Born and bred in Hawkes Bay, all members of hip hop crew OD grew up in the Hastings’ suburb of Flaxmere. These days Gold Coast-based, the band consists of Bailey Tamati (Bay), Cody Tamati (THC aka The Homie Cody), Jacques Cross (Jah) and producer/multi-instrumentalist Cody Patea (Cody Wave). Their debut single Mood was featured on NZ On Air Music‘s NewTracks compilation this June, so The Homie Cody was up for introducing his band and their music to NZMusician.

What other projects might we know you from? 

Cody Wave‘s Single Royalty featuring OD, PT, TY and Mark Graham

What’s the background story of how OD came to be? 

OD is made up of four young men who grew up in the same neighbourhood, Flaxmere. Cody Wave was a reason why I started making music. Hearing his beats made me wanna put vocals on it. I rapped until I moved to Australia. I had to start a new life, find a job, get a house, so I put the music on hold. After I was settled in Oz I started rapping again. 

Then one night on the Surfers Paradise beach drinking a couple cold ones, myself and Jah decided that we were gonna see if we could make some noise in the local music scene. We ended up buying a home studio and slowly fell in love with making music. Day in day out, it became apart of us and it’s all we wanted to do. My younger brother Bay opened up and showed us a hidden talent so we had ourselves a crew forming in Australia with three vocal artists.

Cody Wave was always helping us out with beats and advice, being more experienced, our close bro, so we basically just claimed him as OD’s in-house producer.

Where did you come up with the band name from?

OD stands for ‘overdose’. To me, music is a drug. I can never get enough, so I just wanna do it all the time. We are not promoting drugs to no one.

What makes Mood stand out for you as a single? 

Because it’s my mum and dad’s favourite song!

What is the story behind Mood?

It’s just about a real experience anyone could relate to. I was drinking one day and spoke about times I’ve had with a beautiful woman…

What’s your favourite moment, musical or lyrical, of the single?

Bay’s part – he kills it! 

Got a fun story about the making-of Mood? 

Made the song at my home studio in Australia. I just freestyled the first line a couple times, “You know how to put me in the mood.” The rest came naturally because I was talking about a real experience, having a sexy lady walk into a room. She make me wanna come say, ‘Wassup, I can’t keep my eyes off of you.’ Anyone should relate!

What do you want listeners to take away from the song?

Firstly to dance and feel good. Have a good time and show all these tough dudes you can open up and be a softy sometimes, haha!

In general, how do you work out what song would make a good single?

I think it could be a single if I know there’s a time when I would need that song. And different vibes!

Made any previous applications that didn’t get funding or included on NewTracks? Got any advice for people out there? 

We have never received funding. Our label (Empire Records) put this – our first song – in, and it got selected to NewTracks, so thanks NZ On Air!

Any last words?

Thanks for the interest! Keep a lookout for more from OD soon!