vents — Turner
Aussie hip-hop artist Vents has been paying his dues in the underground scene for many years, gaining a reputation as an innovative lyricist and performer. His latest album, Marked for Death, has been met with rave reviews and features guest vocals from fellow artists Sesta and Hilltop Hoods. CHELSEA REED speaks to Vents as he prepares to head out for a string of national dates. In what ways do you think your sound has evolved since 2007’s Hard to Kill? Well, the last time I recorded an album was about four years ago. I’m 28 now, so I hope my sound has evolved. I’ve grown up and learnt how to hold a lot of my ideas up to scrutiny. I hope I’ve gotten better… my politics have gotten less shit (laughs). The production has gotten better. There’s some pretty heavy lyrical content. What fires you up and inspires you to write? Heaps, really. I just try to cram as many ideas as I can into three and a half minutes. Just living really, being alive and trying to work out where I fit in.
involved in pushing forward in some capacity. I guess a lot of people talk about the ‘scene’ like it’s some sort of abstract, dead entity or idea or something, but it’s really not. It’s just a big network of people who give up their time and energy for a common goal. It’s an active movement!
I just prefer playing to people that are there to hear the songs. I really like that, when people know the lyrics. I’d rather play to a smaller room of people that are there to see me than a massive room of people who are there to see someone else. I guess my last point of reference was my album launch. There were only abut 300 people but, you know, it was just the best show I’ve ever done, not necessarily because our performance was that stellar, but just because the energy in the room was so good. I feed off that. It’s such a good feeling. It’s weird getting on stage because you’re so nervous, it’s terrifying, and then that hour when you’re on is such a blur and you don’t really have any recollection of what’s
So who are some of your favourite artists in the local scene? Look I’d have to say legitimately that the Hilltop Hoods are my favourite artists, just because when I first heard them as a teenager, they were the best back then and probably still are. I have an immense amount of respect for their hard work and dedication. They rehearse so much and that’s why they are what they are. I mean a lot of people hate on them but, you only need to see how dedicated they are to really respect what they do.
giving Vent Anything that makes you angry? Yeah, lots. Just staying in touch with current events, I guess you can get overwhelmed with everything. I’m lucky I have my music to be able to get my opinions out. But what’s making me angry recently? The fact I’ve got a $250 bill that I can’t pay, rent, trying to find work… You’ve played at a variety of different venues. Do you prefer the big festivals or the pubs and smaller rooms?
Firstly, where does the Turner moniker come from? I was actually born a Turner… my natural father passed away when I was very young and living in the UK, and when mum re-married I took on my adopted surname Grewar. Family is such a massive part of who I am. The majority of the songs on Ghosts carry that content and reflect the interest I have in keeping the name going... using Turner as a moniker was the best way
happened, but you just feel good! Nothing’s better. It’s like drugs… except you feel good afterwards (laughs). How difficult was it to get gigs when you were starting out? Yeah, it was difficult to get gigs. I did a lot of stuff for free, you know, just for the opportunity to perform. But it’s still hard, to be honest. We’re really just doing it all ourselves. I’d love to do more festivals in the future I guess, but at the moment, we’re not knocking back
gigs willy-nilly, put it that way. And when you put out an album, especially in this country, you have to tour. We don’t have massive marketing budgets and a lot of commercial stations won’t play our stuff. Touring is the best way to get people to hear your music. What are your thought on the Aussie hiphop scene at the moment? Well, to me the scene is just a big network of people that I’m in touch with everyday. I’ve found that a lot of people in the scene are all fans too, myself included, and are
This new album is very different musically from your first two bands, The Eighth Colour and As We Are. What has brought on this change?
Having cut his teeth playing rock for the past decade, Richard Grewar has picked up the acoustic, gone solo, and produced a highly accomplished debut album, Ghosts. KEVIN BULL talks to Grewar about past successes and how they have shaped who he is as a musician.
Your debut solo album, Ghosts, has just been released. Can you tell me about the recording process? Finally sitting down in the studio with Caleb (James, producer) to start recording the album was such a surreal moment, because those crappy lo-fi demos recorded in nooks and crannies all over the UK had been burning a giant hole in the back of my mind, and my laptop for that matter, for so long, I never thought they’d see the light of day. I bombarded Caleb’s email with about 20 ideas, some just riffs and others fleshed out
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magazine issue #060 — July 2011
I think age has a lot to do with the stylistic change as well. It’s a natural thing for any musician, I think, that, as they learn more about songwriting and the importance of lyrics and melody, the music they start pumping out changes with them. I’m about three weeks away from turning 30, so let’s be honest, my ears can’t really cope with the hard rock anymore. Both The Eighth Colour and As We Are achieved what would be considered a certain level of success, having been signed to a label and touring overseas. Can you tell me about this experience? Where do I start… this is an industry based obviously on talent and hard work, but at the same time it relies so much on luck and
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What are your plans for the rest of the year? To tour the album really… I really believe in my music, I think it’s good and worth getting out there. We’ve really been dormant for a while so I just wanna try and jump back in and just tour a lot and let people hear me and hopefully give it the time of day. Vents performs at the CBD Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday July 15.
What have you taken away from this early experience that is now shaping your solo career? Such a great question… the best advice I give myself nowadays, and would quite happily give to anyone asking, is ‘don’t rely on anyone else to achieve your goals for you’ - the catchphrase of thousands. But in a band if you don’t have 100 per cent commitment from every corner of the project, you are destined to struggle. Being an unsigned solo artist, I only have myself to blame if a phone call doesn’t get made, or posters don’t get printed, and if I don’t conquer all those elements that are equally as important as writing a half decent song.
songs. I picked ten tracks, not necessarily the ‘best’, but the ones that meant the most to me, and away we went! All up, it’s taken 12-months to get the point where the album is being released, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
Turning it down I could find to, firstly, pay my respects to my father and, secondly, sum up what I’m about and what the project as a whole represents to me.
What other types of music do you listen to? Heaps. I really like heavy metal, which I grew up with. I listen to drum and bass… I wouldn’t say I really draw a lot of inspiration from it, but I like it. As far as lyricists go, I like a lot of local hip-hop artists and you know I guess, my crew, Funkoars and the Hoods. I think they are all pretty high calibre.
being in the right time and place for things to happen. On the amazing side of the coin we played live on Rove, got to travel with pro surfers, made some decent money, played in some great venues in the UK, played at the F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone and hung out with a few famous people, but on the not so amazing side of the coin, a lot of times I was guilty of taking these (in the musical scheme of things) tiny successes for granted and burning a good number of bridges that when things went to shite, I really could have utilised again. Word of advice — never quit your day job unless you are absolutely certain where the next lot of grocery money is coming from. Budgeting on $20 a week is not a fun experience.
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With Ghosts now available, what are your plans for the rest of the year? The next few months are going to be pretty busy with the tour starting this month, the film clip for ‘Move’ out in a few weeks, the second single release somewhere around September and a few more trips down the east coast before the year is out. I’ll also be streaming a special launch gig for Ghosts on www.stageit.com, on July 18, which will be a ‘pay what you can’ show beamed direct from my lounge room. Lazy or cutting edge marketing... you decide. Either way it’ll be a fun way to send the record off into cyberspace. Next on the agenda will be shows with a full band. I’m so very close to having the line-up nutted out and we’re getting very keen to start playing in places other than the little acoustic venues. Turner performs at the Armidale Club on Thursday July 7; Tattersall’s Hotel, Lismore on Friday July 8; Treehouse on Belongil, Byron Bay on Thursday July 14.
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