28 Days

Jedi - Turntables
Damien -  Bass
Jay - Vocals / Interpretative Dancer

28 Days get set to change the record for the Aussie's. Mixing credibility with a bucket full of tunes they could be set for an equally successful career over here in the UK. With "Rip It Up", a former Australian Number 1 released here in February and an album to follow in March you won't be able to escape the punk / rap style

Q: You're just starting off over here in England. How popular are you in your native Australia?
Damien: We had a number 1 record with "Rip It Up" and beat the fuck out of Britney, Moby, Christina whatever and all those bitches. Our first single out over here, "Kid Indestructible" was recorded over a year and half ago so there's been a lot of progression on our newer material.

Were just coming over and playing a few live dates, if people get the vibe then that's great. Its like starting out all over again and we want to build it up that way - there's no point in us just releasing the album and saying "Hey, look at us were massive in Australia so go and buy the record". The album should be out around February and we've got the "Rip It Up" single out before that.
 

Q: How did growing up there affect your outlook and perceptions?
Jay: Our lives are nothing like Neighbours. Its very easy going and there's no taboo's really.....except for N.A.M.B.L.A . I actually found out the other day that this is something that actually exists. It was on Southpark and it stands for the North American Man Boy Love Association. I just thought it was a joke but those fuck faces actually exist. I guess there still are taboos left.

Jedi: Compared to other countries there's not a lot of taboo's in Australia - for instance a lot of the film clips we've done back home, we can't show in most other countries. The video for "Goodbye" can only be shown on the government run station, no one else will touch it. The song is about saying goodbye to all that shit - violence, theft, crime - but the fucking morons who get paid fuck loads can't get their heads around it.
 

Q: How do you sum up the ideology behind 28 days?
Jedi: Apart from the violence and the censorship its simply about fun. We just have fun on stage and that sort of carries off into the crowd. We try not to be too serious, but then again were not too lightweight - were somewhere in the scale between Blink 182 and Amen.  Hip hop is a really big influence, well it was basically skate music which is hip hop and skate thrash. And we were really into a lot of the work Suicidal Tendencies were doing

Jay: I didn't listen to punk at all. I just didn't like the music or the funny clothes. Too many kids when I was growing up were punks just to try and be tough which kind of put me of it. A lot of people just started getting Mohicans, saying they like the Sex Pistols and all of a sudden they were punks so I just hated it.

When I was growing up no one knew about hip hop. People used to give me shit and say "Rap is Dead" when I listened to it - look at them all now
 

Q: Taking into consideration that if you listen to your own records, which are predominantly guitar based punk music. Where do you stand on the argument that Hip Hop is the new punk?
Jedi: They both came out at the same time and they were both expressions of youth rebellion. All the hip hop you hear on commercial stations now is just crap, there's a lot of R&B crossover shit. Were more into the old skool hip hopwhich was a lot more party vibe, kind of what Jurassic 5 are doing now.

Jay: There's no such thing as gangsta rap culture in Australia. We've got a line in one of our songs which says "Don't pack a gun so I don't do gangster rap" - fair enough if you live in South Central, but try and tell most of the hip hop kids that. The thing I love about Hip Hop man is soul & funk and old jazz riffs - its my favourite shit.

The groove, that's all I like about hip hop. Its not about the lyrics like when hip hop first started and they were going "Its great man!!! You've got these fucking black kids, its the word straight from the street. The white guys just don't get it" - were a bit more educated now and to me its about music. Obviously there's some mad rappers out there who are political and have got flow, but if they haven't got the flow they're nothing.
 

Q: Some would read this "rap / rock crossover" and say its a bit contrived. What's your take on Limp Bizkit - the most hated band in rock?
Damien: I used to like Limp Bizkit, but their new albums just shit. Why do people still buy that effects laden crap? The Mission Impossible song was wicked - amazing production and probably the best song they've done. Its totally natural for us though from when we first write the songs - if it needs a pop bit we just throw it in, the same with anything else in the mix.

Eminem is fucking awesome, he just doing the same shit that NWA did 15 years ago. The reason he's copping up such a big stink is cos he's a middle class white guy and its not as cool as the gangsta rappers. What they wanted to do in America is keep all that stuff for the black people, they can accept it then but with Eminem it forces the people to realize that its a white problem too. He's opening up a few doors, Limp Bizkit are doing nothing important.
 

Q: We've heard you don't like a certain faded British musical hero. Would you care to fill us in?
Jay: There's no question that we think Morrissey's a cunt. He's as serious as cancer about himself and he's just a funny cunt. Some people say he's probably got a sense of humour and just goes home and laughs at it all. I don't think he does, I just think he goes home and solemnly watches himself.

Damien: You can just imagine him singing to himself at home (adapts Morrissey styled voice) "Oh Ho ho I'm depressed". Its fucking hilarious how anyone could have made millions of dollars by taking himself so serious and being such a knobend.

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28 Days
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