Koolism have become one of Australia's premier hip hop duo's. Starting from their small beginnings in Canberra, they been invited to support major acts such as Xzibit, The Freestylers and Massive Attack and at the same time having songs from their album, Koolism Is... on national radio station Triple J rotation list. Now they've been asked to support one of the men who started the whole hip hop phenomenon, Grandmaster Flash. RA invites MC Hau to spend some time answering a few questions before the event.

- How did you get into hip hop culture and scene?
Hau: I got into hip hop music and culture through my older sister and cousins. You know when you're a kid, you look up to them. They were into the whole graff/breaking thing, and listening to hip hop. So I was trying to be like them. But I found that I had a thing for writing lyrics and performing them. So I stuck with it and it has brought to this day where I have travelled to parts of Australia and the world, and met so many people because of it. I count my blessings every day because of that.

- Who are your major influences (past and present)?
My family, friends, and God. My everyday life with them give me strength and courage to face each day with a positive outlook. Sounds cliche, but it's true

- Canberra is a relatively small city in terms of population, what is the music scene in general like down there? What about the hip hop scene?
As beautiful as Canberra is, there isn't really much to do. So that gives musicians, or artists in general, the opportunity to really hone their skills. Also being so iscolated from the major cities, there are hardly any distractions which allows you to focus on your craft. So music here is very potent. In all genres. Hip hop in Canberra is growing. Each year, we have artists from overseas performing here. So people really get into that vibe and start digging deeper into the culture and become hungry for more. More and more solo artists or crews are developing, so it is just getting stronger every year.

- Your debut album, Koolism Is... Pt 1 incorporated a mix up of styles - hip hop, funk, reggae and even a little music from the Pacific Islands. How would you describe the Koolism sound? What about the Australian hip hop sound?
You probably really couldn't describe our sound. But we always have to have funk and style in everything we do. Music, dress, attitude. We try to listen to every kind of music too. We get into drum 'n' bass, R'n'B, pop...almost everything. So all that goes into like a melting pot and comes out into our version of all the good things about those music genres, which is Koolism. The fact that Australians rhyme in an Autralian accent automatically gives us a distinct sound on the hip hop world stage. Musically we may be similar to our overseas counterparts, but we are definitely finding our own sound.

- Both of you have been known to dabble in a little drum'n'bass. Will this translate over to the Koolism sound ie will we hear some drum'n'bass on future releases?
Yeah, we are both big fans of jungle/drum 'n' bass. We like todays stuff coming out, but we're really into the mid 90's jungle. That ruff, jump up shit! Koolism probably won't set out to do a specific jungle track, or garage track, or whatever...but the influence is definately in there. If it comes out sounding jungle'ish, it's cos we feel the production principles of the music. Same as reggae, soul, etc. But all our music is hip hop. We're also not claiming we're the mad junglists either. We just love what we love.

- Recently your talents have been noticed and picked up by Hydrofunk Records, home of the Resin Dogs/2 Dogs. Which direction do you see Hydrofunk taking you and what are the benefits of being on the label?
First of all, we have to say this. Koolism isn't signed to any label. The reason why we went through Hydrofunk with our latest EP, was because they were keen to release it straight away in order to capitalize on the love we were getting on Triple J with 'Koolism is...'. We were touring with the Resin Dogs when all this was happening, and so we thought it was great that they were willing to do this. But we're still looking into other avenues as far as Koolism releases go. We're happy with what Hydrofunk did, but there is always room for improvements.

- Do you have any new projects lined up in the near future? When can we expect to hear a new Koolism album?
We're always working on music. Whether it be for us, or for someone else we're collaborating with. We love working with other people, and just keeping busy with music. If all things go well, the new Koolism will be putting your musical ears in gear round September. Hate to put a date on it, but that's the working time period we're looking to release.

- You've played support to artists representing the various facets of hip hop from the underground flavour of Moka Only, to the West Coast style of The X aka Xzibit, to the uptempo breakbeats of the Freestylers and down to the downtempo, tripped out Massive Attack. Now you are playing support to the man who basically started it all, Grandmaster Flash. What is the general sentiment shared around the Koolism camp about this?
We feel very honoured to be able to share the same stage as the man. We grew up listening to GMF and the Furious Five. I guess it would be like a dream come true. But in saying that, I will be saying 'respect', yet not kissing his arse.

Sydneysiders can catch Koolism spitting rhymes and dropping beats alongside Flash at the Hordern Pavilion this Saturday 17th of May, 2003