The Spank! Records Blog

Five Tracks That Inspire Greg Wilson: Mark Murphy Chats To The Legend!

There aren't that many DJs in the world that can hold the title 'legend' above their heads. Greg Wilson may be one of just a handful left playing today that can hold that title up with both hands.

If you have read any respectable book on club culture over the past 30 years, his name would certainly appear alongside the nights he made famous - Tuesdays at Wigan Pier and Wednesdays at Legend in Manchester in the early 80s. He once wrote this of these two nights:

"Wigan Pier was truly awesome, a classic venue in its own right, but Legend on a Wednesday night was the absolute pinnacle for me. One of the reasons I stopped DJing was because, as far as my club aspirations were concerned, I'd achieved my ultimate aim at Legend. This was to play the most cutting-edge dance music possible to the most clued-up crowd. The fact that I was fortunate enough to do this in such a mind-blowing setting was something I couldn't have imagined in my wildest DJ dreams."

His mix of jazz-funk and electro-funk pre-dated house club culture by years and his Wigan set routinely drew 500 or more punters on a Tuesday night.

He was the first British DJ to mix live on UK television, way back in '83, and he held court at the infamous Hacienda in Manchester before that venue would become an institution in house music history. Soon after that he retired from DJing.

Wilson has seen the life of house music from its birth in the 80s to its sultry teenage years in the 90s to its reinvention in the 00s. After a 20-year sabbatical, he returned to DJing in 2003 and continues to play around the world to a generation of clubbers who didn't get that electro appeared a long time before the words 'clash' and 'house'

His passion for the dancefloor is evident in his 're-edit' work and his 'Credit To The Edit' series on Tirk Records heralded a new life for this man who takes over the decks at 202 Broadway this Sunday for the Picnic crew.

Andy Meecher from Chicken Lips says it best "…Greg Wilson is the best DJ (for me) and always will be…"

There's a lot of stuff out there about Greg Wilson. I'm not sure I could have come up with any questions that he has already answered a thousand times before. So I just thought I'd ask him to select a handful of records, each of a different genre, and explain what makes them special to him.

"It could have been many others, but I decided to go with these five," Wilson said.

SOUL

Otis Redding ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’

Sixties' soul was my first love and Otis Redding my favourite singer. Even at a very young age his voice got right under my skin – my older brother, who, as a Mod at the time, was a big soul fan, owned a number of Otis' singles which I’d play when he wasn’t about, including ‘Hard To Handle’, ‘I Can’t Turn You Loose’, ‘Mr Pitiful’, ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satifaction’, ‘Shake’, ‘Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)’ and ‘My Girl’.

For some years after I’d been told he’d died (at the incredibly young age of 26 in December 1967). I got fact mixed up with fiction in my youthful naiveté, believing that he’d fallen from the dock of the bay and drowned. This, of course, added to the poignancy of the song for me.

I eventually realised the truth – Otis, along with four members of the brilliant young band, the Bar Kays, died when his plane crashed into Lake Monona in Wisconsin. ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’ was a track Otis never heard completed. Co-writer and producer Steve Cropper, of Booker T & The MG’s, finished it off following his death. It went on to become his biggest hit and the first posthumous number 1 in US chart history. It marked a musical departure for Otis, following on from his experience at the Monteray Pop Festival earlier in the year, where his memorable live performance was acclaimed by the hippie audience. This new direction he was moving in was further inspired by The Beatles’ ‘Sgt Peppers’ album, which, as with countless others that 'summer of love', had hardly left his turntable. We can only guess at what wonderful music would have resulted had his life not come to such a drastic halt.

Even now when I listen to ‘Dock Of The Bay’ it touches me deeply, especially, for some reason, the line "I can’t do what ten people tell me to do". A truly iconic single with which will always live in my heart.

FUNK

Banbarra ‘Shack Up’

This was a big track in the clubs back in 1976, not long after I started out as a DJ. Local heroes like Les Spaine, the resident at the Timepiece in Liverpool, and Terry Lennaine, who presented the Soul show on the local BBC station, Radio Merseyside, played this as an import 7”, before it filtered down to other DJs, like myself.

It was a funk classic, which would later be lauded in hip hop circles for its much sampled breakbeats, but it always puzzled me that there’d never been a follow-up to this remarkable record. How can someone make such a brilliant single, then never release anything else. It didn’t add up.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally found my answer. Martin Moscrop of the Manchester band A Certain Ratio, who’d covered ‘Shack Up’ in the early 80s, exposing it to a new audience of indie kids, told me that he had a contact for the publishing company that owned the rights to the song. I followed up the lead and managed to uncover a tragic tale of what could have been, which I would write up as an article for Wax Poetics magazine titled ‘Banbarra Unmasked’ (the name Banbarra, as I learned, coming from a type of African mask).

To cut a long story short, it was the age old account of money grabbing deceit. The single resulted in an album deal, but a shifty manager walked off with the cash and the whole project disintegrated before it had barely started. Various people connected directly and indirectly to the recording went on to forge successful careers in the music industry, but the name of the drummer, the man behind one of the most legendary drum-breaks funk has served up, remains a totally mystery to this day!

Some secrets are perhaps meant to remain buried.

DISCO

Sylvester ‘You Make Me Feel Mighty Real’

A classic disco tune that was released in 1978, during my time at the Golden Guinea in New Brighton. However, it’s the connection to another DJ, Paul Rae, that always springs to mind whenever I hear/think of this track.

I’d met Paul during my first short stint as an international DJ, working in a Norwegian town called Skien that year. He was staying with another DJ called Nicky Flavell, who was working in the same town that month (Paul was between gigs). It was as a result of meeting Nicky that, as fate would have it, I ended up working at the two clubs I’m most associated with – Wigan Pier and Legend in Manchester (but that’s another tale for another time).

Anyhow, fast forward to 1981. Paul Rae is now one of the residents at Legend and on the Thursday night the club is launching what was then known as a Futurist night, featuring indie and alternative music. These nights grew out of what were previously called Roxy/Bowie nights – where records by artists like Iggy Pop, Velvet Undeground, Kraftwerk, early Human League and others were played alongside a whole heap of David Bowie and Roxy Music tracks that wouldn’t have featured on a normal club night. The Futurist scene really gained momentum during the New Romantic period in the early 80’s and Thursday at Legend would become one of the leading nights in the country.

The catalyst for this was a personal appearance from one of the leading lights of the Punk movement, Siouxie & The Banshees, who happened to be in Manchester playing a Thursday night gig. The management of Legend had slipped them 500 quid just to turn up at the club afterwards and say a quick hello over the microphone. Word spread quickly that Siouxie was heading to Legend, and it had the desired effect, the club was soon packed – it had proved to be a brilliant piece of promotion that would reap dividends well into the future.

As DJ, Paul decided that the best thing to do was to ask the band to name a track each that they wanted him to play, then get them up behind the DJ booth, pass a few pleasantries, and have them announce what it was.

This all went swimmingly, until it was Siouxie’s turn. With all eyes on her, a gushing Paul, delighted to have her in the club, started to say how wonderful it was that she was there, but he hadn’t bargained on her response. Abruptly stopping him in his tracks, she cuttingly told him to ‘shut the fuck up and play the record’.

It was his most embarrassing moment in his entire DJ career – the record, of course, being ‘You Make Me Feel Mighty Real’ by Sylvester.

ELECTRO

Grandmaster & Melle Mel ‘White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)’

I was with Kermit, then a breakdancer with Broken Glass, later of the Ruthless Rap Assassins (who I managed and produced) and Black Grape (who went on to have a number 1 album and a string of hit singles), when I first heard ‘White Lines’ back in 1983. It had just arrived on import and we looked at each other flabbergasted – ‘what the fuck is this!’.

Even by electro’s leftfield standards this was leftfield, totally unlike anything we’d heard before, or since for that matter – a truly unique record. It soon became the biggest floorfiller on my nights at Legend, where I was playing to a predominantly black crowd who were as cutting-edge as they came.

Some time later it was issued in the UK, but failed to achieve anything more than a minor chart placing, before completely vanishing off the chart radar. It was obviously too extreme for mainstream tastes.

It was massive though at Legend and Wigan Pier, and I was also playing it at The Hacienda, where I’d started my Friday residency. Then, slowly but surely, other DJs started picking up on it and a strange thing was to happen. After I’d stopped djing in 1984 the record re-appeared on the UK chart and, bit by bit, edged its way upwards, until it eventually cracked the Top 10. It would go on to enjoy a remarkable chart span, lasting over a year, and become the type of track that could be played anywhere, anytime, to a great response.

But it was all from small acorns – this was never nailed on to be a hit, as its early chart failure proved. Had it not been for the black crowd and the upfront nights they attended ‘White Lines’ might nowadays be regarded as a cult track, but not a pop classic.

I know I had a hand in breaking a number of records during my time at Legend and the Pier, but ‘White Lines’ is the one that probably gives me the most satisfaction.

HOUSE

FPI Project ‘Rich In Paradise’

Six years on and I’ve stood in an alcove in The Hacienda. I’m with Kermit again (now a Rap Assassin) and it’s the height of the Rave era. I’m up from London, where I lived at the time, so, unlike Kermit, I don’t get to The Hacienda too often these days.

Everyone’s ‘on one’ and the club is buzzing big time. Suddenly I hear this piano breakdown, and as I’m talking to Kermit I see him raise his hand. I then notice that everyone in the alcove also have their hands raised, as do those stood nearby. I turn my head to the dancefloor and see that everybody is saluting the moment – a communal show of strength that announced ‘we are here together now’.

The record playing is an instrumental Italian 12”, ‘Rich In Paradise’ by the FPI Project. The reason it’s instantly recognizable to me, even though I hadn’t heard it before, is because it’s a version of ‘Going Back To My Roots’, originally by Lamont Dozier, and a track I was playing over a decade earlier at the Golden Guinea. A cover by Richie Havens, which was a massive jazz-funk tune during my Wigan Pier days, would be the inspiration for this new house variant. Apparently some Balearic DJs had claimed the Richie Havens' version as their discovery, obviously unaware that the black scene had got there first many years before (it had even be issued as a DJ-only promo in the early 80s alongside the Lamont Dozier original, the parent company, WEA, owning both recordings). Most of the people on The Hacienda dancefloor that night had first heard ‘Going Back To My Roots’ via the poppier Odyssey version, a UK hit in 1981 – it was a track that connected to us all in one way or another.

As I once said elsewhere: “It was the most unifying moment I've ever experienced in a club and, although I witnessed similar sights subsequently, everything that followed seemed to be just chasing shadows, trying to re-capture something that was no longer there, at least not in its purest form".

That incredible loved-up Hacienda vibe would, alas, soon be a thing of the past as the wolves moved in, exploiting the ever-growing market for ecstasy, and introducing guns and violence into what was previously a haven of happy smiling faces. The mood soon changed and although the party continued, it was never the same. I’m just so glad I was fortunate enough to experience it before things went sour, when we really were ‘Rich In Paradise’ for that moment in time. 

Murphy.

Album Review: Lindstrom & Christabelle 'Real Life Is No Cool'

For those unfamiliar with the work of Hans-Peter Lindstrøm (are there any of you left?), Mr. Lindstrøm is the Norwegian poster-boy for a new wave of pop/disco sound loosely referred to as ‘Space-Disco’ or ‘New Balaeric’ (depending on who you talk to and who you’re willing to argue with). He has been releasing prolifically for the last seven/eight years, often identified with his frequent partner in crime Prins Thomas and has remixed everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Roxy Music to LCD Soundsystem. Famous for elegant pop sensibilities and an irresistible down tempo shuffle, Mr. Lindstrøm and his patient arpegiator has managed to pioneer a thoughtful folk/pop influenced dance music that has gained focus & momentum in the same time that more immediately popular sounds (re:electro-clash/tech minimal) have come and gone.

Backing up from 2008’s excellent ‘Where You Go I Go To Too’ and its slow burn, largely instrumental explorations of gentle motifs, polyrhythms and interlocking melodies, Lindstrøm’s latest release ‘Real Life is No Cool’ sees him work in collaboration with vocalist Cristabelle. Cristabelle’s whisp-like vocal adds focus and accessibility to Lindstrøm’s polished arrangement style, lending a coherence & effortless ‘hipness’ to ‘Real Life  Is No Cool’ that is magnificently in tune with the Lindstrøm sonic aesthetic.

Album opener ‘Looking for What’  launches out of the blocks with the nearest thing a Lindstrøm composition gets to aggression - a driving mono-synth arp pulses over the top of the track diving and ducking and the intensity comes and goes while a biting mono-tonal guitar riff, sans Lindstrøm’s standard heavy delay, propels the track forward. Christabelle’s vocals are simple and effective, asking the ideal questions to begin an album "Shall we start? Shall we start looking?”

The most obvious single off this record, ‘Baby Can’t Stop', offers a more up-tempo New York style disco than Lindstrøm’s Scandinavian stylings normally allow. The most dance-floor ready track on the album thanks to a relatively brisk tempo, four-to-the-floor drive and brass section samples for added flare, ‘Baby Can’t Stop’ offers an easy entry point for more traditional dance fans to access some of Lindstrøm’s trademark sounds while they adjust to the slower tempos and technicalities of his more progressive works.

‘Lovesick’ is in my opinion the stand-out track of the album and an essential listen for anyone who likes their disco low-slung and bass heavy. Vocals have an amazing attitude, projecting a confidence and style that does not rely on over-statement, rather a cheeky self-assured blasé “Are you sure I’m going to call back, when I’m calling up another?”.  A huge bass drop and string sample anchors this song, adding lift and drive without getting in the way, dropping out when unneeded leaving a brief guitar palm-mute loop to drive in the meanwhile while the vocal rightly takes precedence.

Other highlights include album closer ‘High & Low' with it’s sweet, almost twee 'Sunday afternoon chill-out dancing in the living room' vibe and ‘Music in My Mind’ with its deep synthesizer funk and spaced out vocal delay drift. It is important to state that Lindstrøm is an artist who creates ‘albums’ rather than a collection of singles and ‘Real Life Is No Cool’ is certainly a release that is at its strongest and most enjoyable when considered in a holistic sense. The pacing of the album is perfect and the track-listing sets up each song in perfect counterpoint to the songs that come before and after. A highly recommended outing from Lindstrøm & Christabelle. You can listen to samples off the album on the Spank! Records main site.

Thanks,

Matt

Spank! Records

Dazzle Me!!! Album Review - Dazzle.

If you look closely you can nearly see the floor at 54. This re-press of 'Dazzle' will be out the door so I thought I'd give it a flogging in store.

I think I'm going to fall down...there's too much heat up in here and rainbow-coloured sparkles are falling gently around me. I've got the sudden urge to love-out and freak-down to this nasty disco boogie that's filling my shoes with moves.

Lookout! It's Jocelyn Brown back for revenge! Nobody leaves without a little taste of the soulful diva of disco! She's no fool and listen out boppers...everybody knows you have to 'Walk Before you Can Run', you can never tire when having fun, and baby...'You Dazzle Me'! Ooh... I think someone 'Slipped Disco' into my drink. Flash backs of New York... bongo breaks... and the rush 'Reaching' into me. 'It's Not The Same' anymore baby but the togetherness and love will stay with us 'ALL' ways.

Each track on this record is pure disco goodness. Glitz and glamour run rampant throughout this record, parallel to unicorns galloping along a see-through rainbow of string section love-in. Richie Tannenbaum's straight up drum feel rubs against Norbert Sloley and James Calloway's funked up bass lines creating one giant affirmation... i could boogie all night to this business. Producer and funktastic guitarist Stan Lucas has beautifully matched his musicians together, everyone sits perfectly on or off the money with a certain amount of cheeky indulgence. 'Yeeeah this shit is goood'.

Ricardo

Best Of The Noughties DJ Charts (Part 25)

Larry Tee invented the word 'Electroclash'.

But before that, he took over the Club Kids scene back in '89 with his party Love Machine and also hosted the infamous DISCO 2000, which was seen in the movie Party Monster.

He co-wrote RuPaul's world-wide smash 'Supermodel (You Better Work)' and held residencies at some of the biggest clubs in New York.

Electroclash re-invented dance music in the 'noughties' and Tee was at the forefront of the explosion with his 2001 Electroclash Festival with Fischerspooner, Scissor Sisters, Ladytron & Peaches to name a few.

In 2010, he is promoting his new LP called 'Club Badd' on Ultra Records which NME describes as 'a vivacious mix of booty bass and disposable techno'.

He was kind enough to give us his Top 10 of the Noughties...and he would know!

1. Roman Flugel 'Geht's Nocht?' (Cocoon)

2. Fischerspooner 'Emerge' (International Deejay Gigolos)

3. Larry Tee 'Licky' (iO Music)

4. Ame 'Rej' (Sonar Kollektiv)

5. Digitalism 'Pogo' (Kitsune)

6. MGMT 'Kids' (Soulwax remix) (Columbia)

7. Vitalic 'Poney EP' (International Deejay Giogolos)

8. Royksopp 'What Else Is There' (Trentemoller remix)

9. Pantha Du Prince 'Saturn Strobe' (Dial)

10. Switch 'A Bit Patchy' (Dubsided)

Murphy.

Show Us Yer Loins: Spank! Records Interview The Loin Brothers.

The Loin Brothers are two of Sydney's finest disco party purveyors. Signed to excellent Australian indie label Future Classic and masterminds behind last year's excellent 'Heavy Helmet' 12", the "Loins" take some time out to give Spank! the lowdown on their recent activities.

First things first. For those not in the know, quickly who are the Loin Brothers, what's the relationship with the Paradise Lost parties and how did you guys decide to start producing/performing as the Loin Brothers?

The Loins are Long John Saliva and Silvio Mysterio. Silvio is also a member of Paradise Lost. The Loins formed through a process of discovery and rebirth. Real new age kinda stuff believe it or not. The heat generated from the wild thrusting thrashing loins of the mother dancefloor goddess. We realized that after all this was done that the chances of coming across an experience like this again was pretty slim so we decided to form this production duo in order to relive these moments over and over again.

Future Classic is definitely one of the shining lights in recent years for Australian dance music. How did that relationship come about?

Nathan (at FC) listened to a few demos that Long John had been working on and seemed keen to get him on board. Silvio came along for the ride.

Anyone who has seen the Loin Brothers DJ can testify that you guys project (and exert) a lot of energy behind the decks. Do you think it's important for DJs to make their sets a performance? Is this a conscious decision or a matter of getting wrapped up in the show?

We love what we do and we can really only just be ourselves. It's hard to comment on what other DJs do - it's important that people continue to do whatever they need to do back there and just let Darwinism sort out the rest of it! We are not really the super serious 'pray to the gods house is a spiritual thing' kind of DJs, nor are we the more studious Kraftwerk types. We do what we can to get the crazy shit on and party with the room. 

Do you guys have any particular records that you never leave the house without/makes it into pretty much every set?

Theo Vaness 'Bad Bad Boy' (Kebabiman edit)
Loud E 'Dont Wanna Go'  (Loin rerub)
Idris Muhammad 'Could Heaven Ever Be Like This' (Edit)
Outlander 'Vamp' (Prins Thomas discomix)

Disco DJing and track editing are two arts that go hand in hand? Do you guys spend a lot of time pulling together your own edits/cuts of tracks for performance?

We are heavily into remastering and reworking things to make them work (to our ears). For us, it's all part of the crate-digging process. Re-editing is a good thing to do to make tracks your own... older tracks are really just asking for it as they feature both some really batty bits and can be kinda under-produced (sometimes) so there is a lot of room for you to get in there and amplify the sweet spots. 

You guys have enjoyed some great supports with international touring DJs over the last year and you're going to playing with the legendary Greg Wilson in the coming weeks. Who are your favourite DJs (either played with or witnessed) and what is it about their performance that really gets to you?

Theo Parrish at Sugar in Adelaide was a pretty special night. Theo kept the floor with him until the end. Loud-E is another big one for us. Have not caught him live yet. His energy and taste for pumping Euro disco is pretty hard to beat.

Any party or venue that strikes you as well above par? Favourite gig to play? Most debauched experience?

The recent Picnic warehouse party with Lovefingers is certainly up there for us. It was soooooo good to play to a packed room of people that were totally up for the good stuff. Also a special mention of the Lickit party up in Brissy for Horse Meat Disco last year.

The 'Heavy Helmet' release from last year was a killer, especially for an Australian group showing some real chops in the psych/disco sound. What was in the studio for that production? What hardware/software did you use to pull the track together?

Ahhhhh cheers. We mainly used a Minimoog, a Roland JX-8P, a cheap Les Paul (guitar) copy, a cheap bass guitar, a Marshall amplifier, a Machonator BJ343 and Russian drum machine. We worked it all through Ableton and there is some random VSTs in there too. 

Are there any particular favourite instruments, software or studio gear you care to wax lyrical about?

We have a Russian Lell UDS drum machine that came from latvia. It's basically a black box with 24 knobs on it with the controls written in Cyrilic. It has 2 channels which each contain a tone oscillator and a noise generator. You can trigger the sounds with any audio source which can be pretty fun. It's a bit of a wild beast and can do anything from low throbbing sub bass all the way to weird hi-hat and percussion sounds.

Also, Long John has taken a liking to a satin robe that he likes to spend lonely rainy nights in playing long deep emotional leads. 

With Mock & Toof's Tiny Sticks label releasing some absolute gold and productions on DFA, you must have been pretty happy with having them remix your debut track. Do you guys have any future remixes in the works or artists you plan to get remixes from?

We recently finished a remix of a Sidwho? track (a member of The Swiss) - 'Vote Bowie For President' and we did a remix of the Aston Shuffle last year.

What's next for the Loin Brothers? Any releases, tours or projects in the wings for 2010?

We are currently working on our next release that we expect will be out this year and we have got a bunch of other things in the pipeline too.

At Spank! we love to support local artists/talent. Is there anyone else (Australian) you've been playing with or seen around that havs blown you away. Anybody you would like to give a shout out?

Hail to the Kebabiman of the North; Driller Jet Armstrong and Sidwho? of the Bight; Agent 86 and Phillipo Ransullo of the South and The (mighty) Canyons. Also another big shout out to the Picnic Crew, these guys are constantly bring the heat to the Sydney party scene.

Well there you have it. The good word from the land of Loin. Keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming Loin Brothers releases and parties. They're sure to be of the highest calibre.

Thanks,

Matt

Spank! Records

Mark Murphy Chats With Thug Records' Carlos Zarate (Free Thug Records Track)

Carlos Zarate is one of the most passionate people in Sydney when it comes to music. He was one of our first customers at the old Spank store and has always been loyal, to the point of even being my manager through the good times of my DJing career.

To give you a little bit of history - he set up Thug back in 2005 as a management agency. Then in 2006 launched the Thug Nights brand which was a promotion with the Sweetchilli boys and in 2008 he started Thug Records which was his way of pushing, in his own words, "good f*cking records!"

The label is nearing its 15th release and has even come up with global distribution of its very first vinyl pressing in Jacksonville's 'Dusk'.

Thug music is taking over the world! And to celebrate the fact, Zarate and Thug Records have been kind enough to give us a mp3 to give away. It is an amazing remix from one of our faves, Jimi Polar, of an early Thug release by Adam Jace called 'The Outlaw'. Click here to get the track FREE!

Anyway, Zarate managed to stop managing for five minutes so I could catch up and have a chat to him about what it means to be a label boss - surely a dream of any producer/DJ!

I know you were managing a few very talented DJs (very well, I might add). Why the decision to set up a label?

A number of reasons really. I wanted to set up a label for a while. The catalyst came when one of my major artists moved agencies over to Modular. I saw that as opportunity to take the necessary steps required to establish Thug Records.

How difficult was it to set up? Digital has made it a lot easier, would you agree?

Setting it up was a lot of work. I have to say I couldn't have done it with out my label partner, Tim Culbert. I'm quite good at managing the business side of things. Contracts, building relationships with artists, distributors and retailers however I'm not very good at the online stuff. Tim comes from an IT background and he is a massive help in deciphering HTML code, and utilizing online web shit to full effect. Digital has made setting up a label a lot easier, that's for sure.

Where did the name come from?

The name Thug came from a number of round-table discussions with Mark Murphy and N_Zed - the two original Thug-managed artists. We were looking for names for the agency and had a few options and used to discuss new options every time I came in store to buy records. Thug was the best! Good work MM (shucks, mm).

Tell us a little about the style of music you wanted for the label?

To be honest, I wouldn't really say we have a style. For me it's more of a sound thing. If we can relate to the music and want to get behind it, we will sign it. It's taken 18 months to get to the stage where I'm really confident in our releases.

It seems like you wanted to keep it pretty local. Was that a decision purely based financially or did you want to push the local producer angle?

You have to start somewhere. There is a lot to learn when starting a label. I love supporting local artists but for me the most important thing is releasing good tunes. I'm not fussed if the music comes from NYC, Berlin, Detroit, Sydney or wherever. Being from Australia and being a new label, you need to prove yourself before signing music from established artists. You also need to give yourself time to figure out how things work in all areas of the business, from a distribution perspective, from a financial perspective, all that jazz.

Tell us who you've got on the roster?

No one exclusively, but artists who have been involved so far include Abe Duque, Adam Jace, Agent Matteo, Carlos Zarate, Cosmic Belt, Jacksonville, Jamie Anderson, Jimi Polar, Lukas Greenberg, Luke Fair, Nacho Marco, Nick Hogendoorn, Pete Dafeet, Sebastian Davidson, Steve Jones, Suspect 808, Tim Culbert & Tim Jirgenson.

How hard is it to have an Australian label and compete on Beatport?

We have been really lucky on Beatport. They have been pretty good to us so far. We have had featured releases a few times. We had EPs chart in the Top 100. Been in their mail out. Had a 'number one must hear deep house track for the week'. I think if you present the package well, have your own vibe and get solid support from artists during promo, they will support you.

You've made the decision to put out vinyl. That's a big move. Explain why you thought you needed to do that?

Pressing vinyl doesn't become a place of need, it's a passion. I love vinyl, always have. Still buy it and play it. I guess for me it's a sign of us maturing as a label. It costs a lot of money to press. You need to be behind it 100%. You also need to believe in the music 100%. I move bricks all day so we can press records. I love that. It's like a 'fuck you' to technology.

How is Thug traveling now? Where do you set it in a year's time?

Thug is going great. In 12 months I see us doing what we are doing now but hopefully with a few additional artists who we are really keen to get involved.

What releases are coming up?

Our first vinyl 12" is just out. It features an artist from Leeds (UK) who goes by the name of Jacksonville. The track is called 'Dusk' and features a remix by Abe Duque (NYC). This EP is a vinyl-exclusive so the only way to grab it is by getting the wax. Our next release is an album which I signed from an artist in Berlin while I was there for 4 months last year. His name is Suspect. It's a post-apocalyptic piece which is transmitted via an injection of dark melodies, 909 swing hats, rave pads and 303 acid lines. It's raw analog madness. I'm so excited about the album. It's coming out as a 3-vinyl package. Digitally, we will be releasing the album in a mixed format. Again, if you want the tracks you need to buy the wax!

Murphy.

Best Of The Noughties DJ Charts (Part 24)

Loved by many and disliked by most, Ben Zooky’s continual dreams of lighting up dancefloors, mirrorballs and the never-ending bottle of Bollinger, has seen him sporting his wares across most of Sydney across the second half of the past decade.

Starting back in 2005 with a pair of turntables and a satchel-full of disco records, Ben started to throw parties monthly at a dodgy little Oxford St gin joint. These parties started off with only a handful of friends, but eventually developed into 1000 heads of raving teenage sweat per week. From here, this young teen club hopper's routine grew – spreading his seed across most of Sydney, before taking up a residency at One Love in 2007. He matured for a bit over a year and a half before becoming tired, jaded and eventually deciding to move on. He settled into a home at Ivy Poolclub from its opening night in 2009. Still throwing a handful of boutique disco parties here and there, this kid knows his Noughties like the back of his manicured hands.

In Ben's opinion, these 10 tracks are probably the best of what the last decade had to offer... (in no particular order)

1. Bob Sinclar 'Ich Rocke' (Defected)

2. Tok Tok vs. Soffy O 'Jean' (Code Blue Records)

3. Mylo 'Drop The Pressure' (Breastfed Recordings)

4. Funkdust 'Jupiter' (White Label)

5. 1gnition 'Love Is War' (Kingsize Records)

6. AC/OT 'Acid Is Back' (Superstar Recordings)

7. Ali Love 'Late Night Session' (Phones Filter Dub) (I {Heart} Records)

8. Tiga 'You Gonna Want Me' (Different Recordings)

9. Alter Ego 'Rocker' (Klang Elektronik)

10. Arcade Lovers 'Fantasy Lines' (Tirk Recordings)

Thanks,

Matt.

Let's Get Down To Brass Tax Man... Deepchild's 'Backroom'

For our third instalment of 'Brass Tax' we have the lovely and local Rick Bull (Deepchild). He has been krunking out ghetto-tech for years now and he is currently in between the US and Berlin. As one of the biggest underground artists of Sydney, his presence hasn't gone unnoticed and I must say he has given me some solid insight into his music making philosophy. Sit back and enjoy the read peeps...

You've been writing and producing your own tracks for a while now. Do you find your writing process has changed much over the years? Do you find it easy to get ideas down or does it involve some grand inspiration?

My writing process has changed fairly dramatically over the last 10-15 years, primarily as a result of changes in technology. When I first started producing dance music, I was using an entirely hardware-based setup with quite a lot of analog synth technology and a random array of 80s' drum-machines and outboard effects (transistor delays, verbs etc). For years, I just didn't have the budget, for example, to work in stereo. My old sampler didn't have much RAM at all - so I'd work in mono, often with low bit-rate samples to preserve memory! I'd rarely sample an entire 'loop' of music in the early years...aesthetically, I think that these restrictions led to me doing a lot more pre-preparation work gathering and laying out samples, and in a way, restricted spontaneity in production, whilst grinding into me a certain bloody-minded work ethic. I used to aim to finish one track per month, and for me this would require daily work to achieve. Now, I'm regularly producing a couple a week or more. It's certainly a huge relief to have the tools and work-flow so much more streamlined - largely as the consequence of software-based production.

Grand inspiration? I'd rarely make such claims these days, tho' I used to THINK that good music was the result of profound or somehow shamanistic influence. I look back at many of my 'inspired' works of years back, and they just sound contrived to me; though there are moments of greatness. The older and more established I've become as a producer, the more important a real sense of fun and playfulness is for the process. I've actually found that most of my favourite pieces have been generated by an almost careless approach. I've had the tendency to strangle a groove's natural grace, so I'm learning to let things breathe a little more again. :)

These days, technically speaking, my approach to production (based primarily in Ableton Live) resembles more a game of Twister or Battleships than anything else. I'll never start an entire project from scratch - in fact, I don't think of tracks as unique entities as much as pieces in a larger sonic mozaic...in a sense, this is a reflection of tracks as 'DJ Tools', but my assumption isn't that the as-yet-uncreated tracks need bare any semblance to each other, rather, my focus begins, ALWAYS, with extended hours of making and cataloging sounds and loops. I'll typically launch Reaktor or FM8 in Ableton and 'blap' out a bunch of 8-bar loops, then file them away. I feel like my artistic contribution to the construction process, at this stage, is simply not to judge what I'm making. Hat-loop, bam...file it away...weird squelch-loop...bam...file it away. Vocal cut-up, percussion loop, anomalous bleep...etc...etc. I'll usually carry around a little portable sound-recorder (my Edirol ER-09) to record vocal ideas (it's usually where most of my finished vocals are actually recorded - I like the lo-fi restrictions of the device!) and sometimes percussive ideas, if particular ones hit. I'll usually have pen and paper at hand (or an iPhone) too...to notate shorter motifs of tracks which I might like to reference. Always taking notes. :)

The fun for me is the process of then loading up a massive Ableton Live session, with literally hundreds of random clips. I'll drag in elements I've previously constructed and jam them out just to see which loops and sounds synergize with each other. Often, I'll then re-render groups of patterns, layering up the basic elements. Some loops 'talk' to each other, some don't. The creative process is about identifying the resonance between the best sonic elements. The narrative, the flow & the structure flows most organically from these relationships.

My biggest creative challenge is rarely the generation of ideas and almost entirely related to editing. My tendency is to clutter tracks when they'd be better off breathing....it's a nervous habit.

When you've got some ideas down, do you know straight away if it's working or not? Do you like to get another set of ears during the early stages?

Generally speaking, I can judge fairly quickly when a jam has potential to blossom. Often though (due to my often-temporary studio and monitoring setups) it will really require 'club play' to ascertain the finer challenges of a mix-down. Particularly working with a lot of sub-bass, both in kick and bass parts, real low-end synergy is a challenge for me. Moreso, writing material to really work on particular club-systems in Europe (eg Panoramabar, Fabric etc) is something that's important to me and also posesses it's own challenges. A high-end system like a Funktion One can really hold a lot of inaudible sub-bass very well, whereas the same mix might prove unlistenable on a smaller non-pro system, or in a club with hard-wired limiters. I write with an increasing sense of physical context in mind and an awareness of where a tune will be mastered.

Regarding structure and general vibe, I really appreciate another set of ears, though it still terrifies me! Girlfriends are a great acid-test for booty-factor and very forgiving perspective-givers on things. I'm terrible at collaborative works and co-productions in general (my ego is rampant), but the more mature I feel my work becomes, the more (personally) I feel that music creation IS a collaborative process. How could it be anything but? We collaborate with our software, our history, our musical references, and (hopefully) our listeners. Without this reality in mind, I feel that music is worse off.

Do you usually start with the same element i.e. drum track, riff, bassline or sample. Is there any method to the madness?

It's like a game of twister and all the loops are invited! I'll never start 'naked' with a solo-element anymore. I find my richest works come from a non-linear approach rather than a 'slow layering' approach. I start with a big mess of clay and cut away - rather than building a clay person from legs, arms, a head...I find that the only way to hear how a single element will work, is in the context of other parts or, at least, in the context of 'sister' elements. For example, kick+bass parts - how do they glue together? Do they rub against each other? Is there pressure and release? Snare + hats - are their shuffles locking? Are they offering a call-and-response?

I think of these little parts as personalities in a conversation. I think of grouped parts as conversations in a room. I think of the track as a group consciousness, sometimes even of strangers. Micro-narratives, stories re-told. Sometimes the stories told don't even make sense, yet in the context of a greater piece, offer some valuable cultural reference. I think that this has always been the wonder of electronic/sample-based music. The power to re-contextualize disparate elements in a way that may have an unexpected, yet undeniable cultural resonance. I've been involved for a few years with assisting the production of a US documentary called 'Speaking In Code', which I feel is a brilliant insight into this notion of contextual mashup. The name says it all. The doco follows Modeselektor and Wighnomy Brothers, primarily... highly recommended for producers to check out.

You seem to always have a great ear for feel. What defines this in dance music for you? Can you give us any secrets on how to achieve 'feel' in tracks or is it a black art?

Aww, thanks. Stylistically, my ears/heart are still very much lodged in 'Black Music' history...from African music, to soul, jazz, hip-hop, funk and techno. I'm not sure if my 'feel' ticks everyone's boxes, but these are undoubtedly my primary influences. I guess that one thing that the Black musical story has taught me, is that the technology we use is only a tool, a conduit for expression. Most of my heroes (Miles Davis, Jimmy Hendrix, Sun Ra, George Clinton, Derrick May, King Tubby, J. Dilla etc etc) really embraced the technology at hand, yet never seemed intent on letting its restrictions dictate or limit their approach to expression. None of these artists were subservient to the technology - in fact, they largely sought to subvert it. Jimmy played with his teeth...he detuned shit. Sun Ra was a brilliant jazz musician, but began to wholeheartedly subvert accepted tonality. Perhaps, closer to my direct experience/influence as groove-broker would be Dilla (though all of the figures mentioned feature deeply for me). Dilla's approach always reminds me that 'feel/groove' is not necessarily mathematically obvious. There are certain patterns and feels which 'work' (for sure!), but there's a magic in calculated risk in PUSHING a feel or element of groove. A definitive part of my 'Deepchild' sound is a conscious desire to play with elements which might push/pull a little. I'd rather be dirty than clean. I'd rather be loose than tight. Story of my life.

What DAW, or combination thereof, do you prefer to work with? Can you give us any standout reason's why it's #1 for you?

I'm using Ableton Live 8 now as my only DAW. I used to use Reason a lot too, rewired through Ableton. Both these DAWs I chose, primarily because they are quick and fun to work with. Neither have spectacular fidelity (at least, not without some concerned effort/awareness of optimizing their sound) but both are fun, quick and can be extended quite deeply and creatively. I've had to travel a lot so it's been really helpful to me to have tools which aren't processor-intensive, which I can also translate seamlessly into a live performance setting. Many of my tracks are actually generated at sound-check for a gig -when I have the luxury of a loud club system to test out freshly baked loops through. I'll load up a live set, save versions and customize arrangements in 10-15 minutes of 'Rick+Funktion One Time'. For me, the interface between live performance and composition in Ableton is just SO compelling. It's my tool of choice.

So let's get down to brass tax man... What are your weapons of choice? Hardware synths, drum machines, plugins, effects and outboard gear? What does it for you in the studio?

Roland SH-101 - my most enduring analogue synth. Nothing has ever come close to its breadth and richness of tone. Simple, direct, brilliant and gorgeous. The step-sequencer is a stroke of simplistic brilliance. It's squelch-tastic.

Elektron Machinedrum - the one drum machine (and I've had SO many) which I've held on to - it travels with me everywhere. Gorgeous build, the joy of a real machine 'feel', crunchy and tactile, and SO much fun to use live. This tool is as much a reminder, to me, of my roots, as it is a production tool. It sounds warm and crunchy...and any tool which Autechre AND John Tejada have as part of their live arsenal must be worth something. It's just a really gorgeous object with frequently surprising sonic potential.

Apogee Duet (Firewire outboard sound-card) - another simply gorgeous piece of kit. Well-built so it travels well (you have NO idea how much gear I've broken in transit!) and does what the package says. 2-in, 2-out channels of gorgeous Apogee sound. This RADICALLY changed my mixes when I bought it.

Yamaha HS80M Monitors - I love these. And yes, they are fairly similar to the ubiquitous NS10 monitors - if you can pull a good mix on these, your mix will sound good on any monitors. I agree - they are mid-priced and available everywhere. I actually own a pair in my Sydney studio, a pair in Europe and a pair for Berlin. Sounds like overkill, perhaps, but it's cheaper than shipping a single pair around to various studios. Great low-end detail for such a cheap monitor. Listening to anything through these, for me, is like coming home....as strange as that sounds!

Native Instruments Battery, FM8, Reaktor - great software tools, gorgeously designed, and fantastically Hi-Fi sound-engine. I generally avoid the obvious presets in packages like Battery (808 kit, 909 kit etc) as they are just SO ubiquitous and identifiable. There's some really great sound gems in all of these packages, especially when you dig deeper and begin to edit. The open library (user generated) for Reaktor is really exciting to me. Thousands of patches and ideas, ready to explore and build. Love these tools.

PSP Vintage Warmer and XENON Limiter - these are my two special software Rolls-Royces. Great, warm and luxurious compressor and limiter. I find them robust and friendly to use - the Vintage Warmer can be very coloured and warm, which I love....whereas the XENON can be amazingly transparent - great for limiting DJ mixes too. I spent what felt like a lot of money on both of these, but they are great. Shame about the dongle requirement though.

Do you have any favourite production techniques that just make a track work for you?

Hmmm...none too many that I am brave enough to share in my own productions. I usually side-chain a LOT (probably too much), even effects-buses. EQing out uneccessary frequencies from every part is an obvious but really important process for me, and one which took me years to remember! Usually, if a track feels a little too stagnant to me, I'll add noise, hum, rumble. When you feel like you're mixing from inside a womb, things just make more sense. Often, I'll edit out the 'womb' elements toward the end of production...but noise is always a comfort to me. :)

When it came to the mix stage of 'Backroom', did you do it yourself or send it somewhere else? If so, who and where are your first choices for mixing your music? Mastering?

Possibly THE most D.I.Y approach to mix and composition I've ever used on a track. I mixed it down in a girlfriend's sister's bedroom in Maroubra, straight off the plane from Europe. In fact, I WROTE the track in the same room and sung the lyric out in the backyard through into my ER-09. There are some 'chime-like' sounds at the beginning which are recordings of the wind chimes in the yard, near the garden gnome. My mix approach was very loose. I put my head close to the speaker at low volume, for most of the high-end mix-down, and turned the mix loud (whilst sitting on the bed - this was a very small room!) to hear the bass and kick levels. Loud, quiet, bed, school desk. You do the best you can, right?

For mix/master, Timetools in Hannover is my #1 choice. It's Martin Buttrich's studios and their mastering is spot-on. Lovely dudes to work with too. My Trapez material is all mastered in-house at Kompakt/Traumschallplatten by their in-house dude. It's certainly got a particular sound...one I'm still learning to write effectively for, given my distance from the studio over the last 6 months in Australia. Dubplates and mastering, in Berlin is, of course, classic and robust mastering. Very high on my list of favs!

Mixing, I've not had so much experience with as I do this mostly myself. My approach these days is a lot more aggressive than it used to be, but I owe a debt of thanks to Ben Feggans at SONAMAX in Sydney, who's taught me so much about mix-downs after doing several for me.

Thanks for your time Rick. I've always been a big fan! What's on the cards for Deepchild in 2010?

Currently in Seattle after a wonderful week of 'gig-aktion' and Olympic mayhem in Vancouver. I'm playing a couple of shows here this weekend before hitting San Fran for a while, where I'm playing with Worthy and various Dirtybirds at Endup. Then off to Detroit for a show there with Konrad Black...then Berlin for the rest of the year. I've just been booked to play Berghain, Berlin, again in July, which is very exciting. It's my favourite club in the world. Next up, release-wise, is Trapez 107 'Fire' 12" - with a great bunch of remixes from the likes of KiNK, Butch and our own Dopamine. More recently, I've done remix work for [a]pendics.shuffle, Dopamine and the brilliant Portformat (proper Dilla-style hip hop joints from them!) and a few others. I should be returning to play Detroit Electronic Music Festival in late May - so right now, I'm based in Berlin for the indefinite future and jumping to and from the USA. Wacky. :)

Deepchild's 'Backroom' release is available on Trapez now.

Love Always,

Rich.

Ortofon and Serato combine for the S-120 Timecode DJ Cartridge

Two of the heavyweights in DJ-land have joined forces to create new technology in the world of Digital DJing. Allow me to introduce the new S-120 DJ Cartridge jointly developed by Ortofon and Serato.

The Cart will be available in the familiar 'OM' format and the all-in-one 'Concorde' solution. Both carts boast the new technology dubbed 'Asymmetric Suspension' - this involves increased amounts of vertical rigidity and much more horizontal tracking ability allowing the stylus to move more freely while maintaining better groove handling. This groove handling and tracking ability is maintained at any speed or direction allowing scratch DJs to cut it up all the while being confident in their needles not skipping.

The exceptional tracking ability of the S-120 stylus makes it possible to play the loudest pressings at a bare minimum of tracking force, and still keep record wear at a minimum level.

In store soon.

Love Always,

Rich

Ultimate Optimo: Mark Murphy Interviews Optimo.

Can someone get bored with techno?

Well that's what happened in 1997 when Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes decided that 4/4 techno all night long was about as interesting as listening to the BBC test pattern signal.

Twitch was resident and co-founder of Scotland's first techno club, Pure, while Wilkes was based at the Glasgow night, Knucklehead. Both became disillusioned with the trappings of techno and the restrictions of playing in that genre.

As great stories go, they hooked up and decided to open their own club. They decided on the name Optimo (Espacio), which summed up musically where they wanted to go. That was back to the early eighties to New York where the fusion of electro, disco, punk and no-wave knew no bounds. The name also came from seminal New York band Liquid Liquid's song of the same name from 1983.

As legends go, the club has now become a Glasgow institution and was first to push emerging artists like Franz Ferdinand, Peaches, LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture and more.

You can find their music and remixes on labels from Eskimo to Domino from Dissident to Endless Flight and the pair has also toured the world and are making their way back to Sydney for Ha Ha's next Under The Radar warehouse gig on Saturday night alongside locals Dean Dixon and Dave Fernandes.

I had the chance to catch both of them before they headed for the airport.

It's a pretty amazing feat to have a club still open and relevant after more than a decade and more so with dance music changing so much in  that period. How do you explain that?

Wilkes: Our early aspirations were nothing more than that we wanted to have a party which was FUN to be at and somewhere we could play whatever we wanted – really literally, whatever we wanted. It sounds cheesey but we really did want to put a smile on people’s faces and play music they could have fun dancing to. It’s important to remember that dance music in the UK was not very inspiring around ‘96/’97. In fact it was monotonous to say the least. The clubs were populated mainly by males and there was an aggressive atmosphere in a lot of  places. The whole experience of going out and playing in dance parties was getting grim. We wanted to have a place that was, yes, 'fun'. Djing became really fun again for us and to our surprise, people really connected with it. I think they still do.

Does that also say something about Glasgow? It is as much about the music as it is about the punters. How do you think you have created that loyalty?

I think people everywhere want to have fun. It is true to say though that the Glaswegian crowd especially do. We feel very fortunate to have a crowd like it week in, week out. I’m not sure why we’ve enjoyed such a loyal following...I suppose we have strict quality control over what we bring to the club and we never cash in nor charge more than we ought to at the door for parties. I think it’s important to remember what’s expected of you as a host.

You always hear (and I'm not sure how accurate this is) how depressing and cold Glasgow is. Tell us about your Glasgow and what it means to  you?

I was born and brought up in Belfast and I remember a lesson at school when I was about 10 years old – you had to draw your impression of another city in the UK -  I had to draw Glasgow. I drew slag heaps, factory chimneys, rain and a football ground but I didn’t draw any people and it’s the people who make the city. They are so warm, energetic and creative. It’s been a great place to live and always continues to inspire me.

Can you remember the first time you two met and what you thought  of each other?

It was on a bus going to Pure in Edinburgh where Keith was resident. Don’t know what Keith thought of me at the time but I thought he was a nice chap.

You wear your influences on your sleeve (hence your name). Is  this the music you were listening to as a teenager or was it something you discovered later on?

Much later in life, the nineties in fact. I was into punk from a very early age. There was a burgeoning local scene in Northern Ireland in the late 70s/early 80s and I was lucky that I got the bus home from school with some older lads who kept me informed and helped me make good choices on what music to spend my pocket money on. As for the NY scene, obviously I knew the Ramones, Patti Smith and later on as an art student I discovered Robert Mapplethorpe, Yoko Ono, even Glenn Branca and a few others who crossed over scenes but it wasn’t until later that I explored the post punk scene in any detail and got into bands like Liquid Liquid.

Was there a club night in Glasgow which formed your first great impression? Was this where the notion of being a DJ came from?

Pure in Edinburgh more than anything really. No, I became a DJ by accident.

What were you playing when your first started DJing? You mentioned that you were getting bored playing techno hence the reason for Optimo.

Twitch: I started DJing in 1986 and was playing things like Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, lots of Wax Trax 12"s, lots of Adrian Sherwood productions, ultra heavy dub, HINRG, Schoolly D and early hardcore, hip hop, electro pop and some guitar bands like Swans, Butthole Surfers and Sonic Youth. Then house and techno came along and I started Scotland's first techno club (Pure) in 1989 which ran until 2000 (we were the first people in Europe to bring over Richie Hawtin, Carl Craig and Green Velvet). By 1997, I was bored only playing techno and house so started Optimo purely for my own amusement and that of a handful of friends.

Tell us about Optimo, the club? How did that come about? Where was it and what was the music policy? Can you still remember opening night? What year?

It came about because at that point clubbing had become a bit boring and I was bored of all the clubs in Glasgow. I wanted to start a party purely for the enjoyment of myself and a few friends and with it being a Sunday, realized I had a lot more freedom to play whatever I wanted. It was never a consideration that it might be successful or last more than a few months. I needed someone else to play so I asked Jonnie (Wilkes) as he had a similar outlook. It opened in November 1997 in the same club where we are now - The Sub Club. There were about 75 people there and it was the most fun I'd ever had DJing. The music policy was that there was no music policy.

It sounds like it was pretty outrageous? What was the crowd like?

The crowd was very sparse and I think I knew almost everyone there on the first night. Then it started to grow and seemed to draw in every freak and outcast in the city.

When did you start producing as Optimo? It sounds like a logical step?

I started producing in the late 1990s. Originally we didn't use the Optimo name but I started using it for remixes around 2003. Jonnie remixes under a different alias - Naum Gabo. As yet, I have still to release any original music under the Optimo name.

What was the first thing you produced and was it easy to get it released?

The first thing I produced was a 12" under the name of Mount Florida. It came out on my own label so it was very easy to get released!

How did the How To Kill A DJ comp come about? Anyone who puts 'Sex Dwarf' on a comp is OK by me. Was this a good indication of the music at the club?

We had played the Kill The DJ night in Paris a few times and become firm friends and musical allies with the people behind it so they asked us to do a mix for them. The idea was to condense a whole night at Optimo into 75 minutes, so yes, it was a good indication of the music we were playing at the club at that point in time.

Obviously dance music has changed a lot. What are you guys playing and making now? Are you still enjoying the club?

Yes, very much although we have some big changes planned for later this year.

What can we expect from Optimo's set in Sydney?

It always seems disingenuous to say this but it is true - I really won't know until I get somewhere what we will play. But, we will definitely be playing music for dancing to.

Murphy.