Subsketch (Drew Norley) is a 22 year old Mc & Producer originally from Sterling, South Australia. He has been making Hip Hop music for the last 8 years, drawing on a wide array of influences including films, books, Nick Cave, Andy Kaufman & Buck 65.
After winning the Hilltop Hoods Initiative in November of 2006, Subsketch disappeared into the studio. He emerged roughly a year later, cd in hand, wide eyed & itchy, muttering something about insects. The resulting album is a concept piece aptly titled Cheaper Than Therapy (Available Australia-wide from 8th of MARCH wherever good & bad music is sold through GREEN MEDIA DISTRIBUTION/MGM).
It consists of 11 songs, entirely self-produced, largely influenced by sleep
deprivation, caffeine jitters & the winter of 2007.
As a producer Subsketch builds his unique compositions on a base of gritty, static incrusted beats, carefully layered with elements of live instrumentation & found sounds, to create rich, emotive scenery for the words to travel through. Lyrically the album is focused primarily in the direction of story telling & introspection, in stark contrast to the ego driven, battle & party music that Hip Hop is geared towards.
Although relatively unknown outside of his immediate area, Subsketch has been actively involved in the local Hip Hop/Music scene for at least the last 6 years.
He has collaborated with artists from a myriad of musical backgrounds.
Released 2 diy EPs, The Lost Demo in 2004 & the Springclean in 2006 (These surprisingly found there way to extensive play on community radio both locally & interstate, earning the Fresh Fm local artist of the week spot in November 2006).
On top of that he has steadily been developing a reputation as a performer to see. The standard live setup consists of Subsketch backed by a 2-piece (The Antidote) which features live bass by Zeal & Dj Menace on the decks. He has also performed his songs solo, even backed simply by acoustic guitar & harmonica.
In 2002 as part of the short lived 3-piece ‘Def Before Dishonour’ he
found himself performing extensively, including a spot at Adelaide’s Fringe Festival. He has to date performed alongside Terra Firma, Layla, The New Pollutants, Pegz, Style High Club, After Hours, Certified Wise, Zeal, Cross Bred Mongrels Delta, & the Hilltop Hoods to name a handful.
As for the immediate future, the album comes out in stores March 8th, so the first few months of 2008 will be spent promoting the album & concentrating on the live show. Expect a flood of performances in Adelaide & even some select interstate shows as well.
With momentum slowly starting to build & work on the follow up well underway, you can bet your right eye that Subsketch won’t be going away any time soon.
