Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik on Nerdcore, making music, The O.C., and zombies
Written by Andrew Diaz (Silent D. of The Takeover)

After just coming home from work and still recuperating from a hangover, I caught Pink waiting for me as he was watching “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and Diabolik was fast asleep. These guys are just a couple of Aussies who work hard and party hard. Straight out of Canberra, Australia - Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik are one of many acts all over the world trying to make the most out of Nerdcore Hip-Hop. Releasing their “Diabolikly Pink EP” back in December of 2006, they, to their surprise, garnered positive feedback from fans and other artists.Like many other Nerdcore artists out there were doing before they discovered Nerdcore, Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik were not only living the nerdy lifestyle they were making music about that nerdy lifestyle. Pink was the one who first discovered Nerdcore after stumbling across MC Frontalot in a blog post on Penny Arcade and thought it was the greatest thing ever.

“I thought it was awesome. You should have seen me that afternoon, ‘Fuck man DAMN, theres this dude, called fucking MC Frontalot, and he writes nerdy rhymes too, he calls it nerdcore!!’” - Grandmaster Pink

Having started making Nerdcore music 7 to 8 months before they even came across the fact that the music they were making had a name and finding the Rhyme Torrents Forums through the W.I.R.E.D. article, the boys were poised to move forward musically on full throttle with their newly discovered identity as Nerdcore. However, for Pink it is not just about making music it’s about showing people that it is alright to be a nerd.

“I really want to show people that being a nerd is alright, we’re people you know? So what if we like to rap. LOOK AT MY MOUTH BITCH!” - Grandmaster Pink

It’s undeniable how much the genre has grown within the last few years. Nerdcore artists have been consistently making their music efforts available to the public, especially all over the Rhyme Torrents Forums, and Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik are no different. Their “Diabolikly Pink EP” dropped in December of 2006 and the idea for the EP came about earlier that year in September. However, the idea was easier to think of than the actual creation of the album which was a huge learning curb for both of them.

“We already had a good cache of tracks and thought we could quickly chuck together an album. But we started production, got drunk a lot and listened to a lot of records [then] we eventually ended up creating like 13 new songs in like a month which eventually became our EP” - Diabolik

Their “Diabolikly Pink EP” was definitely an accomplishment for them especially after receiving positive feedback from fans and other artists. While it wasn’t a masterpiece without faults, it was a strong first effort after only having released one song to the public. The EP has a few gems, and one of them which is the “catchiest track on the EP,” as DJ Snyder put it in his review, is “The O.C.” feat. Dexyamphetaman. The song, which Dexamphetaman (Flava Crew/Pink Tape) came up with, is self explanatory if you happen to watch television on occasion; it is about the show “The O.C.” and it captures their love for the show, “Marissa’s legs and Summer’s rack.” Pink and Diabolik along with the whole Flava Crew admitted without a doubt that they are O.C. fans and that they were sad to see the show come to an end. Especially making it a point to say Seth Cohen is somewhat of a hero to all nerds.

“Seth Cohen is totally an advocate for nerds everywhere, he seriously made nerds an option for girls and that shit isn’t to be taken lightly” - Grandmaster Pink

Since their “Diabolikly Pink EP” dropped, they have continued making more music; mainly doing a bunch of collaborations with other Nerdcore artists. There are various ways in creating music; from making or borrowing the beat to putting down the lyrics, everyone has their way of creating their own music. For Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik, it‘s all about making music for themselves and having fun.

With about a 500 record collection to play with ranging from Aceyalone, Beastie Boys, Trouble Funk, Minnir Riperton to Classical music, Diabolik is the master of the beats. He hasn’t listened to every single record in his collection but he definitely puts them to use. Listening to various types of music or just by randomly listening to something from his record collection is how Diabolik starts off his creative process in creating a beat. Even taking any ideas he can get from his guide to the Kama Sutra, records of whale noises, crazy religious propaganda or other random stuff.

“If its good, I’ll record it from vinyl and play around with it, speed it up, slow it down and see if I can put a beat to it. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t” - Diabolik

For Pink, life is a rhyme that is always running through his head or as he put “I see in rhyme.” By getting into his chill mode with drink in hand, headphones on, and the beats flowing through his eardrums - he begins unleashing his ideas into rhyme. Making sure not to force anything, Pink always makes sure to keep himself loose while recording by jumping around and vibing out to the music as he lets it all out. With no set rules in his creative process but to just chill, the best way he creates music is with his partner in crime Diabolik.

“the best…is kind of when I work straight with D, he an I have an idea together or he [finds] a really nice record [and] I basically just chill out and write the rhyme as we go[;]…we write our best stuff when we just chill out” - Grandmaster Pink

With a bunch of collaborations done and in the works, including a heartfelt track on ZeaLouS 1’s “Collaboc1de” album called “Serenity“, the boys are getting ready to hit the drawing board for another EP effort later this year. An EP that may include more of their boys from the Flava Crew. United as one with a love for Hip-Hop after meeting each other at Australian National University (ANU) School of Art, these Aussie boys from Canberra are just getting started. Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik along with many other Nerdcore artists are at the forefront ready to make it happen.

Classic ZeaLouS 1 Question: If you knew that Zombies were going to rise from the dead and attack and you only had 8 hours to prepare, what would you do?

Pink - “What would I do… I’d go find Dex my main bro when it comes to killing shit, and he an I would probably jump on pushies and go raid some firearms stores, scoring as many shotties and as much ammo as we could, then I guess we’d score food, find a nice multi floor building that is fairly self sufficient, get everyone up top an take out all access to the higher floors. Basically just chill out there until that shit blows over”

Diabolik - “I’d probably build a moat surrounded my lava with a paintball gun and listen to some music and get ready to take out those suckas.”

Visit Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik’s MySpace at myspace.com/pinkdbk.