STACK June 2016 Issue 140

peaking to Shirley Manson is right

up there with the all-time best

conversations I've ever had, almost

equal to that time I said "Hi Dan Sultan" to Dan

Sultan's abs at the AIR Awards. Manson told

me all about the making of Garbage's excellent

new record, but I also swapped words with

Jamie Hince (so lovely), Ladyhawke (a total

sweetheart), and a bunch more including

currently touring Tassie punk lords Luca Brasi.

Get in.

Radas (Music Editor)

RATES

NEWS

MUSIC

ates jumped into the Aussie hip hop scene

back in 2013 with his debut album

Destroy

and Rebuild

. In 2016, Kerser’s brother is back,

and he’s got a point to prove. Work on the new

release,

Untold

, began back in ’14: “I did a bit

of a tour and then I had a six month break, and

[then] I got stuck into it,” says the rapper. “A lot

of it was writing tracks to promo beats, and just

trying to find out lyrically where I wanted to go

– until I met Benny on the Beat, my producer,

and that sort of defined exactly the route I

was going to take.”

Speaking of his beloved producer,

Rates only has kind words about the

comradeship they share. “He’s one

of the best producers I’ve worked

with,” he says. “He has the same

influences as me. He used to listen to

a lot of the same sort of music. I

just find when I explain stuff

to him – musically, what I’m

after – he just gets it. It’s

been an awesome working

relationship; I’m very

grateful that I’ve met the

dude.”

Destroy and Rebuild

was, in his words, an

“ode to hip hop” –

Untold

is completely different.

“We’ve got a lot of live instrumentation on

this, a lot of musical influences that I’ve never

been able to explore with hip hop before – but

now with Benny, I’m able to.” The “bigger,

darker” result of their working relationship

feels, Rates says, “more me.”

Having recorded the new tracks with

Benny in Coffs Harbour, you can expect

some seaside influences. “Some of [Benny’s]

rhythms, and especially his acoustic guitar

stuff, have a real coastal vibe to them,” the

rapper tells us. “And me living up here for a

year and a half now, it’s changed my life too.

I love it up here. Musically, it’s just a great

creative space, you know?”

Including those inspirations of sand and sea,

Rates leaned heavily towards his muses

Tupac and Wu-Tang Clan. “’Pac had

this very aggressive, abrupt sort of

attitude,” he says. “He was a great

songwriter too. I mean, his songs

had awesome meaning.” The rapper

also points to a long-time admiration

for The Notorious B.I.G.:

“Nobody can rhyme like

that now, you know?

Nobody can flow like

that or rhyme like

that. He still inspires

me. It’s a good

benchmark.”

Untold

is a brand

new direction

in an Aussie scene

that’s only continuing

to unfold and reveal its

best. “It’s been growing

for 10 to 15 years,”

Rates agrees. "I hope

internationally it can

grow as well.”

INTERVIEW

Untold

by Rates is out

now via Warner.

By Alesha Kolbe

case/lang/veIrs

eko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs have

combined their already potent gifts into

a seductive collaboration. Case and Veirs told

us a little about how it came together.

Q1/

It’s been said that you’re all alpha

personalities. Did you ever think that too much

of your input was being sacrified to make the

project worth it?

Neko Case:

I was always more worried that I

wasn't contributing

enough

! It’s not like those two

can’t make a kick-ass record without me! Haha!

Laura Veirs:

It was cool (though sometimes hard

at first) to see them take hold of an existing song and

completely change the lyrics, or radically change the

structure, or merge two versions of a song together.

In the end though I was happy to be surprised by

all of their exciting ideas – ideas that I never would

have come up with on my own.

Q2/

Did you try to push yourself out of your

comfort zone musically?

NC:

Well, I’d have to give a lot of that credit to

Veirs. She is an extraordinary guitar player who used

a lot of tunings in a constant effort to come up with

really interesting melodies. K.d. is the "perfect chord

for that part that is actually odd but totally makes

it" genie. She’s not afraid to mix it up. I was amazed

by how effortlessly she could pick something out

on the guitar or piano. She’s a natural musical

encyclopedia. I was the guy who came in and took

things 360 with a bridge.

LV:

To me there was enough of that happening

naturally because of the new mix of songwriting

styles and aesthetic approaches. But this whole

project definitely has me out of my comfort zone,

because I’d never co-written before and I’ve never

headlined huge stages as we’re about to do on our

summer tour.

Q3/

The I-5 is a highway that runs through

California up to Oregon - what significance

does it hold for you, which the song

Down I-5

alludes to?

NC:

Laura and I both grew up along that cursed

stretch of road. K.d. lived in Vancouver where

it concludes as well. It’s a devil for many, many

reasons.

LV:

Any band who has toured has travelled it

endlessly, and anyone who’s trying to make a beeline

to some place on the west coast will take it. It’s not

always scenic, but... it has significance for me simply

because I’ve spent a million hours on it.

INTERVIEW

case/lang/veirs

by Neko Case, k.d. lang and

Laura Veirs is out June 17 via

ANTI/Warner.

Luca Brasi