Rites Of Passage- Eso

Rites Of Passage is the largest tattoo event in the Southern Hemisphere and will run for three days over Anzac Day weekend. Hosting this years festivities in Melbourne is the one and only Eso, one third of Australian hip hop royalty, Bliss N Eso.
“It’s going to be a very exciting three days. I get to be on the microphone, I don’t have to worry about remembering my lines, it’s all about having fun with the people,” he said.
“I love it, I’m a fan of art, period. I have to say though, I’m a virgin, I am a looker in awe of tattoos, but I am naked.”
Like many of us, Eso is holding out for the perfect tattoo and is hoping to come across something at this year’s event.
“I keep getting ideas, then I think, ‘That’s going to be silly in five years.’ It’s got to be original and it’s got to mean something. I haven’t found it yet I’m still waiting for the perfect one,” he smiles.
“We’re all virgins, we’re all waiting for the right moment and the funny thing is the amount of Bliss N Eso fans that have our album tattooed on their bodies, or our names and faces on their skin and we don’t have a single one, it’s kind of saying hurry up there.”
There are plenty of national and international artists making the trip to Melbourne for the event including the likes of Japan’s Shigenori Iwasaki from Yellow Blaze Tattoo and Californians Nikko Hurtado of Black Anchor Collective, Carlos Torres of Sullen Art Collective and Franco Vescovi of The Vatican.
As well as all of the fantastic art on display, the event will host numerous vendors, seminars, demonstrations and performances.
“I will be hanging tough, not meaning to bring up a New Kids On The Block reference, but I will be all over the place. My best mate DJ Ism will be there, he’s gonna be spinnin’ some wax, 28 Days are going to be playing, there’s Dan Kirby who’s the drummer for 28 Days and the drummer for Bliss N Eso so he’s gonna be there doing his thing. It’s just going to be jam packed with cool people,” Eso says.
In terms of music, Bliss N Eso continue to keep up appearances with a number of big festival shows booked in this year, they also hope to keep releasing new music.
“We don’t really ever stop. There was kind of a time, like 10 years ago, when you’d drop an album and have a gap in between to have a break, but we’re just staying as productive as possible – we’re already well into the next album. We like to have fresh material out there for the people and fresh material for us to play on stage,” he says.
The Rites Of Passage festival takes place from April 24-26 at the Royal Exhibition Building