When rapper Sally Coleman – half of rap duo Coda Conduct – isn’t touring to promote the duo’s new EP, she’s back on the family farm in Gunnedah.
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Sally Coleman, who is 23, and Erica Mallet are in the midst of a series of gigs across three states and the ACT following the March release of their first EP, Butter Side Up.
They have also released Knowledge is King, the first single from Butter Side Up, already winning positive reviews and airplay on Triple J.
“It’s actually going really well,” Sally says.
“Knowledge is King is getting airplay and it was only released a month from yesterday.”
The duo’s biography lists Sally and Erica as Canberra girls who now lives in Sydney, but Sally has also spent her life visiting her grandfather George McDonagh’s farm in Gunnedah.
“I have been going to the farm since before I can remember,” she says.
“I learnt to drive there when I was about seven and we all helped with the sheep and cattle. It’s a bit different now Grandad is not there to tell us what to do.”
When Mr McDonagh died, the farm was left to George’s children, who now share ownership and management of the farm.
“All of them still have jobs and everyone’s in different towns,” Sally says.
“Three of them take it in turns to go to the farm. My mother drives from Canberra to the farm every three or four weeks.”
When she can, Sally goes along to help out, but says since the tour, she hasn’t had much time.
Sally says she has always been interested in music, learning the piano when she was a kid and taking part in school musicals, but had never been in a band before Coda Conduct.
She and Erica met when Sally was travelling with Erica’s cousin in India a few years ago.
“We were sitting in a tea field talking about hip-hop when we realised we both loved hip hop,” Sally says.
“That’s a bit unusual, especially for two females. It’s usually kind of blokey.
“We were talking about our favourite rappers and Erica said ‘let’s just be rappers’.”
The two lived close by each other in Canberra and formed the duo Coda Conduct, becoming known for their cheeky sense of humour and originality.
The two write their own material, and have gained attention with their parody of the popular The Waitress Song, by Seth Sentry.
Seth Sentry’s song, which made it to number one on the Triple J Unearthed charts, is a rap about a man who goes to a cafe because he likes to watch the waitress.
Coda Conduct’s version tells the same story from the waitress’ point of view.
“We were talking about the original and we thought it was a little bit weird,” Sally says.
“We started having fun with it and coming up with our story.
“We both work in hospitality and we identify with the character.”
Sally says she believes Seth Sentry has been made aware of their version, but he hasn’t responded.
The two decided to work on an EP of their own, partly paid for through crowd-funding. They launched a 21-day campaign to raise $3000 and went $1000 over their target.
Butter Side Up includes five songs and Sally says Coda Conduct will look at releasing another single with a video clip.
The song Pool Room has also been made available on the Triple J Unearthed website.
To hear Coda Conduct’s music, visit codaconduct.com.au
The Namoi Valley Independent has a copy of Butter Side Up to give away. To win, simply like and share our Coda Conduct post on Facebook.
