It’s a miserable day in Sydney as I sit in the old-world office of Jam Recordings. Polished wooden panelling, cluedo-style leather armchairs and a Columbian-era globe vie for my attention. It certainly feels a strange place to be interviewing one of the latest groups to be signed to what is arguably the greatest hip hop label on the left coast of the US. But here the 3 of us were, as the rain relentlessly pummels the city streets outside, talking about Apsci’s (that’s Applied Science folks) ties to Australia, underground hip hop in the US, their truly unique new album, and how the hell they scored a deal with Quannum.

I wasn’t sure what to expect meeting a husband and wife musical partnership. Lennon and Yoko, or Ozzy and Sharon? Thankfully, Rafael and Dana are an amiable and down to earth pair, which certainly makes the interviewer’s job more pleasant. Dana hails from Liverpool in Sydney’s west, while Rafael is a New York lad, but they managed to gain a bit of a rep in Oz following their hook up with the creative bomb of a label that is Sydney’s Elefant Traks, home to top notch acts from The Herd to Combat Wombat.

Rafael struggles to remember exactly when and how this came about, no doubt confused due to the mass of events that have occurred in the duo’s career over the last few years. “We were doing a show in New York with Metabass n Breath in around ‘98 or ‘99, when about 20 ozzies took over the scene. It was great, I was doing some beat boxing and Dana was singing Opera over the top, and you had all these kids from New York just looking at us going, like, woah! After that Rory from Metabass n Breath put in a good word on Elefant Traks, and we played a gig with Bass Elefant after that.” So is this a home coming trip of sorts I ask, directing the question at Dana. “Well we were hoping to make it a homecoming trip, but it’s turned into a whirlwind promotional tour!”

And there’s no surprise there; it’s not everyday that locals get signed up to labels like Quannum, but in this instance the act on the receiving end of a fickle industry’s hype genuinely do have something to offer. The tracks released on Elefant Traks touched on what the album offers, with disregard for the status quo in hip hop quite clear. ‘Thanks for Asking’ is hip hop, but not as we know it. Morphed electronic-influenced instrumentation pairs up with Rafael’s considered raps and Dana’s high pitch singing to leave an album which defies classification for the purpose of music journalism or shelf-stacking at HMV.

“I don’t think too much about what category our music falls into.” quips Rafael, not angry but replying with a rehearsed answer when I breach the topic. “Y’know, because we’re not using standard beats…” He drifts off in time for Dana to finish his thoughts for him; “Yeah, and because I sing, I guess it’s a less typical hip hop sound.”, “When I think about hip hop”, continues Rafael, “I think about the Bronx twenty years ago. I think about Kool Herc. Y’know, the guy built his own speakers, so to me, that’s hip hop.”

Raf cites Outkast as musicians he admires, and with the attention to musical detail and refusal to rely on hip hop’s backbone, the sample, you could argue the link is obvious. Most interestingly is his admission when probed on the topic of electronic and ‘dance’ music; “We’re dance music”, he says. And ever since Quannum were Solessides, DJ Shadow’s pet-project label has never shied away from innovation in ‘hip hop.’ Rafael met Blackalicious emcee Chief Xcel through the network that exists in the US’s largely commercially ignored underground hip hop community. He had been working at New York’s finest indy label, Definitive Jux, working in a graphic design capacity but making links as one should. Speaking to ueber-producer and label head El-Producto, Raf began to learn a little more about the industry.

“Def Jux is a fantastic business model” he says in gushing praise, “and El was real supportive. He was like, ‘So, you’re really thinking about this as a body of work?’ He gave us great support”. It’s also where the pair met Mr Lif, perhaps one of the dopest emcees in the underground and a welcome guest on the album. “We went to Boston and turned up a mattress to use as a recording booth, and stayed up late talking about the meaning of life.”

But what could prove to be their biggest break was going on tour with Blackalicious. “We toured with Blackalicious, and the funny thing was we were gonna sign with another label who were interested. I was just about to Fed-Ex the contract after speaking to the guy and he (Xcel) calls up and was like ‘I’m really interested…’” Raf and Dana look at each other smiling as Raf re-enacts the situation, holding the phone away from his ear and mouthing the word ‘Quannum want to sign us!’ ‘They had to vote on it, but X was confident.’ he says.

It’s hard not to feel happy for them, as confidence and pride easily surpass arrogance as they talk. “It’s wild.” Raf adds, “there are people at the top of their game in this independent hip-hop thing, and they’re diggin’ it.” Their enthusiasm to be signed to Quannum is undeniable, and compliments for their new musical home flow. “They all travel so much, they’re always touring, and they meet a lot of people.”

Formerly tied to San Francisco and northern California, Quannum has recently branched out to Oregon, to Oz with Apsci, and recently also signed up instrumental acts from Brazil and France. Sydney girl Dana is certainly happy, yet there’s no reason to suggest she’s in awe. “The wish list of people to work with is huge.” She says ”...although I’d like to get Shadow to remix one of our tracks!”

If you want to see what the fuss is about, you’d be advised to check one of their gigs this week….it might be a while before they’re back.

If you’re in Sydney be sure to check out APSCI at Boogie Down this Friday, May 27th. Their album, ‘Thanks For Asking’ is out soon on Quannum/Jam Recordings.