Jimmy Nice, one half of Aussie hip hop duo Spit Syndicate, is talking about life on the road. “Being with my mates … it’s just the best times I have when I am doing dumb shit with [them] on the road.” That’s Nice’s favourite part about touring. His least favourite part? “Just fucking airports, man. I know I sound like a massive diva but airports in the morning are not a friend of mine … and drunk, belligerent idiots at gigs … But yeah, beyond that, there’s not too much I dislike [about touring]. I’d rather be at an airport hungover then being at work or doing something shitty.”
Spit Syndicate’s 18-date Money Over Bull$hit tour will have them visiting a fair few airports, but Nice is just happy he doesn’t have to tour around the country in a bus. “I sit here and complain about being in an airport and I say that’s the worst part about touring … [people before us] really had to grass-root it to get around, so we’re appreciative that we don’t have to do that.”
Supporting Spit Syndicate on their tour is the duo’s “life coach”, Joyride. When asked what exactly “life coach” means, Nice jokes, “That’s probably Joyride being self-proclaimed. I mean, he likes to think that he’s the glue in the touring party … ’cause he does a lot of the driving and I think he thinks that Nick [Lupi] and I should drive. [But] he likes to handle the wheel. I don’t really know how he’s coaching us in life – maybe coaching us in how to drink iced coffee and smoke darts … beyond that, I think we’re schooling him.”
There is no doubt Spit Syndicate like to poke fun at their mates and make the best of times. And the ARIA chart success of Sunday Gentlemen, the album they dropped earlier this year, is a direct reflection of their passion for making music. “I guess we’ve had more success off of this album than any other, but that’s how we want everything to go. We want every release and every tour that we do to step up a notch and reach new ears.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time … since we were back in school. Nick and I met through a mutual friend who happens to be Solo from Horrorshow … I met Solo at his 14th birthday party … [a few months later] I was introduced to Nick through graffiti.”
Nice, now 26, adds, “Back then it was never really a conscious decision to start a group … it was just something we did when we jigged school, or when we hung out; it was something we did at parties”.
Nice, his bandmate Lupi and Solo are all still close mates. Spit Syndicate and Horrorshow are now a part of an intimate hip hop collective called One Day, alongside the likes of Joyride and Jackie Onassis. The whole crew is “trying to possibly float the idea of doing a One Day tour sometime next year, and [the crew has] some writing trips planned for the back end of this year … That’s something that we’re working on and just trying to strengthen the whole One Day brand.”
Another band that Spit Syndicate found themselves (albeit unexpectedly) inspired by was Sticky Fingers. “We’ve been partying a lot in the previous [months],” says Nice. “We had a night with Crabs from Sticky Fingers, and we were just fucked up listening to [Disclosure’s ‘Latch’]. We had a little light bulb go off; ‘Yeah, let’s do this as our [triple j] Like A Version’!’ So the idea just came from being faded and loving to dance to that song.”
BY KEARA FORD
Spit Syndicate play The Hi-Fi with Joyride on Saturday November 2. They’re also playing Fat As Butter in Newcastle on Saturday October 26 alongside Boy & Bear, Bluejuice, Owl Eyes, The Holidays and more.
Sunday Gentlemenout now through Obese Records.
