ve written, is the reason why I do this.

Paper Chase Days discusses good ol’, elusive scrilla. What do you work as a day job?
Nothing at the moment haha. I’ve done all kinds of jobs, from your typical laboring in a factory and call centre shit, to working with disabled children. At the moment, I’m literally living off the music. But I got a kid to feed, so I gotta get the old looking for work section out of the paper and find myself something new. I ain’t moving units in the thousands you know, haha  But I’m doing alright with the hand to hand hustle, centrelink and waiting for my quarterly payment from sales in the stores.

Is Endless Road an epilogue of sorts to Every Step?
You could look at it that way. It’s more like no matter what I do to try and better myself, I always end up back where I was. Back on the antidepressants, back on the dole, back into trouble. Back on that endless road.

The last handful of tracks on The Furnace take a slight turn in vibe with some subtle injections of funk. Was this a conscious placement? Finishing on a not-so-dark note?
Yeah, I wanted to add in a few beats that weren’t expected. The album is pretty dark for the most part, so I thought I’d chuck in a little bit of a twist and hit the listener with something different. Something they wouldn’t have expected on first listen. It might not fit the template of how to keep continuity in an album, But I like how it takes that new vibe and brings you back into the album via a different process.

4 Aces with Mata, Must and 1/6 is a nice touch of variety. How did you reach out to these fellows?
They’re all friends of mine. Once again I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by great mates who are all extremely talented and really bring their A-game to the table. It’s always fun to get your friends on a bit of a posse joint, especially when the outcome is so dope, haha.

What can you tell me about the Crate Cartel collective?
Crate Cartel consists of Geko, Raven, Discourse and myself. Just four guys doing their thing and who pride themselves on nothing but the highest quality production. Whether it’s rhymes and beats, or artwork and music videos. We’re coming!

What’s on the agenda for the next few months? Any shows in the pipeline?
Yeah, just organizing interstate shows, got a few launches in the next month and opening up for some big acts. So I’ll be keeping myself pretty busy for the next few months. Plus I’m always working on new music and ways to continue growing and establishing myself as a premier wordsmith in this country.

www.myspace.com/fluentformmusic

Anon Speak

Anon Speak, comprising of MC Lakonic and DJ Fokus, are a relatively new duo out of Victoria. Early last year the pair decided to bridge a pronounced divide in mentality and musical sensibility. The result is a very unique debut LP; Conventional Emporium. Lakonic’s lyrics are an esoteric bombardment, every verse packed with meaning. Fokus’ production achieves its purpose of delving into the stated mid-90s boom-bap sound but also works with a wider pallette including touches of indie rock and drums & bass. Lakonic elaborates…

From what I’ve heard, Anon Speak is a somewhat unlikely pairing. How did you originally meet and what led to a desire to producer music together?
Fokus and I met digitally actually. Since I live so far from the city(Melbourne), digital contact is all I have with the rest of the supposed ’scene.’ I believe he was scouring for emcees to rap on his beats and I was scouring for producers to make some beats, so we were both searching and just ended up finding each other at the same time. I know there’s a lot of purists out there that would call this process amateur or slack but to be honest, digital communication is just how it is now. As it was, we only met this way but less then a week or so after contact, we were underway, trying to just make some good music and see where it eventuated.

You’ve released a few solo demos and such. What do you see as the merits of both that and a group dynamic?
That’s the interesting thing. By the time Fokus and I had started working together, I felt that with the demo’s I’d done, I was at a comfortable enough level to start working on a feature length. Initially, it was my intention to bash out a dark, dynamic and somewhat different release and it was actually at this time that Ivens released his debut Sounds to Expire to, which resonated with me deeply-not so much because of it’s level of execution and quality, but because of it’s confident and bold move to stand out in this heavily jaded, outdated market. At the same time, it also crippled me a little because he had superceded any ambitions I had personally set for myself and even though I knew Fokus and I were travelling down a different path, the high expectations I forced upon this debut were catapulted over what I felt was realistically achieveable. Nonetheless, we moved on and I began to see that the sound we were concocting here was way too big of a step for my solo stuff to progress to so in the mixing stages, we just decided to share the load equally and create this side duo project. I guess because of this decision, only since we’ve started doing shows have we seen this as a group thing. It is the first time I’ve worked completely with one producer as opposed to just bedroom beats or producer friends so I guess in that respect, it’s been nice to have a much more cohesive, tightly fitted project together but yeah, group dynamic vs solo? Whatever sounds good.

What was it about DJ Fokus’ production that originally piqued your interest?
If someone had said I’d have been doing a release with DJ Fokus, I would have said bullshit. His production in general is the complete opposite to anything I’d choose to work with, but the funny thing was when I filed through some beats he showed me, there were a handful or so that were incredible, most of which you hear on the disc. They were progressive and had movement to them, structure, difference and they weren’t merely loops-that was the lynchpin. I wanted to create structured compositions and not just raps over loops because you find a lot of the time there’s no sense of connection there; raps will just run parallel with the production but they never fuse. I took a risk in thinking that Fokus could do something no-one else could and it most definitely paid off.

Over what sort of timeframe was Conventional Emporium recorded?
Conventional Emporium was recorded over about four to five months at the Magician Records lab. Given all the technicalities, mixing process, promo, distro, cover design etc, four to five months was when we had the skeletons done. But it’s been well over two years now since we started.

It’s certainly an abstract, philosophy-heavy release. Do you think this is a inherent feature of your lyricism?
No doubt. It’s incredibly hard to come from an alternative angle without sounding preachy, which is why I try and cloak my words in a level of ambiguity. It’s funny too because much like artists, you get critics that dissect your content, lay it all out across hundreds of pages of thesis’ and texts, all the while the individual sits there going “meh…it’s just a painting”. I like the idea of having a simple concept, and just stretching it and fleshing it out across the course of a song because what one person will see in it, another will see something else, and so on. To be honest, you find most people don’t even listen to the lyrics-if the flow is good and the beat is strong and/or suitable, people will enjoy it. I’m just trying to supply a cataylst to get people thinking.

The press release for Conventional Emporium states: ‘Anon Speak are…striving for originality in a stale and distilled local music scene, breaking down hip hop stereotypes.’ What paradigms do you see yourselves as having broken with this release?
I think the ‘Australian hip hop’ mould was set many years back and it’s unfortunate that everyone who releases product under this term gets predisposed as befitting of this title. Not the case. I’d say we’re not aiming to break certain paradigms as such, or even that we have, we’re just trying to expand the narrow minded ones so they know you can do something different, you can fuck about. We plan to progress to the point where we may not even be categorised under hip hop, and I think that’s where a lot of these guys miss the point-you don’t have to be the genre you’re creating music for; music is music.

“…I think that’s where a lot of these guys miss the point-you don’t have to be the genre you’re creating music for; music is music…”

Tell me about the significance of the trinket box in Broken World Of The Borderline.
I read a few different philosophical texts from time to time and at the point of receiving this beat, I was finding it difficult to think of some concepts that would fit it. At the same time, I was trying to understand all this philosophy so it was a fucked case of saturated writers block, but once I took a step back and realised that half of this philosophy is just about people thinking too much about the world, life, the big questions and whatnot, I decided to harbour all these thoughts as a single entity, hence the trinket box. Yeah, it’s bit of a large concept but that’s what’s makes it so easy to apply it to anything – the trinket box can be existence or the trinket box can be simply that, a trinket box. Up to you.

There’s a certain line: ‘…our lives are just rentals to the morgue…’ which captures the predominant mentality of the album for me. Do you think this is a fair evaluation?
Yeah, it would be fair to say that. I mean by no means is this a positive record, we don’t aim to please, and I guess since there’s already so many people nationwide and even worldwide trying to deliver their two cents through music, all you can do is throw yours on the stock pile in the hope it collects interest. This is not to say we’re down right pessimistic, but being realistic is better then gambling with false hopes.

You’re somewhat of a movie buff and it shows in the selection of vocal samples on the album. Is it a satisfying process to have something on the pad correlate with a profound exchange on the screen?
Oh yeah, definitely. I love cinema probably more then music and in fact, most of my inspiration for writing comes from themes or dialogue, cinematography or even sound effects from films. It is very difficult to get a quote that works within the context of a track though because often, a quote will summarise a track for someone who is unsure what the concept is about and if the quote doesn’t fit, people get altered or even conflicting perceptions about what the track is truly about. At the same time, if you can get them to gel, it can enhance a track just enough to improve it’s value and I guess much like crate digging, the obscurer the reference the better.

How did you go about being picked up for distribution by MGM?
Fokus’ label Magician Records was already signed to MGM distribution prior to our collaboration. With Anon Speak, we were keen to start afresh and see if we could lynch a deal with a more exclusive hip-hop distribution company, but we soon discovered that this was a real bad time for distribution labels. In the end, we just decided to go with MGM because of the unstable footing surrounding the more prominent distribution houses. We’re not complaining.

What was the desired concept when it came to the album artwork?
With the artwork, I wanted some crazy, fucked up illustration from the outset-I actually had more of a direction in what the artwork should look like then the music. Initially, we started looking international for some illustrators across the globe who could achieve what we wanted, but we soon realised we didn’t have the funds nor the convenience or prompt communication to be able to achieve something good. I then started browsing local art galleries until we came across the art of Pierre Lloga, whose amazing landscape stretches across the cover. It was interesting to see how well the artwork combined with the music and there’s a somewhat noticable death metal style to it, but I don’t think we’d have it any other way. It’s epic, dark, a little weird and suits the project better then anything I could have thought of.

Are there any plans to tour at this stage? How are things looking on the live front?
At this stage, touring is probably out of the question. We love doing shows, but we don’t have the credibility to pull the kind of crowds. We’re really just trying to get our live show right by doing a few hip-hop specific lineups, then we might branch out and try to jump on some rock, electro, heavy metal stages, basically anyone that will take us just to see how they react. We’ve done a few shows so far, most being well received so we’re just gonna keep doing shows, keep pushing the CD.

www.myspace.com/anonspeak

Phatchance

Phatchance is a young emcee from Sydney. Having started out on the now defunct Nurcha Records, he now tours frequently with Coptic Soldier and Mind Over Matter as part of their new collective I Forget, Sorry! Featuring prominently on the Triple J Unearthed charts for some time now, Chance is finally set to release his debut opus Inkstains. Though Phatchance’s talent transcends the mic as he’s recorded, mixed and mastered the whole project.

Inkstains has been a long time coming. What have been the greatest impediments to its release?
That’s a tough question man, I could tell you all about the record label issues, family problems, self doubt and technical hitches I faced along the road. Probably when you get down to the core of it though an inherent laziness and addiction to games on facebook and the like is the real villain, though.

Whatever happened to Nurcha Records?
Honestly that’s a really hard question as well, Nurcha as an idea was a beautiful thing, having a group of friends who were all passionate about music and operating like a family was one of the best times of my life, musically, so far. At the end of the day though Nurcha was a business and the independent music scene is highly competitive, I think probably it was a lack of experience and a desire to push the limits of what was possible for a really small label that nailed the coffin shut. I mean, I’m still really good friends with a lot of the artists who were on the roster, some of us have stayed together, some of us have moved on to other things, but the label didn’t have the resources to keep operating, especially once the stores came into play.

What line of thinking was the title Inkstains born out of?
I’ve always loved the idea of doing albums conceptually, in essence Inkstains, both as a title and a release is trying to convey the mark that writing has made on my life. It’s also about the mark that life makes on the self. As an album I knew it was going to be extremely personal and probably a little messy, I felt that I needed a concept to keep everything coherent and once I teamed up with the artists involved in the cover design and worked closely with the physical production of the album, that idea tied together really nicely into a final package.

There are some tracks on the album featuring some fairly pointed lyrics towards certain individuals in your life. Have you received any backlash over the references?
Haha, definitely. Some of the feedback has actually been really good, I think some of the songs were very important to the way my relationships with people have panned out, I’m in a pretty content place right now emotionally and I think a lot of that comes down to venting negativity in my music. With that said, a few of the tracks definitely didn’t go down to well with the people they were about. I guess it’s kind of unfair that I have this very public medium to explore my point of view on events and the people I’m writing about aren’t necessarily afforded that luxury, I’m not going to claim I’m unbiased either, I try to be as honest as possible in my music with the way I view things, but if you don’t see eye to eye on a situation then I’m never going to be able to convey the whole story.

What sort of vibe were you looking for when selecting producers?
The production on the album grew in a very organic way, a lot of the songs were conceptualised long before I actually found the beats, but I never start writing without the music in front of me. I think since I’m a fairly melancholy person the music I source has a tendency to lean in that direction. I didn’t select producers so much as make friends with producers and begin working with them on a professional level, which meant that it really came together over time and as my life progressed. Some of the tracks changed beats two or three times, other beats got fleshed out a lot with live instrumentation or additional production work on my end of the board, since I engineered the whole album I had a lot of control over the end product in terms of arrangement and structure.

Is it more of a blessing or a curse to record, mix and master the entirety of your own release?
It’s a double edged blade, on one hand I couldn’t stand to lose control over the end product, I have a catalogue of earlier mixes and recordings of the songs and I’m so glad I was able to work up to the last minute and make those final tweaks whenever the muse took me. At the same time it really is a full time job without the pay, you can spend hundreds of hours getting a single song right when you are responsible for every aspect of its production. I’m glad the beats were handled by other producers though, I think that granted the album a diversity of sound it wouldn’t have had if I were also making the beats.

You’ve been on tour with Pez recently, how’s that been?
The Pez tour was really fun man, I was only on for six of the legs but I had a great time, it was crazy seeing all these new faces at every show, the Australian Hip Hop scene used to be this nucleus of heads and every show you’d bump into familiar people, now it’s a wash of strangers, but passionate strangers…which are the best kind.

What can you tell me about the I Forget, Sorry! crew?
I Forget, Sorry! is comprised of myself, Mind Over Matter and Coptic Soldier, basically we’re a group of really good friends who’ve been working together and making music for a long time. It’s a collective, rather than a crew, we tour together and design ways to cross promote and cross market our music. It’s been a really positive thing to be a part of and is probably a large part of the reason Inkstains ended up getting finished. The bonus discs are probably my favourite part of the collective, on every artists release there’s a numbered bonus disc with a few exclusive remixes or unreleased tracks from themselves and the other guys in the collective, it basically means more free music for fans and it makes touring a lot easier to organise.

How does the Samuel Beckett quotation in the album artwork tie in with what transpires on Inkstains?
I’ve always loved that quote, it appeals to me on a personal level and I felt it encapsulated the theme really nicely. To create is such a large part of the human experience and probably the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done, the quote captures that feeling. I also wanted to stray as far from the stereotypes people(often unfairly) associate with Australian Hip Hop, I felt that combining that particular quote with the visual imagery in the design was a good way to break down preconceptions about what a listener is going to expect to hear on the CD.

“…I guess to those people I’d give a thumbs up, throw my headphones back on and bump some more Death Cab, haha…”

As mentioned, you’re somewhat of a fiend for the social networking sites. What role do you see these advents playing in regards to your music?
Honestly I think the day of breaking out via a particular social networking tool is gone, nowadays they’ve formed a very necessary means of engaging with your fan base. I think the days of the inaccessible cult celebrity are diminishing, I find it really rewarding and enjoyable engaging with listeners on a personal level, social networking sites let anyone who wants to contact me, they also let me promote whatever I’m doing to a target market of people that actually care about what I’m saying. I don’t expect any particular method of promotion to transform me from an unknown artist to a popular artist, but I feel like it’s easier than it ever has been to put what you’re doing into the public eye, from there people can make their own decisions and evaluate my art.

Do you feel the chemistry generated between you and the featured vocalists are vital to the album’s impact?
The feature artists are such an important part of the release. By definition there’s going to be less change across an album as a solo artist, those vocalists(and instrumentalists) let me take a step back and provide a really critical break in the proceedings. It was a pleasure working with talented like minded people across the album, I learn more from a day in the studio with another artist than I do from a month of working on the album alone.

Speaking of variety…the album features quite a gamut of instrumentation. Is this something you were eager to accentuate?
Definitely. I absolutely love working with musicians. The basslines and guitar lines especially added heaps to the album, they let me change the vibe of the songs where I wanted to, thickened out the overall sound and added another layer to the arrangements. My best friend Kieran played the bulk of the bass on the album, so it was also an opportunity to catch up with him regularly, something I haven’t been able to do enough since high school.

What would you say to those who dismiss your music as overly emotional?
Haha! That’s a criticism I expect to get, I can’t really think of another artist in Australia that’s made an album with as many melancholy songs as this, but that’s my sound and it’s what I’m into musically. I grew up listening to people like Jeff Buckley and Atmosphere, those artists resonate with me because of their down tempo, emotional tracks. My favourite song on peoples albums are the tracks that bring out a lot of feelings, so I set about making an album where the bulk of the tracks did that. I guess to those people I’d give a thumbs up, throw my headphones back on and bump some more Death Cab, haha.

The fairer sex and matters of the heart are popular topics throughout Inkstains. Tell me about the concept behind Invisible Queen.
Invisible Queen rides the line between playful and earnest. I wrote that track when I was really frustrated about a particular girl I’d been chasing, it seemed everytime I felt like she was within my grasp she would dissappear. My friend N.U.G. sourced me this wicked beat by DJ Hoppa from California, the same guy who did Choof Choof Train and Up Jumped The Boogie for Bliss N Eso. It has this kind of playful, eerie vibe, so I took that energy and the idea of the invisible queen is what I ended up with. I’m shooting a video clip for that track in November with some really talented film producers slash DJ’s by the name of Heroes Of The Party, hopefully that video clip will illustrate the concept a bit better than I can with words.

How did the collaboration with 360 come about on The Catchy Song?
I really wanted to get some solid features on the album, I’ve been friends with 60 for a long time, we’ve played a bunch of shows together and I have a lot of love for what he does, I also really wanted to do a song with Smiles Again. Akouo sent me a beat that was more happy than anything that I’d usually use, I knew it was a great beat I just wasn’t sure how I could slot it in with the rest of the album. This was just after The Waitress Song had smashed Triple J, I noticed a theme and thought it would be funny to take a tongue in cheek look at those happy songs that seem to go viral. Both 360 and Smiles are really funny guys so I knew they’d be perfect for the track, unfortunately that meant I was up against the two funniest rappers in the country on a beat well outside my comfort zone. I was really happy with how it turned out though and I think it goes a long way towards balancing out the album and making it more accessible to a first time listener.

You’ve scored some impressive support slots to date. What do the next six months hold for Phatchance?
Honestly, there’s two versions of this answer, what I want to happen and then reality. In an ideal world the album will drop, it will be well received by radio and street press and I’ll set off on a mini tour in March, then follow that up with a solo tour later in the year. I’d love to tee up a good support slot on a major artists tour, but these things are really difficult to time and it’s all dependent on whether the right people enjoy the album and approve of what I’m doing. I’m going to put all the effort I possibly can into taking this album as far as possible, but so much of it depends on factors outside of my control that there’s really no telling where I’ll be in six months. I’m already hard at work on the next album though, and I’d love to release that late next year or early 2011. If there’s one thing making this album has taught me, it’s that momentum is incredibly important to getting anywhere.

Inkstains is out November 27 – www.myspace.com/mcphatchance

Horrorshow

In 2008 Horrorshow dropped their debut LP The Grey Space to widespread acclaim. 18 months later, and with much having transpired, the talented duo are set to release Inside Story; a somewhat more outward-looking LP that still maintains that power of introspect Solo has come to be known for. The 13-tracks exude a constantly-developing lyrical and musical perspective. It isn’t hard to see why they’ve played Big Day Out and Groovin The Moo festivals and toured nationally with Muph & Plutonic and Hermitude. Solo recently took some time out for a chat.

How does it feel to be gaining favour in a culture that only five years ago, you admired from anonymity?
Umm I don’t know if I really think about it like that to be honest. It’s cool though, I enjoy being able to throw down and kinda do what we do, especially in a live context. Lately I’ve been enjoying getting back in front of people and having that moment. Live, you really get to see people react to the music and you get to see them smiling and enjoying themselves so that sorta thing is pretty cool, to go from standing in the front row of a crowd, rocking out, to being the one that’s making everybody else rock out and watching the different roles in that relationship, that’s a pretty cool feeling. Particularly moments like when we played the Big Day Out, I’ve seen a lot of acts that I really love and admire in those kinds of situations so I guess it’s cool to be on the flipside of the whole process now. I dunno, it’s all happened so quickly, we’re just still rolling with it and not really sure where it’s going to end up but it’s great.

Explain the philosophy behind the album title, Inside Story.
I remember the moment I thought of it, I was walking up a stairwell in a hostel in London. Basically I had just been tripping out since I arrived in Europe. There’s a line on the first album: “…having revelations about my place on the food chain…” What I was talking about there was this feeling of being this little dot on the map and being removed my normal world and placed in this other environment that was totally unfamiliar to me. Travelling through that environment-different places, different people-and engaging with it. The only constant was what was going on inside my head and that’s the philosophy behind the album. A lot of the thoughts, lines and ideas for the tracks were all things that were going through my head during that three month period. I had a bunch of notebooks with me and I’d scribble down ideas or words and carry them all around with me. I didn’t get too stuck into the writing until I came back and opened up these notebooks. Also, there was another layer of meaning to it, I wanted to be a bit more cryptic this time around with what I was talking about and maybe wrap certain things up a bit more. So the album works on one level but within it, there’s all kinds of things that I’ve hidden in there personally-certain lines that relate to particular moments on my trip. That’s the other level of meaning to the title, there’s this whole other story for me inside the music.

You have spoken of the significance of travel in the music you have produced. How much importance does your city and locality have as well?
Well we deal with that on Found which is basically the real story of me coming home from the journey and just tripping out over being back in my familiar environment and just seeing it for how amazing it is because of the time spent in separation. The second verse of the track is about rocking out with the Spit Syndicate guys a year later at Good Vibrations and partying our whole crew there, friends of ours from the neighbourhood. I think that feeling of belonging is really important to us as musicians, in terms of knowing that we have a really strong supoort base back home. I think the first album was really centred on Sydney and the things that go on here, the vibe of the place. Whereas I feel the vibe of the new album is more epic or worldly.

There’s a line on the new album alluding to giving The Grey Space a paintjob. What has changed in the last 18 months personally? What has spurred on the desire for vibrancy?
That was just the sort of period that we were at when we did the first album, we maybe wanted to do something that was a bit darker and grittier. This time around, there’s been a whole lot of external influences and experiences that made us want to build on what we were doing. We’re proud of the first album and what we did with it but what has changed is just our learning curve. We learnt so much from making that first record, we were just kind of making it up as we went along and now we’re in a better position, particularly sonically-everything that Adit has learnt about his production, the whole engineering and mixing process-all those sorts of things in creating that vibrancy you’re talking about. I think this record has a lot more texture to it, it’s just more rich whereas I feel with the first one we were in a bleaker place and also our know-how sent us in the direction of that stripped-back, bare sense lyrically and musically. Whereas now, we know a bit more about what we’re doing and we’ve got a few more skills up our sleeve to pull off some other things, to pull of some tracks to move a crowd.

The artwork for Inside Story is outwardly symbolic with the warm colours used and the collage of accumulated experience on the cover. Do you think this was important to convey following The Grey Space?
I just think what we tried to do with the artwork this time around was to really tailor it to the music. We had an overall idea of the vibe of the record from the get-go, once we had that established with the music, we really wanted the artwork to channel that same vibe so we could create an overall package. That was really important to me this time around. We hooked up with this graff writer from Brisbane called Gimik. One thing we talked about was the importance of having colour and different textures. One thing I’m stoked about with the album is the artwork-I do feel like it adds something to the album when you’re listening to it and looking through the booklet, there’s little hints in there.

How did you approach Inside Story differently on account of ‘the fear of an impending deadline?’
Well it was a very different process. We did the first album over four or five years and just went along with it, we’d have months off here and there. Whereas this time around, it was always a long-term plan when we got involved with Elefant Traks, even before The Grey Space, that we would follow up that album with another one inside a year. So we were always aware of that deadline but we’re talking about a much more compressed time-frame. One thing about being on a label like Elefant Traks is that you have to fit in with everything else going on for everything to function right. So this whole tour with Urthboy has all been locked away since way before we finished our album so if something had gone horribly wrong and we didn’t finish it, the tour would still have had to go ahead. It’s just industry once you get a bit involved in the ‘industry’ side of things, there’s many more concerns to doing a record than just when you feel like it, there’s lots more at stake and you have to rise to it I guess.

Is Thoughtcrime an affirmation of your particular brand of lyricism?
I wrote the track as a kind of call for substance in music. I feel like we get an opportunity as artists to say something to get people thinking. A lot of music out there doesn’t do that, it just caters to the lowest common denominator. It’s a little frustrating sometimes as an MC or as a fan of Hip Hop which I think, as an overall culture, definitely has some principles within it about putting effort into what you do and really treating it as an art. So I just wrote the track as a bit of a call to people to use their brain and really put time, effort and thought into their music. Some of what I was saying in the track is that we’ll probably never write that mega-hit, that super-catchy track everyone loves but I feel like our music does identify with people who like to think about things. I guess it’s a general call to everyone saying lets have some substance in what we’re doing but we can still enjoy ourselves doing it.

Was Always Coming Back Home To You by Atmosphere an inspiring force behind the opening track, In?
No, not really-only in the sense that it’s an awesome example of a beat driven by an acoustic guitar. Adit made the beat a while back originally as a remix of Lupe’s Kick Push…and I loved the way raps sounded on it. Acoustic guitar to me creates a sense of intimacy-like the listener is right there where the sound is being created-and was the perfect instrument for sucking people in and also for establishing the slightly darker, organic sound we wanted to get for the intro track.

“…I feel like we get an opportunity as artists to say something to get people thinking. A lot of music out there doesn’t do that, it just caters to the lowest common denominator..”

How did you find the experience of clearing samples this time around?
Getting samples was a really interesting process, although we can’t take much of the credit for this-we had a lot of help from Sulo at Elefant Traks who handled the process. There were two major instances of sample clearance, Walk You Home which we discussed earlier and In My Haze with Jane Tyrrell. The former samples a track which came out via a smaller, independent music publishing company so it wasn’t too difficult to get in touch with them and come to some arrangement. I also wrote a letter to the artist saying something about our track and what it meant to me to try and use the sample in question, trying to explain that part of the reason we were using the sample was to pay homage to that style of music. Who knows if they read it-but we managed to work something out fairly easily. The sample for the track with Jane Tyrrell is actually a Midnight Oil song from one of their albums. We knew we HAD to get this cleared as we played the track to a few people and they picked it instantly, from being so familiar with the band’s work. We reached out to Sony(the publishers) but didn’t hear anything back for a while. We were starting to really stress about what we would do with the track as we really liked it with the original sample, and we liked the idea of paying a bit of homage to some classic Australian music.  So we actually mixed the track and bounced it as separate parts in case we had to get things replayed…still hadn’t heard anything. Then one weekend The Herd went to Brisbane to do a Kev Carmody tribute show with a bunch of notable Australian musicians, and one of the dudes in the band at this show was Jim Moginie, the guitar player from Midnight Oil! So Urthy took him aside and played him the track and explained our situation. Luckily he dug what we’d done with it so he got in touch with Sony and got the ball rolling…we were absolutely stoked, for them to come across someone from the band right at that exact time when we needed their help-it was one of those weird moments where you feel like fate must have had something to do with it.

In your recent behind the scenes video, you make mention of important lessons and development following the debut. What has been learnt?
This is tricky to answer as a lot of what we’ve learnt isn’t necessarily tangible or easy to put a finger on-we just have been through a lot musically in the past 18 months. We went through the process of recording and mixing an album for the first time, got to see first hand what sort of sounds work well with that process, how to record and layer vocals to get different effects, all that sort of thing. We’ve also learnt about shows, we’d never really played them before the last record so there’s been a real learning curve there, seeing what works in a live context and then trying to channel some of that in the next record. We’re constantly learning lessons about how to handle ourselves in this music thing, and no doubt we’ll learn some valuable ones from this release as well.

The title track is characterised by a strong lament for the prominent role of technology in our lives. How do you strike a healthy balance when promoting your music in this digital age?
What I was trying to say there goes beyond music-these new technologies are totally affecting every aspect of our lives, how we interact with each other, how we shop, how we get our information, how we plan our travels, how we bank-everything! And I guess sometimes I just trip about that, about what our world is like now and how so much of it is digital or intangible-how far away we’ve gotten from the basic, primitive place we started in and how unnecessary so much of what we’ve constructed for ourselves is if you really think about it. A lot of the inspiration for this track came from a job I was working for a large media agency, seeing how huge multinational companies hire people to sell things to consumers and how media agencies strategise about reaching people in their homes, on their phones, etc. I sort of feel like all of these things, and particularly the way they’re developing with smartphones and high speed internet, etc-are in some ways taking us further and further away from our basic human relationships with each other. Even things as small as catching up with your friends on the phone or in person-now we all just sit back and stalk each other, getting gradual updates on every detail of each others’ lives without having anywhere near as much of a quality interaction. The second verse of the track is sort of looking at the recession amongst other things, the amazing economic system we’ve created and how much strain we’ve put on it with our own greed, buying and consuming things that when it comes down to it are totally unnecessary. As far as promoting our music, we definitely try to engage with our listeners online as that’s where people have migrated to-now as bands that’s where we have to try and reach them. We use myspace and facebook a lot to interact with people and also twitter to keep them updated, and while we try and embrace all these things so we can keep our message relevant, sometimes I get really frustrated. Essentially I just get sick of sitting on my laptop all day, and sometimes I wonder what life would have been like 20 years ago when people still largely interacted with each other without the need for a computer screen. Or 500 years ago, when there wasn’t even electricity! With that said, I understand the trade off, these sorts of technologies make so many things possible for people like us-such as the very fact that people are able to visit your blog and read this interview without the need for any financial backing from a media outlet.

Something I’ve noticed about both of your albums now is an ability to compose a really poignant track to finish with. Is this something you’re aware of or just the way it happens?
Well I think you’ve got to have a sick track as your last track. For a lot of people the strongest track doesn’t necessarily go at the end, a lot of people want to get their strongest tracks towards the beginning and that’s fair enough because we’re all struggling for peoples’ attention spans these days. I like to go out on a lasting note so that when the CD ends, you feel like going back and listening to it again. Walk You Home was one of the first tracks we did, we were in a position where we had both the intro and last track done and I knew that we wanted to put that at the end so then we just sorted the order in the middle. When we wrote the track I didn’t think it could be placed anywhere else besides last. I’m interested to see how people react to that song because it’s obviously really personal for me, it meant a lot to me to write it and I’m proud of it but it’s very much not your typical Hip Hop song. I’m not sure if everyone is going to like that track.

What’s on the agenda for the next few months? Can we expect another album in the near future?
We’re on tour for the next 2 months with my man Urthboy in celebration of both of our new records, so make sure you come and see us on the road when we’re in your town! After that we’ll see what happens over the summer…Adit’s turning his attention to working on some new tracks with Spit Syndicate which I’m really excited about, and we still have a few tracks on the boil. I don’t think anyone could be mad at us if we had a break though–2 albums in 14 months is a pretty good effort I reckon.

www.myspace.com/horrorshowcrew

Urthboy

Urthboy is an artist of longevity, an artist thoroughly on point in everything he does. The Elefant Traks head honcho has recently released his third LP Spitshine. It compounds the critical acclaim garnered by his previous two LPs, 2007’s The Signal and his 2004 debut Distant Sense Of Random Menace. The same talent behind the boards handles production on Spitshine: Count Bounce and Elgusto. Solo, Jane Tyrell, Lior and Mark Pearl and Nat Dunn all contribute to the already rich vein of songwriting present throughout. On the rap tip, Nay and Mantra hold their own brilliantly. Spitshine is an audacious, synth-stained offering from the talented maestro.

Things seem to be going swimmingly at Elefant Traks with seeds both old and new flourishing. Is it easier to produce music of your own in such a conducive environment?
Yeah I like to have good people around me. I like to have people that are making music that is solid. It’s kinda competitive because it means that you’re seeing your peers making good music that you’re impressed by, so you want to compete with them. But it’s not competitive in a negative way. It’s more about finding ways to inspire those around you and I like to be surrounded by people who inspire me because it makes me want to work harder. I mean, The Tongue has to get his shit together and work on some music and I’m quite happy to be putting that out there in the public sphere. He’s a talented writer and I like having him around even though he’s sort of been quiet for a minute. He has the potential to do some really cool shit, he’s done some and he’ll do a hell of a lot more. Same goes with Horrorshow, it’s dope having those guys around because they have grown up with Australian Hip Hop, I kinda did but the majority of what I grew up with was American with a sprinkling of groups like Def Wish Cast, Brethren and Quro. Horrorshow have come through, I guess maybe realising the possibilities that were a bit more vague back in the day. The result is they come out firing.

As you grow older and release more albums, do you think tracks with the sentiment of Ready To Go become more paramount?
I think that’s a personal thing. You see it over and over again when artists get really comfortable and just keep regurgitating similar material. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of the time those artists are hounded by fans to keep recreating the same stuff. I often find it keep cornering you into a comfort zone and so whether I succeed or fail, I think it’s really important to explore ways of avoiding that comfort zone because there’s something really great and untarnished about naiveté and being a new, young artist feeling like anything is possible. It’s exciting man, it’s sorta why people make music, whether you’re staunch or soft or whatever, you get a buzz from creating shit and putting together words. That sometimes gets a bit lost when you do it so much that you just have a clear understanding of what you need to do to write a song. You can just fall into going through the motions and that’s fine because that shows you’re familiar and you’ve got experience and that’s cool. But the flipside is that you just end up being a bit too safe sometimes. So I guess Ready To Go is kind of a call to arms in that sense, it’s an acknowledgement of finding some inspiring shit to keep really hungry.

Spitshine also seems to contain more songwriting devoted to non-rap vocal stylings. Is this a facet you enjoy?
Yeah for sure. My primary music that I create is Hip Hop and that’s what I love. I’m still spun out by how much there is still to learn about it. It feels like it’s inside everything I do, like there’s a Hip Hop angle or approach. But I get curious about how you can incorporate that mentality into a more traditional and conventional songwriting structure-sung music and working with singers. Because I don’t think you need to turn your stuff into drivel in order to work with singers. I think there’s heaps of great ways to convey your message. I was listening to that Line To Line track by Bias B this morning. He’s talking about shit that is supposed to connect with writers and that’s what the whole song is about and that’s a lot of the new record and that’s mad because he’s talking to a whole sub culture of people out there that the majority of society doesn’t have a clue about. It’s really important but at the same time he’s just trying to connect with a group of people whether it be writers or you’re a singer writing about love or loss, you’re still trying to communicate something to a group of people. Sometimes there’s a great challenge working with singers in getting your point across, I find it really interesting.

Where does the inspiration for your onstage costume tomfoolery come from?
There was a time in Hip Hop music when it was the way you performed and entertained you know. That shit is what created the artform that we are involved in. I realise that there’s a certain gimmick about dressing up and that’s why it’s only every now and again that we do dress up. You can’t trade on a novelty, it just wears thin. I like to keep it as an element of a show that says ‘we’re not taking ourselves too seriously’ you know, that we’re not so precious about our fucking image that we can’t go out and kinda take the piss but more importantly, it’s about entertainment. We’re entertainers, you go out there and freestyle on a stage, just trying to land your punchlines or whatever and that’s all cool if you’ve got a bunch of heads in the crowd that are all just following every word. But in the broader music scene, we’re up on stage to fucking entertain and to put together an engaging live show. You don’t have to wear a costume to do that but that’s just another little weapon in your arsenal. I don’t really care, I just think it’s fun to do every now and again.

“…I often find it keep cornering you into a comfort zone and so whether I succeed or fail, I think it’s really important to explore ways of avoiding that comfort zone because there’s something really great and untarnished about naiveté and being a new, young artist feeling like anything is possible…”

You’re hitting the road September though to November for the nationwide Spitshine tour. Are there any further live theatrics in development?
Yeah, we’ve really tried to work hard on our live show. In previous years when I was coming up, you’d just go to a show or play a gig and it would be more about the social aspect. You’d have a bunch of beers, you’d see your mates, you’d get onstage, rap some songs and it was just about the buzz of performing. For many years it was like that because it’s difficult as an artist to think ‘well this is going to take me somewhere, I better really be as professional as I can’ because in years past, it was very difficult to imagine it growing like it has. Nowadays I’m firmly of the belief that you have gotta make use of every opportunity and that means gone are the days when you get up onstage and just rap your shit. You gotta come with something different, put some time into your show. For us, that means we’ve been putting together visuals for the whole gig and actually creating them, not just getting random shapes and things and putting them behind us. Jane and a good friend Bernie who did a lot of the editing of the making of videos have taken care of that. We do it where possible as well, a lot of the time we’re doing regional shows where we don’t have big venues so it’s a bit hard to do full lighting shows and whatnot. Remixing songs for the show and working out how we’ll be delivering these songs onstage is important. We’re not that two or three blokes shouting the chorus kinda thing. I might sound like I’m not speaking about that favourably but I love that shit, it’s mad energy, like Funkoars. You love that vibe man because everyone is just fucking electric, everyone is venting. I mean it’s not punk music but it’s just about cutting absolutely loose at gigs and that’s good. You need to have bands like that but that’s not us, we operate on a different level so we gotta shape our show to have a different angle.

How did the collaboration with Lior eventuate?
That was simple, he rocked up to a festival, he was playing after me. He jumped into our tent and said he was a big fan of The Signal. I just said ‘cool…wicked.’ I’ve been a big fan of his for a long time, I think some of his melodies are just outrageous.

Is it humbling to have an artist of that ilk commenting on your work favourably?
Yeah for sure, I guess it just shows that we’re all on the same boat. As a Hip Hop artist you tend to marginalise yourself, you think you’re on the fringes. And that’s not some ludicrous conspiracy theory or paranoia, we are on the fringes. It’s constantly rammed down our throats that we are on the fringes, especially in Australia. Even if people accept it, even if Hilltop Hoods go number one twice in a week, we’re still treated as an anomaly. So strike me down for adopting that outsider mentality but that’s just the way it goes and anyone who has been around Hip Hop for more than five years and remembers it 10, 15 years ago, let alone 25 years ago, can relate to that.

The cursing on Spitshine is far less prevalent than your average Hip Hop release but seemingly well-considered. Is the impact of such language features something you give a fair amount of thought to when writing?
That’s cool because I’ve sworn more on this record than any other I reckon. I think that I’m pretty loose every now and again, I’m not the Geto Boys though. But at the same time I think people who talk all the time, talk shit, carry on, never know when to stop and every now and again they’ll make a valid point but it’ll probably get lost because they talk so much so people switch off then you get those other people who only talk every now and again but because they don’t talk that often, people listen. I think the same with swearing, sometimes you can throw a word into a spot where you weren’t expecting and it can give you a little jolt. I find that works more in singing when you’re writing a beautiful song and you throw something in that is a bit coarse. It’s like with Impossible Story, at then end of it, it was really important to finish that line even though really we were trying to write something evocative and a little bit reflective so that’s not necessarily the kind of song you load up with swearing but the last line of the verse is ‘…fuck it all, fuck it all, fuck it all for 12 months…’ Sometimes I get young fathers saying why do you swear so much on your records? I can’t play it to the kids.’ That kinda sucks but what are you gonna do? I grew up on the Geto Boys, Paris and NWA. That’s a lot more part of Hip Hop than swearing is to say…pop music.

The song titles on Spitshine seem to have a particularly poetic leaning-Above The Canopy, Impossible Story, Them Shackles, Til They Snatch The Last Page-is this a conscious endeavour, something you take pride in?
Yeah I reckon. I love instrumental artists that come up with good names for their songs because it can really bring people in, it’s a short-term thing. But if you name a song well, it’s a beautiful thing.

Is 2000 & Whatever a reflection of striving to make timeless music?
Yeah for sure, I didn’t want to go with 2009 & Whatever, I didn’t want to have it dated. It’s cool having something that’s dated like when you’re listening to say…some Wu-Tang shit and they drop a reference to ‘93 or 93 To Infinity itself. I wanted people to think ‘2000 and what…? What year was it? when they hear the song.

www.myspace.com/urthboy

Delta

Delta is a veritable Hip Hop emissary. The Adelaide MC has amassed many contacts through his extensive travel around the world. Call him the antipodean Hip Hop ambassador or split or hair…there is no disputing the man’s dedication to advancing Australia’s reputation globally. Even from the beginning, having started out on the battle circuit, Delta sought victory with lyrical intellect rather than the pure aggression normally associated with MC battling. It is this verbal intelligence, the steady cultivation of knowledge which continually constitutes a cornerstone of his music. The Second Story is the follow-up to Delta’s critically-acclaimed debut album The Lostralian.

It’s been three years since Lostralian, why the wait to release your second album?
Time is never on the artist’s side! You have only so many hours in a day(and overnight) to make these tracks while touring, rehearsing, promoting your music, in addition to keeping the bills paid and nurturing relationships with friends and family. I put music before a day job every time and I have never had a manager or booking agent. This is all me, real independent hip hop. I also put everything I can into writing a song. I can’t justify rushing my music. Just throwing together a beat and writing some superficial throw away lyrics for it is not enough in my books. You have to give the people their hard-earned dollars worth. Because they deserve MORE.

Have always you felt the impulse to travel or is it a desire that has been intensified by your involvement in Hip Hop culture?
I love to travel first and foremost, to get out of my comfort zone and learn from different locations, people, and cultures. I also travel a lot because after you have met people and formed tight friendships there will always be weddings and funerals. Well wishes are one thing but it is great to get a chance to be there in person to show you care. Of course as well as this it is great to travel and get to see hip hop around the world, and the music that each place has to offer(of all genres).

What do you hope to achieve at the outset of a new trip?
Experiences. The greatest teacher.

How does it feel to share stages with legends of the culture such as KRS-ONE and Grandmaster Flash?
It is so humbling. I first heard Beat Street Breakdown and The Message as an eight year old through my older brother in 1984, and heard The Bridge Is Over and South Bronx in the late eighties. These were all tracks that moved me and made me think. So I hoped that one day I would be lucky enough to see those artists perform live. That was my dream. To be billed on the same shows as them and to have the opportunity to meet them and learn from them is a massive blessing. I am one lucky cat to be in the company of such greatness.

How do your philosophical studies manifest in your music and in particular, tracks on The Second Story?
I think that through hip hop I learnt so much, and my experience with philosophy is very similar. I was once told that philosophy translates indirectly from latin as ‘The love of wisdom’. It truly is that. I like to call philosophy ‘The Art of Science’ when people ask me what philosophy is. The main thing that I learnt from studying the wisdom of the ages found in history, particularly that of the eastern cultures, is that for a human to grow sometimes it is better to focus on what lies within, before focusing on the material which surrounds us. Much of the time, this matter is nothing but illusion. This knowledge gave rise to songs like Fool’s Gold and Shades of Green. I think the main thing that I draw from philosophy is that truth exists independently of cultural belief, opinion, or even humans themselves. Truth drives me in everything I do because only the truth will set me free. Only true knowledge is absolute.

What situations or ideals inspired you to follow more political tangents on The Second Story?
Our Government is lying to us, and we are paying them to do so.

“…Someone once told me that I should run for Prime Minister because I understand peoples’ struggle. I would never be a politician, but I will write a song about it…”

Was there a certain situation you experienced or witnessed which compelled you to write The Lines?
I think we all have been cheated on at some time. I have also seen some horrific divorces in my time and had to be there for my mates on many an occasion. I would definitely say that The Lines is a really cheeky dig at those who cheat rather than an attack on women or an angry, bitter track. I originally suggested to Mojo that he write his verse speaking from the perspective of a man who was juggling two women and trying to pull the wool over their eyes, but I guess we usually write from experience!

How did you hook up with Dave Guy and Tommy Brenneck of Dap Kings fame?
Dave Guy has played trumpet in Mojo’s band Dujeous for years and we have been friends since my first visit to New York in 1999. I know the Dap Kings and Sharon through collecting funk 45s and attending many of their shows over the years. I met up with them last time I was in the states and approached them with the concept for The Lines. They loved it and the rest is history. We were in the studio in Brooklyn the following day.

Has your globe-trotting influenced any of the production flavours on the LP?
More digging, and more records! Diggin’ For a livin’.

Death Song is a powerful anecdote, was the intent of the sole verse to accentuate the gravity of the experience? So as not to regulate the dynamic of the story…
I only did one verse because once the story was told…the song was over. Pretty much like the cab ride itself! That was a crazy experience and I wanted to share that man’s life experience with my listeners hoping that they would maybe learn from it. I sure learnt a lot from that one experience.

Can you elaborate on the concept behind Prime Minister? Was it born out of the acute incompetence of political leaders?
Most definitely. Someone once told me that I should run for Prime Minister because I understand peoples’ struggle. I would never be a politician, but I will write a song about it. I wanted to create a cinematic experience where the listen can imagine me on a podium delivering my speech while they listen to the song.

Having achieved so much already, what ambitions do you still hold? Can you describe any creative visions you hold for the ensuing years?
Just to keep moving forward with my music, To keep learning, and to grow as a person, and an artist. I would love to see a career in music comfortably support me and my family.

What can you tell me about your touring prospects in 2009?
By the time people read this I will be back in New York doing shows to launch The Second Story and working on my third album with some old friends. Stay tuned.

www.myspace.com/deltarock

Triple Treat!!!

Technically it is still June, however, to kick off July in a big way for Certified Scribe here is the Triple Treat-interviews with Astronomy Class, Raph Boogie and Illy. Click on the links just there or scroll down for the goodness. Oh and while I’m writing up one of those little informal-type posts, may as well thank you all for your continued support for Certified Scribe. Keep visiting in droves and I will continue to drop quality interviews and reviews. By the way, I tried to find a picture on google images to accompany this post but besides pornography it was slim pickings. Cheers!

Astronomy Class

Sydney’s Astronomy Class are a blossoming enterprise. The trio of Ozi Batla, Chasm and Sir Robbo have recently released their second album; Pursuit Of Happiness. It’s a wonderfully consistent effort, building on the dub and reggae foundations established through Exit Strategy. They have also just completed the Where You At? tour, packing out shows around the country. Batla and Chasm told me what’s what.

How did you three meet and form Astronomy Class?
Chasm: Robbo and Ozi met at a night Robbo co-ran called ‘Frigid’. This is also where myself and Robbo first met, we were both playing in different bands, ‘Tooth’ and ‘Ukiyo-e’. I also first linked with Ozi through Robbo, back when i had just started making beats and was looking for someone to rap on them.

Pursuit Of Happiness is a much more positive title than Exit Strategy. What has changed since the last album?
Ozi Batla: I don’t know if it’s a more positive title, just a different perspective. The pursuit of happiness relates to the Declaration of Independence, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. It’s about what we need to make us happy, and that’s the primary theme running through the album. So of course there’s tracks about the obstacles to our happiness as well.

In Dishing Dirt you mention the ‘Ass Class legacy.’ Can you tell me a more about this idea?
OB: Every artist, maybe every person, wants to leave a legacy. Having children is a legacy, doing memorable deeds, making art that remains meaningful long after it is made. As musicians, we want to make music that not only reminds people of a certain era, but also crosses generations and reaches people long into the future.

You fellas have a wonderful knack for choosing quality female vocalists. How did the collaborations with Vida Sunshine and Kween G eventuate?
We got to know Vida on tour with Jake Savona. We did a national tour together and she was performing at all the shows with Jake. Vida often jumped up with us at those shows for freestyles and we were all really feeling her raps and singing voice. So when it came to this album, we all agreed that we wanted her to feature throughout the record, I think her style suits us perfectly – soul reggae hip hop! Kween G we haven’t known for so long, basically we just got to know each other through the local scene here in Sydney.

Ash Grunwald is another impressive feature on All I Want. Did you always imagine the styles would blend so well or was it a chemistry that emerged whilst recording?
C: Ozi definitely had the vision with this track. Ozi really had the whole concept and idea for the track and gave us an example of the kind of feel he wanted from the vocal. I have to admit at first I wasn’t sure it would work but when I heard what Ash had put down I was totally sold! I love the tune, it’s an original little ditty! Ash also is a top fella and it was great to get him down to the studio for the recording. He can really shred on his axe too, damn!

Elefant Traks seems to have the recording side of things on lock with the professionalism of Mike Burnham at Tardis Studios. How long have you been doing things through him and how did you guys originally hookup?
C: I originally met Mike through a friend when I was looking to mix my first Chasm EP. I went down to Tardis and mixed a bunch of tracks including Point A Pen – the first tune I ever did with OB. Ever since, myself and Assclass have been going back to Tardis to get that certain sound Mike has going on there. With his 70’s Neve mixing desk and all analogue outboard, you can really attain that nice warm 70’s feel. Putting the tracks together on a sampler and computer, it is definitely great to get away from the digital and run the music through analogue equipment. So from 2004-2009 we’ve been mixing and recording albums there.

Can you describe how you came to view music in a vocational sense on Work?
OB: “If you’re blind to your skills then that’s a damn waste”. Everyone has something that they can do better than others, something that fulfills them. Hip hop, rhyming and writing was that something for me. I always knew the written word was my major skill, and both my parents were journalists so I was immersed in it from an early age. I kind of fell into being an MC, and then the adrenalin rush of being on stage got me hooked.

“…Violence and aggression at shows is a major turn-off for me and discourages women from coming to events – and who wants that?”

In Award Show, Ozi and The Tongue take some sharp jabs at the Arias, have you received any backlash at all over the namedropping?
OB: No backlash yet, we’re still hoping for some because that would mean they had heard the album.

Pull The Track Up tells some pretty familiar tales of city nightlife, were there any particular experiences which compelled you to write the song?
OB: Yeah all three verses were based in truth, from a mixture gigs I either played or attended last year. It’s about the cycle of violence and how everyone, from the band to the punters to the security guards to the cops have to show some responsibility in keeping the dance “peace.” Violence and aggression at shows is a major turn-off for me and discourages women from coming to events – and who wants that?

Mary Jane is a track which exhibits a previously lesser-known side of Astronomy Class. How often do you see Mary? So to speak…
OB: I can only speak for myself, I’ve had a long relationship with Mary Jane, not always good, often times great. I wanted to write realistically about the topic, not just a typical “praise the weed” tune. As Greg Nice says on the hook, “too much of anything makes you an addict”, and that’s the crux of it right there.

What inspiration do you source from a film like Do The Right Thing which you have previously referenced and now sampled?
OB: I’m a huge Spike Lee fan and have been since I was a teenager. His movies for me were like the visual embodiment of Chuck D’s lyrics. It made me yearn for this mystical borough called Brooklyn and filled in the blanks from all the New York rap I was listening to. I still think he was one of the smartest, most challenging film-makers of our era.

Ozi how long ago did you begin to experiment with vocalising and how did you discover the talent?
OB: I started rapping when I was a teenager but didn’t really get fully into it until 1996 when I was at university. A friend introduced me to DJ ALF and he and I forged a partnership that lasted for years – jungle, drum n bass, hip hop, George Benson, reggae – he played anything and I rapped over it. In many ways our unwillingness to stick to one genre helped me create my own style and gave me an appreciation of all good music.

The issue of illegal immigration has found its way to the fore of politics in Australia once more. Ozi, as an outspoken critic of policies both past and present, how do you feel about Prime Minister Rudd’s approach to processing the string of boats seeking asylum locally?
OB: I feel that the Rudd government have been weak in their stance on refugees. The boat people referred to by all and sundry as “illegal immigrants” are legitimate refugees until found to be otherwise – 95% are found to be legitimate. It’s not a question of what we want, we have an obligation to accept refugees – and a moral one if we are going to involve ourselves in wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. Rudd’s too scared of the national mood on the issue, which was inflamed by Howard, and I don’t really believe that’s what people in the party want. That’s just weakness.

Are we ever going to hear a collaboration between Astronomy Class and labelmate Mista Savona?
C: Hey I would love to make that happen, good idea! We should get on to that, now you mention it…there’s been no talk of it but it’d be HEAVY if we made it happen, that’s for sure.

What other projects do you guys have on the boil currently?
I’m currently working on my next Chasm album, it is a collaboration with Vida-Sunshyne. I know Sir Robbo and Ozi are both looking to start work on solo joints too.

www.myspace.com/astronomyclass

Raph Boogie

Raph Boogie is somewhat of an enigma, the Melbourne emcee manages to juggle a number of enterprises including the Crookneck and Blank Clothing imprints and on top of that, fathering a family. Thankfully for fans of his efforts as part of Mnemonic Ascent, he has found time to craft his debut LP Le Bump. It’s a diverse effort, filled with party anthems as well as a handful of slower, intimate tracks.

You’re an individual with his fair share of preoccupations, how do you find the time to record an album?
Writing raps is just something I have always done, once I started mixing the music with visiting my friends like Plutonic Lab and Danielsan then naturally we would just work on stuff. I love hanging out and socialising but I get caught up with my projects and family and in turn miss lots of events and stuff, so when I worked out that I could catch with friends and make music at the same time I was real happy.

There is an impressive, global array of producers all wrapped up in the new album, has your previous work on Behind The Beat endowed you with a greater level of insight when selecting producers?
One thing I learned from my experiences from the book is that everyone works differently, some producers make beats and send them out for sale, other guys only make tracks with the rapper and other producers will sell beats to whoever just to survive. When it came to my record I was more interested in working with the producers from the start and
getting the music up together with the ideas I had. Like everything there is no wrong or right way, and the way I did this record is probably not going to be the way I do the next.

Do you feel the full potential of your music was realised on Le Bump? Or was this more of an exploratory, ongoing concept?
I think I nailed all of the ideas I had for this record, essentially it’s a party joint. I have some other territory that I want to explore next. But yeah, exploring can be crazy, never know what is going to happen(good or bad). I guess that is the beauty of not being a commercial artist and caring about sales, etc. I just want to make sure we are pushing boundaries.

Boogie Bump is a definite highlight of the album, can you tell me how that one came together with Danielsan?
Yeah that was a funny night, I remember Dan looking at me like, ‘are you with this ?’ And I was like ‘this is some other shit.’ I went into the session with a whole different song in mind and came out with this crazy beat. In the session I put down some rough ideas, but it really came together when I went out to Adelaide to record my vocals for some of the other songs. I had finished my other tracks and then started playing BVA the track, we just started vibin’ off it .

Is it simpler releasing an album on your own label or does the process throw up additional pressures?
Honestly I want a record deal! It’s too hard for me to keep up, but fortunately I was blessed with a great publicist/project manager, Dan Cameron from Shogun will be sorely missed from that position. I just find it hard to keep the momentum up, there is a lot of stuff that my brain just cant function on. Being the label we are doesn’t allow us to have staff, etc. So we got to do everything, which is hard. So yes long answer short, there are many additional pressures that I find hard to deal with.

How do you negotiate self-promotion?
It is hard, I’m in the balance. Australians in general are a little bit more chill, also being from Melbourne, it’s a city that is proud of letting your craft speak for itself. Saying that you still got to get your shit heard, so yeah i am probably a little shy when it comes to shameless self promo.

“…Like everything there is no wrong or right way, and the way I did this record is probably not going to be the way I do the next…”

Much is said of the contribution of powerhouse label Obese Records. Do you feel that more modest imprints such as Crookneck are just as instrumental in creating a strong, diverse scene?
I would say yes for sure. When you look at it most of the labels have brought their own identity to the landscape. I would like to think that when people see the Crookneck logo they know they are going to get a quality record. Diversity is essential in any scene, of course certain styles are going to be more popular than others. We all know that the record industry is changing so I hope that all the styles can continue to get heard out there.

The press release for Le Bump slates the LP in a party sense. Do you feel this is accurate? How would you describe the music you have produced?
Yeah I think these tracks are pretty much on the party tip, they’re all pretty upbeat. Lets not forget though that not all parties are ‘in the club’ type parties. I’m more about making some house party type shit…tracks that you can jam with your friends and have a good time in the backyard.

Family seems to be a very prominent muse of your’s, does this hold true with your music?
I’m always playing my kids my songs, plus my son Tyke and his friend Jay are on Tea Cakes. Fam and friends are a really important part of who I am. I got 2 brothers and we hook up once a week to chill. I think being able to show your family and friends your music is about as real as it can get cause they know you the best.

You have previously stated ‘Everything I do effects everything else,’ in regards to your multiple enterprises. Can you demonstrate how this process works in reality?
By this I mean, I work on things in conjunction with everything else. So working on my music at night gives me the opportunity to work on Blank during the day, then I can also make time for shooting my new book and doing live shows.
Being in the flow of work is what I really need to get things done . So in a sense, none of my projects are really full time, they all just gel together. One things helps the other. Plus I want all of my projects to push each other in a quality sense.

In another interview you explain your philosophy behind releasing a product of any kind: ‘Don’t put things out if they aren’t up to the highest quality standards you can achieve.’ Is this the reasoning behind waiting until now to release your debut LP?
Yes for sure, when I talk about the highest quality standards I relate this to the highest quality of originality and ideas. For too long I thought that quality was something that could only be bought. Then I realised that I was on the wrong track and many high quality things were really just great ideas, ie. some of my favourite pieces where done with two cans of cheap paint. Some of my favourite songs were recorded on 4-tracks or budget type set ups. So when it came to my LP I was more concerned with the content and beats than I was with recording my vocals in an isolated booth. Sure I am still concerned with my shit sounding good, but I really got to make sure I am trying new things, that the ideas are new. It’s important to me to give the listener something new.

Le Bump takes a definite nostalgic deviation on I Know. Do you feel these blue touches are important in complimenting the more upbeat party rhythms present elsewhere on the LP?
Yeah I’m real happy I Know is on the record, I think it rounds it out. Not that I think the party shit needs to be justified, but I like that I Know gives the listener a little dip in the middle. It’s the deep and meaningful you might see going on in the corner of the party!

There also seems to be a strong culinary motif in some of your lyrics. Is cooking another recreation you approach enthusiastically?
Yeah man for sure, two of the greatest things in my world are music and food. As far as I am concerned the two go hand in hand.  I think pop music is like fast food, sure every now and again you might each some crap drive though, just like you might like some top 40 pop music. But you aint going to eat it everyday, same as pop music, listen to that everyday and your mind will turn to mush. So with the food, what I put in is important to me. I don’t want to waste time eating crap, and I don’t want to listen to garbage either. I want my kids to try everything, too many people are crazy fussy. It’s just not me, gotta keep the mind and the taste buds open to new flavour all the time.

Are there any plans to tour Le Bump?
I have a couple little spot shows coming up, I’m down if anyone wanna hook it up.

www.myspace.com/raphboogie