BIOGRAPHY

They say better the devil you know, and never was a truer word spoken about this little band from Adelaide.

When Adam Dormand and Lee Colwell started hanging out on Friday nights, listening to hip hop and messing around with a mic and some decks; never did they think that their pastime would lead to a burgeoning career in Hip Hop. Fast forward to 2004 and A Devil Amongst the Tailors were playing their first ever gig at an open mic night in an Adelaide pub.

Forging their path in perhaps Australia’s most competitive hip hop state, A Devil Amongst the Tailors continued to develop their sound and by 2006 had added two more band members Luke Jones and Mike Thomson to the line up. With all members born and bread South Australians, ADATT are an eclectic mixture of MCs, live musicians, vocalist and producer; creating a sound that has stood them apart from the increasingly generic pack.

With a collective disdain for country music, the bands influences span the musical spectrum. MC Lee Colwell spent his youth listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam records, whilst MPC guru Mike Thomson was heavily influenced and inspired by the punk rock scene of the late 90s. Front man Adam Dormand feasted on anything he got get his hands on and says it was this mutual love of different music that inspired the group to start collaborating and making their own.

Undoubtedly renowned for their live show, in 2006 punters got their first taste of A Devil Amongst the Tailors album craftsmanship. The band dropped their first 6 track EP ‘Straight from the Underground’ to critical acclaim.  With the singles ‘Rock to the Rhythm’ and ‘Two Years’ gaining rotation of Triple J and the band being highlighted on Triple J Unearthed. Riding the wave of the EPs success (literally) the album was featured on Fuel TV’s ‘The Wake Show’. Not content with mere radio play, A Devil Amongst the Tailors have hit the live circuit playing the Norwood Food, Wine and Musical festival, Louder than Words and the South Australian Schoolies Festival.

Collectively the band has tried to stand out in the congested Australian Hip Hop scene by taking a unique approach to song creation and performance. Each track is written and meticulously created as a single entity; from the sound, the subject matter and the melody. Their songs aim to take the listener on an emotional journey creating feelings of happiness, sadness and everything in between.  It is this unique approach that has seen them win fans across the hip hop and non hip hop communities alike. 

In their short, but eventful career, A Devil Amongst the Tailors have earned their stripes supporting major internal acts Loop Troop, People Under the Stairs, Fast Crew and Australian act True Live. The have created a live show that takes the audience beyond the music by adding custom designed  and  fully synchronised live visuals that that are triggered via the MPC whilst simultaneously being played. Throw in Emma Jones on vocals and a trumpet player and what you have is a live show like no other.

Much of 2007 was spent bunkered down in the studio creating their debut full length release ‘Learning to Swim’. Recorded entirely in a studio on North Brighton Beach, the album captures a diverse mixture of lyrical wit, acoustic sounds, slick sampling and good old Aussie know how.

A Devil Amongst the Tailors, so good it’s a sin.