First, congrats on the album man, The Cold Light of Day. It’s getting high rotation in my household. How has the response been to the new album?
It’s been really good critically. It’s had high acclaim from the media, and people reviewing it, it’s had a good spin on triple j, 4 out of 5 from Rolling Stone and it’s selling better than other records I have done, so yeah I can’t complain. It’s doing everything I was hoping it would do.
It’s no secret that the entire production for the LP was handled by Plutonic Lab. Can you give the reader a little insight to how the project came about, the processes and communication involved when working with someone who lives in another city?
Well I obviously worked with him for the whole of the last LP (Audio Projectile), so it kind of forged a lot of the new beginnings for this latest record. The last one, we were a little temptated [sic] I guess, as I had to fly down and stay at his house and record over a couple of years. We banged that out daily, quick, where as in-between writing this new record he was flying around the world drumming for the [Hilltop] Hoods. I had a baby in that time, and had other commitments, and my DJ was in the same boat, so it was pretty hectic aligning schedules in terms of getting down and working in the same room, because we work really hands on, all of the music was written together. In the beginning the lyrics were written away from him but they all got scrapped.
So I was working on the record a lot longer than he was, then about halfway through the three year gap, we got serious and spent a lot of time in each others company, me flying down and staying two weeks at a time and just writing together and having the confidence in each others abilities. Seeing each other working in the infancy stages meant that we could make our music really cohesive, where more often or not the producer will give out a catalogue, they pick the beat, rap to it, record, then give the vocals to the producer and he may do something with it. We were side by side, and he would be like “nah I don’t like that,” and visa versa, or “you know you should do more of that,” or “I can do this,” so we were writing together for about 95% of this record. We have a great working relationship, we’re good mates and this is how we are going to create the next record as well.
I want to know how you got your name, Dialectrix? To me it represents your style completely, being ‘dialect’ as in your subject matter and lyricism, and ‘electric’ as in your flow and how you come across as an MC. Am I even remotely close?
Yeah, you couldn’t of hit the nail more on the head. I was about 15 or 16 at high school and my original name, as much as I don’t like to admit it, was The Grinch, and I just knew I would have problems with it, and it being a Dr Seuss character as well. I thought some one else would have it, so I just wanted to can it as it was a stupid kind of name. Just before we started out with Down Under Beats, I wanted to get an official name. Then I saw on the blackboard, one side “dialect” and the other side “electric”, smashed the two together and stuck with it. So yeah, it wasn’t something I was trying to achieve through rap, it was just a simple thing, it’s pretty self explanatory with the people who know my music.
You’re originally from the Blue Mountains. There must have been something in the water back then with talent such as Urthboy, Hermitude and the Thundamentals also growing up there. Did you guys ever hang out and do music?
I was born in New Zealand, and was raised through my teenage years in a place called Springwood which is about half way up the mountain. I lived there from the age of 10 to about 18, so I do consider myself a Blue Mountains bred human being, but I’m living in Sydney now frolicking around there. I haven’t been back to the mountains for a while now, like probably 10 years, [but] you know, all my friends are from there, I got into music there, and it definitely holds a special place in my heart that’s for sure.
Your first group, Down Under Beats Crew, released their first albums 10 years ago. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
We had it pressed up and released to our immediate fans in the Blue Mountains in 2003, while still in high school. It was a trip out, I found [the albums while] going through some old stuff, and I was just thinking about that time and how it was the 10th year anniversary. It got a distro deal and we won Triple J Unearthed in January 2004. Yeah, it’s pretty crazy that journey, to think about 10 years of releases let alone just working on stuff. I was 17 when that was released, they were raps from when I was 14 on that record.
Did you think that Down Under Beats Crew had made it when you were Unearthed by triple j?
Yeah… I didn’t have the capacity to deal with what was happening, like I said, it was a very rural regionalised area, we were essentially big in our local area. I walked out of high school and thought I was going to be Silverchair. I had no idea what I was in for. Then we done a show in Sydney and Canberra and everyone there was practically a mate, or someone I knew. Then I realised and had a rude awakening that there is an industry and this is a business, it was daunting. You realise that you’re not popular outside of your home area. It was a platform in someway but it was also a platform to let people down.
Your discography is crazy, and the quality never slouches. Do you feel like you are slept on by the masses yet highly regarded by the heads that love the real hip hop, or do you feel that your fanbase touches upon a large percentage of the people that are listening to hip hop in Australia?
It gets to a point where if you have high output, you always have the eternal battle of quality versus quantity and I’m one of those people that writes really quickly. A lot of songs I have written recently have been written in the studio next to Plutonic or working on the EP. It was just written and recorded without going back and rephrasing anything. Sometimes I can spend months upon months depending on the song, but I’m usually extremely quick. I really like working fast and I feel like shit if I don’t get it out. The three years between releases, I knew I had content up my sleeve.
People are like goldfish these days, you have to keep coming up with new content and stimulating them as they forget really quickly. I’m working on a new EP now and I’m hoping to get it out by the end of the year, so I’m always trying to work incredibly hard and fast as I’m changing every year. Three years from now, I’m going to be a completely different person and I want my music to reflect that, but yeah man, I always want to keep that output up as much as possible.
Gully Platoon, how did that project come about? What’s it like working with Pegs, and will there be another instalment in the future?
I think that could fire up again, depending on what Pegs and Joe (New) are doing with their solo albums. I think all three of us took a little bit longer than expected. I know Pegs is working on music, whether it’s his album or another project.
I left Down Under Beats to do solo stuff and always had the intention of hooking back up with Joe. He is one of my oldest and dearest friends from the mountains, and I mentioned that to Pegs one day and he said how he always wanted to form a group. Once again it was a logistical nightmare having people in different places, and I think at the time we wanted to achieve different stuff. We hope to be working on a project soon, when it comes out I don’t know, but there is going to be another Gully Platoon record for sure.
I would say that you’re a great all-round MC. You’re freestyle skills are top notch. How important was the freestyle element of rap for you growing up and as an artist in general?
Oh man, I grew up freestyling forever, freestyle is a huge part of who I am as an artist. I think there is a massive importance with the art of freestyling. Joe and I would sit in the park and rap and rap and rap. We didn’t have beats, producers and gigs, it was about fun and getting one up on each other. You learn all these intrinsic parts of rapping that can’t be taught. You learn how to vibe off another MC, how to stay on time, where to put your rhyming words, we just used to freestyle way too much. By the time we got beats we had already been rhyming for years.
How important is Community Radio, not only to yourself as an artist, but as a whole in the Australian Musical landscape?
I think it’s incredibly important. We used to have a station in the mountains called Blue FM, and I went in there when I was 14 and had my first experience. From there it went to 2SER, FBi. I remember getting my first song played on 2SER when i was 15.
Once I cottoned on to community radio, I started listening to the stations as well, and learning about the blossoming music communities around me. It’s a great communal medium of media. The name speaks for itself. It would be an absolute shame if there was no community radio. It’s just so healthy for music and art. I don’t think we could of built such a big fan base with out it, and as the gap between commercial radio “pop” and the up and coming artist becomes larger due to the internet, it’s becoming more and more important.
Dialectrix will be performing at the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle on Friday August 2, 2013. The Cold Light of Day is out now through Obese Records.
Interviewer: Michael Williams