With his long awaited debut solo album now in stores, I caught up with Melbourne's own Boltz to discuss the much awaited solo album "The Wishlist" & of course the much talked about Royce Da 5'9" collaboration, amongst other things. For all those unfamiliar with Boltz work, here's a small taster from the album. This is "Spitfire" produced by Mules.
Boltz wattup man, first things first. Congratulations on getting out your solo debut, how long has that been in the making, was it something you only started working on since Breach has gone overseas?
Ive been working on it for about a year and a half man. As soon as Breach told me he was going away indefinitely (he ended up staying for about 9 months) I said to him I might put out something while he was gone just to keep the wheels in motion, and he was like go for it! Because I wanted to get it out before he got back, I only planned to do an EP, but as we now know, it turned into an LP and Breach has been back for over 6 months!
For those who arent familiar with your music, what can we expect from the album?
Well if you want to hear a sample before you buy check out www.myspace.com/yaboyboltz - theres four tracks streaming up there. Id like to think the album is pretty diverse. Theres a couple of party jams, a couple of story tracks, theres lyrically intricate tracks for the MCs, some male and female vocalists for the RnB heads, and some classic head-noddin hip hop joints. So yeah, I tried not to stick to the one style, hopefully theres something on there for everybody. Your albums called The Wishlist, was that something that actually happened. You took a wishlist of shit you wanted for the album and took it to Chris (Soulmate Records CEO) to make it happen and if so was everything on your wishlist accounted for?
Yeah, its true man! I emailed Chris with a list of producers that I wanted on the LP and he hit them all up. A couple of them I already knew personally, others we had to pitch. Even Royce man, I told Chris I wanted him on the album and he handled the business side of things and came through. Im pretty lucky I guess; practically everyone I wanted to work with agreed to be a part of it, so you might say Ive created my own dream album- even if no body else likes it, Ill bump it! Ha ha.
The Royce 59 collab, its been a talking point amongst some. But Im a just talk about the experience you got from it, what was it like for you to work with someone you envy so much?
Oh man, I cant put into words how I feel every time I hear that track. Ive compared it in the past to playing 1 on 1 with Michael Jordan. Royce has always been one of my favourite MCs, so to hear my voice along side his on a track is just mind-blowing. He really inspired me to lift my game on the song too. I wrote the first verse the same night I received his vocals, but I sat on the last verse for a while. I kept writing it and re-writing it until I thought Id perfected it, and then Id end up canning it and writing a whole new verse. Its a lot of pressure trying to match your favourite MCs punches on your own track but hopefully people like how we flipped it.
I see the albums being made available on Itunes as well, do you expect much interest from overseas listeners? Especially regarding the Royce collab.
I hope so man- I was surfing the net the other day and did a search for Royce mixtapes, and when I clicked on The Bar Exam, it had my name in the press release! That was pretty wild. Im sure therell be some Royce fanatics out there whove got every single track hes ever recorded in their collection- they might cop it. The skys the limit man, if people overseas like the album that will be great. Im happy to wait though and establish myself down-under first before I start making global power moves (laughs)
Aight so your on Soulmate Records, what was the reason for signing with Soulmate and did you have the creative freedom a lot of artists yearn for on the album?
Soulmate actually contacted me and Breach just after we dropped To Be Announced They wanted to sign us up as a duo but as Breach was going away, I negotiated for them to sign me up as a solo artist. Having creative freedom was one of the first things we discussed prior to any contracts getting signed. Chris from Soulmate was really helpful sourcing beats and making suggestions, but at the end of the day all of the final beat selections and song themes were mine. It was great though hooking up with a new label who was taking a risk on me, just as I was taking a risk on them. We both learnt a lot about each other and the industry during the making of the album.
You speak about the life of a 9-5er on Ohh Yeah, do the people you work with know that youve just released an album, and whats their response to that haha?
A couple of people I work with know, but most don't. There's only like one or two dudes in the office who know of, or get Aussie hip hop. I told one dude I was an Aussie MC and it's exactly like I say in the song, he said to me 'so you're like Eminem??' It's the usual reaction I get. Whenever I tell people who aren't in the scene that I've made a CD, the first question I get is 'what instrument do you play?' The second question is usually 'so you sing?' When I can't be bothered explaining that I'm an MC, I just shake my head and let them believe I'm a singer. It's made for some embarrassing moments at Christmas parties when everyone urges me to 'get up and sing for us'. It can be hard having an alter-ego at work. Sometimes I feel like I'm living two separate lives! Haha. Will you and Breach be releasing an A-Diction album in the near future, or thats on the backburner at the moment?
Oh hell yeah man, were already talking about it, writing for it and talking to producers. The Wishlist has actually been finished for a couple of months now, but its taken a while getting it from a master disc onto the shelves- all that time Breach and I have been brain-storming and writing tracks. The A-Diction album is gonna be To Be Announced + The Wishlist x 1000 (laughs) Can we expect an album launch sometime soon from you?
Yeah, well do something for sure. Well just wait till the album has dropped and a few people have had a chance to check it out before we do a launch. Keep an eye on the Myspace page or the Soulmate website for upcoming show dates!
Off topic somewhat, but I know youre a big ball fan (loved the Memoirs Of A Blacktop track by the way). Who you got this year in the NBA? Think the Celtics will be a threat with KG, Allen & Pierce!?
The Celtics are looking good eh? Theyre trying to lure Reggie Miller out of retirement too- that will be interesting! Im a Knicks fan, so Im hoping we improve a lot on last year. We got Zach Randolph so that should help, if he can keep himself out of trouble. Im really excited coz Im going to NYC at the end of the year so Im going to see my first Knicks game in the flesh. I still think The Spurs will be hard to beat though- theyre a pretty well oiled machine.
Ahh come on man, dont talk about the Knicks haha. Although I do admit they can do some damage this year, but the last few years have been just embarrassing.
I know man, I'm praying for a good year! I think I'm cursed; when Michael and Scottie left the Bulls, so did I. I started barracking for the Magic coz they had Shaq. A couple of years later they traded him. Then I started going for the Hornets because they had Baron Davis. A year later, they traded him. Then I sort of bounced around between Denver (who won about 13 games the year I followed them), back to the Bulls (who also finished down the bottom of the table during my fan-ship) and wound up at the Knicks. When I started supporting the Knicks I promised myself and my mates that I would never trade teams again- which I haven't. But for the past 3 years since jumping on the Knicks, I think they've won a collective 50 odd games over 3 seasons! It's depressing. The basketball Gods really don't want me to experience the sweet taste of success anytime soon! Maybe I'm being punished for switching teams too often. This time I'll stick with New York and maybe if I show them some loyalty, karma will show me some!
Do you still play ball much or dont have much time?
Yeah, I play once a week. A bunch of guys from high school and I have an open mens team. Weve been together for about 10 seasons now I think. Ive got a ring in the backyard too so I can always have a shoot around during the week. Oh, and if all else fails Ive got a kick ass Knicks team on NBA Live! Thanks a lot for the interview, any last messages to the readers?
Nah, thanks for your support man. Just wanna remind everyone to get out and cop The Wishlist its in stores now! I look forward to hearing what you think and seeing everyone at shows. Cheers!