Hello everybody. Welcome to the Sound Quality Podcast. Before we begin, we'd just like to acknowledge this podcast is being recorded on Wurundjeri land and we'd like to pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded, always was, always will be.
Hello everybody. Welcome back to the Sound Quality Podcast. This is episode two of Sound Quality where myself, Neale Lawrence, Mr. Jackie Bigtones, AKA Jack Hewitt and Chloe Paul each choose an Australian song and speak about it at length. Yeah, I like the Wu Tang. So this week's tunes what, we have is myself, Neale, I'll be listening to Over, Under, Away by Emma Donovan and the putbacks from the album Dawn.
That was 2014 on Hope Street and also appears on the Over, Under, Away compilation which celebrates 10 years of Hope Street recordings. So my song is [00:01:00] Rapunzel by Alove, which was released in 2002 on the classic Obese City compilation. I believe it was the first ever Obese Records compilation of its time.
So 2002 is pretty early in the Aussie hip hop state of things. And I will be doing Adelaide singer Jess Day and her song Affection, which was released in 2019. So Rapunzel Day
So that was Rapunzel by Alove, released in 2002 on Obese City. The reason I really like that song is it's about her dealing with her, like, I guess, mental health as well. You could talk about, like, it's okay to fuck up. Like, I've always liked that line, you know what I mean? She's talking about growing up being like a tomboy into hip hop and all that stuff, and obviously, especially in Australia, like, hip hop for that time, for women to fit in, that would be, you know, like, extremely hard for, you know, any woman to fit in with that kind of [00:02:00] culture, and, you know, don't live by the status quo, like, she's literally proving it on the mic Kind of poetics around, yo, I can do this, I can be what I want, like, as an MC.
And, you know, I think she released an album after this, in like, 2007? I remember buying it at the time, but and I remember it being dope. But yeah, I think that's the only release she had after this. So yeah, if, A Love, you're listening to this, mega props to you. You know, you probably don't get the props you deserve in terms of like, the hip hop.
Like pioneers, but I reckon you're definitely in, in that conversation. And yeah, you inspired me definitely with your, your skill and kind of delivery on that track. I, it's definitely in the conversation. If you're on the first obesity, you know what I mean? Like the, the, what I reckon is great about that track, apart from all the things you just mentioned, is that road sample, the, the, the keys, right?
I could just listen to that shit all day long. Yeah, it's a very [00:03:00] drive. Yeah, it's just such beautiful chords, you know what I mean? And it's familiar, I'm not sure, but it's sampled from something that I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But just you could loop that for an hour and I would be totally fine with all that.
It's got a real nice sound, man, and it sounds like early 2000s Melbourne hip hop, doesn't it? Like, totally sounds like it. Yeah, I mean, you're a man after my own heart. Rapunzel, I love a little folklore representation in music. Yeah, no, when she said the right to fuck up, that's like my favourite thing.
Yeah, I loved it. I really liked there was a rhyme there with like friction in the first verse And Override and Kill, is that, like, also a metaphor with music? Like, Override in music and stuff? Yeah, I would, I would say so, but just to go off what you were talking about, Chloe, like that's another good part of the song, like, the vulnerability of it, you know what I mean?
Like, actually just getting out there, and it, like, it being that early in the Australian hip hop life [00:04:00] cycle, like, for her to just be like, yo, this is, this is me being vulnerable, I'm here, I'm a tomboy, you know, I love hip hop, and I'm gonna just talk about, you Like, me not fitting in or whatever, like, I think that was, that's dope and I would have heard that song maybe like a couple years after it came out.
Yeah, and also, I mean, it can't be understated either, the importance of just obese records generally to to the, the both Australian and Melbourne hip hop scene. I mean, the Did only release Australian artists? Is that? Yeah. Pretty sure. Where is it based? Is it in Melbourne? They might have licensed overseas releases and shit.
There was like a British British group Nine High, I think. But they were based in Melbourne too. Like, you know, Nine High. Right. Okay. Like, you know fracture. So Fracture. Yeah. So he lived in Melbourne, but he was British. Yeah. And Great. Yeah, he was sick. Those Smash Brothers tracks.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. God yeah. They're awesome Word. But yeah, they're primarily like [00:05:00] Australian hip hop. That was, that was the obese records era. It started, as far as I know, as far as I know, it started as a shop in Prahan. And became a label. I might be getting that wrong. No, you're right. That sounds about right.
Ooh, Prahan I know, I was like, that's still very Prahan. To release a Aussie hip hop. The shop was dope, man. Did you ever go to it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually never went. I was probably too young, but. It was like a real, Was it before gentrification? It's Brian's always had a bit of, like, a bit of both.
Like, Chapel Street and Grebel Street always had a bit of both. Yeah, true. Actually, now that you say that, it's like It's like St. Kilda, right? It's like, there's yuppies and there's junkies. It's like, you know, and it's still a bit like It's a melting pot. But it closed pretty early, like, I reckon, what, like, ten years ago, maybe?
Like, And I just, I just never got to go. I would love to go, but yeah. But it was like one of the first shops that was, and there's a few around now that do do a similar thing, but it wasn't just like, I mean, it was hip hop [00:06:00] culture, right? So you could go in and buy records, you could go in and buy like, you know, spray cans, you could go in and buy books.
You know, it was probably the first place on earth that you could buy fucking King's Way. You know, that famous graph book. And there was always just, you know, and then merch as well, like hoodies and all that kind of shit, kicks. So they were really into it was pegs, obviously, who kicks all that off.
And ShemBeatHeads as well. I think there's actually a really good podcast episode of Beers, Beats and the Biz. And he details his whole kind of like like how he's helped Peg start Obese Records. Oh rad. And yeah, it's one of my favorite podcast episodes ever. So props to that episode. We should put a link to that.
Yeah, let's link to everything that we talk about. Yeah, that's, that's really great. Yeah, and I mean, I remember going there and actually, to be honest, like. Go in there and feeling like a bit fucking intimidated. Yeah. Yeah, it's like a pretty You know, I like yeah back in the day, you know, hip hop was I mean still is [00:07:00] but like pretty fucking staunch, man Well, so like, you know, if I walked in there as some little 19 20 year old kid You know And then there's these heavy looking dudes, and like, fuckin hoodies, and 300 kicks, and all the rest of it.
I remember he saying that a bunch of the rappers who would later on get signed to Obese, they'd be at like, working at the counter, that's how they like, got signed to like, Muph and even like, Bias B at one point. Literally got signed through just working at the place. Yeah, shit man. That's unreal. That's awesome, man.
I love that. Cause it's like, there's a really famous Chicago label called Wax Tracks. Yeah, true. Who were responsible for like ministry and things like that. Which has got nothing to do with hip hop. As in Ministry of Sound? British? No, no, no. The Band Ministry. Like an industrial metal band. But anyway.
But they started as a shop as well. So like, Wax Trax used to be like the coolest record store in Chicago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And [00:08:00] so everybody would go there and buy their records there. And then eventually all the Chicago bands started just like the record shop owners. Basically just kind of went, well why the fuck aren't we?
Yeah. It's really building that community. Yep. So, like, props to Pegs and Obese Man. Like, you know, even though as a kid they were fucking scary. They are, you know, really responsible for kicking off. Like, you'd have to make an argument that without Obese you don't get elephant tracks. No. You know, like, you don't get me. But seriously though, like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't get all the, the, the Hiltop Hoods, like literally, like, that's where Hiltop Hoods came from. Oh really? Okay.
The song I chose was Over, Under, Away by Emma Donovan and the Putbacks. And if you just listen to that before listening to me talk about it, I'll give everybody a second to wipe the tears from their eyes and [00:09:00] calm down a little bit which is a legitimate reaction to me. I, I find Emma Donovan to just be probably If not the best voice in Australia, probably the best in the world.
Like she's just, for me, she's got the same thing that Nina Simone has. Like her voice just carries the pain of the fucking world in it. You know what I mean? I have a real hard time listening to Emma Donovan. It's usually something I can't actually do in front of other people. Right? I kind of, if I have a bad day, it's usually like a couple of Jamesons and, you know, fucking crying to Emma Donovan.
So the but also the other thing is of course the mighty putbacks backing her. And anybody who's hung out with me for more than like five minutes. Will have endured a lecture about how the putbacks are the fucking best band on earth, just instrumentally unassailable. Like you can watch these guys do an instrumental set.
You can watch them do a set with Emma [00:10:00] Donovan. I mean, I'll watch these guys blow hiatus coyote off the stage. You know what I mean? Like that takes fucking doing man. It should be mentioned by the way that Simon Maven, the keyboard player in Putbacks, also plays keys in Hiatus. Oh, that makes so much sense.
I was about to say, when I saw her live, was supporting Napalm. Yep. Was that at the forum? Yeah. Yeah. I was there as well. Yeah. The yeah. So I don't think I'm kind of, you know, talking out of school here or anything. And it's probably my taste actually. But the putbacks are just amazing, man. Like they're just, this whole album, Dawn.
Not just this track, but the whole album is like every single musical decision is the most Tasteful thing you could possibly do in them. Like it's the most perfect decision There's like never they never overplay that but you know, they can like they're all VCA jazz dudes from back in the day Amazing musos and just on that on that [00:11:00] level of musicianship that song Half of that song is carried by congas and bass, right?
Oh, okay. There's no, I mean, all the whole band comes in at the back end, right? Yeah. You hear it all kind of fill out a bit. That's what I was going to kind of feature. But there's about two minutes of that just being carried with congas and bass and voice, obviously. And it's like, you got to appreciate the, like the sparseness of that.
And that decision to be like, if any, if I ever went to a gig and it was a bass player and a conga player, I would be like, I am off to the bar, mate. I just am not interested in this at all. Right. But that song, you know, congas and bass and voice, and by about two minutes in, you're ready to put yourself in jammos and have a cry.
I'll tell a story about that, actually. The first gig I [00:12:00] saw when lockdowns lifted was Emma Donovan and the Putbacks at like a reservoir community thing, right? Oh my goodness. Yeah, they put on some community show and it was like 20 bucks for a ticket or whatever. And myself and my partner at the time went and they closed out.
With that tune and I had to just what a weird song to finish on because it's so low energy But man, like it was really something and they didn't even do it bring in the full band They literally just did it congas and bass all the way through live and it was this really informal thing like You know, it was in some community center or whatever and so the whole band was just like, you know, Emma Donovan's wearing like trackies and no shoes and all the rest of it, and they just kind of got up and had a play, right, and played all these great songs.
It was a really, really cool, cool thing and then at the end they, they close out with that, right, and I had to just like walk outside and just take a moment. For [00:13:00] myself and I'm like, you know, my partner's like, are you okay? I'm like, yeah, fine. I'm a man. I can handle it. It's all good. It's something in my life.
But it was just the most beautiful thing, man. And I think because being a musician and whatever and loving live music, and that was the first live thing I'd heard. In two years or whatever and for them to close out with that was just like god damn it, man Like, you know, it's like full circle. You're coming back to life.
I just want to add this as well if I can In 2019 Hope Street Records released their 10 year kind of anniversary for want of a better term, compilation. And it's no surprise that they titled it Over, Under, Away after this tune. So Over, Under, Away, Volume 1 it's all the Hope Street recordings from 2009 to 2019.
And it is also As worthy of, of, of anything you should definitely listen to it. So it's, it's interesting to me [00:14:00] that they close out Dawn with Over, Under, Away. And they close out Over, Under, Away with Over, Under, Away. And then the putbacks close out their sets with Over, Under, Away. They're really trying to just fuck with you, you know what I mean?
Like, really. Was it released in 2019? Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if they like, were they predetermining COVID? Like they're like, Oh, here's your soundtrack for the next three years. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. It is just while I'm here. I mean, the, the people on this are just incredible. So you got the Bombay Royale Zillernova Cactus Channel.
Oh my gosh. I think one of them. I think they performed. They performed with metadata. They were like the headliner. Yeah, I think they were. Channel play for years. And they did, so my, actually I'm going to bring this up, my favourite thing in Songs are Stops, and they do the most insane, simultaneo sim bleh.
I can never say that word. Simultaneously. Simultaneously the stop and start, [00:15:00] it was the most shocking, like I was talking to Dean, and all of a sudden they did that and I was like, oh my god. And then they started all at the same time and it was impeccable. And I think maybe that actually triggered that, like, favorite element of a song in me.
Cause I use that all the time in my songs. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the Cactus Channel are a proper, proper time band, right? Yeah, insane. They're really good. They're, they're, they're, a couple of their records are really amazing as well. Just another while we're here a band that kind of gets slept on a little bit that people should listen to and is on over, under, or away the compilation is The Meltdown.
Yeah, I don't know them. Yeah, absolutely amazing. So it's, I don't have the info off the top of my head right now, but there's two albums. It features all the same kind of dudes, like half the putbacks are in the Meltdown, and the other half will be, you know, probably dudes from the Cactus Channel, fucking who knows.
But that first album is, is really, really something. It's kind of like if you imagine like psychedelic funk, but there's like [00:16:00] country songwriting in there. Oh my gosh. And I usually, yeah, I'm usually not a fan of country, right? No. But it's almost like, almost like that that, that meter's record that has country elements in it.
It's like that with this really good male vocalist. So that's also worth a listen. This is going to turn into a little love letter to Hope Street Records, obviously. Yeah. But. I mean, that's the point of this podcast. Yeah, that's it. Is to just highlight all these songs, like, that define culture around ourselves individually and of Australia and Melbourne.
That's right. Burn City, sorry. Burn City, yeah. I was also going to say about Emma's voice and like the, In the chorus, the under, over, over, and going up, is very unexpected. I was expecting it to stay level. Yeah. So that triggered a little, ooh! Yeah, no, it's a, it's a phenomenal. Phenomenal line and just the, the tamr of her voice is just in absolutely incredible.
I just add as [00:17:00] well that 'cause we're talking about obese and kind of the, the impact that obese had hope Street kind of has a similar impact on Melbourne Soul. Yeah. And so it kind of works this way that you know, there was a bit of a soul revival in the very early two thousands. And, you know, you had kind of like Sharon Jones and the Daptones and the Dapkings and all that kind of stuff.
And they had a really interesting approach to recording, which they labelled shitty as pretty. So they weren't going for mega clean kind of sound. They were going for like a band, a band in the room kind of sound. And Hope Street took that idea and ran with it in a really big kind of way. And now because of Hope Street and, and them getting behind, you know Cactus Channel Putbacks, all these bands that kind of came out, you now have this kind of like cottage industry in Melbourne.
Yeah. That is people releasing seven inch funk and soul records that quite often make it to like UK radio stations and stuff. Cause there's a massive Northern soul. [00:18:00] scene that still permeates the UK, but now you've got like Choi Records, which is run by Ivan, Ivan Choi. I'm going to mess up his last name.
Sorry, Choi. The guy from Street Poetics. Well, Street Poetics, but also Cookin on Three Burners that Dan West, your boy, plays guitar in. You've also got the College Knowledge Boys, who are younger cats, but inspired by, you know, Cookin and the Bamboos and also Afrobeat, but especially Hope Street. And they now have their own kind of label and release really rad stuff really, really rad stuff from all of their friends.
So it's like, we've now got this generational effect of you know, the Hope Street dudes all be probably in their forties and fifties by now, but now there's an entire generation coming up behind releasing their own records, like just doing it all themselves. And doing it in the old school fashion of like, pressing to seven inch, right?
Press to sevens. It's a, it's a beautiful thing. And Hope Street kicks it all off. Which I think's rad.
So that's Jess Day, not to be confused with [00:19:00] Jess Day from New Girl, the TV series. But yeah, so she grew up in a mining town and then moved to Adelaide, a. k. a Radelaide.
Radelaide is such a nickname that the city gave itself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I had to say it because I've met people from Adelaide that say Radelaide, that. They also put chicken salt on bloody everything. That's really, that's always good. It's really one of those things where it's like, yeah, yeah, they call me Neale.
But really, my friends call me Champion. You know what I mean? It's like, no one calls you that, mate. It's also like I lived in Brisbane and it's not Brisbane, it's BrisVegas. BrisVegas makes more sense, though. Just saying. Yeah, so I like to compare her to like, she's like the Australian Hayley Williams in her songwriting and stuff.
And kind of, she's a bedroom kind of rider and then got signed. A few years later, so good for her. My main qualm with her is there's no album yet. Like, she's done a few singles, a few EPs and [00:20:00] there's just not enough of me to consume because her songwriting is impeccable. Yeah, and I struggled between choosing.
She's got two other songs that are my favourites called Rabbit Hole and Naked, and I struggled to choose which one. But I decided on this one because it's really relevant to me recently, because I feel like the song's about A situationship, and like, you're trying to be nice, but also are trying to like, have boundaries, and stuff like that, so I really, really enjoy that kind of aspect of the song.
I'll say the, the production's nice and clear on that tune. Yeah. Like the, the drums are pretty, like, pretty, pretty simple, but the the sound of it all is really clear it's like a, an example of like, modern indie production. Oh, yeah. That's really nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Her songwriting is amazing.
And she's definitely someone who's, she's kind of got like a goth, witchy vibe to her. So I'm hoping when the album drops it's going to have like lots of little witchy vibes. Also like, I want to write music with her so bad, so. Because I, like, I write, I've written [00:21:00] songs literally analysing her songs, being like, okay, like, what's the rhythm, what's It's this and it has those like guitar riffs, which I thought you'd appreciate now.
Can you message her on Instagram I actually went to her gig, the most recent Melbourne gig she did was supporting and I commented on her post being like, can't wait to see you. And then she liked it. And then after her set, we made eye contact in the crowd. The collab is on. The collab is on y'all.
So basically, I'm manifesting that. You're manifesting that relationship. Yes, I am. I wanna, it's a very one sided conversation. Talk about situation ship. Oh yeah, Neale, do you know what a situation ship is, by the way? I was like, I actually put a question mark. Check if Neale knows what this is. Look, I mean, I could take a bit of a guess, I suppose.
I imagine it has something to do with either, you know, convenience or It's like friends with benefits, but But more, but then A full on relationship. [00:22:00] Right. So it's half way between a relationship. All we need is just more affection, yo. What's going on? Like the song says. Come on. Don't get in that situation.
So it's a relationship that hasn't been defined. But there's an ongoing situation. Yeah. It's a relationship. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like I've been in that position. So it's very relatable. But also the album art, I think is amazing and I also love, I need some attention. Cause like I remember when I my partner at the time, sometimes when I was just like in a bad mood, I'm like, I just need attention.
Just hang out with me. Can you talk, sit and talk to me for like a half an hour and then go back to whatever you're doing. So yeah, I just find, yeah, her songs are very relatable and I think her songwriting is, yeah, amazing. Is she still, like, playing around and stuff? How long ago did you see her? So King Stingray I saw, I think, hmm.
I think it was towards the beginning of last [00:23:00] year. It was in Thornbury. I'm ass I'm hoping she's doing an album. That's why she hasn't Like, she did a whole sling of stuff promoting Lovers her most recent EP. So I'm hoping there's going to be some new stuff from her soon. And she's kind of in circles with, like, Amy Shark.
She's supported. Yeah, King Stingray, obviously. And, yeah. Cool. I like the EP as a format, I have to say. I've always been a fan of, of EPs. I think it's a really, really cool way to get into, into music and get into bands and stuff. Or artists, or whatever you want to call it, right? But that whole, like, you know, four, five, six tracks.
format I really, really enjoy. I think it's a great, great way to go about things. Like also because it's so hard to do a finish whole album. I'm struggling to finish an EP at the moment. Not me, not me. I got to say I'm with the EPs. When you, when you saw her live, as you just heard, she had a full band.
She had a full band [00:24:00] behind her. Yeah. So she plays. guitar and then has her band supporting her as well. Guitar, bass, drums, keys, that kind of thing. Yeah, great. So it'd be a nice full sound. Oh, 100%. And it's at what's the Thornbury Theatre? Is opposite Oh, no, Croxton. Yeah, is it Croxton? Yeah, Croxton yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I love that venue. I have never actually been to a show there, but I was gutted, right, twice last year. I went past there and this old kind of, you know, thrash band I like called Soulfly, right, who came out of Sepultura, were playing. And I immediately, and I looked at the date and I got the dates wrong, right.
It was like, oh, back this time last year, it was the first of the 12th Right, and I immediately got onto my boy and was like yo, do you want to go see soul fly? And he was like, yeah, yeah do it I'm like don't I'll buy tickets and eventually I got on the phone to buy tickets and then realized That [00:25:00] they were playing that night.
Oh, wow. So like I was on the tram looking at the sign trying to buy tickets to a show that they were probably on stage for as I was trying to buy tickets. And I had to text my boy back and just be like, dude, I fucked up so badly. Like, you know, we can't, we can't go. And then the second time, the, you know, one of the great grind core bands, Napalm Death were playing and I just went past on the tram like.
Fucking Napalm Death are playing tonight. Why don't I know these things? For the Croxton, I've got this weird relationship. I wonder if people rocked up to Napalm's set expecting Napalm Death and vice versa. That'd be pretty funny. That would be pretty funny, yeah. Oh yeah, and one last thing I want to say because I was reading up on some of her interviews and stuff like that and back to me figuring out what my like New Year's resolution is and doing what Unapologetic creation.
That is my new year's resolution. You don't sound very, very resolved to this quote, I have to say. I literally was like thinking about it and then I read this quote [00:26:00] this morning. And it, I just thought it was a really good metaphor. So she says, I'm chipping away at the marble, steadily uncovering the best version of myself creatively with every release.
And I really love that because I'm such a perfectionist. with my songs and I hold on to them and I'm trying to let go of them and just release them and get them out. I guess be less precious about it and remember that I'm just doing it for fun and I'm doing it for myself and I just kind of love that.
With every song that I write, I'm slowly getting closer and closer to realizing like my real creative art Sound Quality Sound quality that wraps up episode 2 of sound quality. Thank you so much for listening I hope you guys enjoyed and we'll catch you guys on the next one