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1200 TECHNIQUES
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*1200 Techniques interview
*1200 Techniques Discography (all available on Whammo)
*1200 Techniques Australian Tour dates


1200 TECHNIQUES- THE WHAMMO INTERVIEW - APRIL 1, 2004

Traditionally, the Australian hip-hop community could be summed up with a few words like 'staunch', 'uncompromising' and 'exclusive'. Strict guidelines were necessary in order to build a local product that was truly Australian. The 'toys' that rapped in American accents fell by the wayside until an Aussie style emerged and the stubborn integrity of Australian acts finally resulted in a trend towards local hip-hop that was unique to this country. But the scene needed a pioneering act that had the integrity plus the courage to break from the chains of the underground to drag their peers into the mainstream. Enter 1200 Techniques, a band that boasted a long-time pillar of the hip-hop community in DJ Peril, but also introduced guitar into a traditional hip-hop sound. It was a gutsy move and a purpose-built plan to break down boundaries between a talented community and an ignorant market. Now, in hindsight, we can recognise the merit of that plan. With a debut album (Choose One) featuring the hit Karma and a string of awards (2 Arias, 4 Dance Music Awards), 1200 techniques struck a chord with the Australian public, who recognised the energetic combo as one of the hottest acts in the country, launching them into the charts and commercial radio playlists. Their latest effort, Consistency Theory, continues the trend with a more traditional hip-hop sound, powered by one of the most charismatic vocalists in the country (Nfamas) and the production skills of the experienced Peril. But 1200 Techniques can't be accused of being 'overnight sensations' as Peril explains...

Peril: The group's been going for seven years. The band's been big for the last 3 years but before that we were playing to 5, 2, 10, 20, 100...all that sort of thing. We paid our dues and we keep paying our dues and before that I was in 6 bands playing to nobody. So, I know what it is to be on the other side of things.
Whammo: I'm surprised by that because I think the band has that type of energy where you would have attracted a following quickly.
Peril: When you haven't got any product out and you're playing support for some average sort of band, it doesn't start overnight. I always thought we were a pretty good band from Day#1 but it took a while for people to understand where we were coming from. Hip-hop has come a long way. You only have to go back 2 years ago and only hip-hop people would come and see a hip-hop band. Now you've got alternative cats and rock cats; the whole spectrum of hip-hop and urban music has grown so much. But back 3 or 4 years ago, you couldn't do that.
Whammo: So, what are you guys up to at the moment?
Peril: Just organising a few gigs; an up and coming tour. We're going to Dublin in Ireland. We're doing a gig there- a festival. I think we might be doing a few more gigs in France and England but they're not for sure yet.
Whammo: You seem ready to take on the rest of the world.
Peril: Well, if you can grow a market over there, why not? You'll always be an Australian band, you're just trying to broaden your horizons and get a larger market. There's nothing wrong with that. We've been overseas before - Japan and The States - and people seem to react to it pretty well. It's just a matter of getting stuff distributed over there and in the shops.
Whammo: Turntables in rock music can often sound token, but you've come from a different direction. You seem to have introduced the element of guitars more cohesively in your music.
Peril: What people don't understand is that when we broke into the market, there wasn't another hip-hop band. When we broke into Nova and Austereo - which we didn't expect to do - there wasn't anyone else there. But basically we got in there with a guitar sound, so we got the foot in the door. That was the idea and with Hard As Hell it worked.
Whammo: You were aiming at that. It wasn't accidental.
Peril: No, we aimed. It was a definite aim. We've always liked rock and had a guitar in the band and we always will. The second album is more of an urban hip-hop album. Because I'm a producer, it was more where I wanted to go with it. There's nowhere near as much guitar.
Whammo: For as long as I've been involved with Australian hip-hop, it's always shunned that commercial element.
Peril: It always has but you've got Hilltop Hoods on Nova now, so you tell me what's commercial.
Whammo: It's a good thing.
Peril: Well, you've got a lot of underground cats on Nova. When it comes down to it, a lot of bands want to be larger than life. They wouldn't admit it, but when they're 'big time', they're liking it.
Whammo: You've always been involved so what were people saying when you started an act with a guitar in it? Were you ostracised or criticised?
Peril: Oh, at the start some people made fun of us, but then again, some people went out and bought a guitar for their band. So they were looking at something weren't they? A lot of the hip-hop bands have got a live thing happening now, from drummers to horn sections. When 1200 started we were just a turntable and MC act. Kem(star) started in the band, about a year and a half in. Then we went all the way live because I'd been in live bands for so long and you get so much more out of it when it's all the way live: the crowd, you on stage; it's got that feel. Now we've stripped it back to how we have it now: drums, guitar, me on percussion and turntables, with Nfamas at the front.
Whammo: You seem to have a social conscience.
Peril: We don't try to get too political. We touch on it. It's up to the individual in the band, what the band's vibe is. Some people think that they owe it to the public to put something in that actually says something through the music and some people just do dance music and they can't be stuffed. There's no right or wrong way of doing it. We do have a lot of social commentary in the rhymes that pertains to now. I reckon that's pretty important to 1200s.
Whammo: What do you think of hip-hop in general within Australia at the moment?
Peril: It's great. It seems to have jumped up a notch in the last year, especially when it's got so much radio play. Becuase of the radio play, people have really lifted their game: 'there's a market, we can make a living out of this, so let's work even harder'. There's a real Australian urban scene now and it's for real. People want to hear it. We had a lot of problems when we started 1200 Techniques. We were told that we were 'too Australian for radio', if you can believe that.
Whammo: For so many years Australian hip-hop was so good, but those acts were playing to the same people; preaching to the converted.
Peril: ..and now they're expanding their horizons. It can only be good for the music.
Whammo: I always thought we had good producers.
Peril: We've always had world standard rock and I've always said, 'why can't we have world-standard hip-hop?' In the last few years, Rock DJs and Dance cats on radio have all started to go a little more hip-hop. You know why that is?
Whammo: Because House music sucks?
Peril: Well, (laughs) no comment on that one. No, it's because they have to. Because that's where the market's going. They're looking around and thinking 'oh, the people like it so I better start getting into this shit'.
Whammo: It's been a long time coming. Hip-hop really arrived quite suddenly in the 80s when I was a kid.
Peril: It was the thing to do. It was so saturated that it was the normal thing to do in the 80s. It was a new thing that you saw in movies and even if it wasn't in a break dancing movie, you'd see it in 16 Candles. There'd be a dance scene in an 80s movie and you'd see some breaking on the dance floor on a prom night in an American movie. So, it was the norm and it seemed to me that everyone on my block was doing it. In every neighbourhood there was three or four break crews. That's the era when I got into it: late '83 straight through to now. It's been 20-plus years of my life - that I've been into hip-hop - and I don't think I'll ever get out of it (laughs). It's something that has become a lifestyle to me. I always think I'll be involved with it in some way or another. I used to break dance and I was a graffiti artist.
Whammo: Yeah, I heard you were a very good writer.
Peril: I went through a stage where that's what I did. I was a straight-up graffiti artist from '85 till the mid-90s when, you know, I had to relax it a little bit. I still incorporate that in 1200 Techniques, like the new cover. That's my design. What goes around comes around. I'm still incorporating everything I've used and my skills from back in the day till now.
Whammo: It looks like we've grown out of that attitude where you had to have fat laces to enjoy hip-hop.
Peril: Exactly. There was, at once stage, a lot of politics; the rules and regulations; the do's and don'ts. They're still there for the underground and that's great. I'll always love hip-hop for its quality control. People may disrespect it because of that side of it, but there's a real need for that because it keeps up the quality of the real stuff and keeps the crap out.

FORK IN THE ROAD (7 TRX)
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CONSISTENCY THEORY (STANDARD)
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1200 Techniques are tough to review. Some die-hard Aussie hip-hop fans would consider the act as 'fence-sitters' that concentrate on the commercial market. Having said that, it's no secret that Aussie fans of the genre are among the hardest taskmasters on the planet. But there are a few undeniable facts about 1200 Techniques that deserve recognition and have contributed to their rapid rise: crisp production, catchy tunes, exact musicianship and a fiery stage show that magnetically attracts a faithful following. Working with Koolism on Knock Knock won't hurt their reputation and this collaboration is an early highlight; an up tempo, well-polished jam that features a brief but entertaining battle of turntablism between Danielsan and Peril that should have been developed further. Hot Syrup, with its sleazy beat and sexual imagery, is a relieving break from the incessantly positive sentiment of the 1200 lyrics' sheet, which is proliferated with talk of 'truth' and 'love'. Takin You Back is another exception that definitely makes an impact with its obligatory nod of appreciation to the past and Maya Jupiter has never sounded better than her contribution to Feel The Music; a grinding lesson in understated funk, complete with vocoded chorus. 1200 Techniques are destined to skip the underground they so often mention and while that may attract the disdain of purists, Consistency Theory - with the help of a gruelling tour schedule - will easily find a home on charts and build on the success of Choose One. And how do the band feel about that? Just check out Haterade, a recognition of their detractors, which echoes the thoughts of many hip-hop fans who are tired of seeing the local scene chained to an amateur status, all for the sake of an accent and cynical attitude.
CONSISTENCY THEORY (CD & DVD PACK)
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CD AND DVD Region:TBA Format:TBA

1200 Techniques are tough to review. Some die-hard Aussie hip-hop fans would consider the act as 'fence-sitters' that concentrate on the commercial market. Having said that, it's no secret that Aussie fans of the genre are among the hardest taskmasters on the planet. But there are a few undeniable facts about 1200 Techniques that deserve recognition and have contributed to their rapid rise: crisp production, catchy tunes, exact musicianship and a fiery stage show that magnetically attracts a faithful following. Working with Koolism on Knock Knock won't hurt their reputation and this collaboration is an early highlight; an up tempo, well-polished jam that features a brief but entertaining battle of turntablism between Danielsan and Peril that should have been developed further. Hot Syrup, with its sleazy beat and sexual imagery, is a relieving break from the incessantly positive sentiment of the 1200 lyrics' sheet, which is proliferated with talk of 'truth' and 'love'. Takin You Back is another exception that definitely makes an impact with its obligatory nod of appreciation to the past and Maya Jupiter has never sounded better than her contribution to Feel The Music; a grinding lesson in understated funk, complete with vocoded chorus. 1200 Techniques are destined to skip the underground they so often mention and while that may attract the disdain of purists, Consistency Theory - with the help of a gruelling tour schedule - will easily find a home on charts and build on the success of Choose One. And how do the band feel about that? Just check out Haterade, a recognition of their detractors, which echoes the thoughts of many hip-hop fans who are tired of seeing the local scene chained to an amateur status, all for the sake of an accent and cynical attitude. *Special Edition features bonus live DVD.
ONE TIME LIVE
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Australia has always had a thriving Hip Hop community but 1200 Techniques have gone where few other local Hip Hop acts have gone before: into the charts. With a ferocious energy that makes them premier live performers and obvious guests for television performances, 1200 Techniques have become a dependable highlight on the festival circuit and have backed their showmanship with critical acclaim, including awards at both the ARIA and DMA’s prestigious ceremonies. Two of those awards were for the amazing Karma video, proving the band never fails to excite whether on disc, stage or video. If you’ve never bothered to check them out, you’re in for a treat because One Time Live includes director’s cuts for their music-videos, live concert footage (20 songs), backstage footage and interviews. There’s so much on this DVD it’s almost frightening, especially when you consider 1200 Techniques’ career has only just begun.
CHOOSE ONE (W/BONUS REMIX DISC)
1200 TECHNIQUES
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