Koolism: Game On.

Koolism play the Technics DMC Championships at Family on August 1.

Canberra hip-hop act Koolism have quite quickly carved out special niche for themselves in the Australian scene. With releases from 1995 onwards, two albums (the first of which, Lift Ya Game, is now a collectors item in Australia) and a swag of tracks on compilations, Koolism are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. They’re packing their bags and heading north from their home town of Canberra to rock the Family for the annual Brisbane heat of the Technics DMC Championships, on August 1. The boys took some time out from production to have a brief chat prior to the gig.

I started by asking rapper Hau what he’s thought of his previous visits to Brisbane, and he only had nice things to say.

“We always enjoy our sets in Brisbane, it’s one of the nicer cities to play in. They’re seems to be some cities that get along with each other, with Adelaide and Brisbane being very similar in feel, very laidback and friendly. Canberra is a bit like that, but a bit smaller, it’s very small townish. As far as the people are concerned it’s fantastic, the people up in Brisbane are very friendly and always happy too see us. They seem to really enjoy life. It’s great, you get the best of both worlds there in Brisbane. Sydney is great in many ways, but it’s a huge city and very impersonal. Brisbane is a large city, but it’s not that big yet that it’s impersonal. It’s all the good city stuff with nice people.”

Koolism is a duo, which is quite minimal for hip-hop. DJ/producer Danielsan and MC Hau are the pair, and they’re pretty happy about he lack of conflict in the outfit. Danielsan explains.

“It’s a bit different for us, it’s not like we’ve put a band together, just that we’ve been mates for ages and now we just write music together. We’re best mates now after it all.”

So what can Brisbane hip-hoppers expect at DMC?

“A really good party, just come to DMC and get ready to party. Take whatever you take, and come with an open mind and lots of energy. I’ve been in competitions too, and you need your crowd to be hyped up and going off if you want a really rocking performance. You don’t need a cold audience. If the people want to see the DJ’s doing a super set, then they’ll play a lot better. We’re going to get on and warm the people up, and by the time the competition starts you can really expect a good night.” Hau takes over “We really give it our all when we play, and when the crowd responds to that it makes us play so much harder.”

“Our set is going to have a few surprises really. It’s going to be mixed up, and as our background is hip-hop it’ll be based around that. But it won’t be your usual background music with someone rapping over the top. There is going to be a lot of live music in there, not from a band but from our productions. You really have to have faith in us, and if you’re in the mood for a good night then you’ll definitely be rewarded. I can’t give too much more away, except to say that it’s going to be quite special and not one to miss.”

Last question. How do you feel about the state of the Aussie hip-hop scene at the moment, is it moving forwards or backwards?

“It’s definitely going forward. It’s just getting better and better, and we’ve been producing a lot of quality hip-hop here. But it’s not escaping outside the Australian hip-hop circles, and it would be really great if it could break out onto the worldwide hip-hop market. People need to push it harder so more people get exposed to it.” Danielsan butts in. “The artists are getting more able to let their music relate to people outside hip-hop circles, and those people are helping to spread the music thru opening their minds to it. With these different audiences the music is definitely evolving. You just look year to year in Australia, and you can see that it’s improving. I’m very excited, no, maybe optimistic and anticipating very big and good things for hip-hop in coming years.”

“The scene is already very strong. We’ve got a lot of respect for Lazy Grey up there in Brisbane, and our Melbourne mates Mnemonic Ascent, MC Trey in Sydney is all positive and doing what she can. We’re doing our best to be a beacon in the sea of hip-hop in Canberra. Every state has someone great, and I’m liking and respecting anyone who’s trying to better themselves and hip-hop in general. Anyone trying to better hip-hop on a worldwide universal scale.”