Australian producer Hood Rich has been hard at work in the studio since his recent Country Club, Psycho Disco! and This Ain’t Bristol releases. Performing at notable venues throughout his homeland including Chinese Laundry in Sydney and Tramp in Melbourne, the talented artist has seen a large amount of support from his peers over the past few months.
Continuing to ride the momentum, Hood Rich dropped an infectious, vocal-driven piece titled ‘Let It Go’ featuring BRUX on Medium Rare Recordings last week that is sure to set dance floors ablaze. Continuing to define his sound with this latest release, Hood Rich utilizes pitched and filtered vocals coupled with heavy brooding synths to give the piece a natural groove. Both a club weapon through its minimal yet punchy essence and radio-ready smash that’s easy to sing along to, the track is sure to infiltrate the airwaves over the coming months.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Hood Rich to talk everything from his latest piece, to his future plans, to the Australian house music scene and more. Don’t miss ‘Let It Go‘ and the interview below!
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today! How has life been treating you recently?
Thanks for having me. Life has been pretty cool, just opened a club with a buddy of mine so been working on that and touring at the same time.
Do you ever get into bad streaks of writer’s block? How do you overcome these and stay inspired on a consistent basis?
Stop listening to house music and start listening to different electronic music genres. I really like ‘experimental’ stuff like KOAN Sound, Shlohmo and Flying Lotus. For whatever reason it usually helps. If I’m working on a song that’s due in a few days and I’m lacking creativity then I’ll usually just run through ideas that have worked in previous songs of mine until something clicks. Usually will spark something that I can then build from.
Writer’s block with demos is a bit harder. I’ll either have a break for a few days or just keep writing idea after idea until I start liking them ha!
There’s so many killer acts coming out of Australia at the moment that are doing really cool things at the moment.
How’s the house scene in Australia? Are there big events that promote the genre on a country-wide scale or is it more of a niche scene with smaller events in certain cities?
I think it’s somewhere in between those two points. There’s probably a couple dozen really decent clubs around the country that are down with the more ‘underground’ end of house music. Festivals are generally the bigger.
Who are some names that are constantly pushing the scene forward that should be on our radar?
Australia peeps? Man there’s so many killer acts coming out of Australia at the moment that are doing really cool things at the moment. Here’s a handful to keep an eye on: SODF, Stace Cadet, Double Agent, Go Freek, LO99, Benson, Airwolf, Torren Foot.
Congrats on the new release on Medium Rare Recordings! How long did it take you to write ‘Let It Go’ and how did you first connect with BRUX?
I was in Sydney last December to speak at a music conference and at the same time I was just bouncing between studios sessions and it just worked out really well that I landed in a studio with BRUX. I think over about 6 months I wrote like 4 different versions for this song so that was a lot of time going around in circles. Once I figured out what the direction was going to be in the final version it probably only took a couple weeks.
You’ve said you “want your music to be something that’s interesting enough to listen to at home but also translates to a club system,” and you really nailed that vibe with ‘Let It Go.’ What’s your secret for finding a balance between the two?
That’s what I try to achieve – I don’t know if i always hit it on the head though ha! I think with this one it’s the catchy vocal with a really simple beat. I guess the listenability at home comes down to the smaller details that might be missed on the first couple listens.
You’ve worked on your fair share of collaborations in the past. How does your process differ when approaching a solo original versus a collaboration?
Biggest difference is the time it takes to get something done. When you’re working with someone else there is generally a lot of back and forth. I really enjoy collaborating with people cause ill generally learn a bunch of shit which is always so sick.
After I have the vocals in the project I treat them as if they were a melodic part of the song.
On a similar note, how does your process change when working with vocalists such as BRUX in ‘Let It Go’ versus when you create a purely instrumental track?
Doesn’t change hugely! The main difference is just recording the vocals. After I have the vocals in the project I treat them as if they were a melodic part of the song.
What can we expect from you as 2019 comes to a close?
I’m on tour at the moment so probably see me crapping on about that for a bit. I have a new club track that’s about to drop on This Ain’t Bristol. There’s a couple other bits that will be announced soon too!
