Australian hip hop act, Bliss N Eso, are breaking all the barriers. They took out an ARIA last year, their new album Flying Colours just went gold and the three trouble makers from Sydney’s ‘burbs have also just returned from a trip from Africa where they helped raise awareness for the Oaktree Foundation. Yes, these boys have a social conscience, and a damn good one. Jonathan (aka Bliss) took some time out to chat to OUTinPerth about hip hop and the re-release of their album.
What was it like making hip hop a decade ago, in an era dominated by rock and pop?
Man, if there was a definition for outcast back then that would be it. It was hard to even find a hip hop record at the local CD store. You’d be lucky to find an Ice Cube record or something from Public Enemy or anything like that. So to actually be trying to make hip hop in Australia then was almost impossible, and for us it was extra hard because the genre hadn’t been set up properly and there really wasn’t much of a genre to go on and therefore there wasn’t anyone there to really ask questions. How do you make a beat? How do you record a song? How do you get a gig? It was tough and we had to nut out a lot for ourselves at the beginning. It was definitely a challenge.
Do you see yourself as pioneers?
We definitely consider ourselves to be a part of a select few artists who were pioneers. We weren’t the only ones. But if you can see the progression since then, since 10 years ago, there’s been a massive growth. And hip hop was still in pockets here and there before then, obviously. There are some classic Sydney old skool groups from back then. But it was so tiny back then it was almost non-existent. It’s definitely come a long way.
How would you describe Australian hip hop?
I used to describe Australian hip hop like being a back in the Bronx ’79 kind of thing, because it was just like a baby blooming. Not so much now but definitely five or six years ago it was very much at that state. We’re getting into a kind of sprouting now so that seed is really starting to come out of the ground and things are beginning to flourish and it’s unreal. It’s definitely at its most exciting right now, at its biggest and I think it’s still got a long way to go.
Can you tell us about the re-release of your latest album, Flying Colours?
We’re pretty excited about it. It’s a double disc with the original Flying Colours album, which has just gone gold. So it’s got that plus a new track, On Tour, but the second disc is really what it’s all about. It’s a DVD of a live show. It’s also got the Out of Africa documentary which is when we went to South Africa. Basically MTV came with us and filmed the whole experience. There are a whole lotta insights on the DVD which shows how the whole thing came together. It’s an incredible story.
How does Flying Colours fit in with your previous work?
I’d definitely say it’s our most evolved work to date. It’s quite a lot different from the previous record. The recording process behind Flying Colours was quite different to the other albums. We focused on it, went to the studio and just went for it, didn’t let a lot of distractions come in. Because of that we got it done over a much shorter period of time. I think that time was much more intense, and I think because of that we got a good cohesiveness between the tracks.
Flying Colours is out now.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
