Collectively, Mr Moonshine and co. make up The Psyde Projects, Melbourne’s own party rockers and purveyors of hip hop that’s steeped in golden of era of production value and rhymes by MCs that don’t take themselves too seriously. Having smashed their recent support slots with legends such as Public Enemy and The Pharcyde, the trio are getting ready for a headlining tour in November in support of a soon to be released single Re-Dizzle. As a bit of a warm up for the tour, the trio will be proving the entertainment for The Lucky Coq’s annual German Beer festival.
“Well we’ve had a relationship with the venue for quite a long time last year we did it and we put on some blond pigtail wigs, sort of like Helga from Germany and you know nine pints of beer in one arm but yeah it was a bit of a laugh. The boys should have a couple of cordless mics and all the beats will be coming from the DJ console or the MPC and [the MC’s] will be roaming the room and spitting rhymes as people sort of sit around looking sometimes confused.” Laughs Moonshine, although the laugh quickly turns to a cough, as he’s recovering from a nasty bout of the flu. With Oktoberfest just round the corner, having the flu has even got him considering sobriety.
“I haven’t [been drinking] for the last two weeks ‘cos I’ve been ill. I’ve often heard people going on about dry months and taking a break from drinking and have never thought about it myself, but I think I might give it a go and see what happens more so out of curiosity than anything. But to answer your question yes, I’m a big beer lover. All things beer, boutique beers, standard ones, I like beer a lot.”
If you manage to catch The Psyde Projects as they cavort round The Lucky Coq during Okbterfest, it’s sure to an entertaining afternoon, however, to get a real idea of what the guys are all about, it’s really worth catching them on a stage in front of a crowd of hip-hop heads. I can vouch for this as I saw them whip the crowd into high spirits when they supported The Pharcyde at The Espy last month. “That was great.” Exclaims Moonshine with a cough. “You know, we exist only because of The Pharcyde and acts like that. It was our most pleasure to be there. You can’t ask for anything more when you supporting a group that were a big influence on each of our respective sounds. I think if we were to die tomorrow we’d die relatively happy.”
The Pharcyde’s irreverent yet clever wordplay and organic, laid back beats can clearly be heard in The Psyde Projects’ music but according to Mr Moonshine the group have a wide range of influences. “. Well if we’re talking strictly hip-hop terms, People Under the Stairs, A Tribe Called Quest, nothing that’s too steeped in hardcore gangster sensibilities, you know. All those sorts of acts were collectively a big influence on us at a younger age. There’s also a wide array of other influence that aren’t hip-hop. For instance, James is a pretty serious collector of music and he’s got a wide range of different styles in his record collection. He’s just a fan of music.” It’s the best way to be surely? “I think so,“ he agree, “at the end of the day, there’s good and bad music.”
If you want to catch the guys in action in their own live setting, you can do so in November when they tour Australia, starting in Melbourne in support of a new single taken from a new album which they will be ready to drop early next year, with a launch party in a BMX store of all places currently being planned. “It’s sort of one of those unlikely choices for venues but it turns out it’s looking pretty good.” Explains Moonshine.
This constant forward momentum with a streak of creative innovation is what any local group, hip-hop or no, need to do if they want to stay afloat in a burgeoning local scene but it’s sometimes not enough, Mr Moonshine believes, if a band want any real sort of recognition. That said, he believes the Melbourne hip-hop scene is in a healthy state. “I can’t really speak for other major cities or regions of Australia. From what I’ve seen around Melbourne it’s pretty healthy. There’s quite a few dudes that are active and are putting their own spin on it and their own interpretation on how it should ought to sound. So I think it’s a pretty good scene in Melbourne. But in saying that it’s definitely not as big as the European or American markets. It’s always been the case that you’ve got to get recognition over seas before anyone sort of notices at home despite many acts grinding away touring and performing locally for so many years and not getting the recognition and then going overseas and being hailed as the next big thing. We’ve got so much talent whether its house producers or small rock outfits. There’s a lot of world-class talent right under our noses. But that’s just the way it is I guess.”
BY ADAM ROBERTSHAW
