So are you guys from Canberra? Or Sydney? Both? Neither?
We were both born and raised in Canberra, but are living in Sydney at the moment. We’re still very strongly connected to the Canberra hip hop scene, so I guess you could say both.
Hip hop has a long history of hometown pride. Is that something that influences your music?
We’re always engaging with the Canberra scene no matter where we are, and make sure to drop in sneaky Canberra references in our lyrics when we can.
The sample of Ray Warren’s swimming commentary on your song Susie O’Neill is strangely emotive. Do you have memories of seeing Susie win gold?
I remember the slow-mo replay on the news for weeks after she won. The excitement in Ray’s voice gets us right in the feels every time.
Your EP Butter Side Up came out in March. Is this a representation of the journey so far for Coda Conduct?
It took us a while to have our act together to the point where we were capable of making an EP. There’s a lot more to releasing music than just penning lyrics, and Butter Side Up was a huge learning curve for us.
Your songs feature really strong production and excellent rhymes. But what seals the deal is the stick-in-your-head chorus refrains. Is that a big focus for you when writing?
Choruses are important, but it isn’t usually the main focus when making the song. Sometimes the chorus comes first, other times it’s written the night before. But usually the chorus is based on the verses, so that everything feels cohesive.
CODA CONDUCT are playing Laundry Bar on Friday June 26.
