Gettin' on the Beers with Mashd N Kutcher

MASHD N KUTCHER

INTERVIEW BY MICHELLE SYMES

Thank you Matt and Adam for taking the time to answer some questions for Music Festivals Australia especially in a week of such important announcements and trying to ‘Get on the Beers’ in Victoria.

Mashd N Kutcher your latest mix that sampled a simple Daniel Andrews phrase from a press conference and created ‘Get on the Beers’ received over 600k views in its first 21 hours, How does it feel to be responsible for the anthem of 2020?

to be honest it came as somewhat of a surprise, without being able to tour or travel at all this year we were forced to stay at home and write music, and with politics front and center on every TV channel seemed like it might be fun to remix something and turns out the people agreed

Have you had a chance to ‘Get on the Beers’ with the Victorian Premier yet?

We suspect he’s got a few more things on his plate at the moment haha

You have crafted several versions of the song as the lockdown continued, including the latest, Zero Cases remix released Monday after the press conference that freed Victoria. What has been your favourite mix?

We have been saving various numbers that he’s mentioned along the way of statistics in each press conference so pretty confident he’s counted down completely from 60 to 0, should make for a cracker NYE countdown remix haha

Mashd N Kutcher had shows scheduled all over the world which had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, Which was the one that disappointed you the most to miss?

Getting over to some new territories we haven’t spent a whole lot of time in like North America or the UK would have been amazing this year but we’re hopeful we’ll be able to do it at some point in the future. For now it will be good to get around Australia and bring some entertainment to our local pubs and clubs.

Covid-19 and the restrictions it has imposed has defiantly made life hard for all but it hasn’t stopped you for creating new music such as ‘Last Resort’ released this month, what have been the challenges you have faced during this time of isolation ?

You may be surprised to hear that in terms of being creative and writing music it’s actually been a great time for us. As an act who has toured weekly and consistently for almost 7 years its been a forced change to that pattern of flying every week and allowed us to really take some time to think and plan music.

March 2020 saw the release of the haunting and heavy ‘No One Alive’ in which you teamed up with Terror Bass. This song while being amazing is quite different to your back catalogue of music, did you enjoy the change? Is this a style we will see you do more of in the future?

That song is a very unique one. It is disgusting haha. We set out to try and make the most abrasive song we could possibly seek to make at the time, and it’s definitely not for everyone. Its one of those songs if you really like it then awesome, and if it’s not for you then totally understood haha. Might take a bit to top the heaviness there.

Mashd N Kutcher have collaborated with some great names in the last three years, including Tyron Hapi, Avadox and Alex Aiono. Has there been any highlights during these collab sessions?

Collaborations are always rewarding in the creative experience. These three guys you mentioned for example all bring totally different things to the table and even just being part of the creative process with each of them you learn a lot and hope to pass on things too.

Your song ‘Like Fire’ (with Ben Nicky and Luciana) is my favourite collaboration of yours to date, who would be your favourite artist/group to work with in the future?

Thanks! It’s a favourite of ours too. It began as a writing session with Luciana over in LA and the track then sat on our laptops for probably about 18 months. After a while we picked up the demo again and tried a few different styles, eventually sent it to Ben and he knew exactly what it needed. Real rewarding one that one. We would love to work with some live bands of different genres and I suppose Skrillex would be up there with ultimate collab goals.

I have been lucky enough to have seen you perform in a range of venues from small regional club, and Australian ( Lunar Electric ) and International ( Ultra ) based festivals and every time you deliver a brilliant live show which the audience feeds off, do you have a favourite venue or event you look forward to attending ?

Awww that’s awesome, glad you had a blast. It’s really hard to specify a particular one, however Ultra as you mentioned was particularly good. 3rd year in a row playing it and its always special.

Life has certainly changed since the 2014 release of ‘Do It Now’ for Mashd N Kutcher, what has been the best and worst of the journey so far?

The best was probably those platinum records and the worst probably COVID haha

What is next for Mashd N Kutcher? What can we expect for 2021 and beyond?

As we’re at the mercy of things out of our control at present, it really just comes down to ideas, creativity, being willing to take risks and try new things, and grow as musicians and artists. We’re not against taking on comedic viral video remixes but at the same time we’re both trained musicians who are passionate about writing serious original compositions, with a variety of influences. I guess what this translates to a wide variety of things but we’ll continue to take the risks and put our hearts into what we do.

In a nutshell - music, entertainment and hopefully moments and ideas that people remember and connect with.