Hermitude
Encyclopedia
Hermitude are an Australian hip hop
group, originating from the Blue Mountains, New South Wales
.
Signing with the Elefant Traks
label founded by the Herd, Hermitude released the vinyl-only Imaginary Friends EP in 2002. The collection of esoteric instrumental soundscapes, with two vocal cuts provided by Urthboy and Ozi Batla, sold out and has never been transferred to CD, making it a collector's item. A year later their first album, Alleys to Valleys
, was released. The name referred to their moving between Sydney and a recording studio called Sound Heaven in the Blue Mountains, owned by Stuart's father, John Stuart, which allowed them to literally be hermits half the time. The other half of their time they spent coming down from the mountains to try out their new material in the clubs of the city.
The popularity of Hermitude's debut allowed them to earn support billing with touring international acts such as, Dizzee Rascal
, RJD2
, and DJ Krush
, and then record Tales of the Drift in 2005. A more percussive, Cuban sound was created, inspired by Stuart's time spent there in his youth. In 2006 Hermitude embarked overseas to pursue the real world, landing gigs in Europe, Asia and the USA. They were invited to perform in Malaysia, Norway
and Spain
as well as at DJ Kentaro
’s Japan
ese album launch, and were booked for Aceyalone
and Abstract Rude
’s West Coast USA tour. Whilst on this world tour, Dubber and Stuart wrote the tunes that would make up their 2007 Rare Sightings EP release. Released in November 2007, initially sold at venues on their return tour of Australia, this is their fourth release on Elefant Traks. Hermitude then joined Urthboy and The Tongue on a national tour throughout Australia. Copies of the CD sold out during the tour and had to go back to press before copies could be released in stores.
Hermitude has released two new singles 'Get in My Life' and 'Speak of the Devil' from their new album to be released in February 2012.
Apart from Hermitude, Stuart has spent the last couple of years playing and touring with Paul Mac
as percussionist and DJ, whilst Dubber has lent his keyboard skills to many local Sydney outfits including Gauche, The Tango Saloon
and The Bird, as well as touring with Tom Tom Crew the internationally acclaimed Hip-Hop Circus stage production.
Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States of America. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music...
group, originating from the Blue Mountains, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Biography
The two multi-instrumentalists Luke Dubber (aka Luke Dubs) and Angus Stuart (aka Elgusto) have been in bands together since 1994, at the ages of 16 and 11 respectively. Their first proper band was called Funk Injections, following the rule that funk bands require the word "funk" appear somewhere in their name, and included Stuart's sister, Aja Stuart, on bass. When a group of local rappers, including Tim Levinson (aka Urthboy) from the Herd, were impressed by Funk Injections' abilities, the two groups briefly incorporated in 1998, performing for a while under the name Explanetary. Explanetary consisted of Levinson on vocals, Stuart on keyboards, Dubber on drums, Realistix on vocals (and sometimes production), No Mumbles (aka Nug) on vocals, Aja Stuart (Stuart's sister) on bass and DJ ALF on cuts. Explanetary only released one EP, In On the Deal, in July 2001 following which the members went their separate ways. After Stuart returned from a trip to the U.S. in 2000 with a set of turntables, the two tried jamming together with Dubs playing keyboard, sans vocals. The combination worked so well that they realized they didn't need anything else and Hermitude was formed.Signing with the Elefant Traks
Elefant Traks
Elefant Traks is an Australian hip hop record label based in Sydney, Australia. Elefant Traks are distributed nationally through Inertia Distribution.-History:...
label founded by the Herd, Hermitude released the vinyl-only Imaginary Friends EP in 2002. The collection of esoteric instrumental soundscapes, with two vocal cuts provided by Urthboy and Ozi Batla, sold out and has never been transferred to CD, making it a collector's item. A year later their first album, Alleys to Valleys
Alleys to Valleys
Alleys to Valleys is the debut album from Australian hip-hop artists Hermitude. It was released on the 25 August 2003.The album features Ozi Batla and Urthboy from The Herd and Joelistics from TZU on the title track "Alley to Valleys".John Stuart, Elgusto’s dad, features under the alias Mango...
, was released. The name referred to their moving between Sydney and a recording studio called Sound Heaven in the Blue Mountains, owned by Stuart's father, John Stuart, which allowed them to literally be hermits half the time. The other half of their time they spent coming down from the mountains to try out their new material in the clubs of the city.
The popularity of Hermitude's debut allowed them to earn support billing with touring international acts such as, Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
, RJD2
RJD2
RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...
, and DJ Krush
DJ Krush
, better known as DJ Krush, is a producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature and extensive use of jazz and soul samples.-Biography:...
, and then record Tales of the Drift in 2005. A more percussive, Cuban sound was created, inspired by Stuart's time spent there in his youth. In 2006 Hermitude embarked overseas to pursue the real world, landing gigs in Europe, Asia and the USA. They were invited to perform in Malaysia, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as well as at DJ Kentaro
DJ Kentaro
DJ Kentaro is a hip hop DJ from Japan. He came 3rd in the Technics DMC World DJ Final in 2001 and won it in 2002 at the age of 20. In doing so, he became one of the first ever Asians to win the DMC World DJ Final, receiving the highest score in DMC history in the process.He was signed to Ninja Tune...
’s Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese album launch, and were booked for Aceyalone
Aceyalone
Eddie Hayes, better known by his stage name Aceyalone, is an American rapper.He is a founding member of the Freestyle Fellowship. Apart from his role in Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone is also a member of Haiku D'Etat and The A-Team , and he is a co-founder of Project Blowed.After releasing a...
and Abstract Rude
Abstract Rude
Abstract Rude is an American rapper, from Los Angeles, CA. He is the MC for the hip hop group Abstract Tribe Unique , alongside dancers Zulu Butterfly Prince and Irie Lion Locks, Turntablist DJ Drez, and Underground Hip Hop producer, Fat Jack...
’s West Coast USA tour. Whilst on this world tour, Dubber and Stuart wrote the tunes that would make up their 2007 Rare Sightings EP release. Released in November 2007, initially sold at venues on their return tour of Australia, this is their fourth release on Elefant Traks. Hermitude then joined Urthboy and The Tongue on a national tour throughout Australia. Copies of the CD sold out during the tour and had to go back to press before copies could be released in stores.
Hermitude has released two new singles 'Get in My Life' and 'Speak of the Devil' from their new album to be released in February 2012.
Apart from Hermitude, Stuart has spent the last couple of years playing and touring with Paul Mac
Paul Mac
Paul Mac is a musician, producer and music remixer from Sydney, Australia. He was classically trained at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music. Paul Mac formed the bands Smash Mac Mac, Itch-e And Scratch-e, The Lab, and The Dissociatives, as well as releasing two records under his own name...
as percussionist and DJ, whilst Dubber has lent his keyboard skills to many local Sydney outfits including Gauche, The Tango Saloon
The Tango Saloon
The Tango Saloon is an experimental tango band from Sydney, Australia. Their self-titled debut, a "tango-flavored album with a twist of spaghetti western", was released in 2006 by Ipecac Recordings, the American record label run by Mike Patton and Greg Werckman...
and The Bird, as well as touring with Tom Tom Crew the internationally acclaimed Hip-Hop Circus stage production.
Albums
- Alleys to ValleysAlleys to ValleysAlleys to Valleys is the debut album from Australian hip-hop artists Hermitude. It was released on the 25 August 2003.The album features Ozi Batla and Urthboy from The Herd and Joelistics from TZU on the title track "Alley to Valleys".John Stuart, Elgusto’s dad, features under the alias Mango...
- Elefant TraksElefant TraksElefant Traks is an Australian hip hop record label based in Sydney, Australia. Elefant Traks are distributed nationally through Inertia Distribution.-History:...
(August 2003) - Tales of the DriftTales of the DriftTales of the Drift is the second album from Australian hip-hop artists Hermitude. It was released on the 1 August 2005.The album features Ozi Batla and Urthboy from The Herd on the track "Fallen Giants" and MC Blu on the track "Music from the Mind"...
- Elefant Traks (August 2005) - Threads - Elefant Traks (September 2008)