Harvest is an artist from The Mornington, Peninsula. He has moved around a lot but was raised in Shoreham and has been active for over 10 years now as a member of Spiderhole Records, releasing a series of albums titled Letterheads as well as a solo album titled Glum Days to Sun Rays and a collaboration project titled Trade of Thought with Sins One.
What’s your Hip Hop background?
I suppose my story is pretty cliche, I remember getting my hands on a copy of Wu Tang Clan’s album 36 Chambers when I was about 10 or 11, before that I liked music but it was all mid 90’s punk like NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise and I still love that shit today. There was something about Hip Hop that intrigued me more and really drew me in, I think just the rawness and the whole fuck you attitude got me pumped up and just made me way more aware of the world and what else was out there.
It took me out of that little fucking nutshell and just blew my mind like ”holy fuck”, the whole world doesn’t just do what I do and live how I live kinda shit, it woke me up I suppose you can say. Shit snowballed from there as I listened to a lot of gangster rap in my younger years, then my taste matured and it was your Jurassic 5’s, Mos Def’s and Kool G Raps that truly made me expand on Hip Hop. I have also never stopped loving Wu-Tang Clan to this day as they are still responsible for making a fuck load of music I really love. I was writing quite young from about 12-13 or so, I don’t know why I just thought I could do it, (laughs) man that shit was bad too but you gotta start somewhere. I moved schools when I was 17 and studied Music Technology where I met Flu, we chilled a lot and he expanded my knowledge, we did gigs under the name Force Of Habit for about 2 years, cut a demo and just enjoyed the music. I battled, I have gigged, I have released albums, you name it, I have done it but there is nothing I enjoy more than the studio, that is what I love most.
What inspires you to make Hip Hop music?
Everything that surrounds me you know, the world, the news, the intricacies, the word play, the attitude, the hidden messages, the cryptic metaphors. I love an artist I can pick the dope lines out from time after time after time and still miss some or not understand some till one day it clicks and your like ”fuck that’s dope!” I am old fashioned I guess you could say, a lot of shit just doesn’t really grab me these days but a lot of dope stuff flies under the radar.
Local emcees really inspire me, you know the guys on the grind making what they love and not getting the recognition they deserve but guys like Rawthentic, Kingz Konekted, LC, Pang Productions, Crate Cartel, 750 Rebels. These are the type of artists that make me want to keep making music, it helps me see that there is still guys on the same page as us even if we don’t know each other all that well or even at all, we are all still chasing that similar kinda vibe and feeling. Of course all the lads I have collaborated with are a huge influence and for me man my favourite artist of all is on my label named Digz, I fucking love this guy man he is such a fucking underrated and dope artist. Sometimes I wish I was this mother fucker (laughs), he just has so much natural fucking cool and his style is fucking dope. There is honestly not an emcee I have enjoyed working with more.
Tell us about your latest project…
Letterheads is the new project and man its been a long road and we have recorded a lot of music, hence the two EP’s we’ve dropped in the lead up.
We’ve got some really dope collaborations in store and had a whole bunch along the way with the two EP’s. We will be doing the whole lot in Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s, Digital, T-Shirts and probably going to watch our money burn, but fuck it, we love it.
What is your process for creating music?
Shit I don’t know to be honest! sometimes I will write to the beat that I am going to use and sometimes I will just write to any beat then put that shit to another beat I will get from someone. If I cant write I don’t push it, when I write, I write a lot but I gotta be in the zone. I’ll use everything in my reach access, all the information I can, research stuff and learn as I go. I just want to write music for grown folks, people who can appreciate the creativity of what we do here at Spiderhole Records.
Who are you working with on your project?
Sins One, J-Mac, P-Link, Downpat, Zetes, Shookz One, Pyrex The Impaler, Dj Rellik, DocVooDoo, Beni-Hana, Clog Two, Bender, Digz & Ky-T and a shit load more over the two EP’s that have come prior.
Anything else you want to mention?
I don’t want to preach and shit but seriously fuck rap music, don’t do it, don’t try it. Get a job and work, work everyday and save money, save enough money to do what you want, when you want.
There is nothing dope about being a bum, there is nothing dope about being a burnt out mother fucker on the gear watching their life slip away without realising it. It is not cool to be lining up for a fucking dole cheque, be a fucking man, get a job, fuck a dream, music is fun but when it becomes a business, it becomes a chore. The way we do shit that will never happen for us. The sooner delusional mother fuckers see that the better off the scene will be.
Facebook: Harvest