| The Herd | |
|---|---|
Performing live on stage at the Metro Theatre, October 2005. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Australia |
| Genres | Australian hip hop |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Elefant Traks |
| Associated acts | Blades Of Hades |
| Website | Official site |
| Members | |
| Traksewt (Kenny Sabir) Rok Poshtya (Dale Harrison) Ozi Batla (Shannon Kennedy) Urthboy (Tim Levinson) Unkle Ho (Kaho Cheung) Toe-Fu (Byron Williams) Sulo (Richard Tamplenizza) Jane Tyrrell |
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| Past members | |
| Bezerkatron (Simon Fellows) Alejandro (Alex Swarbrick) Flatmax (Matt Flax) |
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The Herd are an Australian hip hop outfit from Sydney. Unusual for a hip-hop outfit they have a full band format which permits more dynamic live shows. The Herd are composed of MCs Ozi Batla, Urthboy and Berzerkatron, Unkle Ho (beats), Traksewt (piano accordion, clarinet and beats), Sulo (beats and guitar), Toe-fu (guitar), Rok Poshtya (bass) and singer Jane Tyrrell. Their songs often feature politically-oriented lyrics.
Contents |
The Herd's first single to attract Triple J airplay was Scallops in 2001, a song about ordering food at a take-away shop. Later tracks included "77%" which featured the line '77% of Aussies are racist', referring to the number of Australians announced in a survey that agreed with the Australian Federal Government's response to the Tampa affair, and Burn Down the Parliament, which was to be interpreted metaphorically, but was released the same week as the Canberra bushfires of 2003.
"77%" scored well on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2003, coming in at #46.
Functioning as a non-recording member only appearing live, Flatmax left the group in late 2003.
Alex Swarbrick (Alejandro) left the group in 2004.
The Herd released their third album The Sun Never Sets in 2005, featuring the single "We Can't Hear You". Their subjects ranged from their well-known anti-war stance and anti-corporatism to more personal topics like divorce and the slow death of the Australian outback/country.
In April 2005, Unkle Ho released his debut solo album Roads to Roma.[1] The album samples music from a wide variety of international musical genres such as tango, mariachi, dixieland, and blues rock.[2] According to the Elefant Traks website, "[Unkle Ho's] strategy for world peace is to write a song that has every culture in the world represented, so people will drop their guns and dance 'till they can't dance no more."[3] Roads to Roma was acclaimed as "bewitchingly beautiful by Rolling Stone magazine.[4] His second album, Circus Maximus was released in May 2007.
In October 2005, The Herd featured live on Triple J's 'Like a Version' (acoustic covers) segment. They performed their own version of the famous Australian 1983 song "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)" by Redgum. The song was so well received by fans that it received regular Triple J airplay and was voted #18 in the 2006 Triple J Hottest 100 countdown. They have since recorded a studio version which was included on the 2006 re-release of The Sun Never Sets, and they have also created a video clip for the song. The video can be viewed at http://www.brokenyellow.com/. The Herd performed at The Big Day Out 2007.
Simon Fellows (Bezerkatron) left the group in late 2006.
In February 2008 the group performed a song about recycled water on the ABC's Sleek Geeks programme.[5]
In May 2008 The Herd released its fourth studio album, Summerland.[6][7] The first single from the album "The King is Dead" makes reference to Australia's change in government with John Howard being replaced after 11 years as Prime Minister by Kevin Rudd.
The album debuted at #7 on the ARIA Album charts and reached #2 on the Top 40 Urban Album charts.[8] It was also nominated for the 2008 ARIA Awards in the 'Best Urban Release' category.[9]
In November 2008, The Herd were named 'Best Independent Artist' and their album, Summerland, 'Best Independent Urban/Hip Hop Album' at the Jägermeister AIR (Australian Independent Record Labels Association) Awards held at Melbourne's Corner Hotel.[10] The awards coincided with the group's self managed label Elefant Traks celebrating its tenth birthday that weekend.
The Herd appeared in the Triple J Hottest 100 with two entries in the 2008 countdown; 2020 at number 63 and The King is Dead at number 13.
In celebration of 10 years since the group first debuted, the band will perform their first live shows in two years in April 2011.[11] The Herd released, "The Sum of it All", the first single from the band's fifth album on 21 March 2011,[12] available as a download by donation from the Elefant Traks website. The album is scheduled for release in August 2011.
In September 2009 The Herd were embroiled in a controversy regarding their inclusion on the line up for 'Coal To Coast' a regional youth festival in Mackay that received primary funding from the local coal industry. Concerned fans brought the issue of their involvement in the festival to the group's attention and the story went national with coverage in popular press and debate on 'Hack', a popular program on National Youth Broadcaster Triple J. Urthboy released a statement apologising, declaring the urgency of global warming and arguing that the group's booking agent and the Council kept the band in the dark in regards to the nature of the festival, he also agreed to donate profits from the performance to Greenpeace by way of apology. Twenty nine hours before they were due to perform The Herd pulled out of the festival entirely as they found information in multiple sources that the festival was the 'brainchild' of Andrew Garratt, the Community Relations Officer at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. Ozi Batla appeared on Hack to discuss the bands decision to withdraw from the festival along with the Queensland Young Liberals leader, who was scathing of the group's decision, and the organiser of the festival.[13][14][15][16]