Interview with Astronomy Class

Cue Johann Strauss as we leisurely float past hoards of glistening stars occasionally interrupted by a hurtling meteor looping around a lumbering, complacent planet. Limbs weightless and body out of control, you’re probably wondering why we’re out here, floating through the cosmos, exposed to the unknown and possibly under the watchful eye of some distant, intelligent life. “If you haven’t heard already.” A garbled voice informs us over a two way radio. “2009 is the year of Astronomy and you’ve come to meet Ozi Batla, spaceman, rapper and voice of Hip Hop outfit Astronomy Class.”

Ozi is referring to the second installment of the Astronomy Class saga. Titled, Pursuit of Happiness, it’s a stripped back, raw example of unadulterated Aussie Hip Hop. “We obviously wanted to approach it differently to the last album and make it something unique. We wanted to make it a bit more punchy and immediately accessible. A lot of the songs are pretty short and there is no excess fat on there. There were probably three of four tracks that were really good tracks that we didn’t include on the album.”

Currently Ozi resides in outer space relentlessly performing a harrowing routine of altitude training in preparation for Astronomy Class’ upcoming tour. “We’ve been hitting the rehearsal studio and obviously had a few drinks, trying to replicate game day. It’s really coming along. A lot of the new tunes I think will replicate really well live. So yeah we are just looking forward to getting back out there. It’s been a while.”

This year Astronomy Class is teaming up with fellow Reggae aficionados, Thundamentals, for a nationwide tour. There is little issue, however, made over the fact that these two bands come from competing labels. As the dust begins to settle around the shooting of up and coming American rapper, Dolla, I scratch the back of my helmet and ask why the Australian Hip Hop scene upholds such a friendly and supportive culture.


“I think it’s probably something to do with the Australian mentality. But the main thing is that most of the key people involved all came up together and are aware that it was a lot harder to get stuff out there and get people along to shows a few years ago. Every release that came out was another building block in a way so I don’t think that the main people involved in the labels have forgotten that. Before people had any kind of success everyone was working together and playing together.”

Ozi briefly pauses our conversation to float off to the cockpit and check on his ships orbit. It’s the perfect time to take a look around. There are screens everywhere streaming sci-fi classics like Aliens and Brazil, while X-men comics bump into my side as they hover around the room. A certain source of inspiration is plain to see.

I ask how the name Astronomy Class came about. Ozi yells from the cockpit. “It just came about because of the themes that we coming about on the first album with a few of the first tracks that I wrote. Midnight At The Observatory and also Brink Of War and Exist Strategy. There is a sci-fi theme there and I am a pretty big sci-fi fan. We kept on the sci-fi theme with War Of The Worlds and a few other tracks that are on this album as well. There is a sort of Hip Hop tradition and a Reggae tradition as well of that kind of outer space theme. We just were drawing on that as inspiration.”

Aside from a love for extraterrestrials and space opera the most noticeable theme on the album is the plethora of collaborative works. Artists from The Tongue to Ash Grunwald all feature, adding their own unique vocal spice. This diversity of musical influences and creativity generates a surprising new direction for Astronomy Class.

Unfortunately the stars did not align for every collaboration planed in Pursuit of Happiness. A combination of miscommunication and a lack of commitment led to one major international artist pulling out. “We were kind of glad that it [the collaboration] did not happen.” Ozi reflects. “We just thought if it was going to be that hard and that person was going to be that difficult to get in touch with their obviously their heart isn’t totally in the project.”

As we strap ourselves in for re-entry I realise that I might not be cut out for space travel. There’s a violent jolt forwards as we go into free fall, hurtling back to Earth at incalculable speeds. The whole time Ozi is beaming. Enjoying the futuristic jaunt perhaps a little to much. So I ask a man obviously obsessed with progress and evolution what he wants to see in the future of Hip Hop. His answer: retrograde.

“The RnB, Hip Hop major label stuff it’s just soulless. It’s just become so throw away. Maybe someday people will get rid of auto tune and the same mix sounds and it could go back to beats made on SP12s and people rapping on 58s. Who knows it might go back to that raw grimey sound.”

Check out Astronomy Class's new album Pursuit Of Happiness out now on Elefant Traks through Inertia and be sure to catch the boys when they play Come Together on Sat June 6th.

Published @ www.musicfeeds.com.au 22nd Issue.

Interview with Matt & Kim (Music Feeds)

This is a revised version of my Matt & Kim article published in the 21st Issue of Music Feeds
www.musicfeeds.com.au

Years ago Brooklyn made the small transition from a giant crime sceneto a trendy hipster jungle. It washere that two lost arts students wereasked to headline a party with instruments theycouldn’t play and songs they hadn’t written.

Moving ahead a few years the duo previously known as Kim & Matt, yet now known as Matt & Kim, are eagerly greeted by over-enthusiastic fans insisting they were the sound of their NewYork summer. Currently touring the world in celebration of the release of their sophomore album, Grand, I got Matt Johnson on the phone to find outwhat's happening in poptastic duo’s world.

When we spoke Matt had just stepped off his flight to Australia, a bit tender from a recentback injury. After a quick crack of a vertebraehere and a pop of the spinal column there, we began by discussing the Brooklyn arts and music scene, the nursing grounds where the band was born and raised.

“I think it was somewhere where we just founda lot of inspiration, and not just the musicscene,” says Matt.“At first I felt kinda lost, as in unsure ofwhere I belonged. I grew up in Vermont andwas schooled in New York and didn't knowwhat my place was until I stumbled upon the Brooklyn’s DIY music scene. This is whereI felt at home. People around me were doing rad shit. People working in film, art and photography, it inspires you to do more.”

From there Matt & Kim hit the net in search of a fan-base. After they began documenting their gigs and personal lives on a variety of social networking sites, more and more New Yorkers started showing up to their gigs. Infact Matt & Kim are a band that can attribute their international popularity almost entirely to online media written and supplied bythemselves.

“It worked out great because we got to do everything how we wanted to do it. We just always did what we always did and we controlled everything. We banked on word of mouth for so long and when people get to choose themselves they feel more connected. On the other handpeople also get upset when you put your song ina TV commercial because they felt it was their thing. Music is very personal.”

After using the “quick, that’s good enough,move along” philosophy for their debut record, Matt wanted things to change for Grand. This time the album had to be well rounded and slick.

“We were looking forward to writing and fleshing out this album. It was such a pain inthe ass. We had set aside six weeks to work on it and after that time it still wasn't done. We were working in between tours non stop to get it finished in the end. Even though people sayt hat albums are dead and people just download songs or put them on shuffle or whatever it was really important to us to create an album that stood on its own as a piece of music as opposedto just a collection of songs.”

Matt & Kim don't really sound the way you’d expect considering they emerged from the Brooklyn underground. Having risen to prominence in a scene that for so long has been overrun by a postmodern malaise,where does all of this chirpy music comefrom?

“Writing songs is two different things.” Matt explains. “There’s writing a beat and melody and writing lyrics. We just write music from what we are inspired by without any preconceived notion of what we want the song to be. The lyrics are a different thing. When we were doing Grand we would figure out everything and start off using free word association until it formed with a personal meaning in a more abstract way.”

The band’s creative use of keyboards to produce a variety of differing sounds is what fuels their unique take on pop, ensuring each of their songs bear the pair’s vibrant andunique sonic signature. “When we started, Matt & Kim was gonna be whatever Matt and Kim played. Keyboards give a certain freedom. You can write similar songs on different instruments but for instance using the same chord progression on a keyboard rather than a guitar gives it a new life.”

As an album, Grand makes pop cool againwithout making you feel like you sold yoursoul to Billy Ray Cyrus. Songs such as Daylight, with their minimalist melodies and happy go lucky lyrics, are certain to make you cancel your repeat of Prozac and hi-five the guy that just spilt beer all over your nerd-chic blazer.

Grand is now out through Popfenzy so have a listen and make sure that if you see them around you yell out “Hey! Matt & Kim!” now that we are on a first name basis and all.