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Canine theories with the Resin Dogs
One of Australia's premier live acts, The Resin Dogs are set to rock the country with another tour. From humble beginnings as a trio of beatmakers, the Dogs' have grown to a full piece band with percussionists, MC's, scratch DJ's and guest MC's (both local and international). 2003 saw the release of their most recent LP ‘Hi Fidelity Dirt’ featuring hi profile guests such as The Pharcyde, Abstract Rude, Grand Central Records' Spikey Tee, Good Buddha and tour MC DNO - these Dogs definitely can't be tied down and they're out to mark their territory in hip hop.
RA pulled in the touring leash and sat the boys down for a candid chat about all things live, canine and upcoming musical endeavors.
First there was around three of you and now there are more, please Introduce the members of the group?
Dave Atkins (Dave Dog) - Drums/samples/turntables
DJ Katch - Turntables/samples
Geoff Boardman (Jigzaw) - samples
Chris Bosley (RockB) - Bass/samples
Pete Neville - Percussion/samples
Plus our touring big band...
MC DNO - Rhymes/lyrics
Ant Aggs - Keys
Mark Henman - Drums
Glen Brearley - Sax
Clint Allen - Trumpet
Plus our special tour guests...
Mad Dr X (London Funk All Stars/Freestylers)(1998) - Turntables/samples
Robert Reed (Trouble Funk)(2000) - Guitar/keys
Abstract Rude (2003) - Vocals
Spikey T (2004) - Vocals
The Dogs sound like a modern version of ‘Troublefunk’, how would you Describe your own sound?
Washington go-go is close to our sound - with all the big beats and percussion going full tilt. Maybe a little influence from late 90's acts like the Freestylers and Freddie Fresh. Its hard to nail down. Cut'n'paste sampling with a hip hop or break beat.
Can you list some of the Resin Dogs' major influences?
So many. Amongst them: De La Soul, Mad Dr X, Stetsasonic, Miles, Kraftwerk, all the beatmakers: Dre, Mark the 45 King, Premier, Dust Brothers .. the list goes on ...
Is the Resin Dogs mission statement still the same since your first Release Q-Kumbers?
Our original mission was to press the songs we were writing onto vinyl ...we played some shows to raise enough money to press the music we wanted to play as DJs... its still our goal to make great records.
Do you find that your creative differences, if any, clash when it comes to making an album?
With five writers, the influences can be very individual - tracks become very varied. Katch's tues are very dance-floor oriented, Geoffs are cut'n'paste sampled funk, Dave's loves hip hop, and I love the ragga and dancehall sounds.. so any record we make will have the push'n'pull of those ideas. Any creative process is strengthened by varying viewpoints. Hopefully the end result is greater than the sum of its parts...
Do you feel that Hi Fidelity Dirt is a more accomplished album compared to Grand Theft Audio?
Its definitely a better record sonically - we had a longer lead-up time In which we really worked on sounds and production. So its better sounding.
We worked with a lot of great artists on the record - people whose work we admire - Good Buddha, The Pharcyde, Abstract Rude, Spikey T, Lazy Grey.
So from a collaboration point of view, this record has a much wider frame of reference. The first album was much more of a live vibe -we pretty much went to the studio and threw down our live set. Hi Fi was more of a thought-out considered affair.
 With Geoff as Blunted Stylus, Dave and Katch as the 2 Dogs and Chris hopping from rock band to rock band, do you find that your ideas get exhausted when teaming up as the Resin Dogs? Or does it work to your advantage as it can pull in external ideas?
We have to trim back all our ideas usually for a Dogs record, so its an advantage to be able to get everything out in some varied form. I'm not going to bring in a Meters-style funk track to the table and Dave's not going to offer up a 145 Bpm drum'n'bass track either, so its good to be able to put out what you want under different guises. Who knows though, maybe we'll get really eclectic in the future ...
For Dave, what is it about the stand up drum kit that you prefer over the usual sit down type?
Dave sits down now - there's way too much going on these days. There was a punk-metal psychoBilly band called The Fireballs a few years ago that Dave and I both shared the bill with on various tours, and Eddie, their drummer, was amazing to watch. He'd sing lead vocals and play drums standing up - kind of like patting your head and rubbing your stomach while jogging on the spot. Thats where the influence comes from.
How is the Hydrofunk label going? What can listeners/audiences expect from the label in the future?
More great Aussie beatmaking Hip Hop from all over. The Dogs are releasing a new single called "Gunshot Versions", which features a swag of remixes of our track Gunshot Dub from the album. Salmonella Dub, Dub Pistols, Koolism, BVA and Spyder all do cracking versions. After that there's a new Blunted Stylus release coming out (#4) and more ... Stay Tuned...
Spikey Tee is one talented individual, what did he actually contribute to Hi Fidelity Dirt?
Spikey's a great vocalist ... he's worked with everyone .. Jah Wobble, Moorcheeba, Rae & Christian to name a few. He layed down some vocals for us and he's coming out touring with us for our album launch tour in March/April.
How did you mange to hook up with Abstract Rude for the club banging "Set It Off"?
Ab came out years ago in '98 and stayed up at the 2Dog's place. He was touring with Aceyalone and AmBush as part of the Triple A Tour. They got to working on tracks and eventually out of those sessions came 'Set It > Off'. We brought him out to tour with us and did a few more tracks while he was out (one of which, 'Rebel', appears on 'Hi Fi Dirt').
What can audiences expect to hear and experience during the Dogs' live tour?
New tunes, old tunes... stuff they've never heard before
...decks/drums/bass/ryhmes/samples. Lots of energy and big dance beats. Wear comfy shoes...
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Catch resin dogs around Australia (joined by Spikey Tee and King Kapisi):
Friday 5th March - Great Northern, Byron Bay
Saturday 6th March - The Arena, Fortitude Valley
Friday 12th March - Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Saturday 13th March - Barwon Club, Geelong
Sunday 14th March - Rocket Festival, Perth (No King Kapisi )
Friday 19th March - Planet , Adelaide
Thursday 25th March - Sodnes Bar, Albury
Friday 26th March - ANU, Canberra (also with the Herd)
Saturday 27th March - Sureshocked Planet X , Sydney ( No King Kapisi)
Saturday 27th March - Gaelic Club, Sydney (also with the Herd)
Friday 2nd April - April Newcastle Wharfs, Newcastle
Saturday 3rd April - April - Kelps Bar, Blaxland
Sunday 4th April - Ayers Rock
Saturday 17th April - Randwick, Sydney
Sunday 18th April - Club 240v, Mooloolaba
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Published / Thursday, 11 March 2004
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