Muph and Plutonic - Silence the Sirens, we're trying to have a chat!

A little nostalgia, a little social commentary, and some very sound words of advice. The Dwarf sat down recently to have a quick chat with Muph to shoot the breeze and mention briefly the new album Silence the Sirens.

Dwarf: What do you think of the current music scene in Australia?

MUPH: I think the general music scene is doing quite well, and I can appreciate the diversity this country has to offer, especially these days with the variety of acts billed on the big festivals. I think like everything, there are pros and cons to the music scene in Australia. We lost a lot of venues to pokies, yet we have some other great venues that chose to keep supporting the music. There are some bands doing big things and being noticed, but there are also a lot of really talented artists still struggling.

Dwarf: What do you think of the hip hop scene in Australia?

MUPH: The hip hop scene in Australia is like many other genres of music, it also is very diverse. The growth of the scene over the last 4 years has been crazy. The general public are getting to hear the music, through radio support, live shows and so forth. The cringe factor seems to be dying, and this is very pleasing to me. Everything seems to have been increased, but maintained a balance. There are so many more artists these days, which means a lot more quality yet also a lot more wack shit.

Dwarf: What would you recommend for any young artists who are trying to break onto the scene?

MUPH: Don’t expect to blow up over night! This is not an industry or culture that will give you instant success. You need to work at your chosen skill for years. Practice and don’t rush into a release. But most of all don’t forget you are supposed enjoy this, if the fun is not there, then I suggest you find something else to do. Also go to the gigs, get up at any open mic you can find. Take heed to criticism but don’t take it too personally, ultimately you can decide whether the criticism is valid or not to you anyway.

Dwarf: You started off making your way around the freestyle battle circuit, how helpful was it in developing your style and technique?

MUPH: It was extremely helpful as far as getting my name out there and building confidence for shows. As far as technique, I don’t feel like it really helped me that much with my writing, but more with the way I perform.

Dwarf: Do you miss anything about the freestyle scene?

MUPH: In some ways I miss how spontaneous freestyling is, but on the other hand I probably get a lot more long term satisfaction out of creating songs. I must admit though, battles were a lot of fun and every now and then I think about getting back into it. But I haven’t freestyled for a while now, so I’m probably really rusty. I miss the adrenalin rush you get when two MCs, you and your opponent, are trying to burn each other. It can be a lot of fun, but it’s not really what I’m about these days.

Dwarf: What influences your writing style?

MUPH: Probably my main influence came from an artist by the name of The Grouch, and honest, sincere MC/Producer from LA. He is part of a crew over there called The Living Legends. He influenced me to just be me, his honest approach to making music made me realize that pushing an image was not for me. Also the beat, will influence which way I want to take a song. The beat often will dictate the concept and the type of pattern I want to use.

Dwarf: Plutonic has already experienced success overseas, are there any plans to try and establish yourselves as a duo internationally?

MUPH: Eventually we hope to do a few shows overseas, and test the waters to see how we are received over there. At this point in time however we are focused on home and our current tour. We have spoken about the possibility of Japan and Singapore, so we’ll see how that pans out.

Dwarf: Silence the Sirens is your second album together, is this collaboration now a permanent fixture?

MUPH: It looks as if it will be permanent, at least we plan to release another joint album. Who knows where it will take us, but we definitely both consider Muph & Plutonic our main focus. So I’d say yeah it’s a permanent fixture now.

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