PULP INTERVIEWS: GAVVER

Your new single True slaps so fucking hard it’s not funny. Where did the inspiration of this song come from?

Thank you! The idea and vibe of “True” just came from a place of self-belief and celebration. When I started, a lot of people were sceptical about me making hip hop music, but despite that, I: recorded and released a whole EP, directed and released a music video, built networks in the music industry from nothing and have performed in front of hundreds of people. I just wanted a song where I could talk my shit!

Your last EP Why Not had some pretty diverse instrumentals, can we expect your next project to reflect the same *lit* vibe heard in True? 

Yeah, I’m excited to explore more energetic, high tempo music in the future. My favourite part of all of this is performing live and there’s no better feeling than having the crowd go wild to a high energy song! I don’t want to stagnate, so definitely further down the path, I’ll do some more melodic and introspective cuts, but for now, I’m happy to keep it turned up.

When you look for instrumentals online, what are you looking for specifically? Do you have a favourite “Artist-Type-Beat” that you go to? 

When I pick an instrumental, it’s because I hear it and it usually straight away inspires me and gets me rapping in my head. If I can hear a beat and put together a melodic hook or solid concept within 30 minutes, it’s a winner. Man, when I started out I loved the Type Beats but nowadays I use them for ideas but try to source my instrumentals from people I know. My favourites used to be the Travis Scott ones because they had high energy with melodic elements which I can build a hook around! The Brockhampton ones are always funny because producers just make them super weird for some reason.

You’ve said in previous interviews that you “listen to a lot of House & EDM” and in the past, you wanted to be “the next Martin Garrix”. Do you see yourself diving into rap/dance music in the future? Can we expect a “Open Wide”-esque track from you in the near future?

That song makes me laugh, such an intense lyric “Let me see how big your mouth is”. Anyway, yeah I definitely want to delve into rap/dance music! The success of Illy’s “Paper Cuts” a few years ago really showed the potential of that cross over in the Australian market especially. A few of my friends are involved in the techno scene here, and I think a hip hop/techno song could be cool, but definitely has the potential to come out really bad if not done well. If I do one and it sounds dope, I’ll definitely put it out in the world eventually.

What artists are inspiring you the most right now? Which Sydney artists would you like to work with in the future? 

Well, since Kanye went full preacher hip hop, I need some new people at the top to look up to! Some of the UK artists like Aitch and Dave are putting out quality songs, but I also revisit older stuff like Mac Miller’s mixtapes and Biggie’s albums for ideas and to learn from them. At the moment, all the Australian artists pushing the scene inspire me daily to put in hard work, cause it’s only a matter of time before the Australian scene gets a lot of attention from overseas. I’d love to work with all of them, but especially Tkay, Nerve and Jeida Woods!

Being born in San Francisco, do you consider your sound to be a hybrid of the American and Australian Hip-Hop scenes? 

Yeah, I don’t think about it too much but I would say so! I mean my Australian accent automatically makes every song I put out part of the Australian sphere and the instrumentals I look for nowadays have more of an international/American sound instead of the typical Aussie hip hop sound. It’s early days so my sound is still changing and evolving, but definitely, at the moment I’d say it’s a hybrid of artists like Hilltop Hoods/Thundamentals and Drake/Rae Sremmurd. When I sound like the Australian Swae Lee, I’ll be happy!

When are you touring next? 

No big tour lined up at the moment, still just building my foundations, but I’ve got a couple of shows coming up late this year and early next year. I’m not sure when those get officially announced so stay tuned! After a few more singles, I’ll definitely be thinking about some kind of East Coast tour! Sorry Perth, but I ain’t trying to spend 5 hours on a plane.

When’s the next album or EP coming?

The whole process isn’t cheap, so I have to make sure I can still afford to pay rent before I launch into a whole album. Tell my boss to give me more hours! For now, I think I’ll be focusing on singles for a bit just to get them out there quicker and build up my catalogue. Hopefully, I’ll have a new song out in April or so, then a couple more by the end of 2020. Check out my Facebook/Instagram to keep up to date with any announcements and new stuff!