Seth Sentry’s not running for Prime Minister, and he’s most certainly not going to be the next US President.
However, the Melbourne-born rapper is heading back around Australia, on the victory lap tour of his acclaimed 2015 album ‘Strange New Past’.
The ‘1969 Campaign Trail Tour’, named after the release of the fourth and final single ‘1969’ from the album, will be a whole new Seth Sentry spectacle. “After playing a ridiculous amount of shows with the last tour – I think we did 50 just in Australia, then took it overseas – we wanted to change it up a little bit and revitalise the show,” Seth says.
“We’ve got a drummer now and we’ve restructured a lot of the songs. We’ll be playing a whole bunch of songs that we’ve never played live before and put a lot of songs that we were playing to bed.”
In Seth’s words, the show’s going to be “good, exciting and also very nerve-wracking”.
“I think every good live show should run the risk of completely going to shit at any time,” he laughs. “[We’ll] be shaking up some of the older songs and switching up the beats, restructuring and trying out new ways to play the songs. It’s pretty exciting but there’s definitely a high element of risk to it.”
So risky in fact, Seth has begun his pre-tour exercise ritual. “I’ve gotta be fit! I like to start running and jogging, and doing boring shit like that leading up. It’s very physical onstage… it’s just me out the front, and I’ve got to provide all the momentum and the energy. I get carried away in it as well, and that coupled with the fact that there’s just so many lyrics.”
This time around, he’ll be joined by his cronies DJ Sizzle on the decks and drummer Stevie Cat Junior, as well as hip hop artist Remi, who featured on the ’Strange New Past’ hit single ‘Nobody Like Me’.
And with the extended crew together, Seth is looking forward to playing all the songs fans missed out on seeing live. “Being the last tour of an album cycle, it’s always kind of special. There’s a lot of songs that I’ve always wanted to play, that never really fit. So now we’ve made room for that, and it’s going to be a nice little send-off for the album.”
What’s more, there’s fantastic news for fans as the 33-year-old is bunkering down and getting stuck into a new album after this tour. Although, as he moves forward, he can’t help but take a few steps back into what he calls the “hungry” years of rap. “I still go back and listen to old, early 2000s, mid-'90s rap music that I grew up on, like Big Al, Big Pun and dudes like that.
“The style back then was very much lyrics at the forefront. You could tell they really cared about every word, and every syllable, and it was just a very exciting time for rap music. “No one sounds rich in the mid-'90s. Everyone sounds hungry and very keen to find their own style, their own niche and their own distinct sound, which I think maybe is not so much happening now.”
Don’t get him wrong though, Seth says the likes of hip hop legends Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper are really bringing creative and innovative rap back to popular culture. “There’s always been trends, and I think that rap right now is in a great place, especially going back over the last seven or eight years.
“People are being creative again, especially when you’ve got dudes like Kendrick and Chance being as popular as they are – but still being as lyrical as they are – is cool.”
Set Sentry Tour Dates
Thu 30 Jun - The Racehorse Hotel (Ipswich)Fri 1 Jul - Hotel Brunswick (Brunswick Heads)
Sat 2 Jul - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Thu 7 Jul - Westernport Hotel (San Remo)
Fri 8 Jul - 170 Russell (Melbourne)
Sat 9 Jul - The Wool Exchange (Geelong)
Fri 15 Jul - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 16 Jul - ANU Bar (Canberra)
Sun 17 Jul - Home Nightclub (Wagga Wagga)
Fri 29 Jul - Discovery (Darwin)
Sat 30 Jul - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 5 Aug - Club 54 (Launceston)
Sat 6 Aug - Uni Bar (Hobart)
Thu 11 Aug - Prince Of Wales Hotel (Bunbury)
Fri 12 Aug - Metro City (Perth)
Sat 13 Aug - Settlers Tavern (Margaret River)
