The boys from Spit Syndicate have been touring the country following the release of their third album, Sunday Gentlemen, and this Thursday is Adelaide’s turn. Fellow One Day Crew members Jackie Onassis are joining the SS for the huge 20 date tour which hits Jive Bar on the 18th.
With Spit Syndicate’s singles Beauty In The Bricks and Folly getting a lot of JJJ love, as well as Jackie Onassis’s single Crystal Balling being on high rotation for many months, and their new single from their Holiday EP, Smoke Trails being added a few weeks ago the Sunday Gentlemen tour is no doubt going to be epic. 2013 is set to be a massive year for these boys from the inner west of Sydney, with both acts also being announced as part of the huge Come Together line up in June.
Joining them in Adelaide will be our very own Koolta, winner of the 2011 Hilltop Hoods Initiative. With tickets still available, we don’t know what else you’d rather be doing on a Thursday night in Adelaide. Go here to get them.
Spit Syndicate are also playing as a part of the Movement Festival alongside acts like Nas, Bliss N Eso, Joey Badass, Chiddy Bang, Diafrix and Iggy Azalea. Jimmy Nice chatted to us a few weeks ago about Sunday Gentlemen and the Movement festival tour, peep that here.
Sydney hip hop duo Spit Syndicate return in 2013 with third album Sunday Gentlemen. After the success of previous releases Towards The Light and Exile, a hungry fan base have been waiting anxiously for the next instalment from Spit Syndicate. We catch up with emcee Jimmy Nice of the Double S, on the eve of the Sunday Gentleman release, here’s what he had to say.
aahh: What’s the first thing you guys plan to do on release day? Jimmy Nice: I’m actually working on release day. Release night will be a different story. I may hold off on full celebrations untill the 24th. The One Day Crew are putting on the first in a series of monthly parties called One Day Sunday. Sunday will be our best opportunity to get loose.
aahh: Sunday Gentlemen is quite an interesting title. Can you explain the concept behind the title and how it ties in with the overall themes of the album? Jimmy Nice: The name Sunday Gentlemen came about one night when we were coming home from the studio. We had stumbled across a bunch of books and random things people had thrown out. I saw a bunch of books sitting there and this hard cover book jumped right out at me. It was really nice, I usually like taking things like that home. When we got home, we had a read through and realised the book was Sunday Gentleman by Irving Wallace. Irving was a writer of his own choice, working six days of the week to keep the lights on. Sunday was the only day he kept for his own works. That screamed out at us. We find ourselves in a very similar situation, in how we make our music. It’s the 9-5 all week and then we write and perform on the weekends. We don’t yet have the luxury of making music as our job to keep the lights on.
aahh: Beauty In The Bricks was the first single released from Sunday Gentlemen and was produced by fellow One Dayer, Adit. What was it about this track, that attracted you guys to release it as the first single? Jimmy Nice: This was a song we finished really on, actually it was the first beat we worked on with Adit for the whole project. We never really started writing it as the lead single. As with other tracks, it was going to find it own place on the album. It’s a personal song, about two different views on relationships, mine and Nicks. We didn’t really write it with that hook in mind (…hums beauty in the bricks), it was just a bridge between the first verse and second verse. While we were in the studio recording we couldn’t figure out a chorus, we were honestly stumped. So we went with the bridge and it turned out really cool. It was the right song for us to come back with, we’ve been away now for 2-3 years. This track is a really good way to welcome new fans to our music and it’s a good indication on what the rest of the album sounds like.
aahh: The clip for Beauty in The Bricks was filmed in and around Sydney. Would you agree that the imagery of the clip reinforces the main themes of the track? Jimmy Nice: Along with being personal and emotional, the track was also a little ode to the city. As Sydney siders ourselves, we don’t usually get the opportunity to see or explore the rest of the city. We all get comfortable, with where we live, usually going to the same places without really getting out to new places. We went to these little pockets in Sydney, spots of beauty and took full advantage of it. The clip was shot over two days and it was painless.
aahh: The second single titled Folly, has a bit of a different vibe to Beauty In The Bricks, and is produced by Stylez Fuego. What was it like working with that guy? Jimmy Nice: That was new for us, we spent two weeks in Melbourne linking with various producers. We usually contact producers and spend the time with them. We’d be spending days on end in the studio. The session with Sylez was an inspiring experience and was great to see. Stylez Fuego is a gun and he works really quickly. On the first day, he did a quick mock-up of a beat and I wrote my verse in the studio to that. On the last day of our time with Stylez, the beat you hear on the track came to be. It was a nice new experience and really placed an emphasis on how far we’ve developed..
aahh: How would you describe the differences between Sunday Gentleman and say your last release Exile? Jimmy Nice: Yeah, I don’t think we’ve steered to far away with what we’ve presented with Exile. Both releases have similar themes, both are very honest and high energy, a lot of light and shade, the whole creative process really has matured. Adit’s production is a lot more experimental now. We’ve been a lot more experimental in our vocal delivery, trying to incorporate new things and push it further. It’s not a ridiculously different approach to Exile but people will see the progression.
aahh: There’s been some amazing artwork released in association with Sunday Gentlemen. Both singles have had some killer covers done and of course the album cover is quite different to what we would usually see. Who’s been handling the design and how does these designs tie back to your music? Jimmy Nice: We had an idea, and a vision of what we wanted for the artwork. We really wanted it to tie in with the themes of the album. April77 Creative handled both single artworks and the album cover. We’ve worked with him previously on Exile, and Towards The Light. He knows what we are like. The main challenge was how to properly convey the themes within our music, how do we translate that to the visual. It’s hard to tell how people will respond to it. I really like the finished design, it’s something new and different. Again, I’m not sure how some people will respond to it. I think cover design is highly important. That artwork and imagery ties to your identity, you should take it as seriously as the music inside the cover.
aahh: I want to ask you about ObeseTV, you guys featured in Episode 1 of the new show and have been with Obese Records for quite sometime now. We’ve seen a lot of artist in the past start their owns labels etc. Do you plan to stay with Obese for the foreseeable future? Jimmy Nice: Obese was our start and it was for a lot of other artists, for now our focus is solely on this record. Not where we will be one year or even five years from now. We’ve been working on this record for two-three years now and we just want to get the most out of this release. Who really knows what the future holds.
aahh: You have a huge national tour coming up soon with Jackie Onassis, what’s some of your favourite things to do while on tour? Jimmy Nice: Eat… dumplings are always a favourite. We like to check out new spots, enjoy the time away. A lot of us are leaving jobs and mundane shit like that. Any chance to get away with a great group of friends is always enjoyable, and with these guys it’s a real privilege. The songs you spend two-three years recording, writing and polishing, the real reward is when you take them on the road and see the people enjoying them.
aahh: The One Dayer crew recently unleashed a brand new podcast titled One Day Radio? And I believe that you guys are also holding a monthly event in Sydney. Is this the first steps in seeing more content coming out from the One Dayer Crew as a whole? Jimmy Nice: Definitely, that’s been our little banner we’ve been riding under and it includes Spit Syndicate, Horrorshow, Joyride and Jackie Onassis. We all grew up together, went to school together and make music together. We really want to strengthen that connection, and have it more as a collective as appeased to four different acts. These guys are family and people we see on the reg, it’s not just different acts coming together, we all share a strong bond. Anything we can do to strength that brand is a positive.
aahh: We have all heard that the legendary Nas is hitting our shores for the movement festival and Spit Syndicate have been lucky enough to be named on the bill. Nas has been pretty influential in a lot of artists careers here in Australia. Are you the same? Jimmy Nice: Definitely, Nas is one artist we’ve looked up too and who has had a big role in influencing our music. It’s hard to tell how it will go. Obviously with festivals like this we’re not at the top of bill, buts it’s good to get up and do your thing. It’s also a great opportunity to expose your music to people who might not have seen it otherwise. It’s a great opportunity and we jumped at. It’s inspiring to see artists like Nas and Bliss N Eso on the bill, people who you look up to. It’s a great privilege to share estate with the real kings.
Spit Syndicate – Sunday Gentlemen is available now through Obese Records.
It has been a big week for the young MC/producer who is 3 weeks away from delivering his beyond anticipated debut album Where It Starts. Wednesday saw his most recent single Comin Home feat. Illy, Jimmy Nice & Joyride get added to rotation on triple j, a huge feat for an entirely independant artist without label support.
Perhaps the most fascinating and defining detail of Purpose’s recent newfound light is that he has established it by working at a level that has allowed him to keep pace with his peers despite having no backing at all.
The following day triple j Unearthed released their Top 50 Most Played artists of 2012, announcing Purpose as the #1 Highest Played artist of 2012 across all genres! With a long and strong history in the underground and the doors to the industry slowly opening 2013 is set to be an eventful and successful year for Purpose.
Whispers had gotten around on Wednesday that Nova had announced Purpose and Vents as being added to the monster Clipsal 500 line up, and he closed out the week today by taking to social media to confirm this. The event on March 1st will see him perform alongside Hilltop Hoods, Drapht, Illy, Pez & Vents in what is sure to be one of the biggest nights in Adelaide entertainment for the year.
Where It Start’s will be available in stores nationally February 8th, 2013.
Comin’ Home feat. Illy, Jimmy Nice & Joyride is the self-produced third single off Purpose’s forthcoming album Where It Starts out Feb. 8th, 2013 through MGM distribution. The brilliant visual shot by Rush was premiered on Dom Alessio’s Home & Hosed blog last week to a very warm reception, check it out below.
As part of the campaign for this single, Purpose made this song a FREE download exclusively through triple j Unearthed! Download your copy now. Details on how to pre-order Where It Starts will be released soon ahead of his February 8th release date.
Jump on your pushie and tour around Sydney with Spit Syndicate in the video for their great new tune Beauty In The Bricks. Produced by Adit from Horrorshow (who’s definitely left his touch on the track with its soulful vibe).
Beauty In The Bricks is the first taste of Spit Syndicate’s third album Sunday Gentlemen which will be out next year.
“We are first and foremost lyricists – that said, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, I guess. But we take song writing and hip-hop very seriously.”- Nick Lupi
You can catch the Sydney duo at the following shows:
Thurs 25 October – Transit Bar, Canberra, ACT Fri 26 October – Rhino Room, Adelaide, SA Sat 27 October – Laundry Bar, Melbourne, VIC Fri 2 November – Ya-Ya’s, Perth, WA Sat 3 November – Mojo’s, Fremantle, WA Fri 9 November – Great Northern, Byron Bay, NSW Sat 10 November – Sprung Festival, Brisbane, QLD Fri 16 November – Annandale Hotel, Sydney, NSW
With killer new single Beauty in the Bricks dropping October 5th (Obese Records) along side a fresh new music video directed by James Chappell (A Few Best Men), Inner West Sydney’s very own Spit Syndicate are back big time and ready to drop their groundbreaking new album Sunday Gentlemen early 2013.
Featuring production highlights from the best in the business, Styalz Fuego (360, Seth Sentry), M-Phazes (Drapht, Bliss n Eso), Adit (Horrorshow), and J-Skub (Illy, Owl Eyes) and an impressive list of guest vocalists to be announced in the coming months.
“The production style is sleek, varied and tips its hat to the past while being firmly locked on the future.”- Jimmy Nice – Spit Syndicate
Lead single Beauty in the Bricks is indicative of the album’s prowess. Produced by Adit (Horrorshow) this sets the tone for the rest of the album with a powerful love letter to their hometown; rejecting the monotony of routine and celebrating everything brand new.
“We are first and foremost lyricists – that said, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, I guess. But we take song writing and hip-hop very seriously.”- Nick Lupi – Spit Syndicate
Beauty In The Bricks Tour
Thursday, 25th October Transit Bar, Canberra, ACT Tickets: http://www.moshtix.com.au
Spit Syndicate are currently bunkered down the studio working like crazy on their third studio album, which is set to drop during the second half of the 2012. “We’re very excited about having new music out, this new album will be our strongest yet; we’re working with Styalz Fuego, Adit, M-Phazes, Matik, amongst others” said Nick Lupi.
Spit Syndicate uploaded a a sneak-peak from the next instalment of their Best Intentions mixtape series, putting their own twist on Kimbra’s monster hit Settle Down.
If you happen to be in Brisbane on Friday 11th May, you can catch Spit Syndicate at Alhambra Lounge.
Sydney duo Spit Syndicate return with a brand new mixtape project, Best Intentions: Part One. Following on from 2010’s critically acclaimed Exile, the boys have taken a break from touring and have been busy in the studio preparing their third album, due for release on Obese Records in early 2012.
Best Intentions: Part 1 sees MCs Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice return to the mixtape format on which they first burst onto the local hip-hop scene. Over the course of 8 tracks, Spit Syndicate drape their trademark flare and observational wit over a range of different beats and genres, ranging from the boom-bap of Pharoahe Monch to the more eclectic, moody sounds of indie outfit the xx. We catch up with Nick Lupi fresh off the back of Spit Syndicates – Best Intentions: Part One release.
aahh: What has been happening in the Spit Syndicate camp since the release of your critically acclaimed LP of 2010 Exile? Nick L: After we released Exile, we toured the country a couple of times. First on our own tour, then with Cypress Hill and then with The Tongue. We played a few festivals and shows in Sydney and then we took a break from gigging; we felt we’d probably done enough shows off the back of Exile. I went overseas for a bit, Jimmy knuckled down with this study/photography pursuits. But we never really stopped writing rhymes. We continued to write, over our own original beats but also other artists’ beats.
aahh: Spit Syndicate are back at it with a two-part mixtape to be released. The first part drops this week in the form of an 8 track free download, why did you guys decide to come out with a release like this? Nick L: We figured that all of these rhymes and ideas we had swirling around in our heads weren’t much good for anyone in our heads, that we may as well put them out there. We’ve always wanted to put out a free release, be it an EP or a mixtape or whatever. We look at it as a way of saying thank you to anyone that’s been rocking with us: buying our albums, coming to our shows, etc. Especially given it’s been two-year gaps in between albums for us, we wanted to have some new music out there to keep people interested and let ‘em know we’re still working on raps! Our next record is not likely to be out until 2nd quarter 2012 – we wanted to put out two mixtapes before that, so we decided on making it a two-part mixtape. The next one should be out in January and will feature a few more guests on it.
aahh: Part one is titled ‘Best Intentions’, tell us the story behind the name of the release? Nick L: There’s not a story per se; it stems from an Oscar Wilde quote and it’s pretty open to however you want to interpret it. It’s always with the best intentions that’s the worst deeds are done or something like that. I’m paraphrasing, Oscar, hope that’s sweet. I like it as a quote in general about the world and the way things go down but the way it relates to the mixtape is us both expressing our gratitude for those that show us love and also apologizing for lack of new music. Two year breaks between records is not the way we’d like to do it, we’d rather put out way more songs than we do currently – but for various reasons, we’re unable to. Like the majority of acts in the hip-hop scene, we balance our music with real-life shit such as holding down (multiple) jobs, study, travelling, etc. This is a really long-winded answer…basically, it’s our way of saying to our fans “you’re all sickcunts. sorry it’s been a while since we spoke, been busy and that. more new music coming your way..but for now, take this” If you can make any sense of that, you’re doing well. Haha.
aahh: The mixtape is 8 tracks deep, have you used this as a bit of an experimental stage in the lead up to your next album? Nick L: I guess what’s important to stress is this is a mixtape – there’s a couple original songs but most of it is us rapping over beats and songs we have chosen to write to. Some of the songs have a conventional structure to them but others don’t, they’re just verses. Lyrically, I feel like this is the sharpest we’ve ever been…and there’s also a hunger in the music we’re making – so I think that sort of stuff will come across on our next album.
aahh: We see an acoustic track on the album, tell us about this one. Did you perform this track at the ‘One Dayer’ Acoustic show earlier this year? Nick L: We did, this is a live recording of “Pretty Girls Make Graves” off Exile. Also a bit of a preview of some new raps at the end of that song – hope people dig it in acoustic form. That was an incredible show!
aahh: Currently Double S fans can catch you on the road with Illy, Sietta and M-Phazes. What is it like touring with those guys, are you looking forward to heading around the country? Nick L: I’ve never toured with Sietta before but I caught them live in Byron earlier this month and they were super dope. Illy and Phazes are two of our oldest friends in this Aus hip-hop thing so that’ll be fun; the shows are going to be massive and hangovers much the same if all goes according to plan.
Catch Spit Syndicate on the Illy/Spit Syndicate/Sietta tour (hosted by M-Phazes) at the below dates and venues. Friday September 30 – The Gov, Adelaide (Lic. AA) Saturday October 1 – The Waratah Hotel, Hobart (18+) Friday October 14 – Factory Theatre, Sydney (Lic AA) Friday October 28 – The Palace, Melbourne (18+)
Spit Syndicate also playing at Sydney’s Newtown Festival on Sunday 13th November. Newtown Festival is free and all ages and the guys are very excited to be playing on the main stage. More info on that to come.
Following their critically acclaimed 2010 release Exile and after a busy year of touring, Sydney duo Spit Syndicate are back with a brand new online mix-tape project Best Intentions: Part One, the first of a two-part mix-tape series available for free download via online networks Friday 30th September.
Best Intentions sees MCs Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice return to the mix-tape format from which they first made waves in the local hip-hop scene. Over the course of 9 tracks, Spit Syndicate drape their trademark flair over a range of different sounds, from the boom-bap of Pharoahe Monch to the more eclectic, moody sounds of indie outfit the xx. Exhibiting their sharpest lyricism yet, the mix-tape series showcases Spit Syndicate’s ability to reinvent a selection of tracks with command and creativity. Just a taste of what’s to come and keen to provide fans with a little something to tie them over, Best Intentions is a prelude to the highly anticipated third album dropping early 2012.
“Best Intentions is a gesture of thanks and gratitude for everyone who’s shown us love and support: a completely free release. We’ve treated it with the same attention that we would a studio record, but there is something about a non-album project that seems to free us up; less over-thinking and more straight-up hip-hop.” – Nick Lupi
For those eager to get their ears wrapped around the outfits new project before the masses, sign up to Spit Syndicate’s mailing list and receive Best Intentions: Part One on Wednesday 28th September: www.spitsyndicate.com.
Rising from a self-imposed hiatus, one of Australian hip hop’s hardest hitting artists returns to the recording fold with his brand new album Drama. With rhymes like ransom letters, the latest is an unrelenting, no-holds barred assault on politics, global issues, Australian life and hip hop. Like the unmistakable voice, Pegz is never one to hold back with the fire, all while maintaining a humorous streak of clever lyricism and biting commentary.
From the opening calling card of Capital P to the Brazilian-influenced flavour of the first single Bombs Away, Drama continues the legacy of the Capricorn Cat by pouring gasoline on the fire lit by Burn City. In the latter, Pegz lets loose the swipes at the rumour mongers trapped in the shadows of those tall poppy fields. When not eviscerating his critics, Pegz takes a soulful look at “working hard, playing hard” in One Day feat. Syrene & Ginger before penning his ode to his recently passed best friend in M-Phazes’ produced Deities of Def. Featuring some of the best producers in the game, including M-Phazes, Chasm, Jase, Ta-Ku, Simplex and Plutonic Lab, Drama is a producer’s delight, with everything from blues guitars and boom bap to soul and classic hip hop. The roll call of guest vocalists pull their weight with appearances from label mates Dialectrix, Jimmy Nice (of Spit Syndicate), Mantra and Illy. While Joe New reunites the Gully Platoon line-up for both Priceless and the ruckus tune Mad Bastards. In the more soft toned Water Marks, Plutonic Lab’s deep production paints a more reflective tone, buoyed by the contrasting vocal style of soulstress Jess Harlen.
Business man, mentor, artist; Pegz is never a loss for words and rarely holds back from the issues he holds close. He is as unrelenting as he is introspective, always the barometer for truth from the streets of Melbourne, he continues to challenge himself in the ever growing success of Australian hip hop. Like he waxes in the Jase produced Go To Your Head, he never lets the idea of superficial glory consume him- and this is what Pegz has been about since day one.
Track listing: 01. Capital P 02. One Day 03. Bombs Away 04. Deities of Def 05. Go To Your Head 06. Priceless (ft. Joe New, Dialectrx, 2buck) 07. Crime in the City 08. What You In It For (ft. Jimmy Nice, Mantra, Illy) 09. Water Marks 10. Mad Bastards (ft. Joe New, Dialectrix, 2buck) 11. Don’t Look Down 12. Fool’s Gold 13. Blind Man
