By Luke Voogt
Aussie hip hop royalty Butterfingers will return to Geelong for the first time in 10 years after a long hiatus from touring.
“We all moved on somewhat and had kids and all that,“ the band’s rapper ‘Evil’ Eddie Jacobson said.
“We decided to get back together and do some stuff.”
The band rose to fame in 2004 with Jacobson’s uniquely-Australian self-derogatory lyrics earning regular airtime on Triple J.
“I started rapping when I was in high school,” he said.
“In all my early raps I was trying to emulate who I was listening to at the time (American rappers) and it just wasn’t real.
“It just wasn’t believable when I was talking about my guns and how much weed I smoked.”
But taking the mickey out of everyday life connected with Aussie fans.
Jacobson remembered cracking beers at a pool party on Australia Day 2004 as songs from Butterfingers’ breakout album Breakfast At Fatboys cracked Triple J’s Hottest 100 .
I Love Work, Yo Mama and Everytime placed 15, 17 and 38 respectively, back when the countdown “meant something”, Jacobson said.
The band then released hit song Get Up Outta the Dirt in 2006 before going on hiatus a few years later.
Jacobson, who had drawn gig posters for Butterfingers and other bands, learnt graphic design off YouTube and started a business.
He also played guitar for punk band Spitfireliar.
“It felt really good to still be performing but not be the centre of attention,” he said.
“I found it really liberating. Let someone else take the heat for a minute.”
But the band got back together and began touring earlier this month to celebrate 15 years since Breakfast At Fatboys.
“We’re super stoked to be hitting the road for the anniversary tour and can’t believe it’s been 15 years,” Jacobson said.
“There’s going to be songs in the set we haven’t played live since the original album tour in 2004.”
One of old tunes included an often-requested track with the “classy title of Piss On Ya“, Jacobson said.
“But since it features a female emcee who isn’t a regular member of the band, we’ve hardly ever performed it live.
“Fortunately we are taking a female emcee from Melb known as Fresh Violet on the road with us and I’m hoping we can twist her arm to make a cameo on the track.“
The band had already had “a hilarious Spinal Tap moment” on tour, when someone accidentally locked them on stage between the ’last song’ and the encore, Jacobson said.”
“We hid behind the curtain with our feet hanging out the bottom for a bit and then just came back out.”
Jacobson said he was much less self-conscious than ten years ago, when his first couple songs onstage would usually be “kind of s**t” due to nerves.
“I just don’t care anymore. These days I kind of realise my job is to make the party happen.”
He looked forward to playing at Geelong Hotel on 23 March.
“It’s gonna be bananas!” he said.
