Perth native Bitter Belief (Syllabolix) drops his sophomore album The Gallery through Obese Records Distribution today! The LP features the likes of The Tongue, Purpose, Briggs, Hau, Creed Birch, Mr Grevis and more.
With producer Creed Birch handling most of the album’s production, the two have been working together for years developing their sound. Production credits also include M-Phazes, Cam Bluff and Rob Shaker, who also handled cuts, mixing and mastering. You can purchase The Gallery here.
Persian blooded, American born, Malaysian bred, and Sydney based beat-maestro Mailer Daemon has established himself as an exciting and innovative producer. Having emerged from a deep long secluded winter in the studio with talk of an amazing debut record, the entree lead single for which does not disappoint.
Innovation and diversity have been Mailer Daemon’s ethos through his musical journey from Indie-Electro (Just Where You Want Me ft. Nik Valentino), Indie-Hop (Keep On Moovin ft. Peach), and Electro-Pop (Bad Move Baby Ft. Catcall). Not to mention a solid slew of remixes for artists such as Bag Raiders, The Panics, Killa Queens, & The Herd.
Having been describe as alternative trill dub, indie hip hop, Shoegaze beats, bass punk, trap soul and dream step, Mailer Daemon’s brand new EP is almost here. Gravitas EP features Peach, Jeswon, The Tongue, P Smurf, Crochet Crooks, members of True Vibenation, Jackie Onasiss, and Dutch. The EP is available May 10. You can stream the new EP in full below.
Surrender To Victory sees The Tongue coming into his own as artist and collaborator, articulating a positive vision beyond the confines of modern local hip hop. From the opening track the listener can hear this development. We catch up with The Tongue, fresh off the back of the announcement of his Surrender To Victory Tour yesterday.
aahh: You’ve talked about one of your goal’s for the new album, Surrender to Victory was to be a lot more positive and uplifting. Why was that decision made?
The Tongue: It was just the kind of mind-set I was in really. I don’t delve into it much deeper than that. The youth of today don’t have a lot of great role models. Every other week some footy player has been announced to be on drugs, Lance Armstrong is a cheat, politicians are corrupt, the government lies to you, the media lies to you. In a way musicians are the last people who the youth can still look up to. An artist like Kendrick Lamar is someone with integrity, trying to find positives in the negative. Watching him perform when he came to Sydney was like a religious experience, you know it’s just him and a DJ. He’s such a powerful artist, everything he says he means. He is the guy I look up to at the moment, he has inspired me to not be afraid to make the music that I want to.
With that being said, it can go too far the other way and end up becoming corny. No one wants to be preached to. I think its interesting that its rappers who are the last people who haven’t been censored. All other art forms have been compromised to a certain extent. As an artist it gets to a certain point, if you have a national audience of, say, 10,000 people hanging on your every word, you need to ask yourself how are you going to use that, what do you stand for? Is music meant to be just mindless entertainment? That’s something I think about.
aahh: Cam Bluff produced the whole album. We hear the first single ‘Drums’ was a bit of an ode to his banging beats, would you agree with that?
The Tongue: That’s exactly correct. ‘Drums’ was one of the first beats he sent through. He’s amazing. I felt very honoured when he said he’d produce the album. After the first few beats he sent me, I knew he was the one. He is just so versatile. Cam continually impresses people and raises the bar. I believe his talent is world-class, he could be producing for someone like Jay-Z in a few years if he wanted to. He could go all the way.
aahh: On the last LP there was a track titled Australian Gangster and now on Surrender To Victory we see a track titled Australian Dreaming. Both can be described as accurate representations of Australian culture but they are almost at polar opposites. Is this reinforcing the positive angle you decided to take with this record, or was there something more to this.
The Tongue: Well I got to a point in my music where I could keep doing what I was doing, raising issues and talking about problems or change it up and talk about solutions. I wrote “Australian Gangster” as a response to the Underbelly TV series because it seemed as if we were idolizing criminals. A true gangster doesn’t get killed or caught, he gets away with his crime. Everyone in Underbelly had their life ruined by their crimes and I think it was important to remind people of that. They ended up in jail or in the ground, that ain’t gangster Australian Dreaming is about my dream of a better Australia. I love this country but it always falls a bit short of its potential, a lot of things could be better. Listen to the song, you’ll see what I mean.
aahh: Would you say Finding My Religion feat. Joyride raises the question of whether or not religion actually relates to modern society as it is today?
The Tongue: In my life hip hop has been my religion. It has influenced me more than anything else, and has allowed me to do things I wouldn’t have been able to do without it. Hip Hop has enriched my life. I really can’t figure out why it shouldn’t be classified as a religion. The Dr Dre’s of the hip hop world are our Arch Bishops, classic albums are our scriptures, ‘we worship the light at night’ as the song says. Concerts are our pilgrimages. Other than believing in hip hop culture, I’m not a religious person. I think a lot of religions are outdated. The last Pope encouraging people to not use a condom in Africa, I’d call that insanity. The Catholic church can’t seem to sort out abuse scandal after abuse scandal. Then there is the issue of; should churches really not have to pay tax? Because they believe in a ghost in the sky? Thats some A-grade bullshit right there.
Saahh: ome of the other people you worked with include the two most recent Elefant Trak signings in Sky’High and Jimblah. What have your experiences been with both these guys?
The Tongue: Jim is a pretty amazing guy. The first time we met was last year at a rehearsal for the Elefant Traks Meets Dr Seuss show. The way he conducted himself, singing alongside Jayne Tizzel and Catti Baker from Sietta, he had no problem holding his own at the Opera House. I didn’t realise he was that much of a singer, and such an amazing rapper. He nailed that chorus on “Victory”, he’s got a lot of soul. I think of Sky as Australia’s own Ol Dirty Bastard. I mean that as a compliment. He was one of a kind and did what he wanted, no one could touch him. Sky straddles that border between gangsterism, consciousness and positivity. She’s so raw. Having her on that song in particular, a song about different experiences growing up in Australia and whats done in your name and others by the Government, that was important to me. She has led a very different life to me and we were able to present both sides of our stories.
aahh: The track ‘Own World’ has the line, I’m in my own world with a bunch of weed bundled up…’ You’ve obviously seen the new laws pass in America permitting the legal use of medicinal marijuana. Could you see something like that working in Australia and would you be in support of that?
The Tongue: Portugal decriminalised drug possession and the results have been amazingly positive. Look it up. I think the main difference is they treat drug use as a medical issue rather than a criminal issue. Putting people in jail for possessing small amounts of weed won’t help them an awful lot. You come out branded as an ex con, it completely disrupts your life. On the other side of the argument, how can we have weed remain illegal while smoking tobacco and consuming alcohol remain legal? The effects of alcohol are terrible, if a doctor said take this pill, and the pill had the same side effects of alcohol, you wouldn’t take it. Just in the name of logic I think it would be a good idea, without promoting marijuana usage, I definitely think changing legislation in Australia would be a good thing. The main reason the States introduced it was purely for financial reasons, it makes more sense to make revenue from this then not to.
aahh: A couple of months back there was a bit of talk about a possible battle showdown involving yourself and another local rapper, what was it about this situation that made you want to get back in to battling?
The Tongue: The way it worked was, 360 put something on twitter to the effect of ‘any old school battlers want to step up to this new battling format’ and I said ‘yeah, lets battle’. For one, this is hip hop, you want to take on worthy opponents, and I’m competitive just as most rappers should be. 60 didn’t want to do it and all the reasons he gave were insults; “The Tongue isn’t any good, doesn’t have a career and is irrelevant” etc, and we fired shots back and forth. We can do it freestyle or pre-written, the challenge still remains. But I think it won’t ever happen, because he’s scared he’ll lose. He’s smart to be scared of that. I won Revolver, I represented Australia in Battle Of Supremacy, I could take 60 apart easy. Any time he wants it, it’s on.
aahh: You recently performed at the iconic Sydney Opera House with the rest of the Elefant Traks as part of Graphic 2012. We hear you performed a version of Gerald Mc Boing Boing?
The Tongue: Yeah, that was pretty wild. It was only me on stage with a head mic, and 1500 people. Pretty intimidating. Thankfully the kids loved it and the adults loved it just as much because they grew up with the work of Seuss. The video is live now so you can check it out above.
aahh: We’ve recently seen a Melbourne Hip Hop doco drop that talks about the Melbourne scene and it’s evolution with hip hop. How do you view the current Sydney scene as it is?
The Tongue: I think every state is providing us with great artists and great albums. What’s good about Sydney in particular is the diversity. There’s a classic New York sound, you can’t say there’s a classic Sydney sound. I think that’s really cool and positive, We all aren’t in each others pockets, I only predict good things in the future. I mean, a lot of Sydney artists are very focused and taking things very seriously. Spit Syndicate are going hard this year, Jackie Onassis is going hard, there’s another Sky High album on the way, another Horrorshow album coming later this year. The Sydney scene is definitely growing in strength.
aahh: Any plans in the works for a national tour?
The Tongue: Yes indeed. The “Surrender To Victory Tour” (creative name eh?) will be traveling right around the country, with local supports in each state. Every show is a party…every show me and DJ Skoob give 100%….the new songs bang live….you can’t loose baby, get that ass to a show!
Persian blooded, American born, Malaysian bred, and Sydney based beat-maestro Mailer Daemon has established himself as an exciting and innovative producer. Having emerged from a deep long secluded winter in the studio with talk of an amazing debut record, the entree lead single for which does not disappoint.
With a Depeche Mode meets Kanye musical palette, Mailer crafts an anthem with Always on the Grind. The record stars three top Sydney MC’s: Jeswon, The Tongue, & P Smuf; our protagonists paint a narrative journey into the world of job-juggling Sydney musicians. Sharing the story of untold bedroom artists, expressing the idealism of oppurtunistic dreamers, and voicing the relentless passion required in the path for success; Always on the Grind packs the punch of a familiar anthem.
Innovation and diversity have been Mailer Daemon’s ethos through his musical journey from Indie-Electro (Just Where You Want Me ft. Nik Valentino), Indie-Hop (Keep On Moovin ft. Peach), and Electro-Pop (Bad Move Baby Ft. Catcall). Not to mention a solid slew of remixes for artists such as Bag Raiders, The Panics, Killa Queens, & The Herd.
The lyrical vision, theme, and format of this latest offering have been craft-fully aligned and refined to resonate with the Australian audience at large; the beat is supported by a sonic-scape that characterises the trending fusion-centric Sydney club sound. The hook cuts through infectiously and immediately, hosting a design that is strong for the radio format as well as a solid club-banger.
Always On The Grind demonstrates Mailer’s ability to craft modern pop music with street aesthetics; further solidifying his sound as accurately representing fresh Australian hip hop, holding relevance in the ever-evolving club climate, and keeping ahead of the times through trend-setting musical innovation.
Stay tuned for the release dates of Mailer’s Debut EP and accompanying live headline national tour.
Widely regarded as one of the country’s most imaginative MCs—with a natural charisma that sets him apart from the horde of anonymous rappers vying for your attention. In the past year he’s performed everywhere from parties in Phnom Penh to the iconic Sydney Opera House (he stole the show in the much lauded Dr Seuss meets Elefant Traks events).
Drums packs major punch with The Tongue’s trademark sharp flows and cheeky wordplay. The sophisticated new-school production comes courtesy of Cam Bluff (Vegas Aces), showing why peers rate him as one of local hip hop’s most exciting producers. The pair have a dynamic chemistry, re-sulting in Cam Bluff producing The Tongue’s entire album.
The Tongue joins US star Mac Miller on his debut Australian tour (East Coast dates only). Tickets are available from Ticketek & selling fast. Surrender to Victory is out March 29 on Elefant Traks.
When it comes to hip hop, there isn’t much The Tongue hasn’t done. He is an infamous MC battle champion, seasoned touring artist and a prolific songwriter, with two albums (Shock And Awe and Alternative Energy); three mixtapes and an EP (Bad Education) to his name.
The Tongue is set to release his third album Surrender To Victory on March 15, 2013. The first single Drums is dropping shortly. Initial details on the album have been released and will feature Suffa, Illy, Sky’High, Joyride, Tom Scott (Home Brew), Ellesquire, Spit Syndicate, Thundamentals, Jimblah and more. Surrender To Victory is produced by Cam Bluff and will be available March 15 through Elefant Traks.
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Featuring over 25 musical performers onstage from The Herd, Hermitude, Sietta, Joelistics, Unkle Ho, Urthboy, The Tongue, Jimblah, Jaytee of The Last Kinection and more, Australia’s renowned musical collective Elefant Traks are taking over the Graphic circus with a tribute inspired by the whimsical spirit and imagery of Dr. Seuss.
Throughout over 60 years of children’s classics such as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the wildly imaginative and surrealist universe of Dr. Seuss has enthralled generations. He continues to be one of the world’s most instantly recognisable and best loved visual storytellers.
‘All ready to put up the tents for my circus… and now comes an act of enormous enormance! No former performer’s performed this performance!’ – excerpt from Dr. Seuss’ If I Ran the Circus
Since making their live debut over a decade ago, Elefant Traks artists have entertained far and wide, capping off 2011 with Hermitude winning triple j’s Video of the Year. Australia’s most innovative label will now play with the iconic work of Dr. Seuss in a specially commissioned show for Graphic 2012.
Maintaining their motto to make ‘challenging yet adventurous’ music, the Elefant Crew are set for a fresh injection of Dr. Seuss’ prescription for fun in this fantastically imaginative performance.
This Is How We Never Die is the refreshingly on-point third instalment from prestigious Sydney producer Chasm. Joined by local and international artists; Chasm approaches beats like a learned artist with a brush, building on classic principles to create evolutionary new music.
aahh: This Is How We Never is the title to this absolute masterpiece of a production album. Explain to us the concept behind the title of the LP and what the you wanted to accomplish with this album?
Chasm: The title is taken from a Currensy line I heard on one of his latest tapes, ‘Real music lasts forever, this is how we never die’. I just really like the phrase and I have always loved that idea with music, that it’s a legacy, something you can leave behind when your gone and people can hear it twenty, fifty years later and still feel it. With this album, I was just making music that I was feeling, I was just interested in working with MC’s that I loved and respected and making good soul music, that’s it.
aahh: When did you begin developing the concept to this album and how long did it take you to complete from start to finish?
Chasm: I sat down with my manager and kinda said ok let’s do this now, maybe eight months ago, something like that. Before that I just had a verse done here, a verse done there and had a bunch of beats I knew I wanted to use. But I was busy with other projects so it was just a matter of organising a timeline and making the whole thing happen, but once it got underway it came together quite quickly really. For this album I used the MPC 5000, Logic, Maschine, records, a bunch of soft synths and a Moog Source. That was the artillery.
aahh: The emcee’s featured on This Is How We Never Die reads out like a who’s who of hip hop. We’d like to ask you about all the artists involved, but can you just give us a little background on a few of your favourites and how the relationships came about.
Chasm: I had a great session with Guilty Simpson and Phat Kat when they were in town, such humble good dudes and we had a dope studio session. Both were inspiring to be in the lab with. Also to collaborate with Lazy Grey, Delta and Brad Strut was for me a huge thing. All legends of the scene and crazy talents so to have them bless my joints was killer. Gappy Ranks was another highlight, he came down to my studio when he was on tour out here, he just vibed on that beat in the lab and wrote and recorded it on the spot, another inspiring session watching him work like that.
aahh: The first single from the album is titled The Truth and features The Tongue, Hau and Dazastah. Tell us a bit about the recording process with this one we hear it was knocked out pretty quickly by the MC’s?
Chasm: Yeah Daz had a day booked at 301 studios here in Sydney. He was out here on tour, and had a day in the studio finishing off collabs I think. So he had invited a few people down to work on stuff and asked me to pass through. So I took my MPC down with the original of ‘The Truth’ just chopped really simply on the sampler. When I played the tune those guys were all vibing on it and the energy in the studio was ill that day, just a good creative vibe, so they all ended up writing that afternoon and recording later that night. It was dope. Hau put down the chorus a couple of months later.
aahh: Your no stranger to the music scene in Australia, you’ve released albums with Astronomy Class through Elefant Traks and also solo work through Obese Records including numerous other side projects. What keeps you inspired and motivated to keep producing music?
Chasm: I just love music and I love being creative so it’s just something I always will do, even if I get frustrated and sick of the industry, give myself a few days off and I’m excited again to get in the studio and make something. I guess mainly its just hearing music old or new that is inspiring that gets me pumped to make more music, and just life, things in my life motivate me to express myself through the music.
aahh: What was one of the hardest challenges you faced on producing an album like this, especially with its international artists?
Chasm: It was just time-consuming organising everyone, making sure I got all the parts back when I needed them and making sure everyone recorded when they said they would. The hardest thing though was the different microphones and booths that were in the mix! For one track you could have two or three different recordings so there was no consistency with the mic and room sound for all the vocals which made it tricky when it came to mixing. Trying to make it all sound cohesive was a tough one.
aahh: You launched This Is How We Never Die at the GoodGod Small Club in Sydney earlier in the month with a host of local names plus a special guest in DJ Neil Armstrong. Tell us about that.
Chasm: It was a great night, all my people’s showed up so it was a nice vibe man, I appreciated the love that was shown from the crowd and all the rappers that jumped up with me, it was a mad night, I had a ball. We busted out a bunch of Astronomy Class tunes which is always fun, having Ozi Batla and The Tongue and Sir Robbo on stage and Thundamentals fellas got up and did some older joints that we did together which was cool.
aahh: Four dates have been announced in the This Is How We Never Die tour, are there any more dates planned and do you have any details you’d like to share on that?
Chasm: Through July I’ll be touring the country in support of the album. The show will be a sound system style show with Hau on the mic to hype the crowd for me, should be a lot of fun. Will be having guests jump up at certain shows too!
aahh: What’s next for Chasm? We know you have many side projects, will we see say a Dr Don Don album soon?
Chasm: Yes Dr Don Don album is pretty much done so gonna drop that after a couple more singles. Astronomy Class are hopefully gonna do an EP this year too and I have some ideas for the next Chasm release so hopefully will begin that too.
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Some people just won’t get it. They’ll see the rough and miss the diamond. Others will hear the raw aggression and recognise the ideas, hooks and melodies are undeniable proof of one of the most exciting voices to emerge in local hip hop yet. Sky’High diversifies and illuminates the possibilities of what’s going on here, giving volume to an Australian voice the mainstream generally shut down.
The creative fearlessness of Sky’High’s debut not only hits the mark but crashes through it. Whether it’s the grime of Reign, or the hip hop of Don Dada or Forever Gone, she remorselessly smashes it outta the park. But it’s when Sky reveals her vulnerability in the brutal yet achingly beautiful ‘Nuclear Love’ that the listener stops dead in their tracks.
This is why else world-renowned NZ producer P-Money pursued her—the first Australian act he’s overseen. It’s why Elefant Traks got on deck and why Duck Down artist David Dallas collaborated on the album. It’s also why Rolling Stone and Sydney Morning Herald pinpointed her out as an artist to watch.
Sky’high is not the softly-spoken female you’re expecting. There is no other genre that could unearth someone as special as her. Uncompromisingly tough and endearingly cheeky, Sky’High’s invigorating talent will disarm you and challenge your perceptions.
What do you see in the rough?
Forever Sky’High out today, through Elefant Traks.
Some people just won’t get it. They’ll see the rough and miss the diamond. Others will hear the raw aggression and recognise the ideas, hooks and melodies are undeniable proof of one of the most exciting voices to emerge in local hip hop yet. Sky’High diversifies and illuminates the possibilities of what’s going on here, giving volume to an Australian voice the mainstream generally shut down.
The creative fearlessness of Sky’High’s debut not only hits the mark but crashes through it. Whether it’s the grime of Reign, or the hip hop of Don Dada or Forever Gone, she remorselessly smashes it outta the park. But it’s when Sky reveals her vulnerability in the brutal yet achingly beautiful ‘Nuclear Love’ that the listener stops dead in their tracks.
This is why else world-renowned NZ producer P-Money pursued her—the first Australian act he’s overseen. It’s why Elefant Traks got on deck and why Duck Down artist David Dallas collaborated on the album. It’s also why Rolling Stone and Sydney Morning Herald pinpointed her out as an artist to watch.
Sky’high is not the softly-spoken female you’re expecting. There is no other genre that could unearth someone as special as her. Uncompromisingly tough and endearingly cheeky, Sky’High’s invigorating talent will disarm you and challenge your perceptions.
What do you see in the rough?
Forever Sky’High out today, through Elefant Traks.
