THE HERD FUTURE SHADE TOUR
The original poster boys for thinking man’s Aussie hip hop, The Herd, are back ten years after their first cut with a new album Future Shade. We speak to the group ahead of the Sydney launch.
Since your first album The Herd of 2001 to Future Shade of 2011, how has the sound and ethos of The Herd changed? The ethos has remained relatively consistent given that it has been five albums and over 10 years now. The songs continue to be about topics that interest us, challenge us, as they blend between political and personal experiences. Saying that, Future Shade delves a little deeper into our personal lives. We hope the sound has changed too over the years but without wanting to pretentiously try and describe it, we’d rather the listeners make up their own minds on this.
You mention also a shift in your political severity, from the rebel-rousing 77% to this album’s Shihaba. Can you explain that shift a little?
We believe that there is more learnt from multiple pictures of a
subject from different angles then a single point of view. If all our
songs tried to maintain the rage of 77%, then it may lessen the impact
and people would become immune and lose the message. While we still
have some fiery songs like Red Queen Theory on Future Shade, Shihaba
takes a different approach to describing the xenophobia of 77% by
looking at an Australian who is racially profiled overseas.
What’s your take on the local hip hop scene circa 2011? Hip hop is very healthy in Australia at the moment. One area that is flourishing is indiginous hip hop offering stories with heart coming from acts like The Last Kinection, Yung Nooky, Jimblah, and Impossible Odds.
And what would the Herd like to do next? We originally made 30 songs on this album that got whittled down to 16 that went to mix and master. We chose a final 12 for the album with the thought that the remaining four can come on another Herd release in the near future.
Sep 17, 8pm, with support by Sietta, Metro Theatre, 624 George St, Sydney, 9550 3666, metrotheatre.com.au
