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Full Tote Odds are Levelheaded, Slats, Eslev, DJ Hacksaw and Ross Read. These five boys from the Adelaide hills have crossed paths in the music world for over fifteen years. Mates since the first year of High School, Slats, Levelheaded & DJ Hacksaw were members of the Blackwood Hip Hop group Train Of Thought.

Under that name they released a highly acclaimed Demo (2002) and a hit debut album Moving Heads (2004). The Moving Heads LP was released through Obese Records and featured two other emerging Adelaide acts in Hilltop Hoods and Funkoars. The album sky-rocketed Train Of Thought to national recognition in the local Hip Hop scene. 

Their left wing political track Counter-war Terrorism appeared on the international compilation Peace Not War alongside marquee artists such as Jurassic 5, Michael Franti and Lyrics Born. In the meantime, Eslev was developing and honing his own musical abilities. A man of many talents, he was also a member of Adelaide metal band Likamiza and worked on several Hip-Hop projects through the mid 2000s. Also passionate with the acoustic guitar he has done work with various artists including Purpose, by incorporating the acoustic sound into production. Working closely with Debate and Ross Read he began producing the sound for the upcoming release.

In 2009, Levelheaded released his debut solo album, The Spice Of Life. Eslev and Slats featured heavily as guests on the album along with Trials land Reason. They became an important part of the live show and travelled extensively as the album tour reached Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart, Adelaide, Loxton and Berri. Levelheaded supported west coast heavyweight Xzibit and Spit Syndicate in 2010 as well as playing to a packed crowd in Mt Hotham.

Ross Read is an integral part of the FTO project and has been working in the music industry for over 15 years. The quality of this product is largely due to his high level of technical knowledge, creativity and attention to detail. He has been honing his craft through many years of experience as a musician, producer and sound engineer and is now using these skills to take FTO to the next level.

Full Tote Odds is about five musicians combining their abilities to focus on one project. It is about musical diversity, as much as it is about pure Hip Hop. With the help of esteemed music director PJ Murton and creative director Darren Lock, the FTO team has spent 2 years intricately crafting their LP titled Place Your Bets. The release is due out with Obese Records autumn 2012!

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Full Tote Odds are the latest in a long line of successful hip hop artists produced by the Adelaide Hills. The first single from their forthcoming album Place Your Bets, Southern Wind is a heartfelt hip hop ballad layered with rich piano, splashes of live drums and twists of strings and guitar.

Echoing through the tale of a fractured, flawed relationship is an aching, bittersweet refrain sung by the sultry Taylor Jones. The progress of an inevitable decline and vicious decay of something that was once so beautiful into a blurred, bleak disfunction is captured expertly by MCs Slats, Levelheaded and Eslev. The tragic choices of two desolate, desperately unhappy people curl through a hopeful, funk bubbling beat with heartstring plucks, on course to impact where everything is destroyed. The crisp, perfectly modulated mixing and live instrumentation adds an extra maturity to an already wise, knowing track.

Having established themselves in the local hip hop scene as members of the group Train of Thought, Slats, Levelheaded and DJ Hacksaw have already tasted fame: being recognised as an Australian Next Crop artist in 2004 and appearing on Triple J’s Home and Hosed show with Robbie Buck. Their track Counterwar Terrorism also featured on the international Peace Not War Compilation.

In 2009, they added Eslev to the team – who holds down the production and arrangement of the single and the majority of the upcoming album. With the inclusion of sound engineer and audio veteran Ross Read, Full Tote Odds are set to release their first album in mid-2012.

The iTunes-only single is accompanied by a film clip directed by Richard Coburn, known for his work for the Hilltop Hoods, including their recent zombie tribute, Parade of the Dead. This is the whole package, and Full Tote Odds are ready to grab you by the wrist and tumble with you into the Southern Wind.

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