Pez (23/04/2013)
Aussie rapper Pez is back with a new single “The Game”, an appearance at the Groovin The Moo festivals and a headline tour. He talks to The 59th Sound about life, his music and ‘that song’.
Hey Pez, what have you been up to lately?
Just mainly trying to finish the album, I’ve been rehearsing for the tour a bit too but the main focal point is trying to finish the album.
You must be excited about the tour and Groovin The Moo?
Yeah definitely man, Groovin The Moo will be crazy. I’m pretty excited to have been able to get on there even though I’ve only got a single out, like most of the dudes on there have got albums out so I’m pretty lucky to be included on the bill. So yeah pretty excited about that and then my first tour in quite awhile, so all of its gonna be pretty epic.
I noticed on your last headline tour a few years ago you had support from 360 and Seth Sentry, are you proud of the success that they’ve had recently?
Yeah it was awesome cause after having a pretty lengthy break and getting unwell for awhile, to see 306 explode and Seth killing it was really inspiring for me. I’d gotten into a pretty dark place there for a while where you kind of don’t know where you’re at and I hadn’t written music in forever. So to see them doing well reminded me, like "what the fuck are you doing man? Get back out there and join in the fun".
Your manager has organised some dates for Melbourne, does it make you feel good to have some hometown support?
Yeah. After the break I didn’t really think anyone would give a shit or know who I was, so to come back and see there is all these people out there is pretty awesome and very reassuring. To go back home and play shows and know that people wanted to see that is cool.
Can you tell me abet about Purpose who is joining you for the tour dates?
I’ve known about Purpose for ages cause we’ve both been around for a while, he’s done all the rap battles back in the day. When I heard his single Alive I thought it was sick and it impressed me. Now he has an album out it makes perfect sense for him to come and support me at my shows. He’s a very talented dude, he does all his own beats a lot of the time and he’s a real hungry dude as well which is good. You want those sorts of people in the scene.
You might get asked this question all the time, but does it annoy you that you are widely known for the Festival Song?
I knew it could do big things but didn’t expect it to go as big as it did. At that time all the things I care about and where my heads at in music kind of got lost in the background, and it got pretty overwhelming so you get in a pretty weird place with that. But now its cool I’ve made my peace with it, its what it is, its fun and particularly when your at a festival and you play it its mayhem and really fun.
You have revealed you suffer from Graves Disease, how are you going with that and do you feel it has made you a stronger person?
Yeah I’m on the mend now, I tried to treat it naturally instead of drugs. Doing it naturally was pretty full on, it made me have a pretty good look at myself and change some things in my life. I guess at that point I was partying a lot and all that, not really taking care of yourself. It was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me, at the time it didn’t feel that way but since then it’s made me change my life quite a bit. I’ve definitely learnt a lot and I feel I’m a stronger person for it. It was a real blessing for me in the end.
Some Aussie Hip Hop artists have been accused of selling out, do you feel you have stayed true to yourself as an artist?
In my head the type of success you want is to be big, but once it did happen, it was the emptiest I’ve ever felt. This is not really what I’m looking for after all. For most dudes that is what they want but for me it wasn’t. After having a break it made me realise that I should make the music I wanna make and if it gets success its cool but the main thing was wanting to make real honest soulful genuine music that has heartfelt lyrics in it.
The good thing about Australian Hip hop is everyone is doing slightly different things, and its cool so I hope we can hold onto that.
Do you have a release date on your new album and do you have a name for it yet?
I think it will be in the second half of the year around August or so. The main focus at the moment is putting a single out and then there will be another one out before the album. I’m pretty nervous and excited about it at the same time. Nah I don’t have a name for it, I’ll probably wait til the last minute to decide on that. I hope that everyone enjoys my shows and new album. I appreciate the support that’s been shown since my return.
Mitchell Guy
Hey Pez, what have you been up to lately?
Just mainly trying to finish the album, I’ve been rehearsing for the tour a bit too but the main focal point is trying to finish the album.
You must be excited about the tour and Groovin The Moo?
Yeah definitely man, Groovin The Moo will be crazy. I’m pretty excited to have been able to get on there even though I’ve only got a single out, like most of the dudes on there have got albums out so I’m pretty lucky to be included on the bill. So yeah pretty excited about that and then my first tour in quite awhile, so all of its gonna be pretty epic.
I noticed on your last headline tour a few years ago you had support from 360 and Seth Sentry, are you proud of the success that they’ve had recently?
Yeah it was awesome cause after having a pretty lengthy break and getting unwell for awhile, to see 306 explode and Seth killing it was really inspiring for me. I’d gotten into a pretty dark place there for a while where you kind of don’t know where you’re at and I hadn’t written music in forever. So to see them doing well reminded me, like "what the fuck are you doing man? Get back out there and join in the fun".
Your manager has organised some dates for Melbourne, does it make you feel good to have some hometown support?
Yeah. After the break I didn’t really think anyone would give a shit or know who I was, so to come back and see there is all these people out there is pretty awesome and very reassuring. To go back home and play shows and know that people wanted to see that is cool.
Can you tell me abet about Purpose who is joining you for the tour dates?
I’ve known about Purpose for ages cause we’ve both been around for a while, he’s done all the rap battles back in the day. When I heard his single Alive I thought it was sick and it impressed me. Now he has an album out it makes perfect sense for him to come and support me at my shows. He’s a very talented dude, he does all his own beats a lot of the time and he’s a real hungry dude as well which is good. You want those sorts of people in the scene.
You might get asked this question all the time, but does it annoy you that you are widely known for the Festival Song?
I knew it could do big things but didn’t expect it to go as big as it did. At that time all the things I care about and where my heads at in music kind of got lost in the background, and it got pretty overwhelming so you get in a pretty weird place with that. But now its cool I’ve made my peace with it, its what it is, its fun and particularly when your at a festival and you play it its mayhem and really fun.
You have revealed you suffer from Graves Disease, how are you going with that and do you feel it has made you a stronger person?
Yeah I’m on the mend now, I tried to treat it naturally instead of drugs. Doing it naturally was pretty full on, it made me have a pretty good look at myself and change some things in my life. I guess at that point I was partying a lot and all that, not really taking care of yourself. It was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me, at the time it didn’t feel that way but since then it’s made me change my life quite a bit. I’ve definitely learnt a lot and I feel I’m a stronger person for it. It was a real blessing for me in the end.
Some Aussie Hip Hop artists have been accused of selling out, do you feel you have stayed true to yourself as an artist?
In my head the type of success you want is to be big, but once it did happen, it was the emptiest I’ve ever felt. This is not really what I’m looking for after all. For most dudes that is what they want but for me it wasn’t. After having a break it made me realise that I should make the music I wanna make and if it gets success its cool but the main thing was wanting to make real honest soulful genuine music that has heartfelt lyrics in it.
The good thing about Australian Hip hop is everyone is doing slightly different things, and its cool so I hope we can hold onto that.
Do you have a release date on your new album and do you have a name for it yet?
I think it will be in the second half of the year around August or so. The main focus at the moment is putting a single out and then there will be another one out before the album. I’m pretty nervous and excited about it at the same time. Nah I don’t have a name for it, I’ll probably wait til the last minute to decide on that. I hope that everyone enjoys my shows and new album. I appreciate the support that’s been shown since my return.
Mitchell Guy