Brad Strut

BRAD STRUT

New Horizons

Iconic Melbourne rapper Brad Strut is touring WA for the first time in five years. The tour comes at a time of change for Strut, with work beginning on what may be his last album, and new opportunities arising. He speaks with JOSHUA HAYES.

Since releasing his last solo full length Legend: Official in 2007, Strut has spent most of his time inLondon. However, he returned to his hometown about a year ago. “It was sort of getting to a point where me and my partner would either say we’re going to stay in London and really settle there and do our thing there, or are we going to go home and try and give Oz a crack again, and I guess get on with – it sounds really shit, but – get on with getting old, I guess,” he laughs.

Now that he’s back home, Strut is starting work on his third solo full length album, which may be his last. “I’m looking at it as being my last long player, but I’ve said that sort of shit before, so it might not be, but I think it’s a good way to approach records anyway, is treat it like it’s going to be your last,” he says.
He describes his debut, 2001’s Authentic, as his ‘naïve innocence’ album and Legend: Official as his ‘innocence lost’ album. In keeping with this theme, he says his next album should be his ‘finding redemption’ album. “I think on a personal level and an artistic level… I think I’ve just grown up to a degree, and a lot of the things that I probably used to hold as really important aren’t so important to me anymore,” he says.

“The whole scene and the whole he-say-she-say; that’s just jibber jabber. The only thing that really matters at the end of the day is the artistry,” Strut continues. “I’ve sort of come full circle and gone back to the exact reason why I fell in love with making music in the first place, rather than getting caught up in the things that don’t matter.”

He’s also expanding his horizons into acting with a major role in Australian crime drama Pinball, which is currently in production. The film also stars John Jarrett, and Mark ‘Chopper’ Reid playing himself. “I committed to that project this year. I said ‘well, if I’ve going to do this I have to do it excellently and I have to really, really nail it’ because there’s going to be a lot of people out there that are going to be watching with anticipation; either, is he going to cock it up or is he gonna do it well? So I’m really taking the role seriously and I hope I do it justice,” he says.

But before he really gets to work on the film (most of the filming is scheduled for August) he’ll be playing three shows in WA. It will be a rare opportunity for local punters to catch one of Australian hip hop’s premier lyricists perform in the flesh. “When I do a live show, I hope people can appreciate the technical aspects of what I’m trying to do, and really check out the breath control, and really understand that it’s one man, one mic,” he says. “What I aim to do with these shows is just show people what one dude can actually do one a mic by himself.”

BRAD STRUT
THURSDAY, MAY 3 @ ROCKET ROOM
FRIDAY, MAY 4 @ THE BLVD TAVERN
SATURDAY, MAY 5 @ PLAYERS BAR

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