Get to know A Devil Amongst The Tailors
A Devil Amongst The Tailors are a five piece live hip-hop group from Adelaide consisting of MC’s Leroy, AD, Bassist J-Bones, Drums/MPC4000 Mike-T and vocalist Emma Jones. Now that we have introductions out of the way, we can surely get to know the team better...
What drew you towards Hip Hop?
Leroy: Probably coming from wide variety of taste in music, we were drawn to hip hop out of a love for the beats and the culture.
Who would be the greatest musical influences? And how have they shaped your view?
Leroy: Probably a band like At The Drive-In for their insane live shows and frantic sounds.
AD: I’d have to say artists like the Beastie Boys for their diversity, the Avalanches and DJ Shadow… I have a massive love for sampling.
Mike: Gerling. Their use of synths and genre-hopping is amazing.
What would you call the greatest Hip Hop release of all time? And why?
AD: Insanely tough question there… let’s go with Deltron 3030 (Self-titled). Personally, I think this is the pinnacle of Dan The Automator’s production and Del at the top of his game lyrics-wise. It’s an album that I always keep coming back to!
What was the process of making [debut album] Learning to Swim?
Mike T: Learning To Swim is a pretty diverse album in comparison to a lot of Oz hip hop, it’s got some mellow moments, some fun moments and some bangers. It’s an honest reflection of where we were at when we recorded it and a lot of blood and sweat (but no tears) went into its production… pretty much all handled entirely by us! It wasn’t so daunting though, because we didn’t know what to expect. I think the next one will be bloody daunting but at the same time we are excited about the next chapter!
You guys have been busy travelling this year and even made a cameo appearance in a Bollywood film. Will you be drawing any musical influences from this experience?
J-Bones: Ha, yeah the Bollywood experience was wild. AD and I did a 5-week odyssey through Sri Lanka and India and we have definitely got some ideas in store, as well as some cool Indian music for potential sampling!
What plans have you got for 2009?
AD: At the moment, our plan is to play eastern states shows, Melbourne in particular, potentially have a tour mid-2009 in store but can’t say too much just yet. We have also begun writing some new material and would love to drop a fresh album late 2009. Keep an eye out though for more live footage from our shows via our website and MySpace in '09 too!
Finally, one word of advice to offer aspiring artists that you’ve learnt in making Learning to Swim?
Work hard, play hard and stay honest.
Learning to Swim is out now through MGM Distribution / Beatbroker
