Hoody finds Kiwi lifestyle a perfect fit
Rapper excited to perform in Whanganui after making NZ home I did a lot of mash ups and played clubs, and I even played at Charlie Sheen’s 46th birthday, which was pretty cool.
Musician Joey Talmage, aka Hoody Time, will play his first show in Whanganui next month as part of his 12-date “Truth” national tour.
Accompanying him will be multiinstrumentalist Bosho, with the pair set to release a new album at 12.01am on January 1.
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Talmage (Hoody to his friends) moved to New Zealand in 2016.
“I started out in punk bands when I was in high school, then I DJed from around 2010/11,” Talmage said. “I did a lot of mash ups and played clubs, and I even played at Charlie Sheen’s 46th birthday, which was pretty cool.”
After growing bored with “playing other people’s songs”, Talmage said he formed a rap group called FlowHio, before moving to Los Angeles to go solo with his Hoody Time project.
“FlowHio had some pretty good success on the internet and online radio, and we had quite a following in New Zealand and the Gold Coast. I carried over some of those fans to Hoody Time.
“The end of 2016 came around, and I was dating an American-Kiwi, my music did well in New Zealand, and Donald Trump was going to be our next President. I just thought ‘why not book a tour of New Zealand?’.
“I played seven shows over two weeks and I absolutely loved the country, the people, and the music scene. Trump’s inauguration happened while we were here and I was like ‘s***, I’ve got to fly home to this idiot’.
“I don’t think I was even on the plane yet at Auckland airport before I was looking up the New Zealand visa situation.”
Four years later and Talmage still calls New Zealand home.
“As soon as I got back to New
Zealand in May 2017, I booked a 22-date tour, right throughout the winter time. I’ve been bouncing on visas ever since, but my partner and I are getting married and I’m sure that’ll fast track my citizenship.
“This will be my fourth tour here, and I’m not looking back.
“When you travel around you quickly learn what places have the priorities that fit with you, and I haven’t found a better place than New Zealand. I’m lucky to be coming to a city like Whanganui too, a place that gave its river autonomous human rights. That’s really wicked.”
Hoody Time’s next release will be an album called Music, a concept record where his vocals are paired with Bosho’s loops and instrumentals. The video for the first single Truth has racked up more than 200,000 views on YouTube, and Talmage said the song also grabbed the attention of then Nelson MP Nick Smith.
“He hand wrote a letter of appreciation for the tune’s messages and said he shared our mission in demanding truth and accountability from elected officials.
“He went silent when I asked him to chat with us about the cannabis referendum though.”
“Music” is set to drop in the first minute of 2021, and Talmage said they would play it in its entirety in Whanganui.
“We’ve got four different sets as part of the show. Max Duncan (singsongwriter and performance artist) and Bosho are opening, then Bosho and I are playing, then after that we’ll close out with some Hoody Time originals and electronic remixes, which are my typical solo club sets that I played last year.
“It’ll be cool to fill that 10pm to midnight slot with some heavy rock and vocals, and then have some hip hop and drum and bass in the early hours of the morning.
Talmage said the new album didn’t “really fit along genres lines”, with elements of hip hop, reggae, hard rock, blues, funk and even a touch of Bohemian Rhapsody.
“If no one else is going to make a record like A Night at the Opera by Queen, then we have to make it, you know what I mean?”
● Hoody Time and Bosho will play at Lucky Bar, 53 Wilson St, on January 30.
Joey Talmage