FESTIVAL: Bonded by a common love of music in the hills of Adelaide back in their high school days, MC Suffa, Pressure and DJ Debris started writing music that would later boom in the Australian hip hop market.
In 1997 the Hilltop Hoods officially broke through with their first EP release, Back Once Again.
Even though they have enjoy unprecedented success, Suffa said that it was just the right time and if they hadn’t done it someone else would have.
“We were just dumb kids, I wouldn’t have listened to our music,” Suffa laughed.
“I don’t regret anything we have done though.
“We work hard, travel hard and tour hard.”
Playing at Groovin The Moo this year will be the last time they perform in Australia for a while, before taking off overseas.
One of the most invigorating moments he remembered from last year’s GTM was seeing Public Enemy perform before they went on stage.
“I have grown up listening to their music and when you look over and see them, it was victory,” he said
“This year Bunbury can expect a party.”
Their latest project has been working on establishing their mixed tape for the annual Golden Era Record, which promotes some of the finest hip hop artists.
The Hilltop Hoods Initiative supports young Australian soul and hip hop artists by offereing a $10,000 grant to help manufacture, market and release an album.
“We got a fine arts grant when we were getting started and that helped us out a lot and we thought maybe we could do something to give back,” Suffa said.
Their latest album released in 2014, Walking Under Stars is a two part companion to the 2012 release, Drinking From the Sun.
It became the group’s third consecutive number one album and went Gold on the day of its release and Platinum within just one week.
They have certainly lived by their motto to create, innovate, inspire and repeat, constantly bringing out fresh new music that pleases their fans and resonates with new markets worldwide.
Hilltop Hoods release vinyl for every album they make and with only a couple thousand he said they get snapped up quickly.
Suffa said he had a large vinyl collection himself and loved having something tactile to take away from music.
“It is a way to really absorb the music rather than just having it as mp3s,” he said.
Tickets are now sold out for GTM. Visit hilltophoods.com to see their latest in news and music.
