If High Fidelity has taught us anything, it's that making a mixtape is an art. You need to curate, educate and engage. Sydney-based group, 1300, have made a new mixtape with liberation and abandon, so we spoke to the group about the art of using other people's poetry to say how you really feel. Drawing from everyday life and the Sydney arts scene, 1300 continue to let us into their artistic world whilst maintaining an effortlessly cool sense of mystery. Utilising their unique skills with a sense of camaraderie and collaboration, the group take us in to their world, and we have no plans on leaving anytime soon.
How do you create the perfect mixtape ?
We don’t know, what we do know is how to make a fun mixtape! Not caring what people think and just make music in the moment. Perfect doesn't come to mind, once we find something like that, we then go into the details.
Did you ever make someone you loved a playlist?
Yes, but I’d rather not talk about it.
Who are your greatest influences, both growing up and currently?
Big Bang, N.E.R.D, Timbaland, Machine girl, Tyler The Creator, Beenzino.
If you could work with any producer or collaborate with any artist, who would you choose?
Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, JPEGMAFIA, Audrey Nuna, Paul Blanco, Zion.T. Honestly, this list could go on, there’s so many.
Where do you draw your creative energy from ?
tEveryone and everything around us. The Sydney scene is so diverse both in art and music, it’s hard not to draw energy from that. We’re inspired by everyday life, such as music, fashion and movies which we bring into our music, and even merchandise.
How do you keep harmony within the group? Do you have specific roles?
Yes we do but they’re not solidified, we end up helping out each other most of the time. We’ve become close friends so being comfortable and honest with each other is easy, this trust for us goes a long way. We’re all close friends. Each of us have our own individual strengths, so if a specific skill was needed (like graphic design), someone would take the lead and we’d all support and provide feedback.
You can listen to the 1300 band mixtape here.
