Hailing from Canada, Thunderheist find themselves teetering on the edge of global acclaim. Signed to Ninja Tune affiliate, Big Dada, and with a song featured in The Wrestler, I was fortunate to snatch a few moments with the team of Isis (vocals and lyrics) and Grahmzilla (producer).
So where are you now, and how was SXSW?
Grahmzilla: I’m at home eating leftovers, preparing to tour, and loving sleeping in my own bed. SXSW was a blur, but I do remember some crazy gigs and maybe too much Texan BBQ.
For those of us who have yet to witness the live show, can you outline what to expect?
G: Sweat, blood, screaming and pregnancy.
Favourite TH tracks right now?
G: The new stuff we’re working on…
Are you working on your own individual material? As I understand it, you didn’t start out together as TH.
G: I do remixes whenever I get a chance. I’ve got some coming up for Little Boots and Erup. Truth be told, I cant really commit to much more because of the TH schedule right now.
I heard you were conceived in the Olympic Village. How do you think that’s influenced your steez?
G: Well, I think that being the son of an Olympian has taught me that you can do anything if you give it your all. Fuck all the haters, just do it!
And in terms of production influences, are we talking electro, pop, hip-hop, rave?
G: We’re talking 15 years of DJing! I’ve played raves, hip-hop shows, skid bars. You name it; I’ve played it. That’s the biggest influence on me.
Isis, how long have you been MCing, I understand you stole your brother’s rhyme book? Did you steal his style?
Isis: I’ve been MCing since I was about 13, and yes I used to bite from my older bro. Later, MC Lyte , Nas, ODB and whoever else I was in love with then. When I hit 18, all of those styles came together to give you what you hear now.
Apart from Nas’s Illmatic, are there any albums we should hear to understand TH any better?
Prince - Purple rain
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Elephant Man - Let’s get physical
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Isis – any female MCs you especially admire?
MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, Invincible, Jean Grea and Lauryn Hill
Musically, what’s good in Canada at the moment? How do you rate K’Naan?
G: K’Naan is dope! He’s being himself and people are listening.
You enjoying using Twitter?
G: cant talk right now need 2 twitter about my breakfast also i had to stop using punctuation and proper grammer in order to fit inside the 140 char limit i think this is the death of society
I: Under 140, the answer then is ‘Yes’
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Secret Garden Party in the UK – you been to any UK festivals before and are you looking forward to touring?
G: Naah! No festivals yet… definitely looking forward to those! I know the UK is like Mecca for music, so I’m sure it’ll be a blast!
I: I’m looking forward to playing somewhere other than London, and it’s always exciting to play outside of your own city - much less country.
Are TH up on the UK grime / dubstep scene? Thoughts?
G: There’s definitely some ill stuff coming out of the UK right now. Dubstep is making waves over here, but it’ll be interesting to see if it really crosses over. I mean, they said grime was gonna be huge but it never really went global.
Thunderheist’s debut is out now.
Thanks to Grahmzilla, Isis, James at Ninja Tune and Tash at Future Classic for their help in putting this together.