Alright, mates. Pull on your most outlandish sweaters: Aussie hip-hop heroes Hilltop Hoods are back and it is time to party like it’s 1955.
It’s been two long years, but the boys have finally blessed us with yet another banger. Last month, MC Suffa, MC Pressure and DJ Debris teamed up with fellow Adelaide local Adrian Eagle for their brand spankin’ new single ‘Clark Griswold’.
The first sign of new music we’ve had from HTH since 2016’s Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung, the song was inspired by the sobering self-reflections that come with fatherhood. And as it was released on July, Friday the 13th, the trio thought it was only fitting that the new single was accompanied by a quintessentially Australian slasher-style music video.
For fans who have been left thirsty for more fresh material, Hilltop Hoods have confirmed that a new record is in the works and ready to hit our soundwaves in November of this year.
Hot off the back of their killer set at Splendour in the Grass, we caught up with Suffa to chat about the new single, the upcoming record and finding sonic inspiration in their newfound “dad life”.
Music Feeds: You recently dropped your new single ‘Clark Griswold’ and fans are lapping it up. Have you guys been stoked with the reaction?
MC Suffa: Yeah! It was a weird tune to release after like two and a half years (laughs). We had a few months to ourselves and we can kind of said to each other “Hey, have we kind of done something really weird?”, especially with the film clip and everything. But yeah, we’ve been stoked because the reaction has been so cool.
MF: Yeah, apparently it was the top played song on Triple J the other week!
MC Suffa: Ohh, nice!
MF: The song is all about becoming a father and facing your weaknesses as a result. Was that tough to write?
MC Suffa: I think it would’ve been harder to write if it was more serious. It is fairly light hearted. But that’s the sort of stuff that’s easy for me to write about at the moment because I’m right in the middle of it. If I tried to get into something else or some other subject matter, I’d probably find it harder. I’m all about that dad life at the moment (laughs), so I’ve got a lot of content.
MF: You mentioned the epic but creepy video that you guys released for ‘Clark Griswold’. What was the inspiration behind the clip?
MC Suffa: Well, we got given the release date by our manager and were working on the film clip at the same time. So when we saw it was Friday the 13th we thought we have to do a corny, cheap slasher theme, don’t we? We owe it to ourselves (laughs). We just filmed it with our regular guy Rich and filmed it around the corner. You can stay at the spot where we filmed it for like 50 bucks a night and all of the money goes to saving the local bandicoots in the area, so that place was rad! (laughs).
MF: Maybe the rates will go up now that it’s a Hilltop Hoods heritage-listed site.
MC Suffa: (Laughs) With the creepy vibe we left from the video, maybe not.
MF: True, especially if you left any of those creepy masks from the clip lying around.
MC Suffa: You know what?! Debris kept that mask for some reason! It’s at his house and he put it on at 3am in front of his partner for shits and giggles and I think he nearly killed her (laughs). He literally scared her so badly.
MF: You guys should bring the masks out on tour. Channel your inner-Slipknot.
MC Suffa: That is a pretty good idea! And when it happens…it was definitely my idea (laughs). On the days when I have a few pints before the show, I might just don the mask.
MF: Well, you’re welcome! You collaborated with Adrian Eagle on the track as well, how did you guys hook up with him?
MC Suffa: We actually know him through a buddy from Adelaide and Adrian dropped ’17 Again’ and we got a little shout out and a little name check on it. So it sort of went from there. He has this really unique, great voice that’s going to do big things. He’s an awesome dude. He’s an amazing person and a really great singer.
It kind of just all fell together. We were looking for something for him to jump on and we actually had something else for him and he wanted to jump on this instead.
MF: ‘Clark Griswold’ is your first new single since 2016, does this mean a new album is on the way?
MC Suffa: Yes! The new album is coming in November.
MF: Oh, that’s awesome! How’s it going? Is it wrapped up yet?
MC Suffa: Oh, no! No, no, no (laughs). We wouldn’t be that organised! We’ve written and produced it and recorded bits and pieces. So we’ve just got to finish recording and mixing, but yeah it’s pretty much all written and produced.
MF: What can you tell us about it? Is just more of that “dad life” content?
MC Suffa: (Laughs) Well, I don’t know! There’s a lot of variation and I couldn’t tell you the final theme because we’ve probably got 15-20 tracks that we’ll narrow down to like 12. But yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it really. Once it’s in my hands I’ll be able to answer that question much better.
MF: Is the process always like that? You write a bunch of songs and then pick and choose what fits? Or do you usually try to go in with a bit of a theme and work it out from there?
MC Suffa: It’s always the same for us. The albums kind of write themselves. We could try to go in with a concept or a theme or a narrative and that would just derail so quickly. It’s just not the way that we write. We make the songs and then we try to find a cohesiveness afterwards. But yeah, it’s been an interesting process this time, it’s been a bit different.
MF: What makes you say that?
MC Suffa: Well, I’ve just built a new studio and I’ve been working out of that and we’ve all been recording things kind of separately. But we still get together and talk about things. We’re just not in the same room very often (laughs). It’s nice to see what everyone comes up with. As creatives, when someone brings something that you really love, it makes things a lot easier because trying to be constantly creative is exhausting (laughs).
MF: You guys just killed your set at Splendour in the Grass as well. How was that experience?
MC Suffa: It was great! We had a lot of guests which was nice because it felt like a big family on the stage. There were a couple of crowd issues and we had to stop the set, but in general we had a great time. We had an awesome time at Splendour. How can you not?
At festivals you get people who drag along their friends or you get people who’ve only ever heard like ‘Nosebleed’ or ‘Cosby’ or ’55’ or something. So, we’re able to snatch them up into our claws (laughs).
MF: (Laughs) Let the HTH indoctrination begin.
MC Suffa: Yeah, we’ve started a cult (laughs).
MF: And can we expect some more shows down under with the release of the album at the end of the year?
MC Suffa: Yeah, we’ve got some announcements soon that I’m not allowed to say but we’ve definitely got something coming.
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