Todd Macalpine talks with Orb and Yze from Hip Hop duo Seed Of Aether ahead of their MOFO show on Saturday night.
Seed of Aether’s Orb and Yze, joined forces originally as a part of an artist collective called Dirty Scientifix out of Seattle W.A, releasing their debut album “The Anadoap” in 2010.
Orb is a founding member of the iconic dance crew Circle of Fire out of Seattle WA. Orb has travelled the world as a professional BBoy, House and Freestyle dancer, his dance unites with his dynamic flow taking live shows to a masterful level.
Morphing harmonies with hard hitting lyricism Yze (pronounced wise) the Yin to the Yang of this eclectic duo & radiates a universal feel, spreading poetic words of wisdom upon hypnotic rhythms. Yze is Influenced by innovative Hip Hop artists such as Nas, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Wu Tang Clan, the Fugee’s, and Common. Originating from Australia, and of Arabic decent, Yze found refuge in Seattle W.A. in 2005, spending a total of 15 years throughout the US, namely Honolulu HI, Los Angeles CA and Atlanta GA.
Orb and Yze formed Seed of Aether in 2012 and have since been recording there LP while working and performing simultaneously in remote Communities throughout central Australia. As youth intervention advocates Orb and Yze use there love of Hip Hop culture as a tool to connect with disadvantaged and vulnerable youth.
TM:- How did you both get involved in the Dirty Scientifix collective coming from different countries?
Yze:- Orb was born in L.A and raised in both L.A and Vegas, moving to Seattle when he was 18 to attend the “Arts Institute. Yze was born in Sydney and raised both in Sydney and Cairns but moved over to the US when she was 16, living in many cities across the US ending up in Seattle in 2005. Orb and I met while working with the same producer out of Seattle. We respected each other as artists, Orb started inviting me to feature during his solo performances for the “Bboy Universal” project, he was working on back then. Orb at that time had already established Dirty Scientifix as a solo project which included himself and producer Eardrumz.
TM:- Tell me more about your travelling and performing in remote communities in central Australia..
Yze:- Orb asked me to join Dirty Scientifix along with his cousin Lateef “Mozes” back in 2009. In 2010 Orb and I took a trip to visit my mother who was working in a remote community in the NT (Epenarra). We volunteered to work with the children at the local school in the afternoons teaching dance and hip hop history/song writing. Our work was quickly noticed by the Government funded Barkly Art’s program which operated out of Tennant Creek, and it was long before they invited us to travel to different communities to teach workshops. We eagerly excepted as we really enjoyed working with the youth in the NT.
TM:- And you are recording your new album as you travel?
Yze:- Orb and I decided to move over to Australia during the time that we were working out in the NT. We got offered some permanent work in a Community Called Alpurrurulam and lived and worked out there from 2011 until the end of 2013 as youth coordinators. While we were in Alpurrurulam we finished our latest album under the name Seed of Aether. We are currently in the process of finalising the mastering and cd duplication. We are reside in Cairns (Kuranda) presently and have just released a Mix tape titled Seed Of Aether 89BPM Mix Tape.
TM:- In your bio you mention Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk and Soul among your influences, is there any live instrumentation on the album or is it sample based?
Orb:- Yes its all sample based for now, for our future projects we would love to have live instrumentation, especially for our live shows!
TM:- Speaking of which, what can punters expect from you at the MOFO gig?
Orb:- An engaging soulful mix of great lyricism and hard hitting Boom Bap beats, with a bit of fluid Bboy movements thrown in there.
Seed of Aether play MOFO at the Germania club in Cairns this Saturday night the 10th of May, Along with Hungry Lungs, Jobstopper, and Lost Boys (Townsville). Germania club is located at 57 Winkworth st Cairns. Doors at 6.30, bands from 7.00.