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THE BIG MAG FOR CLUB CULTURE
THE BIG MAG FOR CLUB CULTURE
3.
DJ Profile: DJ Matt Campbell
FOR MORE UP TO DATE NEWS GO TO BEAT.COM.AU
OCTOBER
LIKNUTS [USA] Thursday November 1, Prince Bandroom JAMIE JONES [UK], DJ W!LD [FRA], MARGARET DYGAS [UK] Sunday November 4, Brown Alley NICK CURLY [GER] Sunday November 4, Revolver Upstairs DELANO SMITH [USA] Monday November 5, New Guernica LONDON ELEKTRICITY [UK] Monday November 5 at The Espy YOUSEF [UK] Friday November 9, Brown Alley. ROBERT HOOD [USA] Friday November 9, TBA MOULLINEX [POR] Saturday November 10, New Guernica ECLIPSE: PERFECT STRANGER [ISR], OLIVER LIEB [GER], ADAM FREELAND [UK] + MORE Saturday November 10 – Friday November 16, TBA HOUSSE DE RACKET [FRA], PILLOWTALK [USA] + MORE Friday November 16, Where?House SMOKE DZA [USA] Saturday November 17, Laundry Bar MIKE HUCKABY [USA], BEN SIMS [UK] + MORE Sunday November 18, Where?House SUBB-AN [UK], MIGUEL CAMPBELL [UK] Sunday November 18, Revolver BOYZ II MEN [USA] Sunday November 18, Billboard RICHARD DEVINE [USA], VLADISLAV DELAY [FIN] Wednesday November 21, Where?House ESMKO [USA], TIPPER [UK] + MORE Thursday November 22, Where?House GERD JANSON [GER] Friday November 23, Mercat Basement TEENGIRL FANTASY [USA], TIM SWEENEY [UK] Friday November 23, National Gallery of Victoria TROY PIERCE [USA], RADIO SLAVE [UK] Friday November 23, Where?House STRAWBERRY FIELDS: JAMES HOLDEN [UK], TYCHO [USA], PREFUSE 73 [USA] + MORE Friday November 23 – Sunday November 25, TBA FLOATING POINTS [UK], ALEXANDER NUT [UK], TEEBS [USA] Saturday November 24, Where?House MATIAS AGUAYO [CHI] Sunday November 25, Where?House
UPCOMING
TOMMY FOUR SEVEN [GER] Friday October 12, Brown Alley RUDIMENTAL [UK], SLUGABED [UK], EMALKAY [UK], IKONIKA [UK] Friday October 12, Brown Alley AME [GER] Saturday October 13, Brown Alley MONKEY SAFARI [GER] Saturday October 13, Prince Bandroom STEVE AOKI [USA] Saturday October 13, Shed 4 DOWNLINK [CAN] Sunday October 14, Royal Melbourne Hotel BIG FREEDIA [USA] Wednesday October 17, The Tote BIG FREEDIA [USA], THEESATISFACTION [USA] Thursday October 18, The Hi-Fi JIMMY EDGAR [USA] Thursday October 18, The B.East FUNK D’VOID [UK] Friday October 19, Brown Alley JAHDAWN BLAKKAMOORE [USA] Saturday October 20, Laundry Bar PARK STREET PARTY: DIRTY SOUTH JOE [USA], LOW BUDGET [USA], MAJOR TAYLOR [USA] + MORE Saturday October 20, Park Street STEVE RACHMAD [NED] Friday October 26, Brown Alley
NOVEMEBR
ONTOUR
STEREOSONIC: TIESTO [NED], AVICII [SWE], CALVIN HARRIS [UK] + MORE Saturday December 1, Melbourne Showgrounds FOUR TET [UK] Thursday December 6, Prince Bandroom NICK WARREN [UK] Friday December 7, Billboard TODD TERJE [NOR] Friday December 7, The Liberty Social MEREDITH MUSIC FESTIVAL: FOUR TET [UK], DJ YAMANTAKA EYE [JAP] + MORE Friday December 7 - Sunday December 9, Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre TERRENCE PARKER [USA] Friday December 21, TBA FALLS FESTIVAL: SBTRKT [UK], COOLIO [USA] + MORE Saturday December 28 – Tuesday January 1, Lorne LET THEM EAT CAKE: KERRI CHANDLER [USA], THE GASLAMP KILLER [USA] + MORE Tuesday January 1, Werribee Park SUMMERDAYZE: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS [UK], M.I.A [UK], MARK RONSON [UK] + MORE Tuesday January 1, Sidney Myer Music Bowl SBTRKT [UK] Wednesday January 2, Billboard CRYSTAL CASTLES [CAN] Tuesday January 22, Billboard THE BLOODY BEETROOTS [ITA] Thursday January 24, The Palace RAINBOW SERPENT: GUY J [ISR], CHRISTIAN SMITH [SWE], PETER VAN HOESEN [BEL] Friday January 25 - Monday January 28, Lexton BIG DAY OUT: THE BLOODY BEETROOTS [ITA], KASKADE [USA], CRYSTAL CASTLES [CAN] + MORE Saturday January 26, Flemington Racecourse ABOVE & BEYOND [UK] Saturday February 2, Hisense Arena FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL: THE PRODIGY [UK], DIZZEE RASCAL [UK], BOYS NOIZE [GER] + MORE Sunday March 10, Flemington Racecourse
4.
REAL TALK Here’s a few handy tips: Most trains don’t stop at Richmond. Remember to back up your hard drive regularly. Friday is Wear Your Hat To Work Day. The more you know. Tyson Wray
Where?House: Mysterious Mayhem
Future Music Festival: Hola Amigos!
The juggernaut that is the ever growing Future Music Festival has returned with the announcement of their 2013 lineup. Leading the charge are notorious English party-starters The Prodigy. They’ll be joined by the likes of Boys Noize, Feed Me, Kill The Noise, DJ Fresh, Zane Lowe, Zeds Dead, Borgore, A-Trak, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villabos, Seth Troxler, Madeon, Hardwell, Steve Aoki, Rudimental, Nervo, Cosmic Gate and a whole heap more. The 2013 Future Music Festival takes place on Sunday March 10 at the Flemington Racecourse. Check out futureentertainment.com.au for more details and the full lineup.
Tuka: In The Loop
Sydney-based MC Tuka has announced the release of his second full-length album Feedback Loop, as well as some east coast shows to celebrate his album’s release this November. Feedback Loop has already produced two singles, Just To Feel Wanted and Die A Happy Man featuring The Herd’s Jane Tyrell. Having toured nationally several times over as one third of Thundermentals, it is now Tuka’s time to take on a Melbourne stage on his own, playing The Workers Club on Saturday November 24, joined by Soliloquy, Remi and some other special guests yet to be announced. Tickets on sale from The Workers Club.
Grant Smiley Smiles: Dancin’ Happy
In the last year alone there’s been 2,000,000 YouTube views of his singles. His record label, Neon, boasts an assembly of platinum certified releases with multiple ARIA #1’s. His production outfit TV ROCK has gone to the top of the club charts in six countries gaining multiple Pete Tong spins on The Essential Selection on UK’s BBC1. Grant declares “The best is still yet to come”. That’s a pretty powerful statement from a DJ/Producer who holds the record for the most time spent in the Australian club chart top 10, with his track Flaunt It. He plays The Leveson’s annual Derby Day Party, Saturday November 3 from 4pm.
Mercury: Planet Party
Melbourne’s raddest new drum and bass/dubstep/ hip hop/glitch night – Mercury – has put together a brilliant lineup for the grand opening this Thursday October 18. Headlining the night will be Monkey Bars as well as The Mollusk, Decon Rose and Smile On Impact, with guests J Nitrous, Lanksta, Monkee, Electrocado and more. Catch them at the Royal Melbourne Hotel, 629 Bourke St, CBD on Thursday October 18.
Curiosity is building around the location of Melbourne Music Week’s mysterious festival hub Where?House. New artists have been added to the hub’s lineup including international electronic maestros Richard Devine, Vladislav Delay, Troy Pierce, Floating Points, Alexander Nut, Teebs, Africa Hitech, Matias Aguayo, Radio Slave and DJ MADD, alongside Australians Naysayer & Gilsun, Favela DJs, Oscar O’Bryan, Oliver Tank, Mitzi, Lost Animal, No Zu, Harmonic 313, Tantrums, Isaac Fryar, Animals Dancing DJs, Future Classic DJs, Affiks and A13. Alongside the evening entertainment, Where?House will have a variety of day-time activities including a retro clothing market and dining hall, featuring Fancy Hanks, Huxtaburger, Fat Brats, Touche Hombre and Supreme coffee from Cavillero. There will also be a series of workshops, film screenings, Mess + Noise ‘Lunch Box Series’ and the Intel Ultrabook Wi-Fi Lounge. Visit melbourne. vic.gov.au/mmw for more information.
Brother Ali and Sean Price: Rhyme Legends
In exciting news for hip hop lovers, Brother Ali will return to Australia for the first time since his 2008 Falls Festival appearance with Atmosphere and Sean Price will be making his first ever trip to Australia (and the first for any Duck Down label artist). Both artists will be showcasing tracks from their brand new albums and dropping their respective classic tunes that have put them both at the top of their game. Catch the supreme lyricists at The Prince on Wednesday November 21. Tickets via Moshtix.
Party Profile: RedLove
It sounds like: Everything old school – pop, house, R&B, funk, soul DJs/live acts playing: RedLove Entertainment Crew includes D’Mack DJs; Harvey Yeah, Ripz, TMC, Stel Kar, Anthony Nave, HB Bear Vs Da Gato & Phil Me on rotation, accompanied by Nick Karasavvidis on the Conga’s and live guest performances by G.A.K. & The Seminar Of Funk. Three records that rock the floor: The Jets - Crush On You, Real Life - Send Me An Angel, Shalamar - Second Time Around And one that you’d rather die than play: Los Del Rio - Macarena Sell it to us: RedLove has never been about pretentiousness so check your attitude at the door because here it’s about music, high end service, quality drinks, atmosphere and the people who bring that party fun! Since establishment in 2007 there has never been an entry fee, but rather a dress code. Expect music from the ‘80s and ‘90s, a little bit of the ‘70s, the ‘00s through to club joints of today. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Rocking the party that rocked the body! Thank you Mc Lyte! Crowd specs: It’s flirtatious, it’s sophisticated, it’s unpretentious, it’s vibing but most importantly, it’s a whole lot of fun! Wallet damage: Put your money where your mack is. Where: Hit Swanston Street, remember 401 and up one level. When: Every Friday from 4pm and Saturday from 9pm, that’s where you’ll find Melbourne’s old school flava.
RESPONSIBLE: Managing Editor: Ronnit Sternfein ronnit@beat.com.au Editor: Tyson Wray tyson@beat.com.au Listings: club/promoter submissions clubguide@beat.com.au - now online at beat.com.au - it’s free! Production: Pat O’Neill art@beat.com.au Typesetting: Rebecca Houlden Cover Design: Pat O’Neill Advertising Senior Sales: ronnit@beat.com.au (03) 8414 9710 Taryn Stenvei taryn@beat.com.au Fashion and Beverages: Tegan tegan@furstmedia.com.au Ph: 03 8414 9732 Deadlines: Editorial Friday 2PM – absolutely NO exceptions. Club photos Monday 9AM (email only clubpics@beat.com.au). Advertising artwork Monday 12PM. Photographers: Callum Linsell Contributors: Rezo Kezerashvili, Miki McLay, Shane Scott, Simon Traspier, Brian Rotide, The Knowledge, Ellen Devenney, Dan Watt, Aaron Ralston, Birdie, Liam Pieper, Simon Hampson, Chad-Michael Michaelson, Mikolai, Reuben Adams, David Edgley. Publisher: Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond 3121 Ph 03 9428 3600 www.beat.com.au
EDITORIALDEADLINE - 2PM FRIDAYS NO EXCEPTIONS UP TO DATE
Where’s the strangest place you’ve woken up? Inside the old Warehouse night club when I was 17 waiting for the first train in the early hours of the morning. Describe yourself using the title of a song. Soulsearcher – I Can’t Get Enough What was the weirdest thing you believed as a child? I believed I could fly! The most awkward moment you’ve had as a DJ? Rocking up to a gig and about to jump on the decks when realising I’m actually on the following week and had to get off! What would be the worst dance track in the world to be tortured with on repeat? Gangnam style. What’s the most played record in your bag? Zhane – Hey Mr DJ (Candy Apple Remix) – great early floor filler! What question would you like to ask an omniscient, all-knowing being before you die? Will there ever be peace in this world? If you hadn’t made it as a DJ, what job would you choose to work in instead? My DJing is one of my jobs. I would be an Account Manager like I am now. When and where is your next gig? Forbidden Fridays at Eden next Friday October 12 and Baroq House Saturday.
DJ Profile: Billy Solos
Where’s the strangest place you’ve woken up? Can’t remember. Describe yourself using the title of a song. Living The Dream. What was the weirdest thing you believed as a child? Santa Clause. The most awkward moment you’ve had as a DJ? Turned the power off at Club Uranus – (fire brigade arrived). What would be the worst dance track in the world to be tortured with on repeat? LMFAO – Sexy And You Know It What’s the most played record in your bag? Universal Nation. What question would you like to ask an omniscient, all-knowing being before you die? Was I a good DJ? If you hadn’t made it as a DJ, what job would you choose to work in instead? Musical engineer. When and where is your next gig? Left Bank every Thursday and of course the Dome Reunion!
FREE SHIT Dome 2012 Spanning over eight ground-breaking years, Dome became the original ‘super club’, the place to be every Saturday night in Melbourne. The energy, music and the people were unsurpassed and they set a standard in clubbing that Melbourne had yet to see again, until now, Dome 2012 will have the unrivalled energy, people and more importantly the music that has made Dome synonymous with fun, glamour and excitement. Dome 2012 returns for one huge night at Chasers Night Club to blow the roof and take you on a mind-blowing journey. Featuring Shaun Reed, Zac Curran, Billy Solos, DJ Kat, Murray Van Zaff, Nigel Murray, Jason D’costa, Mark Santa and special guest Vas One, it’s sure to be one wild musical orgy. It’s on at Chasers on Saturday October 13 and we’ve got a few double passes to give away.
Hot Dub Time Machine Join DJ Tom Loud as he captains a musical mission through time at the Prince Bandroom this October. Be escorted to 1954 and back again by tunes, visuals and turntable tricks. After sold out shows at the Sydney, Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe, don’t miss your chance to boogie through history and shake your booty to 60 years of popular culture. Get on board on Friday October 19 at the Prince Bandroom.
Let Them Eat Cake A host of Melbourne’s top promoters have banded together for Let Them Eat Cake, a boutique electronic music festival this New Year’s Day. Novel, City Of Lost Children, The Operatives, Text Book, Stable Music and Mixed Messages will send you on a journey into musical decadence, garden party opulence and culinary excess as they roll out a cornucopia of the world’s finest DJs and live performers, art installations, food fit for a queen, and a royally decadent atmosphere. The lineup so far includes Kerri Chandler, The Gaslamp Killer, Theo Parrish, Flying Lotus, Mathew Jonson, DJ Marky & Stamina MC, Digital Mystikz, The Nextmen, Space Dimension Controller and more. Let Them Eat Cake takes place on Tuesday January 1 at Werribee Park. We have a few double passes to give away. Hit up beat.com.au/freeshit to win.
THE OPERATIVES AND ALL CITY BASS PRESENTS
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THE BIG MAG FOR CLUB CULTURE
5.
BIG FREEDIA
“I went through all of the things that happened, sleeping on a bridge, and sleeping at the convention centre. I had to be rescued by boat and it was very life-changing for me, being displaced from half of my family, not knowing where they were, and where they would wind up being at.”
BOUNCING BACK: ALL OF THAT Bounce rap has a special relationship with the female form, with one area in particular: the rapidly gyrating backside. Firstly, as a lyrical fascination. Big Freedia’s Azz Everywhere elicits an infectious call to action, rapping, “I see ass over here, ass over there/I see ass everywhere, ass everywhere” over five minutes of jittering, glitchy electronic backing. “Bend over like I told ‘ya,” Freedia shouts, and the audience happily oblige. Because the second role the female rear plays in bounce is showmanship. Freedia and her Divas bend and shake to the infectious rap-tunes in a phantasmagoric, hypersexual hallucination. The name bounce, if anything, captures the physical movement the music inspires. Bounce began 20 years ago in New Orleans, where in popular terms the transsexual Freedia is the undisputed genre Queen. It had been localised to the area since its early beginnings but 2005 marked its unprecedented exposure in light of one of southern America’s greatest tragedies – Hurricane Katrina. After a mass exodus of the city, restless, homesick performers started staging bounce shows for the locals wherever they found themselves, Atlanta and Dallas for example. This included Freedia. “It was very traumatic for me at that time during Katrina,” she says from New Orleans. “I went through all of the things that happened, sleeping on a bridge, and sleeping at the convention centre. I had to be rescued by boat and it was very life-changing for me, being displaced from half of my family, not knowing where they were, and where they would wind up being at.” Though Katrina hit the surrounding cities too, New Orleans was the worst hit and Freedia’s was an ordeal similar to thousands of the city’s inhabitants. After the event, she needed to “make a stable home,” she says, so she moved away from the city. This is when, according to the imposing 6-foot-something entertainer, her phone started “blowing up”. People had heard about her show and wanted to experience the energetic riot of movement. “People were just like, ‘We wanna get you here, we wanna get you there, there’s people requesting for you
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to come and do a concert because we want to hear the New Orleans music’. All of my New Orleans people were really supportive, they was missing me, they was missing my music, started having me requested at all these clubs all around the world, and promoters started getting me to come. “[When I performed] people were screaming and they were so loud it felt like people were going to take the roof off, believe it or not, when I started performing. And then it was like, once I arrived they was like running outside and hugging me – it made me feel like I was Michael Jackson.” For bounce, Katrina invigorated the industry and provided the city with the attention it deserved. Far from being opportunistic though, Freedia’s philosophical outlook has been markedly altered by the event. “It opened doors for us in many different ways. Some people feel like it harmed us but I say it helped us in a lot of different ways to realise, at the drop of a dime you can have it all and then you can lose it. Don’t cherish all the material things, life is more important – all those material things, I got all of that back, it was just most important that I be with my family at that time.” On the experience as a whole, Freedia says, “It’s changed my life forever. I’ll never forget it.” The bounce community itself has experienced its fair share of internal conflict. Progenitor Katey Red, former prostitute and one of the first ever transsexual bounce artists, was Freedia’s mentor from 1998 – 2000, where Freedia “backgrounded” for the bounce-star. But the popularity of transsexual identities within the community has seen the term ‘sissy bounce’ used with greater frequency since it was coined in an article penned by a New Orleans journalist. The term is problematic and here, the community’s been fractured. “We don’t call it sissy bounce – that was misinterpreted a while back with a reporter who kinda named it sissy bounce. We only call it bounce, at the end of the day, we don’t separate gay or straight bounce, sissy bounce. You have so many artists that do bounce music and that’s another reason that we don’t separate it because we’ll
COVER STORY
offend the straight artists. We never have ever separated here in New Orleans. It’s always just been bounce music.” Those most detrimentally harmed by the term are straight bounce artists, who resent being lumped into definitive categories. Considering hip hop and rap’s sometimes homophobic tendencies, ‘gay rap’ seems something of an anomaly. “Straight artists be really pissed off with us because everyone thinks they’re gay now,” says Freedia, “And it’s really started to fuck up what we have with the other artists here, and it kinda made us separate from the journalist – made us separate with the tension that came behind every time they interviewed a straight artist and they would say, ‘Oh, you do sissy bounce too?’ and they’d say, ‘No I don’t do sissy bounce, there’s no such thing.’” But the bounce-clans that aren’t warring over titles have formed a powerful and popular collective of sorts. Freedia often works with former teacher Katey Red, Cheeky Black and DJ Jubilee. “It’s a big community down here but usually I only touch base with them in New Orleans. When I’m on the road I’m the only bounce rapper that’s bringing the fire, and there’s a couple others that’s trying to trail behind me but I’m in my own lane.” On this note, the atmosphere is tense for any rappers who may be attempting to ride her coattails. Freedia acknowledges she’s the biggest bounce-rapper of the time and works hard to defend the title. “All the rest of ‘em, they’re trying to follow behind me and I understand that I am the leader of the pack right now, but they also have to understand that I’ve worked really hard to get to my position and to keep on working for the fans and to keep getting the bounce music there. But I do have some of them that’s trying to trail me and trying to follow my lead.” Freedia is certainly unique. Her look changes regularly but she’s sported a tousled Mohawk with rainbow inflections and often cross-dresses in female finery. “I’m always in my own category. I have my own personality, I separate myself from a lot of the other artists, and I’m unique and I’m different from them. We all are a big bounce family but we all have our different personalities
and our different fans who like us, all around New Orleans. “All I come from, my character, and my people that I be around in growing up, and my mom and her style, y’know – all that has a part to play. My upbringing. My music’s moulded because of my church upbringing, and my background, and when people hear my music they’re touched by it, or feel like I’m catching a spirit. It’s hard to explain how my fans are clinging to me but I totally get it.” It’s not hard to account for bounce’s sudden popularity. It’s expressive, it can be deliciously explicit but essentially it’s inclusive. Lines between performer and audience are blurred. Freedia remembers this specifically when she had her first taste of stardom. “Once I bust out I just had the whole city hoppin’, everyone was on it, I had all the girls running behind me at the club and it was just a really amazing transition how that happened for me.” And today bounce continues to work its way into the fabric of mainstream rap culture. “People are more captivated, it’s definitely growing. I’ve opened up to do a lot more collaborations with people, and changing a little bit of the style of the music that I’ve put on, so I’m doing a lot of different things for my music, we’ve been working hard to make it commercial mainstream and all of the above,” she says. But if there is one aim for bounce artists then Freedia exultantly declares it. “Just having a good time here in New Orleans – that’s how we party, y’know? We have half of the people onstage partying and the rest of the people are on the dancefloor partying, and I just want to bring that party that we have in New Orleans all over the world.” Bella Arnott-Hoare Big Freedia & Her Divas [USA] will hit The Tote on Wednesday October 17. They will also play alongside THEEsatisfaction [USA] at The Hi-Fi on Thursday October 18.
L ST IVA E F E TYL LIFES 8 D N RTS A ARY 25-2 A , C I MUS IA -- JANU L A N R NAT IO RT, VICTO R E T N I FO 4 DAY BEAU
MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL LINEUP INCLUDING:
AES DANA HARDFLOOR HALTYA FM RADIO GODS LISH TIM HEALEY YOTOPIA DEEDRAH SHIFT NERUOPLASM THE COMMERCIAL HIPPIES TRANSWAVE ECLIPTIC GUY J PETER VAN HOESEN CHRISTIAN SMITH EELKE KLEIJN OLIVER KOLETZKI MATTHEW DEKAY LOVE AND LIGHT KALDEN BESS QUANTA TRIPSWITCH AKASHA STEREO TALK LUNAR SOUND RULS & NAVARRO DAYAN & JOHN CHRISTOF ABSOLUM D-SENS BAKKE HYPNOTECH
(HARDFLOOR, GERMANY)
(ULTIMAE, FRANCE)
(IBOGA, ISRAEL)
(SURFER ROSA, UK)
(PLANETARIA, FINLAND)
(IBOGA, ISRAEL)
(HOMMEGA, FRANCE)
(NANO, SOUTH AFRICA)
(ALL DAY I DREAM, INNERVSIONS, NETHERLANDS)
(GROUND FACTORY RECORDS BOSS, CANADA)
(ENIG’MATIK RECORDS, UK)
(24/7, UK)
(LOST & FOUND / BEDROCK, ISRAEL) (OUTSIDE THE BOX MUSIC)
(SIMPLIFY, MUTI, FRESH BAKIN’, US)
(SECTION RECORDS, DRAGONFLY, IBOGA, UK)
(UNDERGROOVE MUSIC, MEXICO)
(3D VISION RECORDINGS, SPAIN)
(UNDERGROOVE MUSIC, MEXICO)
(TRONIC MUSIC, MOBILEE, SPAIN)
(STILL VOR TALENT, GERMANY)
(IBOGA, ISRAEL)
(RSA, NEXUS MEDIA, SA)
(3D VISION, FRANCE)
(TIME TO EXPRESS, GERMANY)
(BAROQUE, CANADA)
(FREE SPIRIT RECORDS, UK)
(UNDERGROOVE MUSIC, MEXICO)
(BUS RECORDS / AQUA-VEDA, FRANCE)
(ECHOES RECORDS/ SPIRAL TRAX, SWEDEN)
(IBOGA, ISRAEL)
(ADDICTECH, US)
TICKETS ON SALE NOW www.rainbowserpent.net MUSIC / ART / LIFESTYLE / PERFORMANCE / RELAXAT ION / HEALING / CAMPING
THE BLACK PANCAKE CLUB The Black Pancake Club is where disc-jockeys bring in their treasured record collections to share with yaw’ll. Expect undiscovered nuggets, lost gems, far out there covers, moog inspired themes, and a host of other eclectic delicacies and toppings for your black pancakes! Taste makers on rotation include Shags and Richie 1250.Free entry. From 10pm. Lounge, 243 Swanston Street, Melbourne
WEDNESDAY10TH
THURSDAY11TH
FRIDAY12TH
COQ ROQ
BIMBO THURSDAYS
BUHLOONE MINDSTATE
Rocking Wednesdays at Lucky Coq are rotating DJs Lady Noir, Agent 86, Kiti, Mr Thom, Joybot and guests giving you nothing but the best new wave, punk, brit pop, bong rap and hair metal. Coq Roq takes place every Wednesday from 8pm with free pool downstairs from 9pm as well as drink specials. Roq out! Lucky Coq, 179 Chapel St, Windsor
Tigerfunk brings with him his full band of travelling gypsies, hipsters and middle class executives, all of whom are prepared to deliver the most excitement you can have this side of the weekend. Bimbo Deluxe, 376 Brunswick St (Cnr Rose St), Fitzroy
DUBSTEP THURSDAYS
“It might blow up but it won’t go pop” is the philosophy at Buhloone Mindstate and features Melbourne’s finest bands and DJs playing every Friday night, late. That’s just how we roll. We’re all about the late night boogie. Expect all things funk, hip-hop, soul, reggae, disco, boogie and house. Lounge, 243 Swanston Street, Melbourne
HUMPDAY ANIMALS Enter the middle of the week; for some it’s the beginning of the weekend, for others it’s a break from study, for those of us who are travelling, it probably has no real significance (unless you’re wanting to party with the hot European girls from the hostel, because any day is simply another day when you’re travelling). Your midweek stomping ground, featuring DJs Danny Silver, Manchild & Mu-Gen. Free entry. From 10pm. Lounge, 243 Swanston Street, Melbourne
SOUL ARMY With more flavour than a chocolate pizza, the Wednesday Soul Army throws down raw, uncut funk next to smooth soul grooves and rare blue jams. Bring that special lady because when the boys lay down the love it could be the difference between ‘we’re just friends’ to ‘let’s get it on’. PBS stalwarts Vince Peach and Miss Goldie accompany Prequel and Black Diamond Kicks weekly. Free. Bimbo Deluxe, 376 Brunswick St (Cnr Rose St), Fitzroy
LAUNDRY WEDNESDAYS Deep, dark, minimal dubstep and drum and bass. Laundry Bar, 50 Johnston Street, Fitzroy
It’s Dubstep, it’s Eurotrash, it’s new, it’s the vibe, it’s Thursdays, it’s weekly and it’s free. So get down to Eurotrash and get your wobble on. Eurotrash Bar, 18 Corrs Lane, Off Chinatown, Melbourne CBD
FREE RANGE FUNK Funk up your Thursday nights with Free Range Funk at the Windsor favourite Lucky Coq. Grab a couch early and enjoy one (or more) of their famous $4 pizzas from 7-11pm. Meanwhile DJs Who, Agent 86, Lewis CanCut and special guests tempt you into the night with their eclectic bag of treats. Setting the mood early is delightful jazz, deep soul, and funk. Later it’s fruity disco, choice house, and hipster dance drops. Free entry every Thursday. Lucky Coq, 179 Chapel St, Windsor
CQ FRIDAYS The weekend starts here! Get on down for after work drinks from 5pm with DJs Marcus Knight, Mark Pellegrini, Nick Van Wilder & DJ Anferny getting your weekend started right. 5pm til 3am. CQ, 113 Queen St, Melbourne
FIRST FLOOR FRIDAYS A journey of international music from all over the world; past, present and future rhythms incorporating afro, soul, funk, world and deep house elements! First Floor, 393 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
SLOW HOUSE THURSDAYS
FORBIDDEN
Slow House Thursdays is just what Brunswick has been missing. Get down to the latest Thursday spot at Noise Bar, find a space with your bros and get into the as DJs Same O, David Bass and James Hurt spin bass laced tunes ‘til the early hours of the morning. Noise Bar, 291 Albert Street, Brunswick
Forbidden’s venue is going to wow all those that attend through its state of the art sound and lighting system, an amazing balcony overlooking Russell and Bourke Streets and is located in the heart of the city. Forbidden will feature some of the hottest DJs in Melbourne including Anyo, Rufio, Stefan C, Alex Da Kid, Galo, Timmy Edgell and Azza-M. Forbidden is the hottest place to be on a Friday night – the location has just changed. Free entry applies to everyone between 8pm – 9pm and happy hour will run for 3 hours! Eden, 163 Russell St, Melbourne
FUN HOUSE Celebrate Thursday night at Co. with club classics and dance floor anthems. Co., Crown Entertainment Complex, Lvl 3, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank
FREEDOM PASS Friday’s at Freedom with 2 premier clubs, 5 huge rooms, 10+ local and international DJs blending their unique sets across countless styles of tunes – vocal house, smooth R&B, electro and commercial top 40. Throw in a few sexy podium dancers, a world-class lights show and drink specials, the Freedom Pass is your personal ticket to a night you won’t soon forget! Fusion, Crown Entertainment Complex, Lvl 3, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank
PANORAMA Start your weekend on a good note with Panorama Fridays at Lucky Coq. DJs Matt Rad, Mr George, Tom Meagher and Phato A Mano transform the upstairs area into one hell of a house party with Hip Hop, Funk, R&B, Disco and House. Meanwhile, downstairs gives you a secluded wind down atmosphere with cult films as background visuals and quality cocktails to sip on. Let the new coqtail list wash away a crappy week! Lucky Coq, 179 Chapel St, Windsor
RETRO SEXUAL FRIDAY DJ Grandmaster Vicious spins Fitzroy’s finest mix of ‘80s and ‘90s pop, rock, new wave, hip hop, disco classics and cheese to please plus dance floor anthems from then to now. One Twenty Bar, 120 Johnston St, Fitzroy
SATURDAY13TH EDEN SATURDAYS Smashing it every week at Melbourne’s hottest looking venue! Top 40 dance, house and R&B 9-3am, then electro from 3am - 5am. DJ Ontime, DJ Ryza, Scotty Erdos and Azza M. $15/$20, free entry after 4am. Eden, 163 Russell St, Melbourne
EUROTRASH HOUSE PARTY Put your hands in the air with some of Melbourne’s best party DJs, including including Mu-Gen, Lace em’ Tight and more. Eurotrash Bar, 18 Corrs Lane, Off Chinatown, Melbourne CBD
EY:EM EY:EM at Lounge features residents Boogs & Who, who will host Melbourne’s top purveyors of club music, showcasing both local and international DJs playing the most upfront club music. With rotating DJs Dave Pham, Sleep D, Bryce Lawrence, Louis McCoy, Caine Sinclair, Glyn Hill & Toby Mackisack. Expect nothing but excellent house music all night long. And remember, clubbing happens in the EY:EM. $10 from 11pm. Lounge, 243 Swanston Street, Melbourne
FIRST FLOOR SATURDAYS It’s house, electro, dub, anthems, disco and funk with guest DJs Genetix, B-Two and Oohee rocking til the break of day. Doors open 10pm with $5 basics til midnight! First Floor, 393 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
HOT STEP Google Hot Step and you’ll get a bunch of Vietnamese game reviews and Balkanese dances on YouTube. But that’s nothing like what you can expect to find within the confines of Bimbo on a Saturday night. Developing thick and heavy but altogether groovy, enjoy an eclectic mix of fairy floss funk, doom disco and monk movement minimal every week. Free. Bimbo Deluxe, 376 Brunswick St (Cnr Rose St), Fitzroy
SATURDAYS AT ONE TWENTY BAR DJ CKass will take you on a musical journey to the retro sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s, followed by Top 40. One Twenty Bar, 120 Johnston St, Fitzroy
SOUND EMPIRE Co. At Crown’s Saturday night party Sound Empire this week features mega sounds from resident DJs Tate Strauss, Miss Sarah, Nova, Johnny M, Matty G, Dean T, Joe Sofo, Marcus Knight, Dinesh, Chris Ostrom, B-Boogie and Sarah Roberts. Co., Crown Entertainment Complex, Lvl 3, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank
STAR SATURDAYS Star Saturdays - smashing it every Saturday! Phil Ross, Scotty Erdos, DJ Ontime, LC, Nick James, Dane Gains, Ryan Hamill, Deja, Phil Isa, Nixon, Azza M, Scotty Nix, DJ Ryza, C Dubb, Alex-J, G-Funk, Dylisco, Achos, Az, Shaggz and guests. Star Bar, 160 Clarendon St, South Melbourne
TEMPERANCE SATURDAYS DJ Marcus Knight & DJ Xander James drop sexy house, dance and drum and bass all night from 8pm. Free entry. Temperance Hotel, 426 Chapel St, South Yarra
TEXTILE Saturdays at Lucky Coq tick all the boxes so start your night early and stay til close! Famous $4 pizzas from 7-9pm (that’s dinner sorted) then from 9pm spread over two levels with DJs playing hip hop, funk, disco, house and electro. Rotating guests on both levels keep the tunes fresh. Free entry. Lucky Coq, 179 Chapel St, Windsor
SUNDAY14TH SOUTH SIDE HUSTLE The perfect Sunday soundtrack with DJs Askew, Peter Baker, Booshank, Paz, Miss Butt, Junji, Disco Harry and guests. They will be laying down disco, afro beat and deep house til 3am. For lovers of good music - South Side Hustle. Lucky Coq, 179 Chapel St, Windsor
STAR BAR SUNDAYS The original and still the best Sunday in Melbourne. Star Bar, 160 Clarendon St, South Melbourne
SUNDAE SHAKE Our Signature serve. Each and every Sunday we play host to a self professed vinyl junkie caught between the golden years and boogie wonderland. A mouthful? Perhaps. Phato Amano perfectly sets the mood for an audioadventure that redefines the dance floor weekly. Our Sunday aficionados Agent 86 and Tigerfunk stir up a full cream shake to the flavour of your liking. Forget everything you thought you knew about losing yourself to the grooves. Bimbo Deluxe, 376 Brunswick St (Cnr Rose St), Fitzroy
MONDAY15TH IBIMBO Have you always wanted to be a DJ but been cruelly cursed with tone deafness and a general inability to version excursion? Well Bimbo Deluxe saves the day once again.. All you need is an iPhone and you’re set. Just download the free ‘remote’ application from the app store, log into the Bimbo DJ wireless network and you choose which song plays next. Bimbo Deluxe, 376 Brunswick St (Cnr Rose St), Fitzroy
TUESDAY16TH BIMBO TUESDAYS Bimbo Tuesday’s have long been the discerning DJs midweek breath of fresh air. An opportunity to indulge in, and to each parade their individual takes on music. A night where by the weird and wonderful is not frowned upon but rather celebrated. Resident selectors Matt Radovich, Andras Fox and Henry Who draw from a colorful array of sounds that warm your midweek blues. From 8pm, free. Bimbo Deluxe, 376 Brunswick St (Cnr Rose St), Fitzroy
COSMIC PIZZA
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NHJ and friends host every Tuesday night upstairs at Lucky Coq. Playing uneasy listening, freaked out bass jams, romantic comedy disco, tropi-jazz, soundtracks and shit you won’t hear on the other nights. Lucky Coq, 179 Chapel St, Windsor
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MIKE HUCKABY DEEP HOUSE: DEEP MIND If electronic music was a kingdom, Mike Huckaby would certainly be one of the gatekeepers. This Detroit deep house and techno god has been releasing timeless tracks and helping push the EDM scene for years, long before the politician that shares his name was even a blip on the radar. Arriving on the scene in the early ‘90s, he was exposed to the finest electronic music his iconic city had to offer and quickly developed his own unique style. “A lot of the things that you are influenced by have a lot to do with where you grew up,” Huckaby tells us in his authoritative tenor. “I’m pretty sure that the outcome would have been slightly to dramatically different [had I not been in Detroit].” Now with a storied career, which is still thriving, he is giving back to the community that put him on his path. He serves as a teacher and instructor to aspiring DJs and producers through various programs, most notably the Youthville program. Continuing his role as an authority on electronic music, Huckaby will be bringing his crowdrocking experience and beguiling melodies to our fair city as part of Melbourne Music Week. He will be joined by the
likes of Housse de Racket and PilowTalk, as well as debuting techno super band Four By Four. Over three packed days a disused space in Melbourne will be transformed into Where?House, an expansive pop up venue which will host live performances, workshops, screenings and a heap more. Excited to be returning to Melbourne, Where?House carries on many of Huckaby’s own personal philosophies when it comes to educating and entertaining. Exposing and dispelling what he calls the “erroneous myths” about being a DJ and producer, this veteran wants to equip passionate people with the tools they need to succeed, regardless of age or skill level. Staying up-to-date on the latest advances in technology, while also a proponent of the analogue approach, he believes in helping his students becomE wellrounded. “A fine balance is the best of both worlds. It’s a reciprocal relationship between hardware and software that means the most. Students need to know the origin of things.” Being a great DJ isn’t just about the software or equipment you use though, something that Huckaby stresses. It’s about creating
JIMMY EDGAR it. It just kind of happened randomly. To be honest, I wasn't really a fan of Hotflush – I didn't know anything on it. I knew a bit about Scuba, but yeah. It was really great.” Never one to stop and rest on past successes, Edgar’s drive to create is as natural as the other, um, urges he tends to sing about on singles like Sex Drive and I Wanna Be Your STD. “When I get home and get back into the studio, I end up working non-stop, 'cause travelling keeps me from that. People ask me this all the time, and I never know what to say – it's just the way that I live, I like working all the time. Some people like working during the day then resting at night, some people like working at night and resting during the day; I like working all the time.” Majenta is another bold and provocative work from the wellestablished artist – one created in what he acknowledges was a particularly short space of time, resulting in a particularly honest and revelatory body of work. “It was different,” he muses. “With every album there is a different process for me. Colour Strip, which was done almost ten years before, was made also really fast, but with a different recording process. I tend to like to finish everything in two weeks, but actually, with Majenta, all the tracks were started in a bigger period of time, but they were all finished within a short span of time so that's why you see this big path of
transition throughout the album.” This year has also seen him working closely alongside the legendary Travis Stewart (Machinedrum), Ninja Tune darling Emika, and plenty of others, all to a stunning result – a process he finds endlessly fruitful. “I think it's number one – working in solitude is terrible, to be honest,” he reveals. “I've pretty much done it my entire life, always working alone, always a one-man job. There's something to be said for when you have to work with other people, exchanging ideas. Even when you're working with people you don't necessarily get along with, to make something really amazing happen out of those situations. Obviously, I like working in a situation with someone I get along with, but that's not always the case. Even with photography and film, those things are impossible to do alone. It's like being in a band, you have to work with other people to make something really amazing happen because you're not always gonna do something incredible on your own. It's just a fact.” Edgar has previously spoken of the wide variety of influence that colours his work as a musician and artist – synaesthesia and the strange relationship between the visual and the auditory, sexuality and supernatural themes touched on and synthesised into a record that sounds equal parts dark and dirty – yet a cerebral and thoroughly realised piece of work, too. “Something I always tell people about myself is that I'm a visual person, I always think in a visual format,” he says. “It may be surprising to some people because I'm a musician, but I've always considered myself a visual artist. Even with music, through the way that I create and think about it.” One of these places where the auditory and the visual intersect is in the revamped live show assembled in the wake of Majenta’s release, which he is bringing down to Australia for a string of club shows, soon. “It was really important
ones. It’s a very different thing the live show and just the interactivity with the audience and I just love it because it feels like when you’re up on stage with a band, you feel like you’re part of the same party and it’s like we just happen to be the guys up on stage. We’re all in that zone together. It’s a very communal, positive energy.” Calling himself a “music-maker”, Stein admits that when it came to putting the live show together, he was a little rusty. “In the beginning, it was pretty nerve-wracking,” he freely admits. “I used to play the piano when I was a kid, I’ve always done that but never with an audience, so it was pretty nerve-wracking and the musicians we’re working with are all amazing, like our guitarist is incredible. I remember when we first started together, it was slightly intimidating standing in front of him playing the keyboard. It’s always been Stein’s mission to help move drum and bass into the mainstream music realm and, with Nextlevelism, he’s hitting the nail on the head. “Basically there’s been this massive explosion in the UK because of bass music and what we call pop music is kind of changing,” he says. “People associate the word ‘pop music’ with factory made, boy bands, major labels and stuff that’s been made with little soul just to make money. The great thing about this revolution that’s happening – particularly in the UK and also in parts of Europe – is that this music that comes from a real place, that comes from young guys that are part of the bass music scene sitting at home in the studio making a track just because they want to make it, it’s becoming the basis of what is exciting. I’ve always tried to be a pioneer of doing something new all the time. And the newest thing at the
moment that’s a challenge is trying to cross the music over in a worldwide level, trying to get it high up in the charts and try to take over the world with bass music. “[Nextlevelism] It’s different to what I was doing before but what I was doing before was still part of the same path, it was just at a time when people weren’t ready for what I’m doing now. It’s just taken a while to build it up to the what I am doing now which is what I’ve always wanted to do – which is to do song-based, mega-catchy hooks and have people in massive commercial clubs dancing to drum and bass on a Saturday night.” Nextlevelism features collaborations with Rizzle Kicks, Ms.Dynamite, Rita Ora, Fleur, Liam Bailey, Dizzee Rascal and more. Stein says being in the studio with all the artists when laying down the tracks provided for some funny times. “Jordan from Rizzle Kicks had to take a run around the block before he laid down the chorus to Skyhighatrist,” he laughs. “He said he needed to get himself into the mental state of being a Skyhighatrist so he had to go for a run. That was something that then became a running joke in the studio for pretty much every session after Jordan had come in.” Having signed a six album deal with Ministry Of Sound, Columbia and signing his publishing to Universal, Stein is the priority electronic artist for American label Columbia, something he’s honoured by and says shows how the bass music revolution is starting to take effect (“there still hasn’t been a drum and bass tune that’s got into the American charts ever as far as I know…to see that an artist coming from the world that I come from can be taken that seriously by such a massive record label in America just goes to show
with the reputation his preferred brand of music carried with it. “Indeed, dub was a dirty word, for a while there – in fact, I agree it was actually a rather grotesque word. In the beginning, it was this tiny community of like-minded DJs and things – the artists were just absorbed by their music and making the best out of it that they could. It got quite big in the UK and then it grew abroad really quickly as well. The internet helped it along too, but I don’t think there was anyone that expected it to come of age so quickly – and then it became associated with all this negativity – it was a real love it or hate it genre of music.” He didn’t let that get him down though, blazing a trail of glory since hitting the scene sometime around the middle of the last decade. “It has been a bit of a blur the last eight or ten years! Since last year’s album release, I’ve done a remix for Delilah; that was really well received, which was nice. Then there is a free track I’ve done via Facebook called Bring It Down; as well as that, I’ve done a collaboration with The Others for his album and then another single is ready to go with Glen Boden – he is a good friend of mine and getting a few things in motion there has been really good.” On the topic of the next album, he admits it is on his mind, just not a major priority. “To be honest, my intention was always to do another album. I’ve got bits and pieces coming
out as soon as next week and there are a lot of other things going on so I will devote the right amount of time to it so I’d say if it’s something I do end up doing, it will happen next year. I’m definitely considering it. I’ll do a few more singles, maybe build that up into an EP or two and then let that evolve into some sort of an album. “In terms of the direction of the next EP or album, it’s really hard to say. The music scene in general is really evolving and in a good way I feel. Productions are becoming more diverse and gigs and festivals are really reflecting that. You get all sorts of different genres at parties nowadays. So I would like my own releases to reflect that in some way. I don’t want to stick to a single style because that can be a little boring. I want to keep doing things a little different.” Finally, I wish him well for his forthcoming tour and remind him of the distance between the south end of Australia and the UK. “Ha, thanks for reminding me,” he says. “It is actually a rather long flight from the UK down there, but I shouldn’t complain. To be fair, it’s actually been a while since I’ve been to Australia. Maybe a year or so ago now, and even though it feels like ages, it hasn’t been that long and in a nutshell: I can’t wait. Every show I played last time was totally amazing. The venues were great, the people were there to have a good time and I really enjoyed it –
HOTFLUSH: SYNCHRONISED SYNAESTHESIA “I get bored really easily – that's what it comes down to,” says future-funk superstar, photographer and artist extraordinaire Jimmy Edgar as muses with a self-deprecating laugh, when asked about his remarkable work ethic. The Detroit native, now based, depending on the day, in Berlin, New York or his hometown, is a singular entity – the kind of guy who encapsulates what it really means to be an artist. Renowned for a creative spirit enamoured with all strands of media – fashion photography, graphic design, and his one true love, music – the cosmic wild child’s CV is gloriously extensive, with this year alone seeing the release of his third full-length LP for bass-oriented label-de-jour Hotflush, Majenta, the reinvention of his live show, and a slew of groundbreaking collaborative works. With a background that extends back to 2004, Edgar’s releases span a remarkable array of labels: Merck, the canonical Warp Records, and most recently, Paul Rose (Scuba)’s Hotflush. Despite the impressive CV, he sounds remarkably self-deprecating discussing his history being drawn in by dance music’s most respectable. “I guess it’s just mutual friends, really,” he says, self-deprecatingly. “With Hotflush, I ended up meeting Paul one day through Travis, Machinedrum, and we were just talking about music and stuff; I offered to send him music and he was interested in
DJ FRESH FRESH/LIVE: NOT A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD UK drum’n’bass pioneer DJ Fresh, aka Daniel Stein, has just finished up the Parklife tour, showcasing his new live show FRESH/LIVE. Earlier this year, he released the track Hot Right Now featuring British-Albanian singer Rita Ora. The single was Fresh’s second track to hit #1 on the UK charts and marks the very first drum’n’bass single to chart at #1. 100% chats with the passionate gent about taking drum and bass to the next level. Daniel Stein is sitting in a hotel room doing a load of interviews in the midst of the Parklife tour in which he recently showcased his new live show FRESH/LIVE. With his third record Nextlevelism out now in the UK and out in Australia in November, Stein has been dropping some of the big hits from the record in his Parklife sets. But, he says now that he’s got the fresh live show, some of his tracks are being received differently by punters. “The thing that’s interesting is that live, you get a totally different reaction to certain tracks than you do DJing those tracks,” he says. “At the moment for some tracks I get the most incredible reaction but if I play them in my DJ set, they’re not the strongest
EMALKAY FUTURIST: DUBSTEP ECLIPSE Martin Knowles aka Emalkay hits us up down the line from his home base in Birmingham, England. Best known for his 2009 single, When I Look At You and later, his 2011 LP Eclipse, Knowles has been a busy boy, with labels, production, touring and generally being an all-round nice guy, taking up his time. But his beginnings were more humble. “Well, in a nutshell it started for me a while ago and then it progressed bit by bit, until I found myself experimenting with sounds and ideas. I ended up putting out this kind of experimental dubstep which led onto the Eclipse album last year and here I am – basically embarking on another tour of Australia.” No less, for the longest time, he had to struggle not only with the demands of being an electronic musician, but also
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a feel no matter the equipment you have and visualising your audience and what you’re trying to create. “I try to incorporate or embed things that have influenced me within every track or remix that I do. I do a lot of vicarious living.” Improvisation is also a key to what has made Huckaby and his productions so unique, whether in the studio or the live environment. “The key is to pay attention to things of this nature when they make themselves present. This doesn’t happen when you want it to happen so you must be prepared to go in that direction when it does make itself present.” Much of this improvisational approach comes from the influence that jazz and its intricate melodies have had on the diverse DJ since he first started out and can be heard on hypnotic anthems like Fantasy and the I Human remix. “Jazz is definitely the single most important factor for me. Deep house is a direct extension of jazz through the usage of a variety of choices.” Now, the prospect of working in the studio as a solo producer may sound like a somewhat isolating occupation but the new possibilities that his approach opens up ensures there’s never a dull moment, particularly when working on a remix. “I find remixing challenging, so there is nothing that creates a stale atmosphere regarding a remix, in my opinion.” While mostly an instrumentalist, he also enjoys working with vocalists and the unique challenges that come up. “You have to determine what key the artist is singing in before you can begin remixing the track. When I did I Human, I chose to only use the vocals from the original track. The rest of the music within the track is something I completely generated from scratch.” Whether crafting
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originals or creating remixes he has vast knowledge of synthesis and music theory to pool from. “Each project is different and demands a certain amount of detail and attention.” When it comes to remixing he keeps the artist and their goals in mind to inform yet not intrude on his process. “It is my job to make them look good. I try to create a remix or a vision for each artist in ways that could represent them well. When you have a personal interest in a particular artist that you may like, it’s easier to create a vision through respect for their work.” The end result all comes down to each individual project and may have a number of influences involved. “Sometimes I may want more of Mike Huckaby to shine through, or I may also choose to let the artist’s personality or character shine through the mix.” Andrew 'Hazard' Hickey Mike Huckaby [USA] plays alongside Ben Sims [UK] and more at Where?House as part of Melbourne Music Week on Sunday November 18.
for me to translate those sounds into colour and light, because that's essentially all that visuals are. Doing the LED performance was a really incredibly simple way of translating those rhythms, light and colour. Technically, there are LED lights that are synchronised to the music and I run programs that are sort of like a drum machine, but with lights, I guess. So particular lights and colours and different directions will follow different sounds by the way that they are programmed within the attributes of the lights.” Majenta’s second track might be titled This One’s For The Children, but we have a sneaking suspicion that Edgar’s upcoming tour is bound to be an adults-only affair – in the best kind of way. Miki McLay Jimmy Edgar [USA] plays at The B.east on Thursday October 18.
how things are changing”). And, hopefully when he returns for Future Music Festival next year, he’ll have an even better live show to boot. “We’ll be adding more of the new album tracks to the set, changing the technical set up slightly, adding to our lighting rig and to our visual setup,” he says. “Hopefully the next tour will be even better than the one we’ve done recently in terms of the music that we’re playing and the way we’re playing it.” Annabel Maclean DJ Fresh [UK] plays Future Music Festival alongside The Prodigy [UK], Dizzee Rascal [UK] and heaps more at Flemington Racecourse on Sunday March 10.
so I can honestly say Australia doesn’t disappoint. I’ll be completely oblivious to that 24-hour flight until I have to get on the plane!” By which time it will be too late to pull out. RK Emalkay [UK] plays alongside Slugabed [UK], Rudimental [UK] and more at Brown Alley on Friday October 12.
VARIOUS
10 YEARS OF PHD PHD DIGITAL RECORDINGS / XELON ENTERTAINMENT HARD TRANCE, HARDSTYLE An intuition for the Harder styles scene in Melbourne, PHD celebrates 10 years of thumping Hard Trance and Hardstyle in a neat package sure to conjure up some nostalgic feelings. With head honcho Soul-T the brains behind the name and this release, he begins with a classics disc. For those who grew up on a staple diet of Hard NRG disks, the tracklisting comes as no surprise. Scot Project, Hennes & Cold, Cosmic Gate, DJ Isaac and Alphazone pepper the mix, before shifting into Hardstyle courtesy of Technoboy, Brennan Heart and the Headhunterz. This is one of the better of the many classic mixes, short and snappy with classy edits shortening the tracks, whilst leaving the essence of original tune intact. The second disk showcases the PHD Digital label, featuring local boys bringing German Hard Trance through to Hardstyle. Everyone from DJ eM, DJ Husband, Karpe-DM, Chris Dynasty, Gatty to the man himself Soul-T makes an appearance, further cementing Australia’s claim as a force to be reckoned with. - Kelvin Colling
KREAYSHAWN TWERKIN
I wanna see ya Booty Clap, Clap, Clap!
THE PRESETS PACIFICA
MODULAR INDIE The Presets return with new LP Pacifica, long awaited by the legion of newly garnered fans off the last album Apocalypso, no doubt. There’s been plenty of talk & speculation to what sound this album would deliver, well The Presets seemed to have matured those new wave-ish vibes & electronic sensibilities. You can tell they’ve moved away from the rave-ish elements of the last album and produced just quality songs this time around. Hopefully this album doesn’t suffer from comparison to the last because it’s a beautiful sounding album as a whole, filled with plenty of uplifting choruses, coupled with melodic verses & vocals/spoken word aplenty. This album is what Van She’s LP Idea of Happiness could of been, bringing just a fuller experience and not so many club-only tracks. Pacifica works either way, whether you choose to dance to it or just drink gin to it, it’s quite an enjoyable album, and a shining endorsement for the Australian music scene. - Seb Martinez
ILLY
DEADMAU5
OBESE HIPHOP There’s no two ways about it, Illy has become one of Australian hip hop’s most polarizing artists. It’s not like he has chased pop dollars or being able to eat off hip hop harder than everyone else, it may all come down to the vigorous nature he defends himself against his detractors. This release sees Illy standing with middle fingers raised to those claiming he sold out, gone are the radio friendly sounds of his last album, replaced with pure hip hop beats from Trials & M-Phazes. Lyrically this whole album seems to be focussed on taking his sound back, see Bring It Back, Where It Starts and Heard It All, and it’s definitely nice to hear Illy focussed and putting his flow and track presence to use making quality tracks, I just hope they are what he actually wants to make. Illy seemed quite comfortable making music that the radio loved and with adoring fans rammed in at festivals and this album is such a departure it makes me wonder if he is too focussed on what others think of his music. The album has some absolute standouts in All Of The Above, The Bridge, 6 Shooter & The Real and Illy can rap his arse off, it’ll be interesting to see where he takes it from here. - Shane Scott.
EMI PROGRESSIVE / ELECTRO / TRANCE Dance music’s favourite pot-stirrer returns with a new collection of thirteen amazing tracks that cover everything from techno and trance to house and hip-hop without a single dull moment. The album begins in glorious fashion with Superliminal, a bass-heavy slab of moody slow-building techno, while the Wolfgang Gartner collaboration Channel 42 is a schizophrenic sonic stomper with old-school synth tones and an insistent psychedelic vocal loop. Vocal cut The Veldt is delicious, with its uplifting summery vibes, and There Might Be Coffee is 7 minutes of sheer instrumental electro brilliance, with layers of shimmering synths bouncing along in joyous fashion. Closer is a tasty cut of widescreen melodic trance, a vibe which continues with the measured slow-builder October. Final track Telemiscommunications is a gem of icy chilled minimalist beauty, its grace coming from the gorgeous vocal talents of Imogen Heap, and it’s the perfect album closer. At the end of the day, > album title goes here < just proves what we already know – deadmau5 is one of the finest producers around. - Ed Montano
BRING IT BACK
HILLTOP HOODS RATTLING THE KEYS
Is it possible to love a group so much that you’re actually blinded to the fact that said group hasn’t really been hitting the mark of late..? I’m probably going to be told universally to go and frig myself, but for me the latest from the Hoods lacks originality, punch and basically I’d say it’s not their best offering to date.
PSY
GANGNAM STYLE Giddy Up Bitches it’s Gangnam Style!!!
>ALBUM TITLE GOES HERE<
SAM AND THE WOMP BOM BOM
Yeah it’s repetitive, tacky, and basically a very simple track. But I’ll be a crack smoking monkey butlers arsehole if it’s not one of the most addictive songs you’ll hear all year. Basically you’ll dance because you must, there is no other option....just remember - make sure you dance like know one is watching!
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND A BIT TOO MUCH, PERHAPS? MAYBE YOU NEED TO START DOING SOMETHING YOU LOVE.
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THEESATISFACTION THURSDAY11TH MOTOWN THURSDAYS Kick start your weekend with Melbourne’s newest Thursday night! Motown Thursdays caters to all true music lovers. Join us on an eclectic musical journey of soul, funk and disco through to early R&B. A live Soul Band features some of Melbourne’s most talented musicians; Carmen Hendricks, Laurent Soupe, Duncan Kinell and Aaron Mendoza just to name a few. DJs keep the records spinning into the early hours; residents are Reg-e, Lee Davies, Kalepe, Dinesh, Suga, Rubz and Alwin Rafferty. Join us around a big, shiny disco ball or two, for free entry, soulful tunes, drink specials all night and a dance floor full of friends! Fashion Lounge, 121 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
RHYTHM-AL-ISM Start the weekend early with Fusion’s Resident DJs. Music for your funkin’ soul. Special guests every week! Fusion, Crown Entertainment Complex, Lvl 3, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank
available to graze on whilst trying our delicious cocktails from the classics to contemporary, beer on tap and a wide range of beers, wines and spirits. Every Friday evening DJ Jumps of The Cat Empire will take to the decks at the bar spinning his rare afro Latin funk vinyl collected from around the world from 6.30pm until late. Papa Goose Cocktail Bar, 91-93 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
SWEET NOTHING FRIDAYS DJ Marcus Knight and DJ Xander James spin hip hop, R&B and house tunes all night from 8pm. Free entry and early drink specials. Temperance Hotel, 426 Chapel St, South Yarra
THE NICE UP Tom Showtime presents The Nice Up. All flavours of hip hop, ghetto funk and reggae niceness provided. Sailor Jerry nice up the cocktails, Dos Blockos nice up the $5 beers. Fridays done proper. George Lane Bar, 1 George Lane, St Kilda
SATURDAY13TH KHOKOLAT KOATED
FRIDAY12TH FAKTORY This is it. Faktory Fridays are open for business at Melbourne’s home of R&B, Khokolat Bar. Where else? Damion De Silva, Ken Walker, Durmy, K Dee, Simon Sez, Yaths and Jacqui Dusk spinning all night long. Khokolat Bar, Basement, 43 Hardware La, Melbourne
LIKE FRIDAYS Like Fridays at La Di Da serves up R&B and electro house across two rooms giving you a fun filled end to your week. DJs Dinesh, Dir-X, Sef, NYD, Shaun D, Shaggz, Broz and more. La Di Da, 577 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
LIGHT We celebrate everything that has made Light at Red Love, kicking off with our after work drinks session from 4pm. Our DJ Line Up includes each and every one of the Daddy Mack’s who have helped lead Light into our 5th running year of old school R&B. For one night only, we will showcase the Light at Red Love Entertainment Crew, DJs, Harvey Yeah, Ripz, TMC and Stel Kar locking down that Old School Flava with guest appearances by G.A.K. & The Seminar of Funk and Nick K. It’s all happening this Friday as we celebrate 5 years of doing our do and bringing that Red Love! Red Love, Level 1, 401 Swanston Street, Melbourne
THE LOOSE GOOSE
All new experience, same great location with a fresh koat of Khokolat. Restless Entertainment reloads your favourite Saturday night party. Damion De Silva, K Dee, Jay Sin and weekly guests playing R&B & ol’ skool sounds strictly for the urban elite. Khokolat Bar, Basement, 43 Hardware La, Melbourne
REDLOVE SATURDAYS It all started with Red Love Saturdays as we opened our doors for the very first night, in October 2007; 5 years on, we continue to host a night of ‘80s and ‘90s L.O.V.E, and everything else in between! Doors open at 9pm serving complimentary finger food & complimentary champagne cocktails on arrival from 9pm-10pm. Also featuring a party photo booth for the evening and exclusive give away’ throughout the night. Pop on down and help us celebrate 5 years of doing our do. Red Love, Level 1, 401 Swanston Street, Melbourne
SHAKA SATURDAY The newest R&B Superclub Shaka Saturdays grand opening is set to hit Melbourne over two massive weeks. The northern suburbs newest, freshest club playing all of your favourite R&B, hip hop, old skool and reggae. Shaka Saturdays is showcasing Australia’s newest and favourite R&B DJs, including DJ C-RAM bringing video mixing to Melbourne and special guest hip hop band Yellow Cake. Set at one of the most amazing venues Melbourne has to offer with two levels, good music, great ‘Shaka’ atmosphere and cheap drinks, we are hoping to pack it out and create a night for people to remember. Level 2 The Club, 2 Arthurton Rd, Northcote
The Loose Goose is focused on providing a wonderful array of cocktails and offers a great CBD location to lounge and relax in while overlooking busy Flinders Lane. A small plates menu is
AWESOME: UNNATURALLY NATURAL
Stasia Irons has two song titles tattooed on her arms. On one arm is a South African, anti-apartheid anthem Senzenina, which Irons first heard while studying in Cape Town. On the other is Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit-single Thriller. The music which Irons makes in THEEsatisfaction with her band-mate and lover Cat Harris-White is born of a similar counterpoint: one part revolutionary message of black, feminist and homosexual empowerment, one part feel-good dance groove. “I took a course in white, I had the force to bite,” intones Irons on Enchantruss. “I ate the Meklah fruit, I fell in love with the blues.” “Social change has always been a part of [music],” claims Irons. “It echoes all the way back. Even in the days of slavery, the slaves would be out in the field making music.” “To kind of guide you along the way,” chimes in HarrisWhite (even over the phone the two seem very close and have a tendency to finish each other’s trains of thought). “To ease the pain, change the situation up. [...] Naturally, this album is going to be about black, queer women because we are two black, queer women. We're story tellers at the end of the day and we're just trying to tell a story about us and our experiences.” The couple met back when they both were students in Seattle. “I used to go crash parties at the University of Washington,” says Harris-White. “I went to a small arts college not too far away and they just didn't have the same sorts of events. I'd be crashing these parties and bumping into Stasia a bunch of times. We became friends from there and eventually started dating. When we were both in our senior year in college Stasia went on ‘study abroad’ trip to Cape Town. I started messing around on garage band and sending her stuff. Meanwhile she was writing a bunch of poetry and when she came back we were just so done with school and we just needed a way to release.” After several free mix-tapes on Band Camp, the duo broke some serious ground with a cameo on Shabazz Palaces’ 2011 album Black Up, followed shortly by a signing to Sub Pop Records and the release of THEEsatisfaction’s debut full-length, awE naturalE. Such is the gravity of Shabazz Palaces in Seattle’s still nascent hip hop scene that many reviews of awE naturalE treat the album and its makers as something of an adjunct to Black Up. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Though both THEEsatisfaction and Shabazz Palaces make cameos on each other’s albums, each artist has a wildly different aesthetic. Whist Black Up occupies a synthetic, nocturnal, somewhat sinister sound world owing much to current trends in bass music, awE naturalE is an altogether livelier, more organic experience. Off beat hip hop collides with Erykah Badu-esque neo-soul. There are samples of old jazz records too, and warm vinyl crackle. The overall aesthetic belongs more to the legacy of ‘60s and ‘70s soul and jazz than to club music. “We like to think that we were alive in the '60s and '70s in another life,” laughs Harris-White. “We just really love
listening to music from that time, looking at pictures, watching footage from Soul Train. We listen to Curtis Mayfield, Gill Scott Herron, Chaka Khan…” “And the speeches too!” Irons interrupts, “Stuff like Malcolm X. We listen to a lot of that too.” The duo’s love of retro is perhaps most evident in the video clip for QueenS, a lushly lit film of Irons, Harris-White and a host of other black women putting on makeup, hanging about on lounges and dancing. The video was inspired by the multimedia works of Brooklyn artist Mickalene Thomas. “There was a series of pieces she did which all involved black women with natural hair,” says Harris-White, “black women just lying around and enjoying themselves with all these different fabrics and patterns. It’s very ‘70s”. One of Mickalene Thomas’ trademarks is a process of creating collages and then painting over them. It’s an approach that parallels THEEsatisfaction’s own – samples are pulled together into a sonic collage which acts as a canvas for the two singers’ brush strokes. “Definitely!” enthuses Harris-White, “that’s a cool connection.” The breadth of sources which THEEsatisfaction draw from is impressive. Musically, it’s not hard to find evidence of any of the defining genres of black America – jazz, soul, hip hop, blues etc. Lyrically, the duo name-check Orson Welles and Archie Bunker, or spill Egyptian mythology into Bible references. If you had to sum up THEEsatisfaction, you would come equally close with the revolutionary call to arms of Earthseed: “THEEsatisfaction couldn’t give a fuck about the fascists!” – as you would with the refrain from QueenS: “Whatever you do, don’t funk with my groove.” Both lines are accurate but neither is a complete representation of the duo. That both these lines appear in the album some 40 seconds apart is all the more indicative of THEEsatisfaction’s duality. From the political to the personal, the sound of awE naturalE is passionate, heady and convinced. This is a band that wears their hearts on their sleeves and their influences on the ink in their arms. Henry Andersen THEEsatisfaction [USA] play alongside Big Freedia & Her Divas [USA] at The Hi-Fi on Thursday October 18.
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THE BIG MAG FOR CLUB CULTURE