Tim Levinson

Infobox musical artist
Name = Urthboy

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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Tim Levinson
Alias = Urthboy
Origin = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genre = Hip hop
Years_active = 1998-present
Label = Elefant Traks
Associated_acts = The Herd
URL = [http://www.urthboy.com Official webpage]

"Urthboy" ("alias" Tim Levinson) is a Hip-hop MC and producer from Sydney, best known as part of the band The Herd. He has also released two solo albums, Distant Sense Of Random Menace and The Signal.

Biography

Levinson grew up in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, it was his brother who influenced his love of music. The older Levinson went on to be a DJ and co-edit a music magazine, but not before giving his younger brother the gift of a wide-reaching education in eclectic music. The two shared a room and a stereo and the older and bigger of the two brothers had the ultimate say in what they listened to.

In 1998 he co-formed Explanetary, featuring Elgusto and Luke Dubs from the band that would later become Hermitude playing keys and drums respectively, while Urthboy was on vocals. The other members included Realistix on vocals (and sometimes production), No Mumbles aka Nug on vocals, Aja Stuart (sister of Elgusto) on bass and DJ ALF on cuts. [ [http://www.elefanttraks.com/chooser.cfm?view=artists&artistId=5 Elefant Traks - artist profile] ] Explanetary released one EP, "In On the Deal" in July, 2001 [ [http://chaos.com/product/in_on_the_deal_189657_61944.html Chaos Music - "In On The Deal"] ] but the members went their separate ways just before the second was due for completion. [ [http://www.pbsfm.org.au/Documents.asp?ID=5204&Title=Urthboy+-+The+Signal PBS Radio - "The Signal"] ] Levinson went on to form The Herd alongside many other Elefant Traks artists, but the friendship with Hermitude prospered despite the end of the band and many collaborations have occurred since (including "Fallen Giants" from "Tales of the Drift", 2005).

After three non-stop years of touring, Urthboy released his first solo album, "Distant Sense of Random Menace" in 2004. It featured radio songs like "No Rider" and "Come Around". He then toured the album with old friends Elgusto acting as DJ and The Herd's Ozi Batla as co-MC. The video for "No Rider", made by production company Broken Yellow, won the Sunscreen Music Video competition at the Festival of the Sun Music Festival (FOTSUN) in 2005. cite web |url=http://www.brokenyellow.com/ns11.html |title=Broken Yellow Music Videos |accessdate=2008-04-30 ] [cite web |url=http://www.sunscreen.net.au/ |title=Sunscreen 2005 finalists |publisher=Sunscreen |accessdate=2008-04-30]

Urthboy then headed into the studio once more to record his second solo album, "The Signal", with mates Count Bounce (TZU) and Elgusto (Hermitude) released in July, 2007.

"The Signal" was nominated for the 2007 AIR Charts Awards [ [http://air.org.au/index.php?cID=2108&menuID=504&apply=&PHPSESSID=&menubox=&siblingID= 2007 AIR Chart Award nominees] ] and in November, 2007 was nominated for Triple J's J Award. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jaward/the_signal.htm 2007 J Award nominee] ] The song, "We Get Around", reached #25 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2007. The album was also nominated for the 2007 Australian Music Prize. [ [http://australianmusicprize.com.au/ Australian Music Prize website] ]

Urthboy undertook a national tour of Australia, 'The Three Strikes Tour, together with The Tongue and Hermitude in late 2007, to support the album. [cite web |url=http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/local/10163/Three-Strikes-and-youre-in.htm |title=Three Strikes and you're in! |publisher=FasterLouder.com |date=2007-08-16 |accessdate=2008-04-30]

Musical Style

While The Herd focuses on political lyrics, Urthboy's solo career allows him more room to discuss personal experiences. As an MC, he feels comfortable lyrically incorporating situations beyond his own realm, but he still tries to ground them in a frame of reference, which gives the music more authenticity.cite web |url=http://www.cyclicdefrost.com/blog/?p=1366 |title=Urthboy interview |publisher=Cyclic Defrost |last=Levinson |first=Dan |date=2007-7-29 |accessdate=2008-04-16] The music that he makes and produces is very much influenced by Australian hip-hop's rock-n-roll roots, but is beginning to take on a more global flavor, incorporating beats, melodies, and rhythms from reggae, latin, and even folk genres. Nevertheless, Urthboy still claims that it is hip-hop, despite what critics say. He would like audiences to let go of all their preconceived notions and ideas about Australian hip-hop and just listen to it and enjoy it, with all of its humour and stories and introspection and contradictions. [cite web |url=http://www.amo.org.au/qa_interview.asp?id=488 |title=Talking Aussie hip-hop with Urthboy... |publisher=Australian Music Online |date=2004-09-8 |accessdate=2008-04-16]

Discography

olo

Albums

* "Distant Sense Of Random Menace" - Elefant Traks (2004)
* " The Signal" - Elefant Traks (July, 2007)

ingles

* "Come Around" - Elefant Traks (October 13, 2004)

Explanetary

* "In For The Deal" - Elefant Traks (July, 2001)

The Herd

* " The Herd" - Elefant Traks (2001)
* "An Elefant Never Forgets" - Elefant Traks (2003)
* "The Sun Never Sets" - Elefant Traks (2005)
* "Summerland" - Elefant Traks (2008)

Compilation appearances

* "Culture of Kings - Volume 2" - Obese Records (2002) (song: "Unify")
* "Straight From The Art" - Warner Bros. Records (2003) (song: "The Path")
* "Trampled - The Elephant Traks Remix Album" - Elefant Traks (2006) (songs: "No Disclaimer", "Keep It Relevant", "Take My Hand", "The Last Chance", "Apocalypta", "Can't Breathe", "The Metres Gain", "I Was Only 19")

Guest appearances

* "Beastly" by Upshot ("Upshot" (2003) Obese Records)
* "Alleys to Valleys" by Hermitude ("Alleys to Valleys" (2003) Elefant Traks)
* "About To Break" by Upshot ("Make It Happen" (2004) Creative Vibes)
* "Outlander" by Chasm ("Chasm" (2004) Awakenings/Inertia Recordings)
* "Shoot from the Hip" by Unkle Ho ("Roads to Roma" (2005) Elefant/Inertia)
* "Fallen Giants" by Hermitude ("Tales of the Drift" (2005) Elefant/Inertia)
* "The Wash" by Jase ("Beat Hedz Volume 1" (2006) Obese Records)
* "Goin On Tour" by Muph & Plutonic ("Silence the Sirens" (2006) Obese Records)

References

External links

* [http://www.elefanttraks.com/chooser.cfm?view=artists&artistId=14 Elefant Traks Artist profile]
* [http://www.myspace.com/urthboy/ Myspace Page]
* [http://syn.org.au/syncast/442/ Interview with Urthboy at syn.org.au]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/09/1094530756740.html?from=storyrhs Sydney Morning Herald interview]
* [http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=Scene&issue=286 North Rivers Echo article]