Bliss N Eso On ‘Macho Rap’, Their ‘Dream’ Gig & More

For the Bliss N Eso boys, much about their careers - and indeed, their lives - has felt premeditated. They’ve manifested their way onto some of the biggest stages over the past 22 years, and although the long tours are a big undertaking, they still relish every opportunity to play to the same Aussie fans who have been with them since the very beginning. 

“This tour has been 35 dates. It's a little too much. It's just a little too much,” Max MacKinnon, better known as Eso, chuckles during a week-long break between shows.

“We do that for the fans because we know not everyone can get to these big cities, and we started building our fan base before there was MySpace, before there was YouTube, you know, any social media,” he says.

“We were on trains, we were on buses, we were sleeping on mates’ floors. We were doing gigs where the stage was, like, four milk crates – and because we did that, we created a diehard fan base. Our fans don't just put up a poster and go, ‘I like BnE.’ They'll tattoo our lyrics on their body. They’ll drive 500 kilometres to get to a show – so that's the reason why we still do that.”

The show isn’t over until it’s over, though – and Brisbane fans are counting down the days until the Strings Attached event at The Fortitude Music Hall. Sure, there’s a lot of preparation to go into a show like this, from the costuming to the graphics and special effects – but MacKinnon will tell you that it feels as though this show has been waiting for them for years.

“We had already been working on a kind of ‘Best Of’ album that was all redone in an orchestral fashion, so it was something that we were dreaming of, but we weren't too sure whether the dream was going to kind of come true, or you know, where we would place this,” he explains.

“After we did our first show, back on tour in Brisbane at Fortitude Valley, we had the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra calling us up saying, ‘Hey, do you want to do this idea with Fortitude Valley? We do the Strings Attached thing,’ and we were just kind of like, ‘This is the universe working its magic here.’”

Originally from Sydney, the guys never tire of returning to the bustling city that gave rise to their early works. They’ve come a long way from the days of Next Shit, working with a litany of famed singers, rappers and instrumentalists and producing album after album of conscious creativity – art fuelled by the big issues facing our world.

“We were watching Zeitgeist when we were 23 years old going, ‘Oh my god, the Federal Bank is not real.’ We're writing songs called The Sea Is Rising with lyrics like “Labour or Liberal, don't get it twisted, they're the same as the criminals”. We were ahead of our time on some topics, you know?

“I think the cool thing with our music is that we're very flexible. We can make party music, we can make music to get you revved up, we can make music to make you feel like you're on the front of a pirate ship sailing the seven seas - but I think the vulnerable side of us, that’s what’s really shone through.” 

Over the years, those thought-provoking, introspective lyrics have become the hallmark of many a Bliss N Eso song – one that has carved out a sensitive niche distinct from the quintessential themes of hip hop music. It’s a conscious decision, MacKinnon says, but not always an easy one. 

“You can do this macho, ‘look at me’ rap stuff, but can you really look into yourself, deal with your own problems and then be big enough to put your problems on a plate for other people to see as well? It’s a hard thing to do.

“One of the biggest songs for me was Devil On My Shoulder, which is really where I tackled my struggle with drinking alcohol – getting over it and coming out on the other side as a better friend, husband and father. The number of people who have touched base with me over that song and said that because of that song, they’ve given up whatever substance they might have had troubles with… I don't take that lightly at all. I cheer them on, and I’m like, ‘Message me back in six months time, and let me know that you're still on the right track.’ So it's beyond music – we're dabbling with magic, really.” 

For all of the darkness that comes with addiction, there’s a light on the other side - and for MacKinnon, that light comes directly from his mother – a woman who celebrated his sensitivity and vulnerability and introduced him to the magic of manifestation. When doubts struck, it was her influence that led the BnE crew to the freezer.

“I used to tell the boys before we had done any live shows or any albums, ‘Get a piece of paper, write down what you really want on it. Don't be selfish - this isn't Ferraris and millions of dollars, this is what you want. Then put that in the freezer.’ This is what my mom told me to do. I said, ‘Why would you put it in the freezer?’ and she looked at me like an idiot and said, ‘To keep the thoughts fresh, mate.’ It made sense - and if I was to show you what was written on that bit of paper, we’ve blown that out the water tenfold. It was literally ‘to do a live show, to have someone come to our show…’ Someone! Not packed-out venues - just someone. We just believed in it, but it wasn't just the believing - you have to put the work in. We've used that our whole lives, and we've been putting it into the music.”

In the BnE universe, energy runs through everything – from the lyrics they write to the venues they play to the dedicated tattoos on the bodies of their biggest fans – and when it comes to collaborations, they’ve never been afraid to put feelers out into the universe. 

“When we started, if there was an American hip hop group coming over here, we were scooping the support - so much that people were getting pissed off, like 50 Cent just came, Bliss N Eso got it, DJ Shadow Kane, Bliss N Eso got it – and, we learn off of all of them as well. Even RZA from Wu-Tang – we reached out to RZA and he recorded it in New York and then sent it over. We would kind of go back and forth like that with Xzibit. He was touring over here at the time, so he actually came to the studio, and we were able to vibe together, which is the best. Even though we had one of the most awkward goddamn high fives in the world.” 

Still, of all the people they’ve worked with, it was Kasey Chambers who made one of the biggest impressions. 

"When we were writing the song Good People, every day, we had Kasey Chambers coming past, knocking on our door and leaving us some organic cookies - you know, because we're just friends - and I started thinking, ‘This is a sign. This is a sign.’ - and so, you know, collabs like that happen naturally.” 

Catch Bliss N Eso in the Strings Attached series with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra at the Fortitude Music Hall on Friday, June 17. All ticketing information is HERE.