Allday’s ‘University Boy’ tour: Interview and Review

Chris Daniel sits down with renowned Australian rapper Tom Gaynor, better known as Allday, to talk about his career in the industry and the year he has set ahead for himself in 2016.

During his last visit to Newcastle in late 2014 he left the crowd begging for more. Now, just over a year later, Allday brought back his iconic Melbourne vibe to the University of Newcastle’s Bar on the Hill as part of his ‘University Boy’ tour. The tour itself wrapped up over the weekend in New Zealand. Now the rapper is set to head back into the studio, with expectations to release a new album in the upcoming months.

Crowd stopping performance. Photo via Chris Daniel

From the nervous adolescent comedian, MC Disturbance, to a chart topping Hip Hop prodigy, it has been a long and arduous journey for Allday. Dropping out of art school to pursue a career in music has since led the 25 year old rapper to an amazing three albums and countless tours, both in Australia and internationally. The transition seems almost too good to be true, but his music suggests otherwise.

As part of this year’s orientation, Allday has eased students into the semester ahead with fresh vibes and raw tunes. With supporting acts Mallrat and Tyne-James Organ, the gig once again tested the bar’s capacity, as a crowd of young fangirls (most of which were men) belted out every single lyric and verse from Allday‘s extreme discography.

First support act, Mallrat. Photo via Chris Daniel.

Compensating for Childish Gambino’s poor performance in Newcastle last year, Allday‘s cover of Gambino’s track ‘sober’ pumped the crowd one last time with an acoustic duo with supporting act Tyne-James Organ. Additionally, the gig showed how well Allday maintains a crowd and treats his fans.

Second support act, Tyne-James Organ. Photo via Chris Daniel.

After pulling off another successful tour, you may want to keep your eyes and ears peeled in the future for new music and more tours.

At the end of the gig we conducted an interview in the early hours of the morning in the overly bright basement of Bar on the Hill. Asking about life in general, his rise to fame and most importantly, his music, here is what Allday had to say.

Interview

“…easing students into the academic year” is a quote from the tour website. What is the best piece of advice you give give to students this year?
“Don’t do something just because of what your parents want you to do or what society seems to deem as a wise choice. If you think you know better than society, trust yourself.”
You have been overseas in the past few months coming to grips with your music and a little bit of promotion as well. How do other countries react to Australian Hip-hop?
“I wouldn’t know, I’m not an Aussie hip-hop artist [grins like a child]. I am a musician though, and I guess people react in a good way because my music is honest and I happen to rap, that just happens to be my chosen medium of expression. I say it in all interviews, that I’m not a hip-hop artist, only because there is so much terrible music within Australian hip-hop that does nothing for music, and especially because most of it isn’t up to date with culture.”
Were you surprised with the success from ‘Startup Cult’?”
“I was pleasantly surprised that people got into it, but the album did what I wanted it to. It wasn’t just four tracks of absolute trash; it was an album that had pure feeling. The effort I put into it was extreme, I mean it cost me a lot of relationships and in the end I suffered from it, but yeah I was happily surprised in the end.”
Who were your main inspirations in the Australian music scene?
“Delta, he taught us a lot about music when we were in Adelaide. Another one would be Dialect, he is a really underground sort of rapper, and when he was young he was pretty much a child prodigy. And although I never met him, I would definitely have to say Daniel Johns.”
Starting as a comedian on the world stage and then moving into the music scene, what was the transition like?
“Well, I was already doing music when I was young; I had my first music gig when I was 17 and my first comedy gig when I was 19. I think music was always there, and when I was doing all of my comedy shows, my music started taking off, and I realised comedy wasn’t really getting me anywhere. It was actually sort of a relief, there are so many thing that could be jokes that at the same time could also be raps.”
When was the last time you got star struck? (Note: for me, it was during the interview)
“It happens to me a lot. I think the last time I got really star struck was with ASAP Rocky. We were at the airport and we saw him, we got a picture with him too. Later on he tapped me on the shoulder and I think that was where I lost my cool.”
What is the number one question you hate being asked?
“The only question I hate being asked, is about what my set is going to consist of.”
You have mentioned in the past that you have a few graffiti artists that you like in Melbourne. Does the overall culture in Melbourne have an impact on your music?
“Oh for sure man. Melbourne is the coolest place that you could live and everyone should move there. If you want art you need to go to Melbourne. It seems that everyone is into the music scene down there. I mean I play in a basketball team with a guy from British India and we played against a member from Architecture in Helsinki. Everyone down there is pretty much in a band.”
Aside from the tour, what are the plans for the year ahead?
“I am just constantly in the studio man. It’s nearly done I’m just trying to polish it up and make it mean something you know.”