Dogs back in the running
For Australian Hip Hop, in the beginning there was
the Resin Dogs. Yes at the beginning of the new millennium musical
collaborators Dave and DJ Katch, two Brisbane locals formed a
new group who infused their sound with upbeat jazzy dub and wildly
danceable beats on the turntables.
The Resin Dogs did for Hip Hop in Australia what
Barack Obama seems to be doing for the US. They grew and developed
awareness, among Australians putting us on notice that something
other than main stream and alternative rock/grunge music existed.
In hiatus in Australia since their last album's
release in 2005, the band could have been seen as disassembled,
however this is not the case. According to Katch from the Dogs,
they’ve been busy - just not in Australia. The expat Australian
community in Europe has found the Dogs a welcome blessing to their
ears for one.
“I
don’t know really, it’s just been a while between
records, away from the Australian audience finding a new crowd
but it still becomes exciting, and we’re still doing the
same thing,” he said.
Thanks to some nifty networking by their manager
in LA a few months back the band have also won themselves some
notorieity in the US. By virtue of the fact some of their new
material was entered into an international Hip Hop track production
competition which the Dogs later found out they’d taken
out the top prize.
“We never heard too much more about it and
then they rang up and mentioned the comp and told us we’d
won it,” said Katch.
The prize - recording time in the prestigious Document
Room Studios, headed up by producer JT Meskiel. Meskiel has worked
with the likes of Lauryn Hill and Britney Spears as well as co-produced
with Rick Rubin.
After some malarchy with the timing of taking up
their prize, remodeled studios and clashes of schedule the Resin
Dogs will head across to the Malibu studios in June. According
to Katch the possibilities are endless and as yet unknown.
“Yeh we don’t know too much about him,
he’s got a studio down in Malibu we won studio time for
three days and he [Meskiel] said stay for seven.”
“We could record an album or we could be picked
up to tour with someone, we’re not really sure yet,”
he said.
As well as their international acclaim which includes
being named as semifinalists in another international competition
- International Songwriting Competition (ISC) for the track ‘Fine
Mess’ and have just signed a 3 year management deal in India.
Back in Australia at the moment they are in full
swing of their national tour with a fresh line up of just the
right mix of musos and a swag of new material from this their
latest album, More. Their live shows remaining the drawcard
for the Hip Hop funksters to truly impress.
“We’ve tried to set the whole vibe dj-ing
up as soon as you walk in the door, it’s a sort of showcase
of all our albums and more like a performance than we’ve
done previously,” Katch said.
The use of visuals and multimedia will feature in
their live extravaganza as well some special guests will appear
on stage to get the vibe going.
“NFA will be on tour with us, as well as Mc
DNA.
“We’ll be introducing Mc DNO and ‘Blu
Rum 13’ will be joining halfway through the tour.”
Katch is pretty confident too that the crowd will
be receptive to the Resin Dogs. This dynamo Hip Hop act amid all
their variety, this gives them an appeal to their existing audience
as well as a new younger generation.
“Definitely a good vibe people have heard
about this band and are amped to come and see the show,”
Katch said.
“There is the younger side to the audience,
who weren’t old enough previously to come to the shows,
plus we’ve got that section of the newer audience who have
come to these festivals and it’s on radio and the older
fans still remember us, it’s incredible.”
Resin Dogs are making their way across the East
Coast check their Website at www.resindogs.com.au
Ruth Bailey
