Worlds collide when hip hop juggernaut Thundamentals combine with the might of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) for the one-off presentation of 'I Love Songs: A Night At The Symphony'.
The special event re-imagines Thundamentals' acclaimed 2018 album 'I Love Songs' in its entirety with the backing of QSO, along with a selection of the trio's celebrated hits.
“For me, it's a humbling experience because it's almost like the coming together of the two worlds,” Jeswon from Thundamentals says of the unlikely partnership.
“At first it seems like a strange partnership, with hip hop that comes from a pretty working-class background traditionally – the culture that was born of the streets and for poorer kind of people meets this world of classical instrumentation that is traditionally a sign of affluence.
“It's like, 'how do these two worlds combine and find themselves in this strange situation?', but the more I think about it the more I think it's going to be a really great match because we have always tried to be as musical as possible with the production of our music.”
The fifth studio album for Thundamentals, 'I Love Songs' was released in September 2018 just 18 months after dropping their 'Everyone We Know' record, and Jeswon says the new record has been their most successful yet in connecting with listeners. “I feel like it's really resonated with our fans,” he says.
“I don't think we've ever had an album where we've had so many people get in touch with us other than to leave a comment or a like on Facebook.
“It felt like there were so many people who took the time to send us a message to say 'hey, I'm really enjoying the album' or 'this song or this album means a lot to me'.
“I don't know if that's just a reflection of the times we're living in because social media is more prevalent and more people are expressing how they feel to the artists than they used to.”
At the time of release, 'I Love Songs' was intended as a response to the constant influx of negative news and views we are exposed to every day via social media. Instead of adding to the noise, Thundamentals wanted to create a reprieve from the incessant barrage.
“We really steered away from too much heavy content or political content,” Jeswon explains.
“In our back catalogue, there's always been songs where we've let it be known how we feel about the state of Australia, politics, the world and the social climate in general. “We felt like in the past year there's been a bombardment on social media of bad news; with social media everyone has an opinion and everyone is shouting to be heard, and it can be a bit overwhelming.
“Sometimes when you're scrolling down your feed it feels like everyone is vying for attention and it's like negative voices are amplified on the Internet. People who have nice things to say or feel good about certain things are maybe not as forthcoming with expressing that as people who are upset or pissed-off about things.”
'I Love Songs: A Night At The Symphony' is being presented as part of the cutting-edge collaboration WAVES, a series of concerts morphing modern sounds, technology and talent with the classical heritage and strength of the state’s orchestra.
Together with work from Australia’s hottest names, the WAVES series is shining a spotlight on the contemporary music of Australian composers and music-makers. “For us, as much as for the fans, we're really excited about the possibility of what the night can be,” Jeswon says of performing live with the QSO.
“It feels so flattering that all these people are dedicating their time and incredible talent – they're such incredible musicians, people who play in orchestras; so many years of dedication learning their instruments and being able to read music like that.
“Just to have the music, our songs, elevated to an entirely different level by having so many incredible musicians there playing our music, I think it's going to be such a thrill for myself, personally anyway, and I'm sure for the rest of the boys as well.”
