Heaps Decent

Detours and Destinations is a new program Heaps Decent has...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:52:13 -0500

Detours and Destinations is a new program Heaps Decent has started in conjunction with Shopfront and The Sydney Opera House. Through a series of workshops over 3 months, Detours and Destinations plans to use different multimedia to tell the stories and journeys of at risk young people across Sydney.

Working at Lomandra High School in Campbelltown, Miimali in Blacktown and Fairfield High School each week since February, all content created during Detours & Destinations will be collected and shown at Sydney Opera House in May 2010.

You can find out more about the project, and keep up to date with each week’s work at the new Detours and Destinations Blog.

Here’s a video of Heaps Decent & everyone from Spank...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:18:49 -0500

Here’s a video of Heaps Decent & everyone from Spank Rock outside Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre after we’d run a workshop in the centre last week.

Be sure to add Heaps Decent on Vimeo to keep up to date with all Heaps Decent TV!

Our best friends from the Spank Rock crew alongside our other...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:49:00 -0500

Our best friends from the Spank Rock crew alongside our other best friends at Goodgod Small Club are putting on a fantastic Heaps Decent fundraiser this Friday!

Be sure to catch “Spank Black & The Whites” aka Chris Devlin, Ronnie Darko, Roofeeo and a special guest MC alongside DJs Jimmy Sing, Golden Ron and Tyson Koh in the beautiful intimate setting of Goodgod Small Club, 55 Liverpool St, Sydney.

The party is this Friday night and all proceeds will go towards Heaps Decent. Thanks again to the Spank Rock crew - especially Chris Devlin who came up with the idea for party, plus Jimmy Sing and all the good folks at Goodgod.

Today we went back to Juniperina with some familiar faces - our...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:28:01 -0500

Today we went back to Juniperina with some familiar faces - our good friends from Spank Rock and Fully Fitted - Chris Devlin and Ronnie Darko. This is the fifth time Chris has come to a Heaps Decent workshop, and the fourth time for Ronnie!

Also in tow were the rest of Spank Rock - including the cool disco MC himself Naeem and drummer Roofeeo, plus our pal Anand from Fuzzy.

Working with the Banksia unit of girls at Juniperina, we wrote and recorded songs with the girls, about who they were and their thoughts on being locked up - some of them have been in and out of the centre from as early as 12 years old.

What made this workshop even more special was that after the recording session we were able to stick around to see where the girls lived and share dinner with them! Tonight’s menu was curried chicken and rice with pineapples in jelly for dessert.

It was a really fantastic experience and we are very grateful to the staff at Juniperina - and the girls - for having us.

We’ll get working on making something terrific out of what we recorded today, plus stay tuned to our Vimeo page for a video interview with everyone from Spank Rock outside the centre.

PS. In keeping with our food post from last week - after the workshops we took the Spank Rock crew for a second dinner at Miss Chu! Best rice paper rolls in town!

Miss Chu, 150 Bourke St Darlinghurst, 2010

It’s been a hectic start to 2010 for Heaps Decent....

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:06:00 -0500

It’s been a hectic start to 2010 for Heaps Decent. We’ve already run more workshops this year than we have in the previous 3 years of our existence and we’re only going to add more and more as the year progresses. We’ve started recruiting new workshop facilitators, who we’ll introduce you to on the blog over the next few weeks. We’ve also started some great new partnerships and begun some ambitious new projects which we’ll keep you up to date with here too. We’ve been really busy - and we have a lot to show for it!

While preparing for one of the many grants we’re going for this year (shout out to Erin our queen of grants!), Nina put together a short mix - a medley if you will - of some of our favourites snippets of songs made in Heaps Decent workshops since 2007.

The mix covers so much of what we’ve done and it makes me so excited to listen to it over and over again. It’s Heaps Decent’s very own Grease megamix!

Have a listen above and download it over at our Soundcloud. Playlist and details for the mix are below.

PLAYLIST (ALL SAMPLES)

1. 0:00 - 2009: Anywhere But Here (Produced by A-Trak) - Heaps Decent feat. MC Huz and the Rivo Crew form Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre
2. 1:15 - 2010: Juniperina Raps (Produced by Chris Devlin) - Heaps Decent feat. The Mimosa Ladees from Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre
3. 1:35 - 2010: Detours and Detination Raps (Produced by Nina Las Vegas) - Heaps Decent feat. Jake and Mitchell from Lomandra High School
4. 2:00 - 2007: Smash A Kangaroo (Produced by Diplo) - Heaps Decent feat. the Rivo Crew from Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre
5. 2:30 - 2010: Reach For The Sky (Produced by Nina Las Vegas and The Banksia Ladees) - Heaps Decent feat. MC Kura from Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre
6. 3:15 - 2010: Gabba Raps (Produced by Nina Las Vegas and the Mimosa Ladees) - Heaps Decent feat. The Mimosa Ladees from Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre
7. 3:30 - 2008: Koori Girls (Dre Skull Remix) - Heaps Decent feat. The King Sisters and Pase Rock
8. 3:35 - 2008: Koori Girls (Produced by Chris Devlin and Ghostdad) - Heaps Decent feat. The King Sisters and Pase Rock
9. 4:18 - 2010: Doof Rats (Produced by Diplo) - Heaps Decent feat. The Banksia Ladees and The Mimosa Ladies from Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre

This is a short video from one of our Detours and Destination...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:13:23 -0500

This is a short video from one of our Detours and Destination workshops with the kids from Lomandra High School. Jake was determined to make harder/techno beats, and Taylan just wanted to shuffle.

Even without the music.

PS. You guys on Vimeo? WE ARE!
http://vimeo.com/heapsdecent

Tuesday is our Detours and Destinations day. We drive over 150km...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:02:09 -0500

Tuesday is our Detours and Destinations day.

We drive over 150km around the outskirts of Sydney to work with the young people at Lomandra High in Campbelltown, and with the Miimali Aboriginal Youth Program. This is us outside of Chifley College in Mt Druitt, after both workshops.

Long, exciting, productive days.

Since we can’t post up photos of the work we do inside...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:50:00 -0500

Since we can’t post up photos of the work we do inside Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre in Lidcombe I thought I’d share with you some tips for the neighbouring suburb of BANKSTOWN, where we go to eat at between the two sessions of our workshops. Above you’ll see me, Levins, stuffing my face on the right. Next to me is our boy Adam Maggs from Liveschool, who joined us for a workshop at Juniperina last Monday. In the photo we’re stuffing our faces with the illest BBQ Pork Banh Mi I’ve ever had - which you can find at Banh Mi Bay Ngo.

Banh Mi Bay Ngo, Shop 49, Old Town Plaza, Bankstown, NSW 2200

Bay Ngo is legit, they do the standard pork Banh Mi but also have a chicken, beef, meatball, fish and a few other options that I couldn’t figure out. Each Banh Mi will set you back about $3. THREE DOLLARS! The fridge is also full of weird and delicious poppers, including over 10 lychee variations. I love this place. You can eat 2 sandwiches and have four different lychee drinks for 10 bucks (Heaps Decent loves bargains).

Thanh Van, 327 Chapel Rd Sth, Bankstown, NSW 2200

Here I am looking like a tool outside of a spot round the corner called Thanh Van which does not mess around with giving you a good meal. The pho here is spectacular. In fact it’s so good that even though the rest of the menu looks awesome, I only ever get pho. Nina had the crab cakes from here once though. Maybe if she ever does a food post she can tell you how good they are. Make sure you get a Soda with fresh lemon if you ever come here.

This week Heaps Decent is running workshops in Campbelltown, Blacktown and Lidcombe. We’ll keep you posted with what music we made, and of course, the mad food we ate.

Last week we held two workshops at the Juniperina Juvenile...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:28:00 -0500

Last week we held two workshops at the Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre in Lidcombe. Although they are incredibly productive (with new recordings and beats created each time), it’s super hard for us to show you the girls in action. If you’ve been following Heaps Decent’s work within the centres, you’d know that exposing the identity of the young people is not allowed. Alternatively, we are going to be uploading short videos from outside the centre with the workshop facilitators.

Here is our first video, we filmed it outside the Vietnamese restaurant we eat at after each workshop in Bankstown. Watch this space for new videos!

Left to right: Jacob (DJ Jay Tee), Diplo, Naomi (MC Nay), Maya,...

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:28:00 -0500

Left to right: Jacob (DJ Jay Tee), Diplo, Naomi (MC Nay), Maya, Joel (Weno) and Santana.

Here’s something we didn’t post last week, which is stupid because it’s super cool.

When The Last Kinection came into the Gadigal Studios for a session with Diplo, Joel (Weno) brought the whole family in.

Music is obviously in their blood, as it turns out Maya (pictured second from the right) is a rapper like her dad. Apparently the session was private, as Maya took to the mic alone in Joel’s studio and free-styled for about 15 minutes.

Listen to Maya’s track ‘Dance’ (originally Fat Joe’s ‘Make It Rain’) and love it as much as we do!

On Diplo’s last day in Australia, we took Diplo to the Gadigal...

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:26:00 -0500

On Diplo’s last day in Australia, we took Diplo to the Gadigal Music Headquarters in Redfern for an in-depth feedback and production day with the artists who performed at the Friday night show.

The morning began with the young guys from the On Track workshops and emerging rappers and producers, Stunna Set. These young people are all committed to music and developing their careers as artists, this is what they want to do with their lives and Diplo was hugely impressed with the levels of creativity. Over three hours he answered important questions, shared music styles and new movements and highlighted areas that they should each focus on, and how they could each stand out.

Stunna Set’s producer Rhimi with Diplo

With Stunna Set on the verge of releasing their first EP, Diplo listened to each recording and offered strong production feedback. The in-depth music discussion continued into the afternoon (after a rooftop barbecue with the whole Redfern - Music family) with both Radical Son and The Last Kinnection joining the session.

Radical and Last Kinnection are each working on new music and both sessions with Diplo were hugely productive. Diplo sat with Radical Son for over two hours discussing his music, his influences, lyrical messages and recording styles. Radical is remarkably talented and can switch genres like no other, and we look forward to Radical producing an album that does justice to what the man has in him. Diplo shared writing techniques and sequencing ideas and took David into the Gadigal studios for some one on one producer - performer time.

Last Kinnection and Diplo hit it off, and immediately shared the next albums concepts. Diplo handed over a hell of a lot of new music and offered A&R support throughout the albums writing, Diplo reckons that these musicians can easily fill the club/hip-hop gap that is so drastically missing from the Australian music scene.

Diplo with the Last Kinection kids!

It was a huge day, topping off an amazing few weeks. Thanks so much to everyone else involved, and stay tuned to www.heapsdecent.com to see what happens next!

The extended Gadigal, Heaps Decent, Last Kinection, On Track, Whichways family with Diplo, at lunch on the studio rooftop.

Diplo with the Koori Radio ladies. Thanks Leticia!

Last Friday at Diplo’s Sydney show at the Metro Theatre,...

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:11:00 -0500

Last Friday at Diplo’s Sydney show at the Metro Theatre, Heaps Decent programmed the second room (The Lair), booking young acts we’ve worked with in the past year and some established Indigenous artists we admire.

Starting off the night was 16 year old D-Minor in his first ever club performance, followed by a showcase of young artists including Dazzle, Young Nookie and Str8 Ballaz. These young artists have been part of the On Track program - an initiative run by Redfern Community Centre with Cesar Bassi and Wire MC.

Then began the more established acts - first up was Stunna Set, a young trio who have recently signed to Gadigal Recordings. Rapper Radical Son was next, who commanded the room’s attention with his huge, powerful voice and finally the room was closed by trio The Last Kinection, who got the crowd moving to a tight set of upbeat rap jams.

Big ups to everyone involved, on stage and off. We’ll be posting some video footage of the performances over the next few weeks, but in the meantime check out one of the STR8 BALLAZ film clips.

This week Heaps Decent went back to Junperina, the all girls...

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:00:01 -0500

This week Heaps Decent went back to Junperina, the all girls Juvenile Justice Centre that we visited in 2007 with M.I.A.

With workshops spread over three days, we took with us the biggest crew ever. Heaps Decent founder Diplo joined us on all 3 of the days. Rapper Amanda Blank came along for one, bringing her two DJs Ronnie Darko and Chris Devlin, making this Chris’s third workshop with Heaps Decent!

On the third day UK producer Sinden came to record with us.

It was a fun, exciting 3 days. After introductions we spent as much time as we could recording raps with the 30 girls incarcerated in the centre. Those who didn’t want to rap helped with the production of the beat the others were rapping over. Like most of the young artists we work with, the girls had a diverse taste in music - but two genres stood out as their favourites - hip hop and gabber! So Diplo decided it was time to invent gabber rap!

We’ll be working hard on finishing the songs we’ve recorded over the next few weeks. Thanks so much to Diplo, Amanda Blank, Ronnie Darko, Chris Devlin and Sinden - and of course all the staff and girls at Juniperina!

Tomorrow night Heaps Decent hosts the side room at Diplo’s...

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:06:11 -0500

Tomorrow night Heaps Decent hosts the side room at Diplo’s Sydney show.

In the Lair at the Metro Theatre we’ll be putting on a party featuring Last Kinection, Radical Son, Stunna Set, a showcase from the kids in the On Track project and D-Minor’s debut performance!

It’s going to be a huge night - with Diplo and Amanda Blank playing in the other room - make sure you buy your tickets asap, you can get them through Fuzzy.

Today we packed up our stuff and said goodbye to Key...

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:23:54 -0500

Today we packed up our stuff and said goodbye to Key College’s home on Albion St in Surry Hills.

We’ve been teaching a music class there every week for the last two years. Key College has called the space home since 1996, providing education for young people suffering from problems with drugs, alcohol and homelessness.

This year’s group was even featured in the Sydney Morning Herald for doing so well in their School Certificate! Read the article here.

Key College will relocate to a new space in Redfern next year. Congratulations to all the students who have been through the college over the years and thanks to teachers Min and Ben for letting us spend so much time there. We look forward to working with everyone in Redfern!

Sydneysiders should head to SOHO this Sunday after Christmas,...

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:57:00 -0500

Sydneysiders should head to SOHO this Sunday after Christmas, where the good people at Sounds are throwing us an end of year fundraiser party!

The line up features are great cross section of some of Sydney’s best DJs including Doom & Hoodrat, Kid Kenobi, Act Yo Age and Ro Sham Bo. Sampology is even flying himself down from Brisbane to play and we’ve been told there will be some extra special secret international guests playing on the night too!

Make sure you buy your tickets here - all proceeds are going to Heaps Decent to fund some exciting workshops across NSW next year.

Mad Decent’s Maluca joins D-Minor in Adam Bozzetto’s...

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:18:00 -0500

Mad Decent’s Maluca joins D-Minor in Adam Bozzetto’s studio in Sydney to record a hook for D-Minor’s new song about his year at Key College - “Time to Grow”, which we’ll be putting up for download in the next few weeks!

Heaps Decent set up shop out the front Harbourlife this past...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:39:24 -0500

Heaps Decent set up shop out the front Harbourlife this past weekend, collecting donations from the VIP lane. Thanks again to Fuzzy and our new Festival Supervisor Splitter, pictured here with 2nd time volunteer Tepi. Thanks guys!

After all the recent (well deserved!) hoopla about...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:33:22 -0500

After all the recent (well deserved!) hoopla about A-Trak’s amazing workshop with Heaps Decent, we realised we had been overlooking another Fools Gold artist who had worked with us early in the year - Sammy Bananas!!

Back in March Sammy came with us to Key College and taught two students - B and Josh (aka SKNKRK!) - how to make a mash up in Ableton. The result was pretty amazing - CC Penniston’s Finally over the instrumental to Rihanna’s Disturbia. You can read Sammy’s in depth recount over at the Fools Gold Blog.

The links on their blog have expired but we’ve uploaded them again for you!

SKNKRK & Sammy Bananas - Finally Disturbed (House Edit)

SKNKRK & Sammy Bananas - Finally Disturbed (Gabber Edit)

A few weeks back triple j aired ‘The Producer...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:01:00 -0500

A few weeks back triple j aired ‘The Producer Series’. A six part radio documentary that included an entire episode on Diplo. The Diplo broadcast featured interviews with Diplo, Santigold, Heaps Decent’s Nina and more.

To celebrate his birthday today (make sure you wish him happy birthday at http://twitter.com/diplo) we’ve pulled out the grab of Diplo talking about Heaps Decent.

Happy birthday Diplo!

Listen to the whole interview here!