At that time, the lads were listening to a lot of the original old school music from the last 80s and early 90s. Artists like LL Cool J and Public Enemy and RUN DMC – they were the groups that gave N’FA his motivation to really explore the urban nature of street music and ultimately what gave him the energy to do 1200-Techniques. “I just liked the whole vibe and the culture and I sort of connected with it and started writing rhymes,” he says.
And he continues, “Of course then you meet other kids from other areas and other neighbourhoods. For example, I met a dude who had a sampler and could cut tracks and records; and another who could rap and another and another. Everyone was good at something different and everyone had a story to tell. So then it all just kept evolving and by the time we finished high school we’d done some music and jammed with some cool jazz musicians.”
Indeed, it might have been around the time that he met Australia’s own great one, DJ Peril that the last pieces of the jigsaw finally fell into place. “I really got it when I met him,” he says. “Music at that time was going into so many different directions and things – and then we did the Cause and Effect album and it hasn’t stopped evolving since; I’m still writing music and I’m still loving it just as much as I did on day one.”
No less, that effort featured production by Black Eyed Peas, Roots Manuva, Dobie and even a music video directed by Heath Ledger. Boy sure gets around. “Yeah, the last few years I’ve been to Sweden, Germany, Korea and places like that. Some stuff got released here and there – and there is a lot more stuff waiting to be released – then when I get back to London I’m doing some other projects and gigs. And overall it’s been cool – sure there have been times I wish I had better setups but that’s how it goes. I came back for some gigs over the summer and then I’m going to go back to the U.K. The evolution for me over these years has been interesting – I’ve met cool people and done some pretty cool stuff, no doubt about it.”
“The whole urban vibe for me is still where it’s at. It’s an absolute energy for me and there is more of a place to expand for me in some ways. I’ve covered a lot of styles and I’ve been trying to do that and create different ideas. I like urban music because it’s got that the inter-galactic vibe – but it can be warm and have an awesome element as well. I’m into fat beats, rhymes and stuff. Not rock and roll you could say. Sometimes it’s the reggae side, sometimes the raw, but always street music.”
Finally, N’FA reminisces for a moment, “I think when we were coming up – it’s different in Australia – when I used to do trips to London, it was all about writing tunes and stuff and not minding if you didn’t have fame. All you really wanted and needed was respect. The quality of music was really high. These days, people are more interested in a one-way ticket to the show. It’s cool because there are a lot more people involved in the music business, but you feel the quality is different. It’s about ‘can I get enough hits, can I make a name?’ In other ways, there are all these sounds and styles coming through and new and up and coming artists have a chance to get their stuff out there. If you’re prepared to hunt there is some real gold out there but unfortunately I can’t really judge – it’s just my opinion and how I feel about it.”
“I do miss the vibe where you walk the street and find something cool; that’s why the show this weekend should be a lot of fun. So we’ll be running some keyboards and MPCs and mics; we want to keep it really hyped.”
