A Matter Of Time

They’re friends and tour buddies of Aussie hip hop megastars Bliss n Eso, earned a nomination for Jmag’s Album of the Year and have sold out venues across Australia.

But according to MC Smiles Again, being friends with that other rap duo doesn’t mean they give you much preparation time, especially when it comes to laying down tracks. “It was a huge thing for us to be on their record, we were extremely excited for the opportunity … but we thought there was no way it was going to happen, the album was going to be out in five weeks or something like that. Then they sent us through the beat and were like ‘alright we need this back tomorrow’. We were like ‘thanks for heaps of notice’, but we had to write it and record it in just over a day. What could we do? We were really keen to be on it and they needed it done quickly.”

As well as working on Bliss n Eso’s latest studio project, Smiles Again and his creative comrade, Willow, have been putting together their second LP, ‘Just Like Fireworks’. Smiles says the new album is of a much higher standard than their previous releases. “We’ve evolved massively. In the last year and a half we’ve done so much experimenting with our voices and different flows and rhythms, especially with word play. Our earlier stuff, when I listen to that now we come across as two keen Sydney rap dudes, but now I feel we’re making a much higher quality level of music.”

The charismatic kids recorded ‘Just Like Fireworks’ in their new, ‘pimped out’, studio in Smiles' Sydney home. The album features industry heavyweights such as Pigeon John, Jon Reichardt, Saving Grace and mixing mastermind, Matik. Smiles says the duo took their time putting the tracks together. ‘It’s been a long freaking process making this album. We moved the studio to my place and spent a few thousand on it, pimping it out real good. It’s been a really cool recording environment, there’s no time limit, we don’t have to worry about other people and stuff like that, we can just do our own thing.”

Doing their own thing has been a way of life for Willow and the self-described 'pretty positive' Smiles, who got his name after freezing in a battle at the tender age of 15. “It was kind of my first stage appearance and it was a big deal to me. I got up there, spat my first two bars and then just froze. I took that pretty hard for a while but time heals all wounds and I got over it and looked on the brighter side.”

Choking is all in the past for this Sydney duo now. They've blasted a niche for themselves within the Aussie hip hop scene with their energetic live performances and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, making many in the music biz stand up and take notice. But Smiles says that despite all the opportunities, their recent tour with the Bliss n Eso boys stands out the most.

“The tour was pretty freaking fun. Those guys know how to party and we think we do too, so it’s a pretty good match there. Our sounds complement each other too, they’re not too distant. I thought it made for a really nice line up. The after party was just ridiculous at every place, that was what everyone looked forward to. The show itself is amazing, a huge rush.”

And if you thought you'd heard the name ‘Mind Over Matter' before, you have. Smiles says the boys decided to stick with the age-old saying after alternative names turned to rubbish.

“Willow actually thought of it during high school and it was a lot better than the names I was coming up with. A lot of people, whenever we tell them the name of our hip hop group they’re like ‘I think I’ve heard of that’, we just think, ‘no you’ve probably heard of the saying mind over matter’. I actually came up with The Butterfly Effect, which came out around the same time as the group The Butterfly Effect. I also thought of another one which sounds like an electrical company or something, Synergy. They were pretty rubbish so we decided to run with Mind Over Matter.”

MIND OVER MATTER WILL HIT THE BEETLE BAR ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 11. ‘JUST LIKE FIREWORKS’ IS SET FOR RELEASE IN FEBRUARY.