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The Herd.
When The Herd were asked to contribute a track to Triple J's Like A Version segment, they jumped at the chance to do a cover of I Was Only 19 by Redgum. It quickly became one of the most requested songs and found a spot at number 18 on the station's Hottest 100 countdown.
A classic when it was first released over 20 years ago, I Was Only 19 reflects The Herd's political outlook in today's world. John Schumann, songwriter and lead singer of Redgum, stamped his seal of approval on The Herd's version by saying: "They've made the song - and all the issues contained in it - real again for the Afghanistan, Iraq and East Timor generation." High praise indeed, but this is a band that has been together for around five years now, cementing a reputation for musical talent and live performances that many artists would kill for.
The Australian hip-hop scene has been bubbling away on the verge of a breakthrough into more mainstream radio for a long time now, and along with groups like the Hilltop Hoods, The Herd have been at the forefront of the growing audience for Aussie hip-hop. But, as bassist Rok Poshtya points out, it's not always been easy. Part of the appeal of The Herd's music is their ability to sound as though they don't play their music with one particular sound in mind.
"And that sometimes brings a little criticism towards it, in a way," Poshtya sighs. "We struggled for recognition among the more staunch elements of the hip-hop communities in Australia. But that's cool; we've just continued doing our own thing, and paying our respects as well as we can. 'Cause it's very much a case of that with hip-hop, it's all about paying your dues and stuff. In many ways it looks like we've just come up without having been doing shows, but quite a few of us have been heavily involved in the hip-hop scene for many, many years."
But times change, and the acceptance of The Herd has grown to include numerous fans outside the hip-hop scene. Yet, of the 11 band members (yes, count them!), a handful still work full-time, meaning that touring is more of a weekends-only affair.
"It's easy for the folks that don't work full-time, but for the folks that do, it's kinda difficult," Poshtya explains. "[Producer/multi-instrumentalist] Traksewt is in quite a high stress job - it's an IT job, and he's got a little kid. So we end up driving places and he'll get the aeroplane. A couple of folks are in stable relationship but he's the first to pop out a kid."
Despite the new addition to the clan, the band are currently in touring mode on the back of I Was Only 19, but Poshtya says that touring for the single's official release is a tad coincidental.
"We wanted to play some more shows, and we got a few O Week gigs and a few uni gigs and a few festival gigs and it just seemed like a good opportunity to play a couple of shows of our own as well, in between those times," he says. "So two weeks ago we did Gold Coast O Week and Newcastle O'Ball, and then in between went to the Zoo and played in Brisbane. That was great - it was kinda really nice to sandwich a 'home' gig in a way; a gig to our fans."
And even though they've played stacks of shows, there's always plenty of people getting right on into the groove, according to Poshtya. "We've been lucky enough to have fairly good crowds so far, so it's been good. We've yet to encounter people sitting down and stuff. But I suppose that's the nature of the beast, really. We're fairly manic live, so it's kind of good fun!"
Ann Marie Sosnowski
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The Herd play at the Flinders Uni Tavern on Sat 18 March with John Schumann, and 'The Sun Never Sets' has been re-released with I Was Only 19 as a bonus track through Elefant Trax/Inertia.
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