Gzutek - interview

MW: What are, in Your opinion, strong and weak points of Aussie hip hop scene?

RP: I can’t hate on it, it's a great scene. Our culture is strong and the overall support for it is amazing.

MW: In 2012 Flavor Flav said, that Australian hip-hop is “not only equal with the Northern hemisphere, but is far exceeding it” – what’s Your opinion?

RP: I honestly feel that up until 2012 Australian Hip Hop was still going through the golden era phase, reminiscent of the mid to late 90’s era of American hip hop - when we got equal with the Northern hemisphere in terms of production quality, messages in the music, aesthetics and finding our own cultural urban identity. 

The exceeding it part is happening right now though, that's for sure. The hip hop sub-genres are buzzing so heavy.

MW: Was there a particular artist, song, or album, that You heard and made You think: “Yes – THIS – rap - is what I’m gonna do”?

RP: Geto Boys spiked my attention BIG TIME, I was retreating from being an active member of my school community and the movie "Office Space" mirrored my existence, that music was the soundtrack to my life. After that Redman, DMX, ONYX, Eminem & Big Pun schooled me well in terms of emceeing.

MW: There’s an interesting quote from Your biography – “speaking English and Polish resulted in a unique eye for words and appreciation for meaning, which Gzutek adapted for his lyric writing and gave him a deeper understanding of the duality between music and language”. Can You elaborate on that?

RP: Overall I’m a creative and I’m totally unconventional in pretty much all areas of my life. It’s not so much an appreciation for meaning, I’ve come to learn it's more about finding meaning in things where none exists.

MW: What is Your “creative process”, when it comes to beatmaking?

RP: I feel i’ve got it down to a 3 day process, and I spend anywhere up to 20 - 30 hours per beat minimum. If I hear something unusual, I become obsessed with reverse engineering it. Most recently I went down a rabbit hole learning about the candombe drum and its African-Uruguayan roots, and even that is an example of an idea i’m still incubating on. There typically is a day or two where I don’t sleep and just make loops, concepts and create loose arrangements. After some referencing I have ideas on which direction to take the beats. To keep track I make a list and work through them all one by one, to get that as close to a near final beat as i can. That's the approach if I’m making beats for someone else.

If for my solo stuff, it's a different approach and I write lyrics to my barebone ideas, go record my vocals, and then come back and in a remix fashion mould the beat around the vocals.

MW: You’re also an active participant in Australian battle rap community. How can You describe it, how did You get into it? What are the key battle rappers and leagues?

I was... an active participant, and I was so excited by the new format of prep and writtens that I had to get involved, off the top freestyles aren't really my thing, with the newer acapella format I played to my strengths as I had already done tons of gigs prior to getting in front of a battle audience. 

No question Dunn D is on point right now, Manaz Ill will always be a top 5 favorite of mine and I feel as though he can translate his craft into meaningful music also. Don’t flop Australia is a powerhouse at the moment.

MW: You call Your style “a rebellious aesthetic of infused grunge hip punk hop”. How big of an influence for You are rock – punk, grunge, etc. bands, like Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Alice Cooper?

I love the rawness of it all, how those genres and artists story tell by creating tension in the music then resolve it, it’s the same ingredients that make hip hop fascinating to me. A lot of my production is inspired by progressive rock grooves and I love the mixture of fast paced drums, psychedelic guitars and synth heavy bass. 

If it isn’t about the textures of the music then it definitely comes down to the attitude, mind states and fashion.

MW: What can You tell us about Your yet-to-be released full length LP, “The Silent G Chronicles”?

I took my time crafting this album, unintentionally it’s taken 8 years (if not more) to come to fruition. During that time I’ve become a father, I’ve toured Australia, I’ve been homeless, I started a web development business, I’ve been mentally fit as well as suffered major downs of depression. 

In short “The Silent G Chronicles” has a strong theme of resistance and growth.

MW: Do You know some Polish hip-hop artists? Is there any way Polish MC’s and producers can contact and collaborate with You?

I’m familiar with a few, O.S.T.R keeps hitting my radar, probably because of the work he's done with Marco Polo so i’m a fan of that project and i’ve always enjoyed donGURALesko’s stuff too, there are others but I keep forgetting names.

I’ve always loved Polish composers and the level of production in Poland is top tier, so i’d love to work on something with producers from Poland. Either way I'm very flexible and I’m sure I’d get along with almost anyone creatively so feel free to hit me up.

MW: Do You have any message, a couple of words for the listeners in Poland?

If my parents hadn’t left communist Poland before I was born and seek refuge in Australia, then I’m sure we would’ve maybe gone to the same school, perhaps I would’ve dated your sister or stolen your car for fun one night.