From the New World Soul Collective (best known for the Triple J favourite The Drummer and The Trouble), comes OFFCUTTS, two DJ/Producers, Busted Nut and Stereofool together with Yoshi (a Japanese jungle bass playing Punk), and MC Defunishon.
Think Basement Jaxx meets Beastie Boys with Kruder & Dorfmeister doing the remix session down the hall.
Inhabiting a world where martini-sipping vocals collide with hip-hop, breaks, drum 'n' bass and house, Offcutts are more than just a group, they are an experience. Encompassing a live band, a DJ act, producers, remixers and party promoters, these four Melbourne funksters have the vision, the ambition and the talent to take it all the way.
Late summer twilight in the back blocks of Collingwood; hidden amongst the tiny houses and industrial malaise lies The Laughing Panda warehouse, home of the Offcutts. Aside from the production equipment in the far corner and a drum kit, the vast yet stylishly minimal room gives little indication as to the talent contained within. Manas (A.K.A. MC Defunishon) sits on the couch quietly strumming a guitar while the group's ever-animated spokesman and production powerhouse Aram (A.K.A. Busted Nut) struggles to sit still, barely stopping for breath as he outlines the group's vision. "We wanna cut our own path. I have never been into genre-specific music - I love eclecticism." Aram references the likes of Basement Jaxx and the Beatles' White album in a single sentence, evidencing his broad range of influences.
Fast forward a week or so to Saturday night and The Laughing Panda is transformed. Brought together by word-of-mouth in the true spirit of acid house, hundreds of in-the-know party people are losing it to the live and DJ sounds of the Offcutts performing on-stage in the best nightclub you never went to. The Offcutts are no ordinary band bonded merely by similar tastes in music but come together tasting similar upbringings and ideologies, making for a tight, focused unit with uniform goals and visions. Aram met Manus at Melbournes' Northern Metropolitan College where they were both studying music. He takes up the story. "I had a very strong argument against major corporations, in particular Coca-Cola. At this large forum nobody really understood my point of view but Manas got what I was talking about. I came back about three weeks later and he pulled me into a room and sat down at a piano. He replayed the Coca-Cola theme while changing the words to incorporate some of the things I had been talking about I instantly thought- 'I wanna work with this guy'." Aram tried to recruit Manas into his fledgling New World Souls outfit but had to be patient as it sputtered out.
From the ashes Aram, Manas, Tommy and Yoshi formed Offcutts, "Production is me and Tommy, then we have Manas and Tommy on vocals, their MCing brings things up to another level live and Yoshi gives the show even more energy." Living together in the converted warehouse, the group went to work on their new material, eventually coming up with the incredible Homestyle EP - five tracks of funky horns, sleazy breaks and cocktail bar hip-hop soul. Thinking big-picture and keen not to be labeled or pigeon-holed, vocals switch from Australian to American to Cockney accents in the blink of an eye. Of all the things the Offcutts are, overtly patriotic is not one of them.
Of the EP, Aram states defiantly, "I recorded it, tracked it, everything on a home computer and a domestic home stereo system. With this EP we just wanted to let the industry know who we are and what we are doing. It's like a released demo to let people know what's going on." Maybe so, but the music does not come over anywhere as near as amateurish as you might expect from its beginnings. One song, Hips, sound of Pete Rock and The Pharcyde throwing down live at The Ettamogah Pub, can be heard in constant rotation at the moment on both Triple J and Nova.
With things bubbling nicely for the Offcutts and a full-length album in the works the group are getting restless. "There is not the market here and we want to get out as soon as possible", Aram explains. "there are not enough people to work with, I want to get out there and mix it up with the best in the world and test myself out." First up is a jaunt over to Japan. "Just the excitement of more people and everything turning over quicker. We want to see what effect it will have on the music." While the forthcoming LP (due for a spring release) will take a similar line to the Homestyle EP, four to the floor beats are becoming a greater influence in the groups' more recent material and live shows. Acts such as Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk are inspirng the Offcutts now just as Public Enemy and pre-drum 'n' bass jungle have always done. "The idea of the album is not really a concept album but it is a movement in three parts - getting ready for the party, the party - the fucking slamming shit, and then the comedown, the mournful aftermath when the hedonism has worn off and you are left with yourself and nobody else. The gamut of the night."
Whatever they come up with next, after experiencing the groups live performance first-hand, it's hard to argue with Aram's view of the experience that is the Offcutts. "People are just fuckin' lovin' it!"
- Taken from Beat Magazine 13/3/02