The first time I heard Home Brew I was chewing my face off at a house party during the first summer of my 20’s. Albeit it was most likely the combination of the MDMA, alcohol, THC and God knows what else that was charging through my body that night but their debut release Last Week EP felt like it encapsulated that point in my life (and currently too I guess) perfectly. Their depictions of wasted youth, hanging out with your mates, working dead-end jobs and regrettable decisions had that perfect balance of tongue-in-cheek and self-reflecting honesty that really hit home with me.
It was also refreshing to hear music from our neck of the woods that didn’t sound like it was made in America, but at the same time didn’t compromise quality for the “keeping it real, mate” mentality that many hip hop acts suffer from in New Zealand and Australia. Contrary to the swag/bling/floss rap that populates iTunes these days, Home Brew rap songs of scraping together cash for beers and being on the dole, in a storytelling style akin to Slick Rick but with the swagger of your embarassing best mate.
With Haz’s soulful boom-bap paired with Tom’s brilliant lyrics and Lui’s assistance, Home Brew has since become one of the biggest underground acts in New Zealand. Selling out shows all over NZ and everywhere you go in Auckland you’ll see Listen to Home Brew tees (a play on now-defunct NZ skate label ABC’s Listen to Ghostface Wu-tang collab), all the same time shunning commercial radio, causing mischief and giving away amazing music for free.
It was their fuck-you-we’re-having-fun attitude that drew me into working with them for a couple of shows in Melbourne back in ’09 and their good vibes that we stayed mates who get on the horse on the rare occasion we’re in the same time country.
Now on the eve of their debut album, Tom and Haz sit down with me for a quick Q&A to introduce the unacquainted, and after the interview we’ve got a link to not one but two tracks from the upcoming album, an exclusive download just for ACCLAIMmag.com readers.
Who do we have here and who are you guys?
Tom Scott: Birthname: Barry Humphries. Stage Name: Tom Scott.
Haz: Haz’ Beats the infamous Kangaroo pussy fucker. Who the fuck are you?
How did you guys meet?
T: I met Lui when we were 10 cleaning windscreens. I met Haz on an Internet dating website.
H: In a laundromat. Tom heard me banging my soap grater while humming Do For Love by 2Pac and it was a match made in hell and back.
How would you explain the type of music Home Brew makes?
H: That straight up honest truth kind. That sound that adults make when they cry you a river. A never ending novel about our surroundings smeared across boom bap, snappy snares & ear destroying soul samples. We make love songs for the fuck ups in life & the crackle is just for flavour.
T: It’s like Australian rap, but good.
If Home Brew was a soundtrack to any movie that has been made, what would it be for?
T: If I had it my way it’d be playing during that scene after the dude gets knocked out in The Big Lebowski. Or the fight scene with the hammer in Old Boy. But it’s probably more like the shit playing in the pub when Jake smashes the bar stool over that dudes head in Once Were Warriors 2.
H: Romeo & Juliet. Of course I’m Jet Li & Tom is Juliet coz he’s the pretty one & I’m the tough guy hahaha. (Vinny’s Note: I think Haz got Romeo & Juliet and Romeo Must Die mixed up!)
Explain to us the process from beginning to end to make a Home Brew track?
H: Look at the stars, think of words, curse the Gods, drink some alcohol, sniff ecstasy, go crazy for a few hours-slash-days, use our ears to find drums and samples and record it all in one go then blaow! A recipe for a Cocaine lovers.
T: Hopefully first you go through some kind of traumatic life changing experience, drink your way into a deep melancholy then write a song to make it better. Lastly, bottle the experience deep into your subconscious.
What current releases do you guys have out?
T: We’ve spent (wasted) the last 3 years working on this album. We’ve both been involved in other stuff in the past (Last Week, At-Peace, Max Marx) But this upcoming album is def what I’m most proud of. It’s a double album. It’s introspective. It’s existential. It’s reflective. Our fans are gonna hate it.
H: Also a Vinyl that sold out in presales.
You rep your hometown Avondale like nothing else Tom, tell us the pros and cons of growing up in Avondale.
T: Pros: high level of Street Fighter Hyper competition, lack of parental guidance, quality potato fritters, unlimited fun throwing rocks at the glue sniffer at the creek, early educated on how to pick bike locks. Cons……VCR constantly pawned for heroin money.
You guys have threatened to kill peoples animals, vandalised universities and harassed strangers, why??? Are you guys troublemakers or something?
T: We can’t afford a well devised marketing plan.
H: I come from a long line of morons. I think we all do what we love doing, and I love all that fun stuff. Killing animals isn’t my thing though, but I’ve killed a lot of goldfish in my time.
You also talk a lot about drugs and binge drinking, isn’t that a bad influence on impressionable youths?
H: We point out our surroundings through our songs. Its a good and bad thing I guess. Take it how you like. We dont feed people drugs. They do that on their own. Our whole life is a come down so that make great stories.
T: No more so than Jesus. Or Shane Warne. Fuck. I got drunk for the first time when I was 10. We stole some cider out of my friend’s parents beer fridge, mixed it with some grapes and went and buzzed out on the trampoline. It def wasn’t cause Gin n Juice was out at the time.
What are you thoughts on playing live compared to recording songs?
H: I love seeing how the crowd reacts when we’re on stage. I mean, anyone can record songs but not many can stand on stage & actually give a quality performance.
T: Music is meant to be a live thing. It’s for everyone you know. It should be a communal thing.
What are the other side projects you guys are involved with outside of Home Brew?
H: I’m currently working my very first score for a porno I’m staring in with Kimbra and the Topp Twins nieces.
T: At-Peace, Max Marx, Team Dynamite and I also do a night cleaning job with The Mason Society of Hamilton. I also just got a job at Arcade (Auckland skate shop). But that’s just to launder benefit fraud money through. It’s working out good though. So far I’ve stolen a couple rolls of toilet paper and a stapler.
What’s your day job Haz?
H: I’m actually trying my hardest to scam the government for money but I’m too lazy to stand in the dole line. A producer-slash-junkie on a endless bender sums me up real good.
So you’ve got these two exclusive tracks for ACCLAIMmag.com readers to download from the upcoming album, can you tell us a bit about them? What’s the album called anyways?
T: I’ve given you two tracks because that’s the best way to get an understanding of the album. It’s a balance of life’s extremities.
One side, light. The other, dark. A dichotomy of methadone and melancholy. Infinity and finality. It’s a record that looks back at Saturday’s moment of madness through Sunday’s moment of clarity. So Yellow Snot is the A-side. Excessive excess and all that. Then Plastic Magic is the B-Side. The come down.
That’s pretty much life for us. High highs, low lows. And that’s what you hear on this album. As for the name of the album…we couldn’t think of anything that described it right without it sounding like we were making some kind of Nelly Sweat/Shirt bullshit so we just called it Home Brew….FUCK. My missus is calling me. I gotta gap. We’re going to go watch The Specials. Fuck this interview.
Home Brew’s debut self-titled album will be released on the 4th of May, with iTunes pre-orders beginning Friday 13th of this month. click on the Mediafire links below to download them, make sure to have a beer in hand and a baggie of your choice close by.