Crash Hot is a three person crew from Sydney, Australia. Comprised of MC Bang, DJ Jimmy the Hand and multi-instrumentalist/str8 up legend Bong YZA, Crash Hot have recently released their second full length joint Descendent. This release follows their debut release ‘High In The Friendly Sky’ from 2013. We catch up with MC Bang to find out why they strive to create music that is weirdly personal, and also just plain weird.
What inspires you to make Hip Hop music? What are your influences?
We been listening to rap music since we were kids, which when considering how old we are now is… a really long time. More than half our lives. As such, it’s basically the soundtrack of our lives and something we’re just hella connected to. Making music is just a natural progression of loving it as a listener and just wanting to be involved with it on a deeper level. If we were in any way rational, normal people we probably would’ve given up long before now. It’s not beneficial financially, quite the opposite.
But this shit is like crack (presumably, from what we’ve been told by rappers, of all people) and you do go through stages where you feel like it’s time to grow up and move on, but then you find out that you can get sick drum machine emulators for 99c, or you hear a song that you really love, or go to a show that blows your mind and you just keep going…
Tell us about your latest project.
Our latest release is called Descendent and it’s a 9 track release that we’ve made available for free online. It’s kind of different from previous releases in that there are instrumental tracks and the more traditional ones kind of change up the beat and such. If I had to describe it to a random on the train, it’d be: ‘Shit’s dope. Why for you ain’t downloading now? You got no credit or something? No? I feel you, man. Modern life is expensive.‘ Then later on they’d get back to me about how dope it is and we’d be cool.
What is your process for creating music?
We all work on stuff individually and then bring it to the table to see what works, maybe combine different ideas in an effort to see what unholy beasts we can create as a result of throwing all these divergent sounds and ideas together. Hip Hop has always had an element of collage as part of the process, and that works really well for us. We use all sorts of stuff, from drum machine emulators that are readily available on tablets and other devices as well as the actual drum machines these emulators were based on.
We’ll use anything. One time a possum in my backyard was trying to spin us out by making all of these evil sounds, so we recorded him/her (dunno, didn’t check) and then manipulated and filtered the sound and then played it back to the possum. Humans were the winner that day. Total career wins is still largely in the favour of the possums, though.
What’s the beatmaking process for you guys?
We used to just use digital audio workstation programs manipulating samples and drum sounds, but we have access to way more equipment now, which makes it infinitely more fun. But we got no hard and fast rules. One time YZA decided that we were gonna make one off mixtapes from live jams, so we plugged as many machines into the mixer as possible, made a basic outline, hit record on the tape and let rip.
Many a tape was made that night, my friends. Also, noise complaints.
How did you guys link up together?
Jimmy is my brother, so we’ve known each other for a minute. Me and YZA work together. We high five around the office. Gossip around the water cooler. Rack up in the toilets after a big sale. The usual. Boostin’ staff morale and tokin’ on tical. We’re mates, which is the most important thing. There’s no one better to make noise with than your mates.
Anything else you want to mention?
We cordially invite all readers to download our latest release via the links below. It’s unrool. Last but not least, big shouts to OZHH.com. This place has long been my go to for news on shows, releases and the kind of medical advice that you can only get from the Hat Full of Arseholes. TIWIAA.
Download Crash Hot ‘Descendent’ Here
Twitter: @Crash_Hot