The Inside Word with Byron from The Herd: Part 2

by Cormack O'Connor on July 29, 2011

Welcome to Part 2 of our interview with Byron Williams. Missed Part 1? Check it out here.

In Part 2, you can read more about his involvement with The Herd, who are performing at Splendour this weekend…

How did The Herd come into existence?

There was about eight or nine of us at different universities that were all doing music on our own and we didn’t have any real means to release it so we said alright let’s start up a record label. So we started up a record label (Elefant Traks) and everyone was contributing individual tracks so it was more like a collaborative release. From that we burnt about 200 or 300 CD’s and sold them all and then everyone who was contributing tracks said let’s form a band. From that The Herd started. So Elefant Traks began and The Herd came from it, then it’s just gone onwards and upwards since then. The label’s doing really well now; Horrorshow is signed to the label, Astronomy Class, Joelistics just released a new album, Hermitude, Unkle Ho, Sietta, Urthboy, Ozi Batla, The Tongue, The Last Kinection. It’s become exactly what the vision was for the label: to give musicians the opportunity to release Australian hip-hop and electronic music. It’s really fulfilled that vision over the last 10 years.

So are you an MC as well as a guitarist?

I was an MC and a guitarist but then I sort of took a two year break when I was traveling and up in the Northern Territory doing music workshops and in that time I suppose Urthboy and Ozi Batla phenomenally developed their skills and I didn’t really pursue it as much. So now I’ve kind of peeled off more into the role of guitarist and singer, which I’m completely happy with and I’m completely privileged to be able to sing and play alongside Urthboy and Ozi Batla. Their lyrical delivery is amazing but more to the point the content always inspires and amazes me that they can manage to say something relevant about the Australian society, politics or the environment.

Is it hard with all of the members being spread between Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne?

It is difficult but because we’ve been around for a long time we’re sort of used to it. At one stage I was in Darwin and flying down for gigs. At another stage Unkle Ho was in Indonesia and he was flying down, one of the members was in Canberra… It’s always been chaotic, there’s a line in one of the songs “No one in The Herd controls The Herd”. It seems a lot of the time to be controlled by some external force and no one knows what it is. We manage to pull it together, I guess that’s why it’s refreshing for a lot of the members that go and do solo projects, to have that control and make all of the decisions and go wow that was easy. It’s a really tough, beautiful problem to be in. It’s all about finding this ultimate compromise that we’re all inspired to find. It’s really tough sometimes to try and work out what’s best for eight people, like what the best chorus is or what the best time to meet is. It’s an enjoyable problem to have though.

Well I’m in a band with four members and that’s hard enough so I can’t imagine eight (laughs).

Yeah, we often think of The Herd as a small democratic nation and sometimes it might be easier if it were a dictatorship (laughs). Just have someone at the top going “You will do this!” but you know that’s just the way it is.

Why have you decided to be based in Newcastle?

I just sort of realised when I was in Sydney that I was only using 1/8 of the city, so I thought why not move somewhere that’s like 1/8 the size of Sydney and use it all. Also the beaches and lifestyle. Everything that Newcastle stands for I’m passionate about. Newcastle has a great live music scene, I like live music. I’m really into the beach and surfing and the architecture. Newcastle has a lot of the things I’m really passionate about and less traffic. Lots of my friends and The Herd are in Sydney but it’s just down the highway, I’m getting used to that train ride. I’ve even got my favourite seat marked out (laughs).

What is something you’d like to see happen in the Newcastle area?

I’d like to see this beautiful city centre thriving. The Renew Newcastle scheme is going really well but just walking around here having only recently moved into the city, it’s just beautiful. It makes no sense why it isn’t thriving so that’s what I’d really like to see. Maybe a couple of new venues, a couple of old venues revitalised.

You’re going on tour soon?

Correct.

How is it touring with The Herd?

It’s like touring with a football team, not that I’ve ever toured with a football team (laughs). Having eight people touring is one of the benefits. You hear stories of smaller bands where they’re sort of living out of each other’s pockets, but with eight people you really don’t get tired of each other. You can sit next to someone different everyday. How many combinations are there in a group of eight people? It’s really enjoyable. But with a group that large getting taxis and buses becomes a little bit problematic. You can see the airline stewards at the desk when we rock up.

They go ahhh?

(Laughs) Yes, they often don’t look at us because they don’t want to deal with the 400 pieces of luggage all spewing out. Then someone’s bag splits and undies and shit go everywhere! (laughs) I really like touring with that amount of people, it’s really fun. It’s like being on a school camp forever but being able to go to pubs and see live music and hang out with your best friends. It’s really fun.

Does your work with The Herd influence your work with Headspace and vice versa?

I think they both feed into each other especially working alongside people like Urthboy and Ozi Batla, they’re really conscious in terms of what’s happening in the Australian society. That helps me maintain a level of consciousness of what’s happening in society and that feeds into issues that are happening with young people. Also working with young people and being more informed about mental health definitely feeds into my work with The Herd and being aware musically as well. I suppose the Headspace audience is more or less similar to The Herd audience and that’s really refreshing professionally. I don’t like to call it professional because it doesn’t feel professional (laughs). It’s the same sort of target group and I’m passionate about working with young people and I’m passionate about making music for young people. They really do feed into each other and it helps me maintain a sense of honesty about both jobs. It’s not like I can go I’m not Headspace Byron, I’m Herd Byron, I always have to be the two. It’s not like I can hide away and do different things or hold different values or be two different people. That’s really good that I have to maintain a level of honesty and transparency in both jobs that I do.

It’s great to see your still working with Headspace even though The Herd is very popular, will you continue to do this?

Yeah, like I said one of my roles at Headspace is mental health promotion so being in a band that receives publicity and promotion feeds into my job at Headspace. The Herd has a consciousness about it where we can be proud of everything we say and there is nothing where I go “Gee, I hope the people at Headspace don’t hear that song!” That’s what’s really aligned about the two. Headspace has been really supportive in supporting me taking time off for touring and stuff like that. They realise that if i’m happy in The Herd i’m happy at Headspace and if i’m happy at Headspace i’m happy in The Herd. Everything sort of feeds into everything at the moment which is really nice.

That’s what I like about Australian hip-hop, it’s very political and correct in what everyone’s saying as opposed to other types.

Yeah, well we’re not robbing banks so why would we rhyme about it? My car doesn’t have hydraulic suspension and I don’t bounce up and down through Hunter Street. My bedroom isn’t full of ten ladies in bikinis dancing on podiums. So it has a real honesty about it and most people working in the Australian music industry in hip-hop have other jobs. That keeps peoples feet on the ground, you can’t get too ahead of yourself. There isn’t too much ego in the business, which is great to see. You do your gigs on the weekend and then you have to go to work on Monday like everyone else. I think that’s really healthy in terms of keeping people connected to life. It’s real life so they can write real music and relate to real people. Australian music and Australian hip-hop has a real honesty and connectedness.

Is there any last comment you’d like to make about Headspace, The Herd or Newcastle?

I suppose one comment relating to all of them would be check them out. Get into Newcastle because it’s a great place to be. Check out The Herd because I like the music and I’m really privileged to play in the band. With Headspace it’s there for young people, I’m just sitting in the passenger seat and the young person is the driver. That’s the main thing; young people are the experts on their lives and I’m just there to hear the stories. I don’t know anything about a young person when they come in and that’s the main thing I tell them. Checkout Headspace, if you had a broken arm you’d go to a doctor so if you’re feeling a bit down you go to Headspace.

The Herd – Future Shade Tour tickets can be purchased via Oztix.

Featured image courtesy of Faster Louder.