Sneaky Sound System are Sydney’s premier house/electro/funk troupe complete with MC and live sax sounds… Combining the talents of DJs Black Angus (Angus McDonald) and Hesse (Damien Hesse), MC Double D (Daimon Downey) and saxophonist Tricky Nick (Nick Broadhurst), Sneaky Sound System are eccentric purveyors of a sound that takes a fresh look on entertainment for the sake of getting down and having some fun sexy times to an eclectic range of tunes with house and electro funk influences. They have taken a simple concept and glammed it up with their ever impressive array of cool suits and disco shoes to impress the masses and with ever more to come…
Sneaky Sound System are based in Sydney? Did you guys grow up as Sydneysiders?
Most of us didn’t… there’s a dash of Brisbane, Bellingen and the northern beaches thrown in for good measure.
Tell us a bit about what your influences were and how you got into your respective fields of entertainment?
It’s a mixed bag on that front. Hesse grew up on Led Zepplin, hip hop and disco, and has been a DJ for about 10 years. Black Angus was brought up on 80s English pop bands and American black music and started his first band at 14, while Double D was into NWA, 2LiveCrew, Ice T and Jimmy Barnes (no shit) and just fell into the MC thing by complete accident.
Where do you take your influences from today, musically and otherwise?
From all sorts of nooks and crannies! For our DJ sets we seem to find that the majority of our stuff is German electrofunk and house – there are some seriously funky Germans making some seriously good music at the moment – plus a dash of some old school gear. For our original music we’re mainly influenced by the stuff we grew up on, so it’s like these honkys pretending to be black dudes making 80s pop music with a German twist.
What was the inspiration to get dressed up like porn stars every time you’re in the lime light? Or are you porn stars as well?
Porn stars don’t wear anything but a stonker and a blonde, and you never see their faces (well I never see there faces)... so I’m not sure if we see the parallel here. But sure, we love getting dressed up whatever the occasion - we’re just a bunch of posing wankers really!
MC Double D, from humble beginnings as part of the fabulous five in Surry Hills and as the doorman for The Globe, when did you discover that you had a voice to please the masses? Where do you draw your inspiration from for your lyrical content?
The fabulous five… now those were the days! I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing mate, if I did I’d be able to rehearse but alas it’s always a case of ”It’ll be right on the night”. As long as there’s a decent rider I usually find some inspiration in the last few drops of my seventh beer.
How did you guys get together? Where did the original concept come from? And where does your name come from?
Well let’s just say its fate. Hesse and I (Black Angus) were about to start a Sunday night about 4 years ago playing 80s groove, disco, deep house and funk at his bar Joe Diamonds. We were calling the night Sneaky Sundays and it was going to be a small, low key boogie session. A week or so before we kicked things off I met MC Double D at a party I was DJing at and he started clowning around and rapping in my ear – he was hilarious so I asked him to come and be our host/MC and let’s see what happens. So he did and the party was rockin’. A few months later Tricky Nick brought his sax along and started adlibbing – he’d come every week so we started to pay him and bingo… the Sneaky Sound System was born.
Your live sets are a combination of “other people’s music”, with not 1 but 2 DJs, an MC and live sax, how do you combine these elements to provide the smooth funk electro house sounds that continue to pack out venues around Sydney?
We don’t know… we all just do our thing and whatever happens, happens. Maybe that’s our secret: plan nothing and keep your fingers crossed.
With your debut self titled album due for release, following the debut single Hip Hip Hooray, how did you guys work together with engineer/producer Peter Dolso in the studio? Who provided the musical knowledge and the direction needed for such a venture? And where did the music, bass lines and melodies, come from?
I write the music and most of the lyrics and Dolso is the man at the controls. He and I play all the instruments, then Double D lays down his parts and everyone has there say and Dolso and I go away and produce it. As for where all the music, melodies come from… God only knows, but one things for sure - they don’t come from samples.
What made you guys decide to release on your own label Whack Recordings?
So we could write, record, produce, release and sell our own music. The major label route in Australia is simply not an option for us… it didn’t make any sense. We would rather be totally in control of things in Australia and then find licensing partners internationally who get what we’re trying to do. The majors are more interested in Australian Idol than new Australian music… so we went the low road.
With the list of invites to parties, to play at parties, to make a party rockin’ assumingly never ending what makes you decide to play at different functions and events such as the Pepsi Delta Goodrem Special? Is the lime light or the money more important?
When you are fledgling independent label, like we are, money is very important to keep things moving – so fuck yes – we do lots a of gigs for the money, 100% unashamedly so. We also do heaps of gigs for bugger all. You need both, gigs for the soul and gigs for the hip pocket.
On tour all around Australia for the release of Hip Hip Hooray how are your sets going down in some of the more distant places such as Mooloolaba in Queensland?
Really, really well. Every single gig has been heavin’, even in Mooloolaba at 9pm on a Thursday night – who would have thought?
When can we hear some more songs from the self titled album? Once it’s finished/released are there any plans for an overseas venture?
We’re testing out stuff at our gigs all the time and have a 12” coming out in a month or so, from then on it should be a steady trickle of releases. We’re actually heading over to Italy and the UK for a bunch of gigs in June, and then again in August for a longer stretch – so yeah, overseas is on the agenda this year!
Tales of your antics with blow-up toys are rampant, can we expect more of this sort of thing in the future?
If that’s what you want my friend, we can sort something out for you.
Sydneysiders can catch Sneaky Sound System this Easter long weekend at Cargo on Sat Mar 26th, then at Sounds on Sunday (SOLD OUT) and Vamp (BUY TICKETS) on Sun Mar 27th. Hip Hip Hooray is out now through Whack Records, stay tuned for details on their upcoming debut LP.
