Meet FREAKCLUB, the Melbourne hip-hop collective turning genre on its head

Header image by Brianna Da Silva.

You might've noticed that Pilerats has made this kind of 'genre-less' brand of music its bread and butter over the last 12 months, and there's a good reason for that. Despite not really being a scene per se, this genre-veering 'sound' is one of music's most exciting at the moment, featuring a legion of incredible up-next musicians who forge together genres that conventionally, have been long separated apart. It's something that feels reflective of music's next generation as a whole, with newcomers finding their feet in different facets of this 'sound' on a near-fortnightly basis.

On cue, enter Melbourne-based collective FREAKCLUB. They've been making a stir online over the last few months as a newcoming project to-watch out of Naarm; a multi-talented collective of musicians, videographers and photographers that bring their art to life through various artistic means - all without dipping outside of their circle, and risking losing their initial vision. Musically, they're a jack of all trades as well, as the tastes of FREAKCLUB's many members come together to create this storm of sounds that feels unlike anything else in Australia at the moment.

It's something that's shown on their debut single Perfect, which premieres on Pilerats today ahead of its release tomorrow, October 22nd. Perfect feels synonymous with what FREAKCLUB aim to show both musically and artistically, capturing the genre-clashing heights of their musical brilliance, and the way they bring to life through visuals that come from the group's core members - namely photographer Brianna Da Silva and videographer Charles Buxton-Leslie.

Sonically, it's an explosion of textures wrapped into near-five-minute duration, bringing together their wide-ranging versatility and encapsulating it with their first song. Perfect's backbone lays firmly in hip-hop, with a dynamic production fuelling verses by their two rappers - Wolf Henson and Zac Sunset - while vocalist Zvchvrivh comes in to offer an almost pop-like relief, capturing this blend of pop, rap, electronica and indie that really lurches forward with this excitable energy.

Then, there's the video, which adds a nostalgic indie twist as they turn to the 2000s era of teenage rebellion, and the no-holds-barred attitude that in a kind-of abstract way, reflects in the boundary-pushing art that they make.

As a whole, Perfect does an incredible job in introducing what FREAKCLUB are all about, and we have no doubts that this is just the start. You'll have to wait and see on that, but in the meantime, take a dive into the single's video clip as it premieres below, and better introduce yourself to FREAKCLUB underneath - there's a big storm coming from these guys, and we have a feeling they're going to create a shit tonne of noise in the near future.

Tell us about yourself?

We are a 6 piece hip-hop collective based in Naarm/Melbourne made up of musicians, photographers, and videographers. Our aim is to not just create music but to create a world for our music to live in. We want FREAKCLUB to be something bigger than ourselves and create a community people can belong to.

The member’s of FREAKCLUB include:
Brianna Da Silva, Photographer
Charles Buxton-Leslie, Director
Cody, Producer/DJ
Wolf Henson, Rapper/Producer
Zac Sunset, Rapper/Producer
Zvchvrivh, Singer/Producer

What’s your music like? What does it sound like? What kind of themes does it usually cover? 

Our music is like a collage made up of everyone’s taste, mood and personal experience navigating life. The themes we cover are always based on our feelings at the time. We want each era of FREAKCLUB to be like a snapshot of where we were at when we made the music.

What are your production and writing processes usually like? 

The three of us (Wolf, Zac & Zvchvrivh) all live together, so music could be getting made at any given time. We like to think of our process like a conveyor belt that passes a track through various hands, ideas and stages until it becomes the final product. It’s all about trusting the process, it’s not always about how you get there.

Can you tell us a bit about your debut single, Perfect?

Perfect was one of the first tracks we wrote together. We were trying to capture the rhythm and energy of dancehall music we love, but blend it with elements of hip-hop and melodic pop we were more familiar with. The beat switch came along later, we felt like the track was missing something unexpected. Lyrically it’s a bit ‘ignorance is bliss’, a lot of shit was going on in our lives at the time, writing happy songs was kinda therapeutic.

The video for Perfect is a 90’s/2000’s inspired music video about teenage rebellion, romance and heartbreak. The video follows three cliche storylines giving reference to some of the teen movies we watched growing up. It serves as a reminder that things will always work out in the end.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2021 and beyond?

We have a lot of music already finished and ready to go, and we’re super excited to play live shows. We’ve spent a lot of time working together and making sure we are proud of everything we do. As for beyond, world domination.

What do you want people to take away from your work? 

If someone can take even one thing away from our work, good or bad then we succeeded. We want to create worlds to escape to and music to relate to. We want to represent a community of like-minded people, no matter who you are or where you come from. FREAKCLUB is about representing the unknown and to us everyone is someone.

Where can we find more of your music?

This is our debut single so this is all for now but not for long. You’re going to see/hear us a lot.

Follow FREAKCLUB: FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM