Us in ‘Straya, we can’t help but fall for a no-good muso who spends their time doing what we wish we could; getting up to mischief, overindulging in the green, and chucking a few tunes together every now and then.
Meet Johnny (from the Burbs), a steezy new hip-hop die hard from Sydney’s Hills District. A man we just had to know more about.
Hailing from the outer reaches of Sydney suburbia, Johnny (from the Burbs) has the simplest of wishes; to have a good time making tunes.
“Delicious, lighthearted, iconic and playful.”
Speaking to Johhny himself, he was unsurprisingly carefree about his musical endeavours. After a listen to his latest track Another Day Gone By and a suss of the accompanying video, you’ll start to paint a picture yourself.
“It was filmed very close to where I live, in the heart of Winston Hills in Sydney’s glorious Hills District. I’ve been going to that park from fresh out the womb, it’s where I got drunk for the first time and sent regrettable love messages, it’s been a staple for high times and it’s just an all round nice looking park.”
Produced by fellow Sydneysider Chay Ell, it’s an ode to enjoying the magic of your own living, whether you’re hunkered down in your own pad or blissing out at your local park.
Writing and recording most of his work himself, Johnny takes a certain pride in the DIY attitude and loveable scuzz his music radiates with:
“I write and produce in my bedroom, I could be calm, angry or just bored when I come up with some of my shit. If I could change that, I’d defs create a proper home studio, and get in a couple sneaky j’s.”
But you can’t attribute Johnny’s output to the songwriter alone. Like most MCs, Johnny places a huge amount of respect in his inner circle, the mates who have always been by his side.
“My boys are everything to me. We’re just a bunch of old men, we play super smash bros, we smoke hookah, we listen to all sorts of music together.”
“I think their influence and help is a big part of this project, from getting my close friends to direct every video that has been released so far, or having other friends help on the production of certain songs. Shoutout to each and every one of them.”
Whether or not Johnny (from the Burbs) is your cup of green tea, he’s tapping into something vital within the Aussie psyche; the carefree attitude we all hope to live our lives in the shadow of. For that, we praise him.
Keep an eye out for more Johnny to come – this young MC isn’t quitting any time soon. Where will he be in a year? We asked him.
“Hopefully at the top of Sydney’s hip-hop game, with another release under my belt and all the people close to me at my side. I wanna get mad into playing club shows and hitting up local DJ sets, but for now I’ll just keep writing until we can get to that!”
