This week, I had the opportunity to speak with up-and-coming Australian rapper Tom Gaynor, better known by his stage name, Allday. His recent feature on Troye Sivan’s debut album, Blue Neighbourhood, has given him even more name recognition over here in America, where he is hoping to tour soon after releasing his next album. Here’s how our conversation went down.
DBK: What is the best album you’ve ever heard?
Allday: I suppose I’d have to go the Beatles route or a Rolling Stones album. Or maybe a David Bowie album. I don’t know. Maybe Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper’s, something like that.
DBK: First or best childhood memory you have?
A: Okay so I have a really bad one. The first childhood memory that I have is that we used to have a veranda or a balcony at my house and it was about a foot high. When we first moved in, when I was like two or three years old, there was no railing. I was on a tricycle and I thought that I could just jump off and fly like I was a BMX rider or some s—. My mom would always stop me but I would always try to wait until she wasn’t watching and then go and ride straight off and drop. Eventually I got up there and did it and cracked my head.
DBK: Which TV show are you currently binge watching?
A: I’m watching Law & Order: SVU at the moment. It goes forever but I like that you can watch episodes on their own. … It’s really, really awesome. I used to like Criminal Intent and NCIS a lot, too.
DBK: Coffee or tea?
A: Coffee, definitely. I’m also a fan of green tea and all the weird teas. But I’m pretty addicted to caffeine.
DBK: What’s your favorite place to escape to?
A: I’m from a place called Adelaide, which is a smaller city than Melbourne, which is where my mom lives and one of my brothers still lives. I like to go back there. I often go back for Christmas and just chill with my friends. It’s quieter and there’s not so much pollution and shit. Whereas in Melbourne where I live, it’s bigger, busy, loads of traffic and s—.
DBK: Do you write a lot there?
A: Yeah, heaps. It’s weird. When I’m back in the environment, I get a lot done. My friend says it’s like a crystal shaft under the city, which I thought was creative, but he’s a bit of a hippie, so I don’t know how true that is. It’s just really easy for me to be creative when I’m back there.
DBK: If you were a crayon, what would your color and name be, and why?
A: If I was a crayon, I would be a black crayon and the color would be called Black Velvet. Is that too deliberately edgy? I don’t know. I don’t want to be a colored crayon, though.
DBK: When did you first start rapping?
A: Well, I was just discovering rap at maybe 10 or 11. The Internet was rising and we had just gotten computers at school. I would just go on mp3.com and listen to rap. Around the same time my cousins were listening to Eminem and Dr. Dre and stuff. That was around 2001, and I just started rapping then. A couple years later, there was like one other kid who was into rap and we just became best friends. Our whole lives just became about rap.
DBK: Are you still friends with him?
A: Yeah, we’re still best friends. He makes more underground rap.
DBK: When did you start performing?
A: I started doing freestyle battles, where they just drop a beat and you have to freestyle for like 45 seconds. As a consequence of winning one of those, I won recording time. At the studio I recorded a demo and then the person who recorded it was like, “Hey do you want to do this gig?” And I was 17, 18, something like that. That was like 2008 or some s—. So that happened. But it got way more serious when I was like 21.
DBK: What is your creative process like?
A: It’s different every time. But usually I tell someone to make some beats to get it started and then I write to it. And then I take that beat to my producer and we sit with it for a few days and change it to what we want it to be.
DBK: Was there a theme or a message you were trying to deliver with your 2014 debut albumStartup Cult?
A: My music’s main goal was, like, you may be a f—— loser, but here we are, uniting the losers. Like you can create a team for the losers, a support. I think Startup Cult was a little bit of that, but also like, “Hey, I’m doing my story. This is me doing my rap thing.” You listen to that album the first few months it comes out and you’re doing whatever you’re doing in your life, and hopefully you stay along with it so that our paths become parallel. That’s the idea of me for creating a cult. You can listen to a lot of music, but when my album comes out, I want it to be quality, and it just sums up that time. That’s the real goal.
DBK: What are you most proud of in your career so far?
A: I’m most proud of how much better I’ve gotten. … Sometimes I’ll just be in the studio and be like, “I suck at this. I’ve been at this for three days.” And then I get through, I get better, and that’s the fun s— for me.
DBK: How did you come to work on Troye Sivan’s debut album?
A: We just kind of followed each other on Twitter. We also have mutual friends in Australia. I think we sent a couple of links to one another, but I haven’t met him. I was on a plane to L.A. when they said, “We need it done like today.” By the time the plane got there and by the time we got to the studio and stuff, it was a real last-minute thing. I was just like, “F—, I really like this song. I think it’s a really good pop song.” So I just went straight to the studio. That kind of contributed to why the verse sounds a bit silly, but he left it on there so he must have liked it. I wish I’d had a bit more time, but it’s whatever.
DBK: How many hours does it take to make a full, completed song?
A: It can be very different. Sometimes they come quickly, but for me it’s more in days. You can write anything in like half a day, record it in like a day or two, and then work on the beats on the third day. It’s pretty long for me. It can be up to a couple weeks. I just want to get the best song out of it.
DBK: What has been your most memorable experience in the industry so far?
A: I can really only think of weird people I’ve met. One time I did a show here [in Australia] and Lil Jon came was there and was like, “Hey man, I’ve heard of you.” And I was like, “What the f—. Lil Jon has heard of me?” I kind of, in a weird way, grew up on Lil Jon.
DBK: What is it about you that will keep you distinct from everyone else already in the rap game?
A: I think I’m just actually being honest. I’m not a tough dude, but if you came up to me and wanted to fight me, I’d fight. I’m not a model. I’m just a dude that could be in a room with your friends. I’m just a normal dude. I’m not rich. I’m just a dude who’s being honest with you. There are a lot of not-made-it dudes saying how much money they have and I don’t do that. I think the biggest difference is that I’m not fronting on social media. You can see that in my music. No matter what I’m saying, it doesn’t matter if you can relate to the exact story, as long as you can relate to the honesty in it. I think that’s what a lot of people lack.
DBK: Speaking of your social media, I think your Twitter is hilarious.
A: Thank you. I feel like Twitter is where I’m the most annoying, but it’s also where I’m the most honest and most myself.
DBK: Anything else you want to talk about? Upcoming projects? Ambitions? Aliens?
A: Oh, aliens. Aliens are real. … But for real, I’m just going to try to get my album done and hop on someone’s tour. I really want to have it done in like a month or two, but we’ll see.
