As self-proclaimed Swedish Masters of Hip Hop, the Casio Brothers take gigs like the Big Day Out in their stride. After red carpet appearances on Australian Idol, strings of live showstoppers (including Adelaide Peace Festival) and a tidy little debut EP, there’s no holding these boys back. Intercepted at a local gym, brothers Fabio and Mario took some towelling-down time to give ITM a little insight into the faux-bling glitz of the Casio life.In 2004, not long after the Casio Brothers and their dodgy VISAs slipped through Australian immigration, these decadent bachelors of bling were already developing their ‘down under’ profile. A chance visit to Casio Mansion from the organizers of the Lilypad stage saw the lads secure a place at the 2005 Big Day Out at Wayville. In the last twelve months their reputation for electrifying and acrobatic performance had been steadily consolidating. Fittingly, the expansion of the Lilypad to ‘Lilyworld’ this year will see the return of the Casio Brothers, with a new accomplice, DJ Kid Elastic (of Dope Valley Crew). ‘Because we rocked their hip hop socks off they say to us “Come back for this year also,”’ says Mario. Kid Elastic replaces former collaborator, DJ Ferris Will. ‘He was getting all the girls so we got rid of him,’ continues Mario.If Kid Elastic does the right thing and passes on the girls’ numbers to the amorous MCs, he should make the the perfect addition to the Casio crew. Clearly it’s not enough for the boys to be joined on stage by ‘Adelaide’s hottest dancers’ Candy and Coco Cassette. They’ve been working on their moves and musicianship in the past months, and will take to the Lilyworld stage with a Casio CTK-750 and Hot Lixx synth guitar. Fabio is already renown for his virtuosity on the Tyco Hotkeys, while Mario’s instrumental urges are channelled into his Theremin.Something of a grey area, I had to ask Mario about their motives for emmigrating to Adelaide in 2004. ‘We met a lot of Australians at our shows in Sweden and they would say “Youse crack me up mate… youse would go off in Australia,” so we always wanted to come here and see if it would be true. And also we were told that Adelaide has the best looking girls in Australia.’ ‘We have found it really easy because our English is very well and Adelaide loves hip hop just like Sweden,’ adds Fabio. Their local crowd pleasing song ’I’m from Adelaide’ is written like many of their hits, from social observations made since moving here. ’(It’s) about the middle class Adelaide kid who really has no struggle at all that he could rap about… (un)like the Afro-Americans from the Bronx. If he did rap about growing up in Adelaide he would sound not very hardcore,’ explains Mario. Fabio wanted to call the song ‘What’s Under the Hood’, but Mario thought the Hilltop Hoods might think it was about them and the idea was canned. Asking about their lineage revealed that Mario and Fabio are indeed blood brothers, born to an Italian father, Antonio, and Swedish mother. ‘Our parents bought Casios for us because they knew we will like our names being on them.’ Suddenly bursting out in rap, Fabio elaborates: ‘Many years ago when I was just a boy, my mother give to me a really rockin’ toy, I pulled it outa the box it was a Casio, and everybody in tha house said FABIO!’ After shaking out his white puff jacket, and hanging gold chains he collects himself and explains. ‘This is about our first Casio keyboard, the Casio MT-65… with twin tape decks y’all.’When the Casio Brother find themselves missing their mother Sweden, there’s one little ritual that always eases the pain, explains Fabio. ‘We go to a sauna in Adelaide with our ghetto blaster in a plastic bag playing the Swedish National Anthem.’ He laughs. ‘No, that’s not true. We play Timbuktu’s W.D.M.D (Wått’s dö madderfakking diil?). According to Mario, he’s the best rapper in Sweden (since they left). The pair can often be glimpsed frequenting gyms, step classes and saunas, but that’s not all it takes to be a Casio. The pair always make sure there’s plenty of time for dating girls, and visiting the Salon. With Reebok sponsoring the handsome Swedes, and John Reynolds keeping the boys sounding A1, is it any wonder they don’t list their phone numbers in the White Pages.When the boys aren’t working on new jams at the Casio Mansion, your best bet is to look for them at the local gym. Whether the boys are working out pumping iron, or joining Suzi’s step class, they always make sure they have their favourite workout mixtape on hand. People who’ve heard their retro-electro rap sound will not be shocked by the inclusion of tracks from Casio Brothers, Vanilla Ice, Kris Kross and DVC. Their high energy stage shows demands comprehensive physical and mental preparation, with lashings of their special ingredient: lady love. Fabio explains, ‘When all the girls are screaming for us that makes us want to please them with a great show.’ ‘Yeah, that makes us go hard and be explosive,’ adds Mario.If you’re living outside of Adelaide, then your only serve of Casio to date will have been courtesy of the television travesty, Australian Idol. Auditioning in two consecutive years, the second appearance saw them greeted like celebrities when they hit the red carpet from their chauffeur-driver limousine. While Marcia Hines took a shining to the Swedish hopefuls, their foreign origins and refusal to perform a cover song disqualified them from the contest. Mario knows better… they were just too damn good. Looking to the future, the Casio’s have one word to summarise their aspirations… ‘More.’ According to Fabio we can expect more girls on stage, more acrobatics and more synths for starters, and hopefully more interstate touring. ‘We are already known for our hot sexy dancers and fat beats and our high energy shows in Adelaide. And maybe there is only us and Leigh Stardust who use Casio synths. You can expect more of what is already more,’ concluded a confident Mario.The Casio Brothers will rocking your block at the following shows in Adelaide:Friday Feb. 3, Big Day Out, Lilyworld stage, 1pmFriday Feb. 10, Rhino RoomThursday Mar. 2, Fuse Festival, SugarSaturday Mar. 18, Fringe Festival, Sugar See our website for details www.casiobrothers.com
