IN CONCERT
What: Hilltop Hoods with Adrian Eagle and DJ Total Eclipse
Where: Distrikt, 919 Douglas St.
When: Thursday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m. (doors at 7:30)
Tickets: $39.50 at Lyle’s Place, the Strathcona Hotel, and eventbrite.ca
Matt (Suffa) Lambert of Hilltop Hoods has been a bit sluggish lately, which is understandable. At the three-quarter mark of his trio’s extensive world tour, which included a busy October with 18 shows in 31 days, the hip-hop act from Adelaide, South Australia, certainly deserves a break.
They won’t have one any time soon. Following their show tonight in Victoria, Hilltop Hoods will make the 14-hour, 14,000-kilometre flight home to Australia to attend the Australian Recording Industry Association Awards on Nov. 27. They will return to Canada two days later to resume their North American tour with a performance in Vancouver on Nov. 29.
“To do a show the night we get back [to Canada] will be interesting,” Lambert said with a laugh during a recent tour stop in Portland, Oregon. “Having said that, the west coast of Canada isn’t that bad — it’s only 14 or 15 hours. When we travel to Europe, it’s a 26-hour trip.”
Time-zone juggling isn’t something Lambert or his bandmates Daniel (Pressure) Smith and Barry (DJ Debris) Francis worry much about these days. Hilltop Hoods have been a group since 1994, travelling internationally since 2003, which means airports and highways have been a way of life for as long as Lambert can remember.
The view many have of Australians — that those travelling abroad stay away as long as possible and work seasonal jobs for as long as their visas will allow — is certainly true. And that has been a source of energy for the group, according to Lambert.
“Australians love to travel. I credit that for how we’ve been able to spread our music. When Australians travel, they take their music with them, and share their music with everyone they meet. That’s been a big factor for us being able to go to places we’ve never been to before.”
Hilltop Hoods have been warmly received in Victoria — their 2014 appearance at the Rifflandia Festival is still mentioned as one of the all-time highlights of the festival, positioning the group for a successful follow-up to its 2017 appearance at the Capital Ballroom.
The group has developed similar relationships with other cities in North America, where it tours every second year. The current trek across the continent — the biggest by an Australian act this year, according to the group — has been hugely successful, with sell-outs in most cities.
None of those shows has been bigger than their hometown dates, however. The band’s 46-date tour to support The Great Expanse, its eighth studio album and fifth consecutive effort to debut at No. 1 in Australia, played to record numbers of fans in Australia and New Zealand over the summer, including an Aug. 31 date in Sydney that sold 15,000 tickets at the Qudos Bank Arena.
One of the most popular groups of any genre in Australia, the self-built Hilltop Hoods are showing no signs of slowing down, with an ever-expanding resumé that includes more than one million albums sold, 640 million streams on Spotify and an Australian Recording Industry Association record for the most No. 1 albums by an Australian band.
When they return home next week for the ARIA Awards, their home country’s Grammys, they will compete for album of the year, best group, song of the year, best hip hop release, best video and best Australian live act.
“We feel very lucky in that respect,” Lambert said. “Back home, we’ve got a really special relationship with people who like our music. They have really taken ownership of it back home.”
Hilltop Hoods have offered a helping hand to other independent acts, by way of their Hilltop Hoods Initiative, which offers funds to emerging Australian hip-hop artists. The trio also takes up-and-coming Australian acts on the road when it tours. Adrian Eagle, a rising soul singer from Adelaide, will open the show tonight in Victoria.
“We’ve always tried to give people opportunities,” Lambert said. “But people make their own way. I don’t like to butt in and take credit.”
Lambert calls his group “mid-level,” below big exports such as Keith Urban, Sia, Iggy Azalea and 5 Seconds of Summer, even though some of them haven’t lived in the country in years. But he’s willing to take credit for bringing the country’s government-funded national radio broadcaster around to the idea of playing hip-hop. There is now a thriving underground community of artists just waiting to break out, Lambert said, so an identity is being developed.
Hilltop Hoods are in the pole position. “When we came in, you weren’t able to get on the radio. We didn’t go out there with breaking down doors in mind. We just tried to get over to North America to see what could happen.
“If a collateral thing happens, then that’s awesome. I’m hoping more acts make their way over here from Australia, because we play shows in North America and people are always asking: ‘When is [Australian rapper] Drapht going to get over here? When is [Australian duo] Horrorshow going to get over here?’ Which is awesome to hear.”
