“I’ve been making records for 20 years and it’s easy to forget to enjoy it.” MC Pressure, aka Dan Smith, aka one third of the Hilltop Hoods, remains remarkably frank as we talk about the nearing release date of the group’s eighth album, The Great Expanse.
“We still have to make music for us, as well,” he says. “Some people forget that. Suff reminded me of that on New Year’s when we were away for Falls. He said to me his New Year’s resolution was to get back to enjoying making music. I was like, ‘Man, that’s so fucking true’. You have to love this profession to be good at it. Not just to do it. You can’t lose that.”
The album, out just ahead of the group’s anticipated shows supporting Eminem, is a record that is defined by different approaches to their craft. Being in a position to completely change things up and not have to worry so much about financial and personal demands, is one Pressure knows full well isn’t afforded to everybody.
“Very few people make a full length LP and as an artist, I get why they don’t, it’s because it’s so hard. People consume and digest music so differently to what they used to. Everyone’s got a smart device and they throw songs on a playlist from a streaming platform, they look past the rest of the album that didn’t have as many hits on it. There’s such a culture of music listening and consumption now, that it’s so hard for artists to spend all that money and time. Time being the big factor.
“It is a bit of a luxury to be able to do that,” he says. “We are in a nice position because we have had some success, we can afford the money and time to do it. I love that we have taken the time to do it, because I want people to listen to it from start to finish.”
With Australian hip hop changing as much as it has over the last decade, the Hoods aren’t necessarily the only face associated with the genre as much as they once were. For Pressure, this change is a good thing. The Great Expanse has seen the group branch out more than they have on any record, incorporating more collaborative voices and diverse artistry into the studio.
“The hip hop music coming out of Australia is so different to what it was ten years ago,” Pressure says. “Our music is so different to what it was ten years ago too. It’s not as different, but the genre definitely is, I feel. Sometimes I hear old artists try to make new music and I’m like, ‘They’re just trying to make new music’. They’re trying to sound like the current thing. We’re not trying to sound like the current thing, we’re genuinely just being us, but doing a new version of us.
“There’s more songwriting involved in the creative process this time and less sampling,” Pressure reveals of their new material. “There’s only three samples on the record, which is the least we’ve ever used on a record. It does change the sound a bit.”
As for the new voices fans can hear on The Great Expanse, Pressure is excited for us to journey with the Hoods along some slightly unexpected collaborations. Featuring the likes of Ruel, Ecca Vandal, Illy and Timberwolf in their mixed bag of guests, Hilltop Hoods are entering this new chapter of their career that is reflective of their own creative and personal evolution.
“It is a really eclectic group of guests,” Pressure says. “They’ve each come from a similar place in that, either me or Suffa or Debris have heard their music and loved it and wanted to work with them. All the collaborations we got happened in the studio in the same place; we worked the songs and re-wrote them, tweaked them. All the collaborations, I thought, were really organic. They weren’t like, ‘Throw us a verse…’ when they weren’t in the same state. We got in the same space. It’s so important to make those songs work, to be able to do that.”
Continuing to push themselves creatively as each new year of writing and performing presents itself has remained a high priority for the Adelaide trio. The Great Expanse is a result of not just tried and tested formulas, but a new resolve to move outside their comfort zone and take more of a creative plunge.
“One thing that Suff and I talked about before we went about making it, was that we wanted to do something a little cleaner and probably a touch more modern,” Pressure explains. “It’s not because we think everyone wants to hear something more modern; I guess as we move on and our music tastes change, that’s where I’m at. I wanted to make a record that sounded like that.
“That’s why we’ve moved in a different direction,” he says. “That’s why we’ve worked with more collaborators than we ever have before. It breathes fresh life into it; it gets exciting, seeing other people’s creative process. It reminds you of why you love yours.”
Hilltop Hoods’ new album The Great Expanse is out Friday February 22. The trio will support Eminem on Sunday February 24 at the MCG. Grab your tickets via Ticketek.
