The Herd..

[KiwiCoromandel]

The Herd are sick of the reminder of our Anglo-Saxon origins....

Four years ago Sydney hip-hop crew the Herd were happy to fill the Hopetoun Hotel. Now they are embarking on a national tour, including a date at the Enmore Theatre.

Herd MC Shannon Kennedy, aka Ozi Batla, seems more concerned with haunting World Cup visions than filling the 2200-capacity venue.

"I watched all the Australian World Cup games at the Enmore Theatre," he says. "I'm a little bit concerned I won't be able to perform; it'll be too much, too many memories."

Kennedy may be wary of the venue's security, too.

"They tried to stop me covering up the Union Jacks on the [Australian] flags on the stage," Kennedy says. "Everyone was wearing green and gold and no one was flying red, white and blue, because why would you? There were these two huge Australian flags on either side of the screen. I found it insulting. I don't want to stare at a Union Jack while I'm supporting this incredible, multicultural team. So we went up there and tried to cover them up and they tried to kick us out. I'll have my revenge in a couple of weeks."

It's not the first time Kennedy and the Herd have challenged nationalism. At this year's Sydney Big Day Out, held on Australia Day, the group were less than impressed with the sea of red, white and blue.

"That was as close to real idiotic, thuggish nationalism as I've ever seen," Kennedy says. "It was all the less fun aspects of the Big Day Out amplified by this idiotic white-power bullshit. I was disgusted. It was just really poor timing coming after [the Cronulla riots]. It's not even mindless; people have thought about it and decided Australia Day gives them a sense of pride because they're white and everyone else isn't."

Since forming in 2001, the Herd have never shied away from political and social issues. These sentiments have been fused with hip-hop, warped electronica and world sounds.

Some of the Herd's material has been remixed on their label's new album, Elefant Traks's Trampled. In one of the more startling pieces, British electronic act Tunng tackle the Herd's cover of the Redgum anti-war classic, I Was Only 19.

"It's about as far as you can get from the original song," Kennedy says. "The track is like walking around a battleground, looking at different body pieces ... they're all strewn everywhere and there's crows calling out. I don't think it's nice noise, but it's so visual it does what it's supposed to do."

source:www.smh.com.au

image:Janie Barrett:Running with the Herd...