1200 Techniques

History

Brothers DJ Peril and Kemstar were involved in the hip-hop scene since the early 1980s as pre-teens. DJ Peril started with The Island Boys, one of Melbourne's first ever hip hop crews and DJ'd in a number of different bands.

Peril formed 1200 Techniques in 1997 with brothers Nfamas and Kabba. Kemstar joined soon after, replacing Kabba who moved to London, England in 1998. Kabba's vocals can still, however, be heard on some of the group's early tracks. 1200 Techniques continued with the three remaining core members, recruiting a drummer for live shows.

Their debut single "Hard as Hell" was released in 2001 and received airplay on Triple J. Their first EP Infinite Styles dropped later the same year.

1200 Techniques released their debut album Choose One in 2002 on Rubber Records. The album was distributed by Sony Records and became a crossover success, debuting at #20 in the Australian music charts. This also led to an ARIA award nomination for "breakthrough artist" and winning "best debut artist" and "best hip-hop act" awards at the Dance Music Awards. The album's second single "Karma" charted in the Australian top 40 and won ARIA awards for "best independent release" and "best video". The group also scored a support slot on a Linkin Park tour that year. Later, they headlined their own tour with support by American rapper Princess Superstar.

Their sophomore album Consistency Theory, released in early 2004, peaked at #38 on the ARIA album chart and all three singles appeared on the ARIA singles chart. Following the album's release, the group appeared at the Big Day Out festival in early 2004. The group went on hiatus in 2005 to allow the individual members to pursue solo work.

In late 2014, the group broke nearly a decade of silence by announcing the release of a new EP. After a successful fundraising campaign on PledgeMusic, the band released Time Has Come in January 2015. The deluxe edition of the EP includes the extra track "Flow Is Trouble" featuring Ghostface Killah, which was also released as a limited edition vinyl single that same year.

Solo careers

DJ Peril released a solo album, King of the Beats, which includes the single It's About to Blow and Rock Ya Baby, the latter featuring singer Rahsaan Patterson. DJ Peril signed to the Street Elite record label. as well as being a very accomplished name in the Aerosol Art at street Art scene since 1983 as well as running many club institutions over the years.

Nfamas also released a solo album, as N'fa, called Cause An Effect in 2006. Both of the album's video clips—the title track Cause An Effect and Seduction is Evil (She's Hot)—were directed by his friend, actor Heath Ledger.

Kemstar played guitar with his band Quarter 2 nine circa 1990 as well with the Australian supergroup The Jack (with members of You Am I, Grinspoon, The Living End, Spiderbait, and Sender) for the 2004 Thunderstruck film soundtrack, performing on the songs "Crash & Burn" and "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)".

DVDs