Trem One Interview

A really dope and extensive interview done by DJ Sheep. Sourced here.

* Excerpts/edited version of this piece is featured in Scene Magazine, Brisbane, Australia. Issue #918 (19/10/11).

TREM ONE – INTERVIEW
by: DJ Sheep

Melbourne MC Trem One is undoubtedly one of this countries finest wordsmiths on the mic, his long-awaited solo debut album “For The Term of his Natural Life” dropped last week exclusively to independent stores around the country. I managed to catch Tremma in the midst of his hectic schedule.

Trem, a pleasure to speak to you… so I caught up with you literally days before the album dropped, in Melbourne, and you were running around like a mad man, can you explain what was going on the weeks prior to the release, how hard was it doing this all solo? Are you fully rested from it all, or is it full steam ahead still?

Ha, yeah, you caught me full stride, no sleep for 3-days straight smack dab in the middle of possibly the biggest 3-weeks in my life! The lead up to the release was crazy hectic, actually beyond crazy hectic, as you know Unkut Recordings is basically myself and a couple pinch hitters that chime in with their various expertise, so as pretty much a 1-man-band give or take shit was off the hinges. By that stage I had finished the Mastering with Joe @ Crystal, but only just, and that itself was a back-to-lab-5-times experience, then we were in the midst of finalising the artwork which along with Hank, I had a big hand in constructing as well as whippin’ up the hand-styles for, etc. Planning the all out attack on the drop, organising our web store to cater correctly to pre-orders and prepping my distro arm for the shipping. Connecting with the retailers, navigating processes with all manor of industry types, sorting PR with my boy Danck and keepin’ a finger in the “Animal Kingdom” video pie, thankfully JD & the Maad Circle were all over this, so I could let them finish it in peace! It was basically a massive funnel and everything was pushing hard towards the skinny end. Timing was the key ingredient and marrying everything was a task I wouldn’t wanna do monthly that’s for sure, but thankfully I’ve got the right people in my corner and with all their help we managed to just scrape in!

No sleep yet tho, its only a week in and we’re already exceeding any expectations so its very much full steam ahead while the irons hot!

Are you happy with the feedback on the album, and have sales exceeded what you originally thought? And I know it’s a little pre-emptive, but what’s next on the cards… in regards to touring this album, and will there be another Trem album?

Yeah, again, it’s only a week in so it’s hard to tell but I’m more than surprised at the reception. This type of album is a long way off the shit people are releasing and seemingly listening too, so it’s genuinely come as a surprise seeing and hearing the vast array of incredible feedback. The speediness of sales as well has gone beyond our initial guesses, particularly again in not only the style but also the process we went about releasing it. Totally against the grain and trend patterns of recent times, but I ain’t down with or for that induckstry shit so I wouldn’t have had it any other way, win lose or draw.

As far as what’s next on the cards, this things far from over before we start talking other albums, I’ve got a real issue with people talkin’ up their next album a week after they just dropped one, that’s just stupid. Seriously if you invest enough of everything into one major product, why the fuck would you go and dismiss it like that a minute after its release to the public? Artists that do that are just playin’ ‘emsleves and at the same time just downplay the existing release. Why in gods name am I gonna give a shit about your new release if you don’t have enough respect for it yourself?

I’ve got a mountain of Tremabillia and bi-products to come from this album first including; artist series merch, instros, wax, tapes, all sorts of shit including some ill surprises in the not too distant!

The album title “For The Term of His Natural Life” (FTTOHNL) was also a novel and newspaper journal about the life as a convict in early Australian history. Does this have any meaning to the title of the album, or is this just a coincidence that Wikipedia brought up for me when googling around?

Correct and a dope movie too. There is a bunch of derivatives in relation to not only the title but also to the book/movie. I mean the obvious being spelled out clearly in the title track, I’ve been engulfed in a world of hip hop since I was about 11-12 in the early to mid eighties, and frankly there’s no escape, no walking away, not even if I wished too. I’m entrenched in the culture as much as anyone and those that are the same and have been the same will testify to the feeling. Hip Hop nabbed me in a way the law did to Rufus Dawes in the book and it stole his life, he was locked away in the most testing and trying conditions with no chance of escape, that’s exactly how this thing is for me, despite its ugliness, the low depths its reached and the amazing things I’ve seen and done thru the journey, its with me forever.

I do have to give a shout to my boy L-Roc of the Ironlak posse for planting the words in my face. For years my albums initial title was “Without Further Ado” but over the course of time, I grew sick of it, and it was more suited to the varying solo’s I had started to put together over the years. This one was different, needed a new title and L came at me one time with a suggestion I call a track FTTOHNL after we’d been discussing my journey in the culture, it all made sense and fell into place real quick after that.

As far as your marketing on this album, you’ve reached some milestones that no one else has in this country. For example, major chains are not stocking the album. You have brought back the essence, with street teams around the country selling it hand-to-hand (like Show & AG did from the boot of their car), and independent stores. And not only that, but you didn’t hype the album up in the sense of giving the release date till just a few weeks prior. The hype spoke for itself. And, as I recall you telling me, you didn’t give out any promos to the radio stations, or ANYONE, not even mates. Do you think this is a model of the future? It’s almost like you played the perfect game of chess and checkmated with this one! Hats off to you for beating the new era of the game son!

Yeah, firstly I’m very much a control freak and I’m not down with leaving my music’s fate in the hands of others, particularly induckstry heads, so this was always gonna be done MY way. I’ve been assessing the way things have gone on and off the field, in the studios and on the streets and the shit is straight fucked up. Its disappointing to see so many artists skew their original visions or hand over control of their work to people who don’t actually have the artist, their music or OUR culture at heart. You wouldn’t knowingly leave your baby with a pedo so why the hell you wanna leave your album with someone who’s gonna fuck it?

Giving this to the indies first up exclusively only seems natural to me, there’s not many left and some are struggling big-time, the thing a lot of people forgot, and some don’t even realise, is that these stores supported us artists before any fucking major realized rapping wasn’t a dance style. Seriously, the artists who came up with us and the generation just after us only had those points of sale or hand-to-hands, then a major pays 5-minutes attention and they all forget the little guy and give the dope deals to the big guy who’s done nothing for our culture but rape it and misrepresent it? I couldn’t turn my back on those who gave to us before a skip-hop section was invented, on the other hand I’m not dispelling those majors as a great opportunity to get your music to a broader range of people and also heads in places that aren’t accessible to indie stores. It’s a fine line no doubt, you want to get your product to the fans but at the same time don’t wanna rob from the culture. I’m in the middle of that balancing act as we speak!

As far as the album itself, the hype had built and spilled over boiling point so a lot of the marketing handled itself; thankfully we didn’t have to start from scratch so to speak. As far as not putting a release date down till it was close was myself, not wanting to disappoint or have to compromise to meet an unnecessary drop date. Until I was 100% comfortable there was no need. When it came to promos, there’s a couple reasons, one being the CDs only came in a week before and two, most importantly I was not going to allow this to surface as a leak prior to its release. I gotta thank my team and all involved that did have tracks or pre-masters for keeping it 100% with me, that’s why I only incorporate my fam. on those levels. Can you imagine some rap fan intern sittin’ in a distributors office in Sydney and a copy of the TREM album in his hands 3 weeks before it drops?

I cant front, I spoke with varying people from media to distributors and prolly cut my nose to spite my face by declining business offers to get it to them prior to the release date, but I can live with that! As far as it being the model that others follow, who knows, maybe?

I hear that a certain major chain is knocking on your door. How are you going to handle this situation, as I am aware that there are customers in rural areas who are unable to mail order or reach an independent store? That’s unheard of; I hear this chain store has been inundated with people coming in looking for the album? Do you think it’s gotten to the point where artists can dictate their terms again?

Well again as I eluded to, this is part of the fine line. Those heads who are true fans but are in areas that aren’t within a realistic travel distance to an indie or don’t use the net to cop hard copies cant be dismissed either. So that’s the hurdle I’ve got at the minute, as much as I’ve pushed to let people know this is only readily available from certain stockists it’s hard to get that message through to everyone. I would never buckle to give my shit up to a conglomerate on their terms but if they wanna play ball in my court and it can service those who are fiending for it but haven’t yet tracked it down then its gotta be something to consider carefully. I’m glad I’ve given the independents this opportunity tho, some are really taking advantage of it and I not only thank them but also applaud them for realizing the opportunity this product and the way we’ve gone about it is giving back to them. The unfortunate thing is the ones who aren’t seeing it for what it is and making the most of it, that’s disappointing, because they’ll be the ones crying that they can’t sell units when I know for a fact that there’s still hundreds of heads across this country frothing for their hard copy and we therefore have no option but to give it the bigger franchises that will cater to these people. Again it is a tightrope and I’m tryna navigate a good outcome for everyone.

Let’s talk about the track, “For The Record”, a song that resonates very deeply with me. The two verses on that songs deal with issues that are very current and in my realm. Firstly, producers who don’t dig in the crates, or never have, and rely solely on YouTube clips or MP3s and rap groups that don’t have DJs as a staple on stage or on their songs… explain why you felt that you should address this as a MC, and why those two things are important?

I’m a true traditionalist, many have murmured “Stuck in the 90’s”, “Dinosaur rap”, “Played out”, whatever, whatever, that’s all cool but there’s no way in hell anything compares to that traditionally executed rap format. Vary it, flip it cool, but that shit is tried and tested and there’s a reason why the shit that’s strayed off the format that’s flooded the market since it doesn’t come up next to it. I dig, produce, and attempt to cut as well as emcee, so it’s a natural part of my game, these elements seem to have been totally overlooked and forgotten in the bulk of todays attempts at rap music, if more of us don’t pay homage to these crafts this next generation will never realise that they’re equal parts to constructing great rap tracks as the raps themselves, and not only that I wanna give back to those that maybe lost faith thinking that way of doing this is a thing of the past, not in my eyes.

I notice on the album, which was quite a surprise to me, that you actually executed some scratches… I never knew you got down with the zigga zigga’s like that! What’s the go mate? Practicing for DMCs on the downlow?

DMC’s, ITF’s. You name it! Hahahaha… I’ve been a wannabe DJ since I saved my backside off for 2 x 1200’s back when I was 17. I’ve always been a fan of ill cuts especially the ones in tracks and I’m always makin’ notes of cuts when I hear a line that will suit somethin’ I’ve got goin’ on in the back of my mind. People might not know it but all the cuts you hear on any joint I’ve been behind kind of has my touch to it regardless of who actually tapped the fader. There’s a 85% chance I pulled the cut out and with my mouth told the DJ how I want it cut and dropped hahaha. Then I take it and manipulate it in the mix in an arrangement I envisioned. All J-Reds cuts were done that way on the L.C. releases too… I’ve got a real clear pic on how I see the cut section sounding most of the time so often its been a case of bringin’ in an expert to complete my vision. This time round I called in the best to do some, but the ones I thought I could handle I did myself.

One thing that sticks out about the album is the cohesiveness of it all, from start to finish, it sounds like one montage with a consistent sound, from the beats, lyrics, overall subject matter. Was this a hard goal to achieve as far as picking beats and putting them in the correct order?

Appreciate you noticing and yes, that’s part of the reason 90% of releases don’t have that cohesiveness, coz they can’t be fucked ensuring that’s the case. Track order’s one thing, but actually identifying your style, what suits you and most importantly selecting what suits you along with a good working relationship with the beat makers and producers/engineers. Breaking down the varying producers beats into stems is an absolute must to keep that cohesion too. Not one of my initial beats and the way they were sent to me is how they ended up on the album. It also comes down to the mix; I spent an incredible amount of time in the mix itself, ensure each track was on par and had that continuous sound.

What took so bloody long mate? Seriously, people have been waiting for this album for ages! Do you think the timing is right? I mean, within days, people were already coming up to the DJ box and reciting lyrics. That’s crazy! But if you had a chance to release this say 5 years ago, do you think it would be a different album, and how long have you put into the lyrical content on this one?

The last answer has something to with it, sifting through a mountain of beats, super pedantic in my mixing, changing instrumentals, scrapping tracks, etc… The album itself is nothing like the O.G. one I began years ago, this album I spent the best part of the last 2 years on. I had a good chunk of the beats I was definitely gonna use and a couple tracks down that were keepers and steadily built from their. A chunk of the lyrics were written or half done or had starts and directions so marrying beats up with them was a monstrous process itself I literally went through somewhere between one and two thousand instrumentals, I’m not shittin’ you. Many of them unbelievable too, but just didn’t suit the style or flows.

As I’ve said before to other people as well, they forget the input I had at the frontline and in the back of other projects over the years, my solo career was halted when L.C. got off the ground in 2001/2002 so I had no plans between then and around our hiatus at the end of the “Murderous Metaphors” release. Then I went head first into Struts’ releases “The Mixtape” and “Legend: Official”, they were as much a Trem release as anything. Then after them I started the ball rolling a little but it wasn’t till 2009 that I really went full steam back into it.

One highlight for us Brissy heads is that you’ve united with who is undoubtedly our best MC, Lazy Grey… this has obviously been something people have been wanting for a long time, and you delivered it! How do you rate Lazy in the scheme of MCs in this country, and did you derive any influence from him at all in the past?

Word, it was just as much a highlight for me too. Too many artists take for granted guests etc. these days. It’s become easy particularly as moneys come in and at more realistic prices too. I would never take that for granted and always carefully select my collabs. Lazy is someone who I have incredible respect for, we’ve both been involved in the game for a long period and both led different paths throughout but I think there’s always been this level of respect there and the knowledge that we would eventually come together on something was inevitable, I’m truly blessed to have the GOD on board this project.

I rate Laze incredibly highly as an MC in this country; top 2 or 3 no doubt. For many reasons too; consistency, longevity, originality, style, flow, delivery & presence, its undisputed he comes in at full marks on all these facets. The one I think I’ve learnt from Laze the most is that confidence to punch thru in the delivery. I really do attribute that to Laze as a fellow Australian in those earlier days defining our own style he really showed me without showing me that its OK to not only be brash and direct in what you say but how you say it.

You produced a number of interludes with nice little digs and other stuff, what’s the go with that? Were they put in there to clear listeners heads, or is there something cryptic in their meaning?

I’ve always been a fan of interludes n’ skits, not too many to lose focus but the subtle ones that add a little more spice, done well they act as a dope conduit between tracks and can direct the listeners attention from the last topic into the next. They’re a real fine line tho, but I think I nailed it with the few on here…

Can you please explain this separation for me, as I’ve been trying to do it for years? “Australian hip-hop” and rap music made in Australia. I think someone like yourself who is established needs to explain the difference. I for one believe there is a big difference in bannering yourself under the term “Aussie hip-hop” as it’s limiting yourself ultimately to your own backyard.

Ha, yeah we (as L.C.) went on a rampage bout this in the early 2000’s. I can see what it was originally intended to refer too but unfortunately many moons ago it became a token phrase that seemed to become an excuse to make a sub par attempt that was okayed and accepted under the all encompassing ozzie hip hop banner. I’m not apposed to being proud of creating your own local version of a genre, but the term was misinterpreted and abused and as I said became the banner in which rap music made in our country seemed to get lumped under be it good or atrocious, & somehow be accepted. I don’t think people could see it for that back then but thankfully a lot more are today. Although the likes of myself and my team were instrumental in creating our own regionalized take on the artform, it was always just rap or hip hop, the fact we were Australian or whatever, a nationality never needed to been announced. It was fairly obvious; to me it was just keeping it real.

The track “Strips” is almost like “Sex Fiend pt. 2″… how much of that track is fact, and how much of it is fiction… it’s entertaining in that Slick Rick story telling type, as well as some tongue in cheek humor like J-Zone or Prince Paul would bring in regards to the production/skit style of the track…

You know the deal B; never let the truth get in the way of a good story! I’ve always loved tales in raps, sex stories have always been up there as some of the best, I’ve always incorporated cheeky chick tales on most my releases, this time round was no different. The funny thing is that joint is prolly the oldest, or contains some of the oldest raps on the album and when you look at the album as a whole it’s a relatively deep, reflective, serious & mature album I guess, so I did question whether to include this track at one stage. But I’m super glad I put it in the mix because it adds yet another element all the while sticking to the script. I think it shows I’m not all serious with my raps and there’s definitely room to and a time to have a little more fun with it. The fact it comes in at exactly the right time makes it work perfectly too, the dilemmas and drama dished up on “Russian Roulette” keep the listener on edge so “Strips” seems to allow them to ease back in the chair a little and have a laugh…

Another thing with this album, is that I’ve learned a lot about the history of hip-hop in Melbourne, and also your personal history, was this something you intended to do? This must be very personal and bring back a lot of memories for sure?

I always envisioned my solo to hold a lot of sentiment and reflection, I’ve been involved for a long time and although I only scratch the surface in the songs there’s so much to tell, a lot of cool history has taken place in our version of the culture and if people like myself and others that have been here a while and been fortunate enough to experience it don’t tell these stories, they’ll be lost forever.

You have a humble little studio known as the Trematorium… can you tell us what equipment you’ve used. I know the S1000 is a staple, what else you got up in there?

It is humble, I never over indulged in equipment, never needed it, I feel like I’m pretty comfortable with the basics, some stuff has come and gone but records, decks, sampler, warm desk, mic & recording/editing mechanism is enough. There’s a stack of different ones out there but they all do the same shit really, its what you get used too! I make Hip Hop & it comes from a very minimal background, I even got a line on the album “…Who’s got what doesn’t bother me champ, coz I was rapping before you talked of PC’s and preamps/ Don’t get me wrong I saw the pictures, the only fixtures we were equipped with were decks and realistic mixers…”

Do you think message forums, radio and advertising in magazines are as relevant for promotion these days. I think personally it’s all about YouTube, twitter, Facebook and actually interacting with your fans on a personal level, I know you’ve been anti-”social networking” for many years, and I was honestly surprised when I saw you with a twitter account. How do you feel getting direct feedback from your fans and seeing people posting up photos of their packages you sent them?

The social media is definitely a useful tool to spread the word and certainly saves on additional press advertising costs, unfortunately it means that anyone can use and abuse it and turns people away from even paying attention to it. I’m no expert but I still think any promos good promo be it on forums, radio, mags, posters or the social media buzz but in my mind you have to use them wisely. Event invite bullshit and all that garbage annoys the shit out of me, I don’t read a solitary one of them, posting worthy info on your own page/site is worth way more because its not interrupting and invading peoples shit but still getting the message out there.

Twitter’s a whole other beast, my boys Strutter n’ Rob@unkut are old hands at the caper and have been hounding me jump on for a bit, I’m starting to see its good side. But in all honesty I’m not a sit on the computer/iPad type of person, a little oxymoronic to suggest that with the way things have been in the last couple weeks, but I prefer real life any day.

How do you feel when you see your early 12″s go for massive amounts of money on eBay? It must be a bit of a spin out to know that your singles fetch a hefty price tag! I’m glad I copped mine when it dropped!

Shit is bugged! Its all good tho…

For history’s sake, can you explain what happened with the Amateurs 12″, you mention it on the album, pressing issues. I know there are some double A sided singles out there… what’s the go, and any plans to release these out of to the wild through your blog? How many of each record were pressed for the heads to know, and with this release how many CDs are there, and how many vinyl are you going to press?

I seem to have issues with every record I ever pressed… If its not one thing its another, but this was a real fuck-up. The pressing plant in question was renowned for its issues but there want many options at that stage so we bit the bullet and rolled with them again, little did I know when I picked them up and hand delivered a stack to the various stores across the city, a good chunk of the press was just the A-side pressed on both. The stores started to sell it and someone took one back wondering where the fuck the B-side songs were! Hahaha I had to pull the offending wax and get them re-pressed etc… just a total fuck around it seriously seemed to be endless headaches down there…

I let go a few of the Double-A’s just recently that I found in the crib, I moved on most of them back then after the proper version dropped, not sure how many left in mumdukes storage but if there’s a couple left I’m happy to offload em…

When it comes to FTTOHNL, CDs are limitless, well not limitless but I’m hopeful of moving a few thousand, obviously keen to ensure as many heads across the globe have a hard copy, especially seeing as we went all out on the artwork etc with lyrics and hand drawn fonts etc… With the vinyl, all will be revealed shortly but best believe that shits already got a line waiting for the pre order announcement!

You took a step back from the production on this one and let a lot of various producers step in, with a heavy amount of input by the legendary Prowla… was there a reason for this, as we all know that you know how to rock a mean beat! I for one think it’s awesome hearing you over these other beats, but they almost sounds EXACTLY like beats you would personally make… is this what you went hunting for?

Yeah, it wasn’t originally gonna go down that way, I was gonna do the bulk and have Prowls and Beat Butcha chime in with a couple each, but as time progressed and this thing morphed and became what it is I really enjoyed bringin’ others into the fold. It was a massive and time consuming process but it worked out perfectly in the end. I hear you on the fact that their contributions even sound similar to something I would make, which also comes back to what I was saying earlier about knowing your style and what suits you. I had all kinds of amazing beats sent my way during the process but you gotta know what marries your style or it’s a pointless exercise and a good chance your not gonna do the beat or yourself justice. It’s a massive problem out there today that an MC hears an ill beat and says “yeah that’s dope I’mma hit it up,” but its not that easy, or I should say it can be that easy but if you ask me it sounds garbage and they just wasted a dope beat that was better suited to someone else.

There were some guests that didn’t make it on the album that you told me about, do you want to speak on that and what happened? I think it would be a nice piece of history to know what could have made it on the album that didn’t! Or do you want to keep that under wraps?

There’s prolly no point in going there for professional reasons, there’s a couple that didn’t happen this time but have every chance of happening on future releases and the ones that didn’t and wont ever it’s not worth mentioning. I do feel tho that the balance and mix on this works well, I would’ve loved to get Bobby B on there and potentially one or two others in varying degrees but it all panned out perfectly really.

So I hear Lord Finesse was in your work Ute recently, how was that experience for you? I remember the look on your face when you rolled back and picked me up, you were like a kid in a candy store, obviously Finesse is one of your MC legends?

Hahaha… Yeah that was bugged the fuck out. Any one who knows me well knows Finesse is the man. I’d met him on a few occasions from when he toured here previous to bumpin’ into him a few times in NYC but it was next level to chauffer the King of this shit to his sound check in a beat up old stank falcon Ute! Since I copped “Funky Technician” in 1989 he’s been the man to me, if you’ve been around long enough to do the math on his history and what he’s done and created in and for our culture its an incredible story. And to eventually meet your hero and him be the most humble dude on the planet with the most incredible rap tales in history its serious Stan mode when in the presence of the GOD and I know I isn’t alone on that one! The man IS Hip Hop.

So, you spent some time in New York. Care to elaborate on what you saw, and what a few of the highlights were being obviously so influenced by New York culture, and the birthplace of hip-hop.

Wow man, this question alone could be an interview. To keep it short and to the point every day was incredible. It was truly a pilgrimage and although I wished I had’ve taken the trip earlier, I think it came at exactly the right time, particularly as the album was nearing completion. Seeing Large Pro rock “Just Hangin’ Out” 4-feet in front of me with ‘Ness spinnin’, meeting my heroes from Show and AG to Large Pro, seeing some of the greatest writers from the graff mecca and meeting them, riding the trains, taggin’ up, The Rock Steady Anniversary where I got to see (Big Daddy) Kane live along with 25 odd other amazing acts. The people, the places… Shits endless…

The two film clips that have dropped from the album are amazing, you wanna give a shout out to the crew that did it and how the conceptual ideas came up for them, were you behind the scripting of those clips? Is there another one in the works?

Thank you, yeah man, I gotsta give a super heavy-duty dukey shout out to the Madd circle behind these clips. My Mans Joshy D, Big Heata & Big Bank Hank went IIINNNNN! Seriously they’ve gone above and beyond to give these tracks a visual element thanks nothing short of off the fucking planet. I think our process is a nice one, the basis of the concepts/scripts are obviously devised straight from the song. I basically highlight a storyboard of my initial ideas.

Myself and Josh sit down and refine that back and forward a little more and conjure up ways to go about it and he comes with his own visions. Then we connect with Heata & Hank to formulate a final storyboard with all the bells n’ whistles and a plan of attack. It’s not a seamless affair but one that works for us. There’s no chance that any other team could deliver on these joints like mine does and as I’ve stated before, I’m indebted to them for their commitment to this project like you wouldn’t believe. There’s another two in the works but the boys require a much-needed break from the Tremalution, at least for a minute!