This Friday, February 28, Bliss N Eso will headline the stage at the Clipsal 500 before undertaking a massive outdoor tour in April and May. It’s the victory lap after a massive year for one of Aussie Hip Hop’s biggest acts, who scored a massive #1 record with Circus In The Sky.
When I talk to MC Eso, he’s in his own backyard, chilling with his “dawgs”. “My actual dogs, not my homies,” he clarifies. He’s a funny, playful guy; as happy to crack jokes and go off on tangents as he is to talk about his music. We had a good chat about the Clipsal 500, the Circus Under The Stars tour, their tour mates Horrorshow, and pretending to understand car mechanics.
This time next week you’ll be here for the Clipsal, are you pumped?
I. Am. Pumped! I don’t even know how to say how pumped I am without swearing or saying something political. I have a chub that’s nearly hittin’ me chin. That’s how pumped I am.
Have you been there as a punter before?
No, I’ve never been able to get there, man! I’ve always wanted to because there’s so many incredible acts.
What about the racing side, are you into that?
…I can’t say that I am the band member that knows about it. But, when the boys start talking it up, I can definitely start fitting in with the lingo. Like, “oh yeah yeah, the carbonator 140 with the exhaust that comes out the flush cart end, yeah I know what you’re on about.” So I can kind of bullshit my way through.
Well you’ve convinced me, so…
Same with computers as well! “Just send me the biggest attachment, we’ll put some files together, shoot it through the firewall and, y’know, dodo!”
You do have to choose though, Ford or Holden?
I’m gonna go with Ford, because I own a Ford Escape.
In addition to the Clipsal 500, you’ll also be visiting Mount Gambier for your Circus Under The Stars tour. What made you wanna throw a massive outdoor tour like that?
Basically, I’m gonna get all lyrical on you… the music itself cannot be boxed in. We’ve always created this atmosphere in our live shows and we thought, what better than have our show underneath one of the biggest wonders of the world, which is the galaxy.
Other than that, it’s a fresh new vibe; a lot of these places indoors can get really sweaty and boxed in so we thought we’d just let it be free.
What do you do if it rains though?
…that’s what I thought about yesterday. Yeah, that’s a tough one. I haven’t talked to my people about that but I’m sure we wouldn’t be too far into it without a Plan B.
Is this your biggest tour ever?
Yeah! We’ve maybe done more dates; I remember going to the States and because of how big they are, we’d do like, 30 shows in 36 days. But these are definitely the biggest spots we’ve tried to play. It’s gonna be crazy! I can’t wait to see how many punters and supporters come down.
You’re bringing Horrorshow along for the tour, as well as for the Clipsal. What’s with those guys and your bond with them?
Man, I remember back in the days like, 10 years ago, I would always see this dude: Solo, from Horrowshow. He hadn’t even started rapping yet, he was this young kid getting into the shows. He was front row and I just remember kicking it with him backstage at various places. We just seemed to click. We liked the exact same MCs, we’d talk for hours about atmosphere. I think it’s really important to have someone like Solo in the game because he’s so honest and when he talks to you, he’s not talking down to you. I’ve been a big fan for a long time!
So, with your Clipsal performance and your tour, is it gonna be mainly music from the new album?
We’re gonna flip it up! We’ve got some old favourites in there. But we’ve also got some fresh numbers from the new album, y’know, for everyone who just got on the Bliss N Eso wave.
And we’re stripping it back. It’s just gonna be two MCs and a DJ.
What else have you got coming up?
Nothing stops. No rest for the wicked. We’re already in the studio, linking collabs, working on the next album. A lot of acts release an album, tour, then have a bit of time off. But we just wanna get straight back into it. We’ve got so much to say and so much good music.
Bliss N Eso are headlining the Clipsal 500 on Friday, February 28. Tickets for the Clipsal 500 are on sale at www.clipsal500.com.au.
The album, Circus In The Sky, is in stores now, as are tickets to the Circus Under The Stars tour.
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