It’s not often that a band gains traction on a national level and decides to take a hiatus, but that’s exactly what TZU did after 2008’s ‘Computer Love’.

Leaving radio play and critical acclaim in its wake, the band decided to take some time off to do the important things.
For Joel Ma, the answer was travel and the release of his solo album, ‘Voyager’, the frontman quipping that his friends had grown up to push prams. For the rest of the band, this meant a switch from hectic touring schedules to an extended down time. But as the band entered the studio to record their new album, ‘Millions Of Moments’, there was the dramatic realisation that the dynamic had changed.

“Joel’s got his solo project, I was working with Urthboy... we’ve all got these beats projects,” Countbounce explains. “With this one, I guess, we had gotten our hip hop on somewhere else and we wanted to do something different with TZU ... it allowed TZU to be more of a musical excursion.”

To put it in a clearer perspective — there’s not a single rapped verse on the album.
 
“We took a long break and we weren’t sure what we were going to do next. We came together and spent a few weeks just playing around with the musical side of things and we made an instrumental album.

“Somewhere along the line we decided we wouldn’t have any rapping on the record... it would just be electronic music with a song element and no rapping... which we realised would alienate some of our fans, but it just seemed to be what we all wanted to do.”

At the suggestion that diehard fans may view this as a cynical ploy to widen their fan base, Countbounce is adamant it wasn’t just about appeasing the masses, but the changing directive of the band’s musical ambition.

“We didn’t just make a record to get all the electronic indie kids on board... We don’t want to piss people off, we’re just making music that comes out of us and we hope people really enjoy it.”
Taking the band’s latest single, ‘Beautiful’, as a case in point; hip hop swing and boom-bap are replaced by higher tempo drum patterns and electronic ambience. ‘Millions Of Moments’ contains many of the music elements typical of previous TZU releases, however, at times the resultant album feels aesthetically removed from their older work.

“‘Beautiful’ has so many seemingly incongruous elements in its production, and it’s a ghost story. I always wanted to be more ambitious with content and lyrics, and to write the story was really rewarding... and it still manages to be a pop song in a way.

“We want our old fans to go, ‘wow, this is really different and exciting’, and they’ll follow us. We know that’s not always going to be the case, particularly the people that were into us because we were a hip hop group. We’ve been known to do different shit anyway and it’s not a surprise that we’d do something weird.”

Countbounce cites inspiration from “the ‘70s; psychedelic electronic music, all the way up to modern dance music, dubstep and electronic bands”. He reveals the group’s jamming out was often juxtaposed by a need to keep tracks within a digestible format.

“We had to cut many of the tracks back to make a cohesive TZU record. Without cutting them back it felt like an indulgent, psychedelic jam record. People still want snappy little arrangements and movement, even if we’re not going to be rapping.... we’re a pop band. We make music that doesn’t necessarily meander as much as we’d like sometimes.”

Countbounce says that while there’s a theme to the album, he’s not naive to the fact many people won’t hear the whole album.

“The   reality these days is that albums are fragmented across iTunes playlists and they don’t always play in the entirety. Each song stands on its own, even if they aren’t singles. It is a body of work, you go to an art exhibition to see a body of work not to see one painting... but we’re not in denial that some people will only hear one song.”

With the band about to hit the road for a national tour, Countbounce hopes they haven’t missed the mark, and that long time fans will still find value in their art.

“It’ll still be a bit of a hip hop party show, lots of new stuff and more extended musical instrumental sections. It’ll be a bit more of an adventure trip. It’s [both] exciting and daunting.”

TZU play Sol Bar, Coolum, Sept. 21, The Zoo Sept. 22 and Sprung Festival, at the RNA Showgrounds, Nov. 10. ‘Millions Of Moments’ is released Sept. 21.

Click to watch TZU- She gets up

A member of local collective 750 Rebels, Jake Biz is stepping out from the shadows with the release of his debut album, the unrelenting ‘Commercial Hell’.

What is your history with the 750 rebels? Peter and myself were put in the crew around 2003 I think. We were doing most of our shows at the time with Ken Oath and the Brothers Stoney, opening for them, then Oath joined us in the Towndrunxxx when Writers Anon stopped being as active. We’re all from the same areas of Brisbane with the same views and ideals. I’d actually met Lazy [Grey] at a party in ’97 when I was still in school, but it wouldn’t be for a few years before we all formed like Voltron so to speak.

What does being a part of the group mean to you?

It’s everything! It’s who I am. I don’t live hip hop, but I do live being a 750 Rebel. Simple!

What’s your earliest memory of hip hop in Brisbane?

Probably Hype Mag or Phat Tape in the early ‘90s. DJs Katch and Frenzie ran the show on Sunday nights after Blackbeat and I used to stay up and tape it. Hype Magazine was available in most newsagents back in those days for $3.95 and that was always good too.

What is your favourite lyric on the new album? Explain it.

“The revolution won’t be broadcast on apparent youth networks who network your net worth based on your next word.” Triple J have masqueraded themselves as the all important ‘youth cultural’ network for sometime now, whereas I’ve viewed them as little more than a mainstream alternative to Nova. If  Triple J were a shop they’d be JB Hi-Fi. They have little to no concern for true independence within the music industry or the music they push no matter how they attempt to portray themselves otherwise.

What are your ambitions for ‘Commercial Hell’?

My only real ambition for the album is that people enjoy it. I don’t try to sell myself or the music I make as anything more than it is. I’m a massive fan of rap music so I generally write songs about being that. I’m not too interested in moving into the mainstream or changing the world. We don’t chase that mass appeal.

‘Commercial Hell’ is out now through Karsniogenics.

The Aussie battler is defined by his trials and tribulations, easily ascending the harsh conditions that cause others to falter. Like bouncing back to do a national tour with your band, The Herd, a few months after crashing your bike and ending up in hospital getting your jaw wired.

“I missed out on New Year’s gigs and then I had my jaw wired up for about four weeks... bigger, badder and stronger, something like that,” Ozi Batla says of the accident.

When asked if he thinks the crash enhances the imagery of his stage name, the response is a little cool, but it’s evident that the man symbolises resilience.
“I would’ve preferred not to have come off the bike... just a dark street, bad road surface, didn’t see something, probably a bit tired as well. Just one of those things... a week after I had the jaw unwired, I was just back to rehearsing so I didn’t really miss too much. Feels alright, doesn’t feel too different, so far, so good.”
With spirits renewed, and the jaw holding up, The Herd are now touring a new EP, ‘Better Alive’, with the first few stops already in the bag.

“(I'm) really happy to hear a few of those tracks that missed out from the album sessions and see them get out there,” Batla says. “It’s really fun collabing with Thundamentals and Sky’High on that track (‘Better Alive’) ... We’ve been doing it as a finale... It’s going down pretty well, good fun. There’s a lot of energy in that track.”

With Thundamentals and Sky’High on the national trek as well, The Herd are playing a slab of gigs across the country. Having started in Sydney two weeks ago, the tour finally rolls into town at the end of April. Undaunted by the logistics, Ozi Batla explains it’s a matter of plotting the right course before you leave port.

“We’re fairly seasoned, we’ve done it a lot of times. These days, you know, hopefully, most of the legwork is done before we get to the airport. There’s a really good crew in at the office... we know how easy it is for everything to go pear shaped, and with Thundamentals and everyone it’s like 12 or 13 people. You’ve just got to get that shit locked down before you actually get on the road.

“It’s inevitable in a way, you’re booking things for so many people, [but] it’s still amazing how many times hotel reservations aren’t made properly, or everything’s sorted at your end, you get there in the middle of the night and you’re all in double beds... But these days, it’s all pretty hunky dory.”

With the ‘Better Alive’ EP featuring songs that didn’t make last year’s ‘Future Shade’ track list, Batla is enjoying playing the fresh material as well as blowing the dust off some of their older songs.

“There’s a lot of tracks that we haven’t played for a while and we get fans at shows that have been coming along for nine or ten years, we just wanted to rework the tracks so we don’t hate playing them... We’ve just reworked it and tried to think of ways to breathe new life into old tracks.

“Probably the funniest one to play live is a version of ‘Scallops’ over a Regurgitator tune... We’ve done a reworking of ‘Under Pressure’ as well, which is one of my favourites. It’s nice to get them back into shape.”

With Sky’High staking her place on tour as a relative new comer on the Elefant Traks roster, Ozi Batla is already convinced she has the goods to succeed.

“I really enjoyed Sky’High’s set at Newcastle. It was her first time doing bigger shows. She really stood up on the night, it was awesome. It’s going to surprise a few people, her album... ‘Hoodie & Nikes’ is really good live, ‘Don Dada’ as well. I haven’t heard the rest of the album yet but I’ve been hearing good things, really looking forward to it.”

With The Herd in good health, Ozi Batla assures us the group’s energy levels will be climaxing when they hit Brisbane.

“It’s going to be a solid night of hip hop, that’s what we hope to deliver. We’ve always had a lot of love for Brissie fans... it’s a really enjoyable place to play and we are looking forward to a good party.”

The Herd, with Thundamentals and Sky’High, play The Zoo April 27 and the Great Northern, Byron Bay, April 28. ‘Better Alive’ is available now.

Returning with his hard hitting delivery and penchant for the grim, Tornts has just released his fifth album, 'Concrete Slang'.

The Melbourne MC is known for painting bleak urban pictures shadowed by domestic violence, police brutality and the underground. A self-confessed realist, Tornts explains the inspiration for the themes on 'Concrete Slang'. "Everything to do with real life, living in the city, the stuff you see everyday. Just looking at that side of life, really, I don't think that people really rap about it here.

"I just want to put it out there. People just think Australian rap is about a certain way, just kinda party stuff. That's cool, I don't mind all that stuff too, but you got to balance it out with real life kind of stuff. Coming from where I'm from, it's good to talk about that."

When asked about the subject matter and his ability to run with it, Tornts elaborates that he has lived in many places around Australia and often runs into the same recurring imagery. "I live in Northcote [Melbourne], but I grew up in a few different places ... (I) lived in Queensland and Perth ... I lived in a place in Tassie, emergency accommodation in a government sort of joint ... I think it's good to write about that sort of thing."

The album runs deep with these vivid stories, from the death of T.J. Hickey (2004 Redfern riots) on 'Shadows And Swine', to the dodgy dealings of a detective on 'Undercover Maggot'. Even though the album might challenge the mainstream aesthetic, Tornts explains he's just making music that people in those situations can relate to.

"To me it's not even really dark, I never thought about it in terms of that. Some of the beats I rap over, to me aren't even that dark. Seriously [laughing], like 'Rise Up' by Nebs isn't really a dark beat, but it's one of the more inspirational joints I've done for people struggling. It talks about, you can do this shit, don't worry about the stuff stressing you out.

"I don't really go out to make dark music, it's just that's what I write and that's how I am. If you meet me, I'd call it pretty normal music to me. Some people listen to it [and consider it dark], I guess because they listen to different dudes and production... that's what the deal is.

"You got to have all different types [of hip hop], I think it would be pretty boring if people made the same kind of shit, really."

One of the out and out storytelling tracks on the album, 'Traumatic Cinema', has a film clip available online that has received recognition for its portrayal of the intense subject matter. A tale of disenfranchised youth and violent ramifications, the track's string sections provide a haunting ambience while Tornts gets stuck into the script.

"With 'Traumatic Cinema', that's about kids I've known that have had to deal with shit... and what they would've liked to have done. It's like a script, you know... people trip out sometimes. I do hardcore rap, but if you look a bit deeper at the imagery and what I talk about, I've always done that kind of stuff. 'Traumatic Cinema' kind of showed what I can do in terms of storytelling... I get right into that."

On 'Concrete Slang', Tornts works with multiple producers, from the UK's Beat Butcha, Holland's Ciph Barker, to local boys Wik, Nebs and 2Bladez. Tornts believes involving other producers pushed him in different directions, revealing his work with Beat Butcha was more than just an e-mail affair.

"It's real good working with overseas producers. [Beat Butcha] just did a couple of beats for the Mobb Deep record and I actually met him personally in the UK. It wasn't just internet, I met him through [Brad] Strut when I was over there. I was on holiday, met him over there and he's a real good producer.

"You want to start branching out a bit and use other productions so you don't pigeonhole yourself. I still sell a fair few beats, but I think on an album it's good to have a variety of different producers so you don't just have that one sound."

'Concrete Slang' is out now.

How do you break the routine after producing 30 hip hop albums at your studio, Space Ghost, in a matter of six years?

You team up with your formidable mate from The Optimen, DATS, and start laying down beats, hiding them away from the idle minds of lonely rappers. You decide to produce an album with more soul, range and vocal dynamic. However, to do this you require a singer. One with sass, one that embodies the Brisbane music scene and people relate to, from the sweaty fiends dancing up a storm on the weekend to your grandmother who still lives in the outer suburbs.

One half of the Bankrupt Billionaire production team, Sammsonite explains the process, “I got all these tracks together with DATS, so we ended up doing an audition. We went through a whole bunch of singers, a lot of them brought their resumes and came with their best perfume or what not… Kel came along in a pair of thongs, adlibbed for 40 seconds on a track and I had to, kind of, tell the girls that were coming up next to go home.”

As one of Brisbane’s foremost female vocalists, particularly due to her roles in Coalition Crew and The Kelly Gang, Kel needs little introduction. With Bankrupt Billionaires, her heady vocals cement the soul infused production aesthetics of Sammsonite and DATS.

“lt’s a natural fit, we’ve got the hip hop sensibility and we are looking to do more soul,” Kel says.

“At the beginning I did want to (rap) and I thought, ‘yay, I finally get to work with Sammsonite and DATS, let’s do some raps’. But then people have told me for a long time, ‘sing, just sing girl’ and I’m a much better singer than a rapper. I love to rap, it’s a lot of fun but as I’m getting a bit older I’m definitely going back to my roots.”

While the production values mirror those found on a typical hip hop release, particularly the percussive elements, it is Kel’s vocals that really push the project further afield. Sammsonite explains. “Working with rappers, I think that after a while, the genre of hip hop can only go so far before you start trekking into areas of hip hop that I would consider unlistenable… I think the only way to go for me was to completely flip it and take on a new genre altogether and soul seemed a perfect fit.

“We were sampling a lot of soul records, so we knew a lot about soul music. It just came out of us. It was quite easy to make a soul record when you think about sampling all these artists all your life.”

Citing Mark Ronson as a major influence on the group’s debut EP, Sammsonite explains the band continually strived for new sounds; the result is a mix of the soul production of old and newer hip hop stylistic elements. “Soul arrangement is a little bit more lush, it’s got a smoother edge to it, while hip hop is a little more aggressive — the energy comes from the band rather than the vocalists, then the vocalists feed from the band. In hip hop it sometimes feels like the rapper can push it with the energy and it can sound a little overdone.

“Soul singers can incorporate emotion that a rapper can’t really do. Mainly just the way they can use their voice, they can relate a happy story or a very painful story and you almost don’t have to listen to the words. You listen to the tone, the texture and the feel that the singer is able to relate and it’s much more versatile.”

With their debut CD available online, the group has their eyes set on an official launch party in West End in a couple of weekends. “The launch we have planned, we’ve gone for this arts space, the Ice Cream Factory so everyone can have a really good night with a good vibe,” Kel explains. “We have a really eclectic bunch of supports so it’s just going to be ongoing fun all night. We encourage people to get there early!

“We’ll be shaking it up a little bit for sure. We’ll be doing most of the EP but it will probably be a little bit more upbeat as well. The EP only runs for about 25 minutes but we want to run for about an hour. There’ll be plenty of surprises in there for you.”

Sammsonite sounds slightly perturbed in the background as Kel lets the cat out of the bag. “We might even drop our next single… Did I just say that?”

Bankrupt Billionaires play The Ice Cream Factory, West End, Friday March 16.

With his new album, ‘Love Drive Commission’, recently taken on by Obese Records for distribution, Calski is one of the few Brisbane indie hip hop acts signed interstate.

With feature slots on the album going to the likes of Dialetrix, Rainman and Tommy Illfigga, Calski explains it was his previous work with Bingethinkers, from Sydney, that inevitably got him his opening. “It was a shock to get such a nice email back from them. I teed it up with DJ 2-Buck from the Bingethinkers, we have had a great relationship for a fair while, we’ve done a few shows.

“So I put it out through their label, the LookUp label and they’ve done a few things with Obese in the past, so it was a really good avenue to get the foot in the door.”

Calski uses sampling, loops and cutting to create an album that bares all the traditional hallmarks of a quality hip hop release. With a flair for finding tasty rhythms, he explains how he draws inspiration from all eras of the culture. 

“Everything from the classic old school, Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. through to newer beat makers like Madlib. To be honest the best thing about hip hop for me is sampling the older music from like the ‘70s and ‘60s; taking the inspiration from them and turning that into new sounding beats. When it comes down to it, the actual sample inspires me to make the sound.

“I love sampling old records and cutting up old loops… it (hip hop) goes so deep, you can just learn forever.”
Made independently, the album represents Calski’s long serving commitment to the hip hop community and his love of the craft.

“I based myself in Brisbane, it’s been a fairly long process because essentially I’ve done it all off my own bat, made all the beats myself. It’s a long time coming for me, I’ve built up a studio’s worth of gear over, about, seven years. In terms of the production side, the recording and making the beats, even recording most of the vocals, I can get it done here independently, which is fantastic.

“It’s a great feeling to have it all on my shoulder, it’s stressful at times, but in the end the final product, I’m a lot more proud of it.”

‘Love, Drive, Commission’ is available now.

Devil Speaking

Have you had that little devil on your shoulder telling you to dance lately? If you have, you’ve probably caught the infectious new single, ‘Speak Of The Devil’, off Hermitude’s latest album, ‘HyperParadise’.

Luke Dubs, one-half of the Elefant Traks luminaries, talks about the direction of the new album and his love for the fans. “Well we haven’t actually played much of the album live at all yet, we’re about to hit the road in about six weeks so it’s all going to start kind of happening. We’ve played ‘Speak Of The Devil’ ... and that’s been doing really well obviously, because of all the radio love it’s had.

“It’s been hard to find a song that can follow it and maintain the same level of energy, and ‘The Villain’ luckily has been delivering on that front. So we’ve been playing that for the last couple of shows after ‘Speak Of The Devil’, and keeping people on the same level of intensity. It’s been working really well.”

Hermitude has been a mainstay of the instrumental hip hop scene in Australia for a decade, dropping the now highly sought, limited release vinyl, ‘Imaginary Friends’ EP, in 2002. Widely known for their ridiculous technical abilities, Hermitude consistently push the boundaries of both record production and live skill and ‘HyperParadise’ is no different.

“We’ve been experimenting with different styles of music over the years, like we came into this Hermitude thing with a massive love of hip hop and all the instrumental hip hop beats that were happening in the ‘80s ... with ‘HyperParadise’ we pushed for more of a synthy direction because we’ve been listening to you know, heaps of Hud Mo, Rusty and that type of future beats thing that’s been going on.

“We wanted to go in a bit of a different direction and go a little bit more synthy and samply but also kind of put together everything that we’ve been doing over the years and kind of meld it.”

The new release may side-step slightly out of their typical hip hop territory, but Dubs reveals there was nothing they wanted less than to alienate longtime fans; they just wanted to bring the best out of themselves and a fresh take on their skill set. “Every Hermitude record is like a massive journey for us and we keep a lot of things in mind about where we’ve come from and where we’re going. We also just try and forget a lot of it and basically get in there and just try and kind of push our creative limits.

“You know, it’s probably steered a bit away from hip hop this time … it’s always going to have a hip hop background, the music we write, (but) it’s definitely gone a bit more electronic, maybe a bit more club … it’s different sounds that we like to experiment with and see how we kind of go with it.

“We’ve always been able to write those downtempo, instro hip hop tunes quite easily so we’re always going to have those on the records ‘cause we just love writing that stuff as well. But, yeah, we’re definitely keeping our old fans happy, we think.”

Approaching the complexities of the record with a note of nonchalance, Dubs explains the recording process was a close-knit affair. “Hermitude’s always been an instrumental act primarily, and it was just time to do everything ourselves this time around. We decided to do pretty much everything. We got a guitar player in on one of the tracks and we had a vocalist in for ‘Speak Of The Devil’, (but otherwise) it was all us.”

With a common love for vinyl the duo always wanted to release ‘HyperParadise’ on wax, but the downturn in the industry forced them to rethink the strategy. They opted for a buy-in process where fans could sign up for a pre-release and the faith doesn’t seem to have wavered, the band easily making the numbers required to print.

“We’re both vinyl collectors still to this day so it’s really important for us to do vinyl. Unfortunately with the current climate of the music business, it’s quite hard to front that kind of money when you don’t know if it’s going to sell. You know people say they want vinyl but it’s a different thing to say they want it and actually forking out the money.”

Hermitude play The Brewery, Byron, March 9 and The Zoo March 10. ‘HyperParadise’ is available from February 3.