There’s change in the winds of Australian hip hop, and there has been for a while. Our home-grown artists are making exciting, eclectic and viral hits that are pushing the boundaries that Allday tells me once felt claustrophobic as an artist on the rise.
He’s in a peculiar position, Allday. Traces of his artistic DNA can be found in most of what’s popular in today’s soundscape, from Mallrat to Triple One, though he’s quick to assert there’s an internal disconnect between who he is and what he’s done. The Melburnian rapper is aware of the influence he’s had, but he states there’s no greater message or a purpose to the music. It’s a humble and charming self assessment but it’s one that, as a fan, I can’t help but disagree with.
Although he insists he’s no protest poet, he’s encouraged triple j listeners to to “kill the billionaires, invest in local businesses”, and railed against Adani and other symptoms of late-stage capitalism. That memo may not be in every song in his discography, but that doesn’t mean that Allday’s spirit isn’t one of resistance. Truth is, he’s widened the once-tight boundaries of Australian hip hop for himself; he’s made himself comfortable, and in doing so has opened the door for others to do the same.
I chatted to Allday about his biggest goal — filling the gap between what he’s created, and who he sees himself to be. The rapper’s latest album ‘Starry Night Over the Phone’ is an incredibly diverse body of work that helps to connect those two spaces. From a left of field collaboration with The Veronicas to linking up with Young Thug’s audio engineer Alex Tumay, Allday is throwing convention out the window and is truly making the music that he wants to make.
Best Before: So first we had a 2013 single called “Claude Monet”, now the title of your new album is a play on Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’. We also know you’ve dabbled in other art forms, as you have a history as a standup comedian. Is it safe to assume there’s some Allday oil paintings lying around?
Allday: Ha, not good ones! There’s some at my mum’s house but, honestly, I would have posted them on Instagram by now if they were any good. I want to get back into it. There’s a real similarity between making a song and doing a painting. You can just slap paint on the canvas, and sometimes that works. But sometimes it’s methodical, especially with oil painting. You have to leave it, wait for it to dry, go back, clean the brush, and go again. To me, that’s what making songs is like.
There’s been a two year gap between this album and the last. What have you learned in that time?
The gap between the first album and the second took so long because I didn’t know who I was or why I made music. It’s one of those things where you start making music, then things start going the way you wanted, and that opens up a bunch of questions. Why did I want this? What about this did I want? So ‘Speeding’ took so long for those obvious reasons.
From the second album to the third I was motivated the whole time, I wasn’t smoking, and I wasn’t partying. I moved to Los Angeles and, because of that things took a little bit longer. I had previously worked with the same engineer, Charlie Daily, in Australia since the beginning. I was scared to work with a new engineer. Those little things, the adjustments, slowed me down a bit.
Has moving to LA changed your creative process?
I was going too slow initially because I didn’t have a workflow. I was waiting for some lightning bolt from outer space to strike me with creative genius and it just didn’t strike me enough. So I was looking forward to doing the classic LA studio session thing. Not to continue the painting metaphor but it’s kind of paint-by-numbers. They get in the studio and always get something done — in two hours, a song is done. Not many of the songs that I wrote there came in a two-hour session with a stranger. I do find them kind of bizarre, but it was important for me to hone in on that a bit. I had to realise that you have to sit down at the desk and do the work, because it’s not just going to come from outer space.
Speaking on working with a new engineer I saw that you worked with Alex Tumay, Young Thug’s engineer for “Protection”. How did you two link up?
I just saw him on YouTube. Obviously, I love Young Thug and Future so when I found out that this is the guy that makes them sound good I thought, “Holy shit, that would be so cool to get a mix from him!” So I followed him on Twitter and hit him up, but there was a bit of wrangling to do. His assistant had said yes to the mix, but he hadn’t done it and it had been weeks. That’s why there was such a gap between “Protection” and “Wonder Drug” – I was waiting for him to mix it. We have an Allday and Friends group on Facebook, and I asked everyone to go tweet him saying, “I’m so excited for this Allday and Alex Tumay song.” He DM’d me asking what the song was. He hadn’t even heard about it! His assistant accepted it, but he hadn’t heard about it. But we let him know, and got it done.
“It’s hard to know where the line is. You want to curve that instinct to always be looking for that next thing”
What were the decisions that led you to release “Wonder Drug”, “Protection” and “Lungs” as the taste-testers for this project?
I feel like I’m not entirely happy with how “Wonder Drug” turned out, but it was the first one that was done, so that’s where I’m at with that. I don’t know why any of this stuff happens to be honest. “Protection” came second — I do like “Protection”. To me, it bangs. I just performed it live two weekends ago, and it was fucking hard. I’m going to struggle with that, ha. With “Lungs”, that’s not really a radio song it’s just a rap song that came out organically. I don’t really know about the order of the singles, but there’s a fair bit on the album with the sound of each.
Can you tell me what was going on in your life when you wrote “See You When I See You”? It strikes me as a rather personal song.
That song’s about Adelaide. That track is actually the first one that stems from me writing a poem. I never really understood the connection between rap and poems. Growing up, I thought poetry was corny and rap was good, but now I see that they’re both good. I was writing a poem on the way to my old friend’s house just down Doors Road in Adelaide. When I was there, a lot of memories were flooding back. I had just come back from America and I was feeling separation from that life. I had just gone through a breakup over there, and I was seeing all this hometown stuff which brought a lot of emotion out of me. Some of the lyrics are about me leaving my little brother there because we’re close.
In “Hold On” you say, “Got my first gold plaque and I was happy for a second/ then I started thinking of my next one.” How have you managed your expectations in the music industry?
That’s human nature, to want more. I say it in that song:“much wants more.” That’s something that my grandma used to say to me, meaning you should be happy with whatever you get, but it’s human nature to start looking for the next thing. So, it’s hard to know where the line is. You want to curve that instinct to always be looking for that next thing as a human, but maybe with your career it’s okay to be looking for the next step.
I’m really proud of a song like “In Motion” because the lyrics mean something to me, and there was a lot of exploration and struggle in getting that right. So when you get a plaque for that, it’s really rewarding. I’m really proud of that plaque because I knew, when I released it, that it would continue to grow and that it had the correct feeling. But I do have to remind myself that once you’ve done a song, forget about it and go and make a better song.
The Veronicas collaboration is something that nobody would predict, but I think it’s a perfect fit! Can you tell me the story behind how you linked up?
I met them at a music festival in WA, I think it was Port Hedland or Kalgoorlie. They just waved and came up to us at the airport, and we went from not knowing each other to chatting for 40 minutes, just off that wave. We became pals from there; they spend a lot of time in Los Angeles and we have a lot in common in terms of books and art.
They asked if I wanted to come on their album ,and I asked them to hop on mine, so we kind of did a swap. It’s interesting, “Allday featuring The Veronicas”… I never thought that would happen when I was growing up and watching them on Rage. It’s kind of funny, but it all happened very naturally.
“My big aim right now is to prove to myself that I am who I think I am.”
You Tweeted “I finally feel like I have something to say in my music + the ability to say it.” What do you want people to take away from ‘Starry Night Over the Phone’?
I’m a big Tweet deleter. After that Tweet, I almost wanted to delete it. It makes it feel like I have a purpose or a message. and I don’t have a purpose or a message. I’m not Midnight Oil or Rage Against the Machine, or something.
But since I finished this album, I wasn’t exhausted like I was with the other ones. I’ve been back in the studio and I’ve made new songs — that’s kind of what I’m referencing in that Tweet. But I feel like, with what I spoke about before, getting in those sessions and getting songs done… now I feel like I know how to get the shit done, and have more of a belief in myself. Now is the beginning of a lot of good songs for me. I feel really optimistic about what I’ll be able to do in the next couple of years.
I’ve read that you’ve felt a bit of a disconnect between yourself and the Australian hip hop scene, but since you broke onto it, it’s changed immensely and moved away from that “skip hop” label. You’re considered a key player in that shift. What does that mean to you?
That’s pretty cool. When I was young, that’s what I wanted to do. At the time, it felt like the rap music that was popular in Australia was oppressive to me, in the sense that I didn’t think I could make the music I wanted to make and get anywhere. Even on my early EPs, there’s moments where I’m trying to sound like one of those Australian hip hop guys — those are the only moments I’m embarrassed of. I wish I’d stuck to my guns more, but there are moments where I did stick to my guns, and I’m really proud of those.
On ‘Startup Cult’, there were moments that were introducing new sounds to Australia and they were the first time those sounds were done by one of the more popular hip hop artists. On one hand, I’m really proud that I got to do that but, more accurately, I don’t really give a shit, ha! It’s really about making good shit and right now there’s somewhat of a disconnect between who I am as a songwriter, and what I’ve done. My big aim right now is to prove to myself that I am who I think I am.
Can you tell me about the tour and what you have planned for your Australian fans?
We’re still working on the whole stage plot, we’re going for a bit of a different approach. There’s going to be a band, singers, and it’s going to be a lot more interactive. There’s not gonna be a horn section or anything, but it’s moving away from just me running around a stage.
ALLDAY ‘STARRY NIGHT OVER THE PHONE’ TOUR DATES
Sat 17 August – Metro City – Perth (18+)
Fri 23 August – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane (AA)
Sat 24 August – Hordern Pavilion – Sydney (AA)
Fri 30 August – HQ Complex – Adelaide (AA)
Sat 31 August – Festival Hall – Melbourne (AA)
In the meantime, check out the new video for “Restless” feat. The Veronicas:
Have your first listen to ‘Starry Night over the Phone’ here:
Photos by Tim Lambert.