Contest Us CD Story - Introduction

After working in the music industry since 2005 playing in bands, being a booking agent I left my band in December 2009 to embark on a project, started in January 2010, Using music I'd written over the years which I felt was going to waste, using networks I had built over the years and touring vocalists I knew, started to putting a compilation CD together and I completely funded myself, to have a permanent record of my experience in the industry, to show that unsigned locals can match it with the best and to get more people across the world into Australian Hip Hop with intelligent lyrics over cross genres of music.

The first person I recruited was Ivan 'Choi' Khatchoyan, producer and drummer for 'TZU' and Cookin' on 3 burners, who I'd known through 'Street Poetics' a weekly open mic hip hop event and knew through housemate Syd 'Star child' Preece, sax player for my band at the time and Jamiroquai fan, to lay down the instruments and be the main producer on the album. Choi and I spent a couple of weeks putting down my bass lines and drum beats, where I learnt a lot about individual tracking, as all the recording I had done in the past was live recording. Having put down the bass for 6 tracks it was time to get Jake Savona to come in to play keys, I was a big fan of Jakes bands 'Illzilla' and 'Mista Savona' and knew him from 'Street Poetics', and not long after I became 'Mista Savona's' booking agent. Jake got to the session in his old Landcruiser which was pact to brim, he had brought his Hammond Keyboard with Lesey amp, a harpsichord keyboard and Melodica. We set up days session and began to record, we decided to get Jake to lay down as many ideas as he could think of using all the instruments he brought so Choi and I could pick what keys lines go with the vocals, the session didn't take long so we headed down to Street Poetics early and got stuck into some cheap pizza from Bimobo's and beverages. Mikey Chan was the next person to come in, I regard Mikey as one of the best guitarists in Australia and would have played for ninety percent of Australia's bands and producers to come in next and lay down his parts, armed with guitar and the biggest pedal board I'd ever seen got into it and took the same process with recording Mikey as Jake and got down as many different feels as possible and before long had it all down.