As Australian hip-hop collective The Herd embarks on a national tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their seminal album The Sun Never Sets, founding member Tim Levinson – better known as Urthboy – is in a reflective mood. In a candid interview, the rapper and label head delves into the highs and lows of two decades in music, from near-electrocutions on stage to painfully awkward encounters with heroes.
Survival Tactics and Stage-Frightening Chaos
When asked about the essential secret to surviving life on the road, Levinson’s answer is refreshingly practical. “Clean socks after the gig,” he reveals, crediting the tip to Dave from Resin Dogs. It’s a piece of advice that speaks to the gritty reality of touring, a reality The Herd knows all too well.
He vividly recalls one particularly perilous performance at a 4ZZZ benefit gig in Brisbane. “It starts raining. The stage is slightly outdoors so the water is coming in… The cables underneath the stage are all starting to be underwater,” he describes. The group pressed on, rapping while exchanging worried glances about the clear electrocution risk. The incident, for Levinson, epitomises the “devil-may-care” attitude of touring in the 2000s. “There’s a lot of instances… where, yeah, it’s pretty good knowing we didn’t die,” he notes wryly.
Confrontation, Protest, and Picking Battles
Known for their politically charged lyrics, Levinson reflects on the power of the protest song, citing Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ as a prime example. He admires its ability to resonate on a visceral level with a broad audience, even those who might misinterpret its message. “It’s an amazing thing, to be able to achieve both things, where you can scale a song but pack a punch,” he says.
This theme of nuanced understanding extends to his personal approach to conflict. Having grown up “pretty confrontational” within a hip-hop culture where walking into fights was standard, a pivotal lesson came from Herd bandmate Kenny (Traksewt). Faced with an aggressive young group making threats, Kenny simply handed back their master recordings and ended the partnership. “It taught me that I didn’t have to walk into all the fights… it really changed the trajectory of how I approached problem-solving,” Levinson admits.
Cringeworthy Encounters and Enduring Inspirations
Not all learning experiences were so graceful. Levinson recounts his most toe-curling celebrity meeting during the 2009 Cannot Buy My Soul tribute tour for Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly. Backstage in a green room packed with stars like Tex Perkins and Missy Higgins, he seized his moment. “I sidled up to Paul Kelly and just as I say something like ‘Paul, how do you write songs?’ everything went quiet,” he recalls. The painfully public, fawning question left him exposed, a memory that still makes him cringe.
His artistic inspirations are more enduring. He consistently returns to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘The Low End Theory’, a record that has meant something different to him in every decade of his life. As a writer, he holds British artist Kae Tempest in the highest regard, admiring their mastery of imagery. “To me, the greatest thing I could ever do as a writer is somehow even just [approach] that beauty of assembling words in such a way that leaves you feeling something,” he states.
Looking to the future, Levinson champions Brisbane rapper Kayeonwun (formerly Khi’leb) as Australia’s most underrated MC, predicting a major breakthrough. And in a delightfully quirky pop-culture take, he passionately argues for a new Gremlins film directed by an arthouse visionary like Bong Joon Ho, where the iconic Gizmo leads the rebellion. “I think Gizmo needs to take a good hard look at it himself in this one,” he jokes.
As The Herd hits the road again, these stories from Urthboy paint a picture of an artist who has navigated chaos, learned from embarrassment, and remains deeply committed to the connective power of music and words.
