Mind Over Matter - Mind Control

3D's Matt Unicomb talks to Mind Over Matter's Rowan Lockyer - aka Willow - about the duo's debut LP Keepin' It Breezy, the diversity of their sound, and how it feels to have cemented their position as one of the most vital acts on the Nurcha roster.

Anyone who has paid any attention to the Sydney hip hop scene over the last few years would list Nurcha Records as one of the labels that are doing things around town. One of the acts on its vibrant roster is the now established duo Mind Over Matter.

After supporting the likes of internationals Planet Asia, Masta Ace and Mystro, Mind Over Matter have secured a loyal following and keen interest from crews all over the country. Comprising MCs Willow and Smiles Again, Mind Over Matter dropped their debut album Keepin' It Breezy in June, and at a time where Australian hip hop is booming they're beginning to grab some hard-to-find attention, and get their sound in the ears of the people who matter - the hip hop fans.

The reaction since the release 'has been all we could hope for,' Lockyer begins. 'The feedback has been really good. On FBi we got single of the week for our track Clipped Wings. Things have started off well, and we can only go up from here.'

The album artwork shows the lads as they see themselves. The two look as though they are posing for the camera of a friend; they look comfortable. 'We thought that in that photo, we were captured quite well - being silly smart smartarses.'

Since the duo's 2006 debut mixtape For Our Hip Hoppers went Australia-wide, things have changed in the Mind Over Matter camp. 'I would say that our musical taste has expanded,' Locker continues. 'We can appreciate all types of music, and then apply it to ours.' This is absolutely the case for Keepin' It Breezy. One track features a live cello, another features a choir - to classify the album as strictly hip hop is doing it a disservice.

Lyrically the boys have grown up a lot. 'If anything's changing our rhymes, it has mainly been things that we've gone through,' Lockyer says. 'That's what influenced us the most.' In the way of subject matter the boys touch on everything that they hold close. Diversity was paramount when writing lyrics for the album; but 'we're not political,' Lockyer affirms. 'We're not going to talk about stuff that we don't know that much about - apart from that we try to cover everything that life brings us.'

The production talent assembled for the album is just as diverse. Beats come from British come Australian MC Motley, to international producer Stylez Fuego to bedroom-based Sydney lad Konfuzion. 'Konfuzion is a friend of ours,' Lockyer states. 'He's also given a few tracks to Phatchance from Natural Causes, but not too many other people. We're trying to get him to push his name a bit more and start branching out.'

The boys went down a similar path in getting hold of some Motley production. 'Motley is a friend of ours,' he explains. We met him at the Park Jams festival at Luna Park and stayed in touch while he was in England. We were looking for beats so we hit him up.'

The hurried schedule in which the album was recorded and engineered had some impact on the final outcome. While they were writing for the album, they still aimed to have a few tracks left over to play around with. 'It was a really tight schedule,' Lockyer admits. 'We didn't get to make as many songs as we could have. We still had a couple left over, though. We just didn't really have that much time.'

Many would claim Keepin' It Breezy is Nurcha Records' most anticipated release to date. It has certainly been the most publicised and promoted. As far as their involvement with Nurcha goes, 'we jumped on Nurcha around the middle of 200