Katoomba, Blue Mountains-based duo Hermitude (aka Luke Dubs and El Gusto) unleashed one of 2003’s downtempo beat delights with their debut ‘Alleys To Valleys’ album on Elefant Traks, which resulted in the duo taking their live show right across Australia and scoring coveting support slots to the likes of Dizzee Rascal, The Herbaliser and an extremely impressed DJ Krush, who was forthcoming in his praise for the duo’s work. Two years on from this acclaimed debut, Hermitude’s newly-released follow-up ‘Tales Of The Drift’ shows Dubs and El Gusto adding considerably greater depth and detail to their sound, with increased Latin and jazz elements rearing their heads throughout the tracklisting, and also shows the hermits collaborating with vocalists on two tracks, The Herd’s Urthboy and Ozi Batla as well as former Melbourne, now London-based Blu MC.
On the eve of an extensive Australian tour to promote ‘Tales Of The Drift’ taking in shows with the likes of Plutonic Lab, Lyrics Born and Roots Manuva during September, ITM’s evilchris caught up with Hermitude’s El Gusto to chat about the new album, translating the tracks to the live show and why working with Ozi Batla and Urthboy had him seeing double…
ITM: When you began work on this new album ‘Tales Of The Drift’, were there any things that you were particularly keen to do differently, as compared to ‘Alleys To Valleys’?
El Gusto: We didn’t really aim to try and do anything wildly different, but we did end up playing a lot of stuff rather than searching for a sample. I think we just keep learning more things as we go, whether it be production or writing skills.
ITM: After several listens right through ‘Tales Of The Drift’, I found I noticed far more Latin, jazz and funk instrumental elements on the tracks compared to ‘Alleys To Valleys’. Was this the result of a deliberate approach that you followed whilst recording?
El Gusto: It probably comes down to our musical taste at the moment, ‘Alleys to Valleys’ was two years ago, so I think we’ve picked up some different styles along the way since then. It wasn’t a conscious plan, it’s just what we’re feeling at the moment.
ITM: What sorts of influences (musical or otherwise) do you see as exerting an effect on the recording of this new album – were there any particular musical ‘touchstones’ you found yourselves returning to?
El Gusto: I love coming off tour and getting into the studio, I get really vibed on seeing lots of other crews around Australia perform, it inspires me to write new music, also after playing the same songs shit loads of times it’s nice to write some fresh beats!
ITM: The fantastic album artwork by Kaho Cheung certainly seems to suggest a dreamlike journey to faraway lands – was this intended to reflect the journeylike quality of the tracks on the album?
El Gusto: Most definitely, we wanted the album art to really vibe off the tracks that we wrote, and I guess there was just this kind of journey thing that was shining through, we hermits are partial to a bit of mysticism. Kaho did a killer job, we were completely stoked with the way it came out.
ITM: Album track ‘Music For The Mind’ features a collaboration with former Melburnian, now London-based artist Blu MC on vocals and flute; how did this collaboration originally come about?
El Gusto: We had met Blu a few times up and down the East coast, we just kept running into her, her style is fat and we just thought “man we should do a track together”....so we did.
ITM: Elefant Traks / Herd MCs Urthboy and Ozi Batla appear on the other collaborative track featured here, ‘Fallen Giants.’ Any interesting stories or events surrounding this collaboration – you’ve obviously developed a long working relationship with both vocalists?
El Gusto: Yeah it was a really fun session, the boys are great to work with. We’ve all known each other for ages so we’re pretty comfortable recording together, lets just say by the end of it I was seeing double.
ITM: Following the release of ‘Alleys To Valleys’, you toured extensively throughout Australia, including playing support for the likes of The Herbaliser, DJ Krush and Dizzee Rascal. Do you have any particular favourite highlights out of the shows you’ve done so far, and has this touring exerted an influence on Hermitude’s studio incarnation?
El Gusto: The DJ Krush support gig was the bomb! The dude is a legend and a huge influence, he was really friendly and introduced himself to us! I’ve never known any international act to do anything like that. Like I said before, touring really vibes me up for getting in the studio and creating.
ITM: Will you be making any changes to your live set-up for your upcoming tour? How would you describe the Hermitude live show for those who haven’t seen it before?
El Gusto: We’ve had a couple of little upgrades here and there, we’re pretty much making sure that the live show is really exciting to watch and everybody in the room has a mad time. The live shows are like eating your favourite food.
ITM: Your Tapedeck Tour kicked off at the end of August, taking in shows with Lyrics Born, Plutonic Lab, Unkle Ho and Roots Manuva – are there any particular upcoming things that you’re especially looking forward to?
El Gusto: All of it! Especially the hometown Sydney and Katoomba launches, they’re gonna be crazy!
‘Tales of the Drift’ is out now through Elefant Traks/Inertia. Check out http://www.hermitude.com for more info on the band, and be sure to head along to one of the remaining launch shows this September:
Sep 8 – Swan Basement, Fremantle
Sept 9 – Rosemount Hotel, Perth
Sept 10 – Crown & Sceptre, Adelaide
Sept 15 – Uni Bar, Wollongong
Sept 16 – Newtown, Sydney
Sept 17 – Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Sept 23 – The Bandroom, Newcastle
Sept 24 – ANU Bar, Canberra
