Urthboy

Urthboy belongs to the Australian hip-hop collective the Herd, yet he became the first among them to establish an independent profile through multiple solo projects that regularly feature his bandmates alongside other artists tied to their Elefant Traks imprint. Born Tim Levinson, he traces his musical awakening to his older brother, who later worked as a DJ and co-edited a music publication yet first exposed the younger sibling to an unusually broad range of sounds. Sharing a bedroom and its stereo, the siblings listened according to the older boy’s preferences. Urthboy’s initial project under that name was the group Explanetary, begun alongside Realistix and soon expanded by Luke Dubs, Elgusto, and Aja Stuart, then known collectively as Funk Injections. What would become Elefant Traks started simply as a pastime the friends used to circulate a party mixtape; the label issued Explanetary’s first official EP, In On the Deal, in 2001. That same year the label’s principals formed the Herd and put out their debut album. For several subsequent years Urthboy concentrated on the Herd, where he began producing as well as rapping, and those abilities and contacts later shaped his debut solo album, Distant Sense of Random Menace, released in 2004. He promoted the record on the road with Elgusto on the decks and the Herd’s Ozi Batla sharing MC duties. The Signal, issued in 2007, was recorded swiftly at Sound Heaven Studios in the Blue Mountains, the region where Urthboy had attended school as a child. The album’s brighter, more outward tone contrasted with the reflective mood of his first release, quickly found an audience, and solidified his reputation apart from the group. Among its contributors were Mia Dyson, Ozi Batla, Hau from Koolism, and The Tongue.