Tomorrow night, Levi’s and Bad Apples will be hosting a highlight showcase at the Laundry Bar as part of this week’s CHANGES music industry summit, currently underway in Melbourne. Set to showcase the talents of BIRDZ, Mojo Juju, Philly, DRMNGNOW and Soju Gang, the Bad Apples event will also be demonstrating the strength behind the country’s most prolific Aboriginal record label.
Ahead of the showcase this week, we checked in with BIRDZ to find out more about how the Bad Apples crew are going to be rallying together in bringing this one to life under the CHANGES spotlight.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for people to see what we’re about.” he says. “It’s always mad when we come together and when we’re able to do a show together. I’m really looking forward to performing alongside everyone, but especially the brother Philly. I think it’s been a minute since we’ve done a show together. He’s sitting on a lot of new music which I’m pretty excited to hear. I’ve been working on the next project too, it’s exciting. Any chance that we get to show what we’re about, we try and grab it with both hands and make the most of it.”
BIRDZ’s impressive debut release Train of Thought, was quick to propel the Melbourne rapper to national attention, landing him recognition with a Australian Music Prize nomination, as well as various shows around the country that introduced him to a strongly growing fanbase. Similar to the success Bad Apples’ boss Briggs has enjoyed recently, the way the public’s attention has whipped around onto not only BIRDZ, but also other emerging artists including Nooky, Tasman Keith and Philly in particular, has been fascinating to watch. Here, we have a new pocket of fiery Australian made hip hop that has burst forth, with Bad Apples very much at the vanguard of the wave.
“It’s been mad.” he says. “What really brings us together is that we all have our own unique ways of sharing our stories and making sure that is the heart and soul of our work and music. I think we all have that in common. For me, it’s exciting to see all these other projects coming together and seeing how they do it. Learning more about my label-mates; they push me too and keep me on my toes, it’s awesome.”
“I’ve just been working on a lot of stuff recently and trying not to put any name on it,” BIRDZ says of forthcoming new music. “I’m just enjoying creating. Having said that, it feels like I’m working on multiple things. It definitely still has my story in there and in that sense, it’s a continuation of Train of Thought. Really though, it’s portraying where I’m at now. Train of Thought was really about letting people know a bit of my backstory and where I’ve come from, there’s a bit of an intro to who I am as an artist and as a person, but this project is about where I’m currently at.”
He’s excited to see how this showcase goes down with visitors to Melbourne and indeed, those coming to see the Bad Apples family for the first time. A massive second half of 2018 is opening up for the label and while he is careful not to let any particulars slip, BIRDZ is enthusiastic about what is still to come.
“The power and essence of who we are, we never hold back or bite our tongue; I think that really comes across with our music. We are who we are and we stay true to that. It’s going to be energetic and [there’s] a lot of power in the performance.”
“I think we all try and just keep our noses to the ground, as far as trying to keep working,” he says. “I think the second half of the year is looking to be a big one. We’re all ready to go, in terms of our projects. Everyone is going to be releasing new music. It’s pretty exciting. I think it’s going to go from strength to strength. I’m really looking forward to Nooky and Philly releasing, and myself releasing again too. Briggs as well. It’s going to be a big one.”
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Catch the Levi’s x Bad Apples showcase on Thursday, July 5th at Melbourne’s Laundry Bar. For more information, visit the event page here.
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