The Four Owls Interview
Photo by Ashes57
Rappfox chats to Verb T in the lead up to The Four Owls Australian tour.
The Four Owls are finally taking flight to Australia, what are you most looking forward to (other than the shows)?
The shows! Oh right yeah, just meeting hip hop heads from over there, hopefully getting to see and experience some of the beautiful scenery and different parts of the country.
The Four Owls have a massive following and it is because your music is captivating – the beats moving and complex lyrics. How do you stay inspired?
I honestly don't know how we stay inspired, writing just helps me make sense of everything. But also you have to stay sharp as an emcee I think, you need to keep in the right frame of mind. You need to practice what you do the same way if you want to be a world-class athlete, you need to maintain a certain level of commitment to what you are doing. We stay motivated because this is what we love, I guess that comes through to people in the music we make.
Each song is so cohesive, musically and lyrically, what is the collaborative process?
It's hard because we all live far away from each other, but when we are planning songs we do it together. We might write separately or come up with individual ideas that we bring to the table but overall every song has input from every member of he group. Being the producer Leaf [Dog] takes a different roll creatively because he has to create a sound, then we all help pick out the tracks that are right for the project.
The Four Owls are finally taking flight to Australia, what are you most looking forward to (other than the shows)?
The shows! Oh right yeah, just meeting hip hop heads from over there, hopefully getting to see and experience some of the beautiful scenery and different parts of the country.
The Four Owls have a massive following and it is because your music is captivating – the beats moving and complex lyrics. How do you stay inspired?
I honestly don't know how we stay inspired, writing just helps me make sense of everything. But also you have to stay sharp as an emcee I think, you need to keep in the right frame of mind. You need to practice what you do the same way if you want to be a world-class athlete, you need to maintain a certain level of commitment to what you are doing. We stay motivated because this is what we love, I guess that comes through to people in the music we make.
Each song is so cohesive, musically and lyrically, what is the collaborative process?
It's hard because we all live far away from each other, but when we are planning songs we do it together. We might write separately or come up with individual ideas that we bring to the table but overall every song has input from every member of he group. Being the producer Leaf [Dog] takes a different roll creatively because he has to create a sound, then we all help pick out the tracks that are right for the project.
You each have your own flavour of hip hop, who are some of your influences?
As a group I guess the names that come up are Wu Tang [Clan], Slick Rick, Gangstarr, Cypress Hill, to name but a few. The classic boom bap sound is obviously what we embrace most. Individually we have a ton of different things we listen to from soul to funk and 70's jazz to electronic. We love music so we try and pay attention to everything that's going on, but I always comes back to hip hop.
You’re performing in Perth, Australia October 21st. We’re a bit of random Australian city. What can we expect from the show?
I feel the whole tour is going to go well but we're just focusing on performing to the best of our ability and showing the people out there what we can really do. But as you referred to yourself as a 'random city', I must say sometimes places regarded as random make for the best shows.
And what’s next on the cards for the Four Owls following the Australian tour?
Lots of rest! Each of the group members are working in new solo material. Fliptrix will be the next to drop a solo album in November, followed by Leaf Dog early next year and then my album should be midway through next year. Not sure the ETA on BVA's album but he's a bad man so it'll be fire whenever it drops. As for the Owls as a group we have more shows coming up in the U.K. and maybe we'll be dropping a sneaky single for the fans before we start work on album number 3.
To buy tickets to the Perth show on the 21st, click here.
As a group I guess the names that come up are Wu Tang [Clan], Slick Rick, Gangstarr, Cypress Hill, to name but a few. The classic boom bap sound is obviously what we embrace most. Individually we have a ton of different things we listen to from soul to funk and 70's jazz to electronic. We love music so we try and pay attention to everything that's going on, but I always comes back to hip hop.
You’re performing in Perth, Australia October 21st. We’re a bit of random Australian city. What can we expect from the show?
I feel the whole tour is going to go well but we're just focusing on performing to the best of our ability and showing the people out there what we can really do. But as you referred to yourself as a 'random city', I must say sometimes places regarded as random make for the best shows.
And what’s next on the cards for the Four Owls following the Australian tour?
Lots of rest! Each of the group members are working in new solo material. Fliptrix will be the next to drop a solo album in November, followed by Leaf Dog early next year and then my album should be midway through next year. Not sure the ETA on BVA's album but he's a bad man so it'll be fire whenever it drops. As for the Owls as a group we have more shows coming up in the U.K. and maybe we'll be dropping a sneaky single for the fans before we start work on album number 3.
To buy tickets to the Perth show on the 21st, click here.