Let’s see, where did it all begin?……….
In 1983 when Malcolm McLaren released Buffalo Gals in Australia the hip-hop seed took root in many kids looking for a way to fit in.
I was one of those kids and instantly said to myself “this is it”. From that day I would practice the robot, the moonwalk, the backspin, the headspin, (ouch)… well forget about the headspin, but I was on my way to becoming a b-boy with the help of some friends. That was in Adelaide when I was younger and fitter.
I then moved into DJ-ing . I did a few party’s, the occasional club and some radio shows.
Then there was a brief attempt at Graff… but I sucked!
It wasn’t till I heard Run DMC’s “Tougher Than Leather” that I began to explore the art of rhyming.
Having done poetry and drama at school I found it fairly easy writing rhymes and constructing stories and characters….
So I discovered that this was definitely my calling and my place in the world of hip-hop!
The brethren assemble…
In 88 I met a graffiti writer known as Mistery in a pizza shop where he was working at the time. We hit it off and ended up talking about our involvement with hip-hop.
We didn’t realize it then but that night we were laying the foundation to start one of the longest running hip-hop group’s in Australia! We ended up calling the group we formed “Brethren”.
Now back then most MC’s had back up dancers so we had to have some too! We were a five man group with three dancers and Mistery and myself as the MC’s. The beats were mainly instrumentals of other hip-hop groups which we listened to at the time {biters!}.
We eventually got rid of the dancers & slowly accumulated money from gigs and where able to purchase a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder. For those of you familiar with pause button looping you’ll understand that this production process was long and arduous! But then we met a producer called Avene who had an Akai S900 sampler and made our beats in a fraction of the time {thank you God!}.
Around that time we also got ourselves a manager, the mighty Trent Roden {who now runs Earshot records}, and he helped us to get the right contacts that lead to seeing us release a self titled demo tape in 1994. That demo tape made it’s way to the number one afternoon TV show “Simon Townsend’s Wonder World” and they made for us {free of charge} a video clip for our song “Cruisin’”! The clip got played on the show, on Rage & on pay T V.
The releases….
Back then Mushroom Records had a subsidiary called MDS and they got their hands on the Brethren demo tape which lead to us releasing our first CD; the “Big Brother” EP in 1996. We also released a CD single called “Slingshot” that got some great airplay on Triple J {and also featured on the compilation “Homebrews 2″}
In 1997 I embarked on my first solo project which was the start of my production experience… Released on cassette and entitled ‘Words of Wizdm’ I am still amazed at where this first solo release keeps popping up all these years later! It was from this point on I had more of an influence on the “Brethren sound”. Up until then, like most MC’s, we were dependent on other beat makers and producers creating our sounds for us.
The rest of the 90′s and early 00′s saw us featuring on many compilations and other peoples projects. We did shows, clubs and festivals all over the country, national tours, and opened for lots of international artists. Then came 2004 and we released one of the most anticipated releases in the Australian hip-hop scene; our first full length album! “Beyond Underground” is an epic concept album with every track depicting a part of the story’s journey! It comes complete with an original comic book, created by Mistery and Chez. We released it on the independent label Mustard Records and distributed through Creative Vibes.
Now?
At the moment I’m working on my second solo release called ‘Unrelenting’ which will be out soon. I think it’s quite different from the “underground” sound of Brethren…
but you’ll just have to keep checking back here at www.wizdm.com to read all about it, hear some previews, and see who’s on it!
thanks for reading!
Wizdm.