Level Headed

Level Headed began making hip hop during high school in the late nineties with a group of friends on a budget set-up in the Adelaide Hills. At that point, he was more of a fan than a performer, thriving on influences from Ice T and Cypress Hill, to Big L and The Beatnuts. Most recordings consisted of drunken freestyles and scribbled down raps that never made it out of Debate's parents house. When he reconnected with old friends in 2001, Train of Thought was born. Read more on Last.fm …read full bio

Level Headed began making hip hop during high school in the late nineties with a group of friends on a budget set-up in the Adelaide Hills. At that point, he was more of a fan than a performer, thriving on influences from Ice T and Cypress Hill, to Big L and The Beatnuts. Most recordings consisted of drunken freestyles and scribbled down raps that never made it out of Debate's parents house. When he reconnected with old friends in 2001, Train of Thought was born. They released a demo in 2002 that sold over 500 copies and played shows with artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Hyjack and Torcha, Crossbred Mongrels, Pegz, Brothers Stoney, Coxster, Funkoars and After Hours. The highlight of their shows during the Demo tour was the Hilltop Hoods album launch for their The Calling, a benchmark show for Australian hip hop which drew a crowd of over 2000 people. The following 6 months were filled with blood, sweat and tears which culminated at the end of March 2004 with the finished ‘Moving Heads’ LP. The first full-length album by Train of thought earnt them support for international acts such as Jungle Brothers and regular airplay on triple J. Train Of Thought performed in their first interstate show at Revolver in Melbourne with Reason and Art of War in September 2004. Additionally, the left wing political track 'Counter-war terrorism' appeared on the international compilation Peace Not War alongside marquee artists such as Jurassic 5, Michael Franti and Spearhead and Lyrics Born. In 2005, Level Headed left the group Train Of Thought to move to the Riverland in the northeast of SA to teach physical education at Glossop High School. The beginning of a teaching career coupled with the 3 hour distance from Adelaide ensured that no music would be made for a while. The only rhymes that were spat over the next year or so were battles while on lunchtime yard duty with students, and a track made with a year ten student Tom Smith, called ‘Ski Trip’. Due to their common interest in education, Level Headed had a strong connection with Melbourne MC Reason. He appeared on his 2006 album Life’s a lesson, and supported Reason in various shows over the next couple of years. The inspiration for the new album ‘The Spice of Life’ came when a fellow Train of Thought member Forecast, came back from a stint traveling overseas and they made the track ‘Blazing Skies’ in September 07. Level Headed quickly secured some beats from Debate, the long serving producer/friend who has been there from the beginning, and began work on the new album. In 2008, Level Headed made a second track with Reason called 24 to One for his album The tides are turning. They performed both tracks together at the Obese Block party, and Reason's album launch at Live in Adelaide. The Spice of Life was intended for release in 2008, but teaching and community commitments in the Riverland made this impossible as Level Headed could only travel back to Adelaide to hit Train of Thought studios every second weekend. The combination of distance from the studio and difficulty of working with so many guests on the album has made it extremely difficult to finish, so the blood, sweat and tears once again, pour through the release. With the help of Suffa and Debris on the sound, and the expert production of Debate’s 15 years of beat-making experience, ‘The Spice of Life’ will bring a polished sound coupled with smooth flowing rhymes and passionate topics to the listener's ears. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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…shrink me down again