What inspired you to become an artist?
I have enjoyed electronic music my whole life but I never had friends who shared that passion with me. A few years back I started a new job and met a few mates who clicked with me instantly. They eventually introduced me to their friendship group who evidently shared the same passion for the harder genres of electronic music as I did. A few of them were DJ’s but also produced music. Progressively a few mates ended up teaching me how to DJ and I got hooked instantly. Within a few weeks I had bought myself a set of decks and was Practising every day. A few months later and these same mates then invited me for a production session on Ableton and that was what really hooked me. The creative process of not only listening to the music I enjoyed but also the possibility of making it really inspired me to become an artist.
How would you describe your music style or genre?
Music style is very dark and sinister. I enjoy the Deep a gritty techno genres that utilise heavy distorted bass lines, complex and evolving Reese basses and my favourite sub genre of all is Acid Techno. There is just something about the Acid Synth that sends a shiver down my spine, it sounds so raw and aggressive but at the same time interesting and engaging.
Can you share a bit about your musical journey and how it has evolved over the years?
I started listening to electronic music in my early teens, listening to Deep house and tribal house. As I listened to more and more genres of dance music my taste started to evolve into melbourne bounce, minimal and psytrance. I would save all the hidden forest, billboards and wah wah lounges soundcloud podcasts and listen to them back on repeat. I started to realise that the more I listened to electronic music the harder my music taste would get, always seeking the harder/faster songs with “Phat” drops and “Filthy basslines’ ‘. Finally my taste has matured and at the present day I listen to Techno, Drum and Bass and a bit of breakbeat/UKG and Psytrance/Hard Trance. My taste has remained the same for a number of years now and I think this is where it’s staying.
What are some of your biggest musical influences?
My biggest musical influences would have to be Anetha, NineTimesNine, Mall Grab, Jay Lumen, Wehbba, Victor Ruiz, Rebuke and Vizion
Tell us about your creative process when producing a new track or mix.
My preparation for a mix is a continuous process, I’m always adding songs to my playlist and looking for the next interesting and addictive songs to show others. Every morning on my tram ride to and from work I am just scouring Spotify, SoundCloud and Beatport for new music adding things to my playlist. This allows me to efficiently always have new music to play when it comes time for a mix or a set. I then choose a vibe or emotion for my mix. Is it going to be a high octane aggressive set that is hard fast and driving, or is it going to be more driving mix with lots of ear candy, shimmering lead sounds and disruptive hypnotic basslines. I like to add variation to my sets as well so you have genre breaks to separate the mix, I may slip in a Psytrance Track or 2 in-between the range of techno songs or even a dabble of aggressive breakbeat to disrupt the 4 on the floor rhythm of the mix and keep it interesting. But the Highest importance in my creative process is to have fun with it and enjoy what I’m doing.
Can you share any memorable experiences or stories from your live performances?
I was playing a 4 hour marathon set at a doof called Saltare. There was a sick stage design and I was playing in front of a crowd of about 250 people. The vibes were high and the energy and atmosphere was hard to rival. I was finishing up my set and decided to finish on a drum and bass song that I had heard at pitch just before. I started Mixing in a drum and bass song to the end of my driving/hard techno set, I started to build up tension and successfully did a full genre swap successfully mixing 2 songs with drastically different BPMs together. When I eventually dropped the DnB song the crowd went wild and I could feel the energy radiating from everyone. That was a very memorable experience that I still look back on to this day and wish I could relive the feeling over and over again.
How do you feel the music scene has changed over the years, and what impact has it had on your work?
I feel like slowly but surely Melbourne’s electronic music scene is transitioning into a bit of techno era, finally catching up to the rest of the world and especially Europe. Very happy to see that we are leaving the Melbourne bounce period behind and not looking back. It is fantastic that more and more events are booking bigger and bigger techno artists from the techno motherland which is Europe. As the scene is transitioning into my favourite genre of electronic music and my favourite DJs from overseas are starting to tour here now it has had a massive impact on my music taste and production style. Every event I go to leaves me with more and more ideas of how to produce or what style I should produce and it’s a very exciting feeling.
Are there any specific venues or festivals that hold a special place in your heart? Why?
Tomorrowland, Awakenings and Pitch hold very special places in my heart. I am lucky enough to go to Pitch with all my friends every year and have an epic 4 day weekend of techno music. I also had the privilege of going to both Tomorrowland and Awakenings last year with a few mates and the extent of their audio visual capacity and high tier artists is mind blowing.
Lastly, what message or feeling do you hope to convey to your listeners through your music?
I hope that people start to see that dark, aggressive and sinister styles of music such as techno can also be beautiful/ stimulating and awe inspiring. Through the use of lush emotional pads and chords, catchy basslines and aggressive and evolving reese basses they can really interest the listener and just because something is dark or aggressive doesn’t mean it can’t inspire emotion and feelings of elation and joy.
