Butterfingers

"It's weird, people feel like we've popped out of nowhere - it's been five years now and that's a long time. When I hear about bands that have been around for ten or 15 years, I tend to go 'really?!'" Eddie Jacobson, frontman of hip-hop/funk group Butterfingers, confronts me about challenging the age of the band. "I guess it's because everyone who is in Butterfingers right now has been in other bands with the same people - so some of the songs from 'Breakfast At Fatboys' [their debut album] had been written in other bands up to ten years before it was released."

With their infectious rhythm and sound, Butterfingers have outdone themselves with the release of their new album, 'The Deeper You Dig'.

"I don't really know how it's been received. I've had people coming up to me after the shows and saying they liked the first album better - they were disappointed...I mean, I didn't think it was that different. Yet, there are people who are the opposite who tell me it's heaps better than '...Fatboys'."

With this sort of mixed reaction it's easy to see how Butterfingers find it hard to gain an accurate idea of what the fans think. "'The Deeper You Dig' is one of those albums that grows on you, the opposite of '...Fatboys', which you either hated or loved straight away."

'The Deeper You Dig' has taken the band on a different twist; it's less hip-hop/funk-orientated and more leaning towards the rock side of the music spectrum.

"There are some dark spots in[the new album] which weren't really prominent on the first. That makes 'The Deeper You Dig' harder to like, it's just a bit nasty." Yet in my opinion, it makes it a better album - I like the harsh chords and the emotion; but as always, it's the comedy throughout the record that makes it a Butterfingers album!

Unlike many bands, Butterfingers have never been solely interested or focused on becoming big and popular. Of course there is always the hope that one day they will be able to live off their passion as musicians; that day is finally here for Butterfingers.

"I never felt like I was sitting in my room going 'This has to work', but it's always been at the back of my mind - that this place we are at now is what I've been working towards," Eddie tells me. "There definitely has been a long-term goal, but it hasn't consumed me."

Butterfingers, in my mind, have always been classed as a hip-hop band - whenever they are mentioned, that is where they are classed. Yet, as they mature as a band; this is less the case for their style and genre.

"We began by doing what we through was traditional hip-hop but with live instruments - yet that idea became warped along with the way we played because everyone's personality comes through in their playing. It becomes their own sort of thing," Jacobson goes on reflectively. "It's funny that we are referred to like that [as a hip-hop band] on the radio and by people around the place because, honestly, most of the hip-hop community don't accept us as a part of that thing. We do other stuff and there are a lot of purist attitudes involved in that scene."

Pausing for breath, he takes a few second to think, "I guess there aren't that many bands that cross different genres. Most are like, 'we're a rock band, or a punk band, or a folk band', there aren't a lot of people who try and do a bit of everything."

As our interview finishes, a reflective thought on Eddie Jacobson's part arises; after a few attempts at using metaphors, examples and deep explanations, he finally gained my understanding with a simple statement. "I want to keep people's interest by making our music easy to listen to and to throw a curve ball at them every now and then. It's just like pop art, it's really cool, simplistic and easy for people to look at. But at the same time, within that medium, you can say things that are challenging and confronting. We have to now make that sort of balance within our own music."

Jess Law

Butterfingers plat at the Handpicked Festival at Loxton Oval on Sat 14 October. 'The Deeper You Dig' is out now through Warners.