I’m Jake Wherry, founder of The Herbaliser band and one of the two guys who started the thing back in 1993 when I hooked up with Ollie Teeba.
We have just released our seventh studio album on our own label –Department H, called There Were Seven- 15 slabs of super heavy, psychedelic, beat-laden, post-hip-hop audio for your ears and mind, from the undulating wobbly dub “Welcome to Extravagance”, through the electronic takeover of “Mother Dove”, to the manic spitting flute funk of “Take ‘Em On” hitting you right in your boogie nerve.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
Well, there’s tape knocking around in my family that my dad recorded around 1973 on his dictaphone – we’d been to see the Sooty & Sweep show and I really wanted to be invited onstage, but hadn’t been. So my dad re-enacted the show for him and got me to recite nursery rhymes – I knew at least 20 off by heart! My first real gig was at The Clarendon in Hammersmith (now knocked down) with my first band A.W.O.L. – one of the other guys in the band was Patrick Carpenter who went on to be the original DJ Food as Coldcut’s young apprentice.
I have to say, my dad was a huge influence on me musically, from the records he played in the house to him playing guitar and singing songs.
You must answer this question honestly or we steal your rider. What and where was the first gig you went to?
Ian Dury & The Blockheads supported by The Selecter. How you like that?! It was at the Michael Sobell sports centre in North London, aged 10 or 11 with my dad. I sat on the security rail at the front, Ian Dury winked at me. I loved it.
You’re noted for your collaborations. Is there an artist that you’d love to work/record with that you haven’t had a chance to yet?
Nope! We’ve always tried to work with artists whose profile won’t overshadow ours, obviously people like Roots Manuva, MF Doom, and Jean Grae have all gone on to become really well known, but at the time we worked with them they were still relatively unknown. Same with Ghettocks and George The Poet – they’ll no doubt go on to bigger and better things !
Australia’s hip hop scene has grown considerably in the last decade or so. Is there any Australian artists – inside your field or related to it – that you’d consider working with?
I’ll have to check some out – the Quakers album was by far the best hip-hop album I’ve heard in years, so I highly rate Katalyst, but other than that I haven’t come across much recently.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
I just like to make sure I’ve had a pee…
What can fans expect from your Espy show? Bringing any secret guests we should know about?
To be honest, when we play live with the band, that’s the real Herbaliser experience – we play our own music live. When we DJ we usually play very little of our own music and it’s more about playing tracks that have inspired us over the years. Expect a mix of hip-hop classics, funk, soul and a bit more.
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
I’m loving Joey Bada$$ and I just got sent the new Nicole Willis album which I’m going to check out this week.
What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?
Snatch?! Seriously, we have tracks for every part of life from fucking to fighting with a few cop chases thrown in too.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
I wouldn’t – being a promoter sounds like a nightmare.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
Just before we head out to OZ we have a live band show in Bulgaria.We released our last album on our own label (Department H) in October and you can get it direct from us: http://theherbaliserstore.wazala.com/
We’ve also got on Twitter in the past year: https://twitter.com/theherbaliser
And of course we love our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TheHerbaliserOfficial
The Herbaliser 2013 Australia DJ Tour
Thursday 28th February: Upstairs Beresford, Sydney
Friday 1st March: Coniston Lane, Brisbane
Saturday 2nd March: Perth International Arts Festival, Perth
Sunday 3rd March: Pourhouse Bar and Kitchen, Dunsborough
Wednesday 6th March: Mobius, Hobart
Friday 8th March: WOMAD Festival, Adelaide
Saturday 9th March: The Espy, Melbourne
Sunday 10th March: Transit, Canberra
