One of Australia's most exciting names in hip-hop makes their first Far Northern appearance this weekend. timeOUT catches up with one half of the brotherly duo, Tjimba...

The single Standing Strong is doing big things for you guys at the moment... all over the radio and getting some big raps from the media around the country. How does it feel to be in the limelight, you must feel pretty good...

Yeah definitely, I mean from our first album to now I feel like we’ve really stepped up our game. We really focused ourselves lyrically and production wise on this one so it’s great to see people enjoying it. All in all I’d say it’s absolutely grouse though just to be out there playing something we feel so proud of.

Tell us a bit about your background, and how Yung Warriors formed...

We’re brothers so we’ve always been kind of passionate about the same things and my parents are both artists so I guess creativity runs in the family. Musically though, the first track I was involved in recording was with TZU. The guys approached me about singing on one of their singles and it just grew from there. After that I decided I wanted to put a crew together so I approached my bro and we just got to it and started writing songs.

Payback Records has been a big driver for your success... How did you hook up with your manager Nathan Lovett-Murray and develop the relationship with the label?

Well, Nathan and I went to school together so we’ve known each other since way back. I remember the first time I saw him on the telly and I was like “what the hell” but he’s always been a talented guy so no surprises. Basically we were both at a function at our old school and we got to talking about music and Nathan asked me if there were any dedicated indigenous labels in Australia. I didn’t know of any and up until that point we’d been doing everything on our own so when Nathan suggested we help form one I was all over it.

You guys are the “unofficial official” mascots of Essendon football club... tell me about the relationship between your music and football... footy fans are pretty passionate, is there any pressure?

Nah no pressure bro, I love footy though and was going to play with Nathan but chose to follow music instead. I think if you love something you should grab it, and try to think outside the box. Although these days, when we go to the footy, people do recognise us from the label.   

Your album, also titled Standing Strong, is out on August 13... tell me a bit about it. Where did you guys record it, who did you work with and what was the biggest challenge in making it happen?

We were recording at 3 Kool and Deadly radio station in Melbourne which is an indigenous station down there and had just gotten a new studio so it was great. Momo from Diafrix saw us there one day and was digging the sound so he offered to produce the album. Patience would be the best word to describe how we recorded it, though. Patience with everything and not too much rushing, and just letting it develop at its own pace. The biggest challenge was just putting all the parts together and always trying to stay focused on creating something new and unique.

Describe the sound on Standing Strong...

I’d describe it as storytelling. Everyone we worked with on the album came from different places all over the country and they all brought their own stories and we just tried to tell them all together. I think of it as a family album, put together by our ‘family’ and an invitation to the listeners into our family.   

Ever been up to Cairns before? Any last words?

No we haven’t but get ready because we’re going to bump things up and make some noise.

>> Yung Warriors hit The Jack on Sunday from 5pm. Tickets at oztix.com.au or at The Jack.

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