After just two years behind the decks, local DJ Jon Noonan has accomplished what many new DJ’s could only dream of. He took out the best newcomer award at the 2003 Perth Dance Music Awards as well as winning the Nescafe Global Tour in 2002 where he played a set at a Ministry of Sound gig in Mexico. Some of you may have already had the chance to hear Jon play. His penchant for quality progressive trance and tech tunes mixed with his smooth technical skills makes for a very fine set whenever he plays.

You can check Jon out at the upcoming ‘Renaissance Sander Kleinenberg Everybody Tour’ doing a local support set as well as running his own progressive trance/tech night ‘Therapy’ which is on every Thursday night at the White Sands Tavern.



I’ve heard many DJ’s describe how they first got into dance music. For some it was hearing a single track, an album or even attending an event. What was it that initially got you hooked on dance music?

When I was in high school I listened to Triple J like a lot of kids my age but I wouldn’t have described myself as a music buff. I was rejected from med school at UWA after I finished school in 2000 so I decided to take a year off and earn some money in the ‘real’ world. Working full time 40 hours a week and not allowed to go to any 18+ venues due to my late birthday, I found myself with more money than I knew what to do with. I found that I could catch the Red Cat bus into Perth and check out the music stores on my lunch break – the beginning of my obsession. Less than a week before Club Nation 2001 I had my 18th birthday and decided to check out what all the Ministry of Sound fuss was about. My friends and I had a few drinks beforehand (by a few I mean about 5 pints in a little more than an hour), stumbled into Metro City to hear Declan Lee spinning Infusion – Starwater, It’s Alright (Chicken Little Remix) and I was instantly hooked.



So how did you end up as a DJ? Where was your first gig and what was it like?

I was curious to know what all those buttons do and how you can get two tracks playing at the same time without making it sound like someone is having a fit on a drumkit. I saved up some money and bought 2 CDJ100s and a DJM300, hooked it up to my stereo and got practicing. A couple of months later I bought 2 cheap Gemini turntables and started my (now rather large) vinyl collection. My first gig was doing a Monday backpackers’ night at the Stamford Arms, Scarborough, in late 2001 with Karl Kraven from DJFunktions as a kind of on-the-job training.



You now get booked for support at major events as well as running your new regular mid week progressive/trance night ‘therapy’ at the White Sands Hotel. What was your progression from your first gig to your current one? How long have you been DJ’ing for?

Haha… all in all, I think I’ve been DJ’ing for about 2 years now but I am still yet to do any gigs for Delirium. Most of the major gigs I have DJ’ed at have been as a result of winning a competition, such as the Nescafe & Ministry of Sound Global Tour in Mexico and recently Godskitchen at Metro City. Things look set to change in the near future though and I look to be getting booked more now through Mellen Events and Omega Trance Productions in the next few months. I actually left DJFunktions on bad terms because I felt frustrated with where I was going. My first vinyl gig was at the UWA tavern in early 2002, where I got to play what I liked and experimented with some housey and progressive stuff. I scored my first residency at Club Red Sea after only a few months on the decks but I found that what I could play was very restricted and I left the club after a couple of months. I saw an ad for a Ministry of Sound competition on the internet in June 2002 where I had to download 5 tracks and mix them up using a program called “AtomixMP3”. The top 10 4 minute mixes were to be shortlisted for the DJ final and since there were about 3000 mixes sent in I didn’t think anything of it until I got an email from Momentum UK asking me to send in a 30min video tape of me mixing it up on the decks. This 10 was to be cut down to 4 finalists. I wasn’t expecting to get in the top 10 let alone the top 4, so you can imagine how excited I was when I received another email telling me that I was going to be flown around the world to compete against 3 other DJs from across Asia and Oceania in the final. The competition was judged by Andy Morris (Narcotic Thrust) and Decoder and Substance (Kosheen). I went in with the philosophy of “well I wasn’t expecting to get this far so I’ll just go out and enjoy myself” and played one of my best progressive trance sets, then proceeded to drink as much Corona as I could handle, yelling “Australia” at every random person I made eye contact with. Once the competition finished there was a pause, then the MC read: “The winner of the Asia region of the Nescafe Global Tour DJ competition is Jonathan Noonan!” As my grand prize I won the privilege of DJ’ing with the judges at the big Ministry event the next night. Since then I have become a lot more trancey in my sets and have got into promoting to try to find myself work, because any upcoming DJ will tell you it’s very difficult to break into the industry without any help.


Describe the style of music you play…

My preferred style is progressive trance but there is also some good tech-trance out at the moment, such as Mark Norman’s stuff, that has elements of tech without sounding techno. I also play progressive and tech house but even this retains elements of trance. I’m a sucker for a good synth line.


You are obviously into progressive house/trance. Are there other genres that you enjoy?

I like everything from good UK house through to techno, breaks and drum and bass. If I think the music is intelligent and has been cleverly put together I’ll enjoy it. The only styles of dance I don’t like are happy hardcore and commercial dance, especially commercial trance because it gives what I play a bad name.


Who are some artists or DJ’s that influence or inspire your chosen sound?

Ferry Corsten is my favourite DJ. I’m also heavily influenced by what Armin van Buuren and Tiesto play and produce. These 3 are not only great DJs but their production work is first class. If you asked me to name my favourite producer I would have to say M.I.K.E. He continually produces killer tracks and remixes time and time again.


What tunes are rocking your crate at the present moment?

God where do I start? I’ll try and give you my top 20 tunes at the moment:
1. Solar Factor – Urban Shakedown (G&M Project Mix)
2. Marco V – Solarize
3. Aalto – Rush (Original Mix)
4. Matti Laamanen – Flakes (Original Mix)
5. Svenson & Gielen ft Jan Johnston – Beachbreeze (Remember the Summer)
6. Solid Globe – North Pole (Original Mix)
7. Condor – Velvet Dreams (Velvet Mix)
8. Motorcycle – As the Rush Comes (Armin van Buuren’s Universal Religion Mix)
9. Robert Gitelman – Things to Say (Original Mix)
10. Empyreal Sun – Twisted Reality
11. Armin van Buuren – Slipstream
12. Igor S – Boomerang (Igor’s Mix)
13. Nightvision – Believin’ (J&R Remix)
14. Push vs globe – TRANCEFORMATION
15. Aly & Fila – Eye of Horus (Ronski Speed Mix)
16. Afterburn – Summer Sun
17. Robert Lidstroem – Recitation (Misja Helsloot Remix)
18. Karada – Last Flight (Harry Diamond and David Pannell Remix)
19. Gouryella – Ligaya (Original Mix)
20. M.O.R.P.H. – Creatures (Arc in the Sky Remix)


In your experiences as a DJ you have played elsewhere. How would you say the Perth scene measures up to others?

The Perth scene is not surprisingly small compared to Melbourne and Sydney and certainly compared to Acapulco, Mexico. I’ve noticed that Perth clubbers seem to be very conservative. They like to stick to their regular hangouts which makes starting up a new club or pub night difficult and requires a lot of promotional investment. For someone like myself that likes hearing progressive and tech trance there isn’t really anywhere to go on the weekend when Godskitchen isn’t in town. Quarantine at the Marble Bar would have been good if we could have pulled a large enough crowd to keep it running on a weekly basis. Fortunately, Omega Trance Productions look like they are going to run some trance events in the coming months in addition to their psy/trance night which I am looking forward to. If you like breaks, techno or drum and bass you are in luck because Perth has a very strong community for these styles and talented DJs to go with it.


Within the local arena there are so many talented DJ’s and producers. Who would you say has impressed you and why?

Choice is probably the one Perth DJ that has impressed me the most. He plays something between progressive house and trance which goes back to my early influences in the genre. His mixing skills are top notch and his track selection is never boring. I congratulate him on taking out best trance DJ at the recent Perth Dance Music Awards.


Perth sometimes misses out on headlining acts and big name DJ’s at festivals/events due to its location and size. As a result many of the local events/club nights held are quite reliant on local talent and support. Do you think this has a positive or negative impact on the development of the scene?

I guess it depends on who the promoters get to DJ at the events. If the DJs play creative sets and have good track selection then people will want to hear more of them, but if they play tunes that annoy punters it will be harder to push the scene on to impressionable people that are curious about dance music. If the local lineup is of a high standard I think this can definitely be good for the development of the scene.


Have you ever done any production work or do you plan to in the future?

Haha… nothing worth showing anyone else. Yes I have played around with programs like Fruityloops, Cool Edit Pro and Logic Audio but I haven’t got serious with it yet. Being a full-time uni student I don’t have much time to sit down and make music but I plan to knuckle down and do something over the post-exam break this summer.


When you’re not cranking the tunes what else do you do besides DJ’ing? Do you get much spare time and if so what do you do for fun?

I get more spare time than most people would, which I probably should be using for study. I play goalkeeper for the University Hockey Club during winter and fortunately I haven’t broken any fingers yet. One of my mates is a computer whiz so sometimes the boys go over to his place to blow each other up on our pc’s. My favourite pastime is to hang out with mates, whether that be down at the pub, at a rave or at someone’s house. Whatever we do you can guarantee there will be alcohol involved.


Food and drink wise, what is it that cranks your tractor?

I love meat. There’s nothing more satisfying than sinking your teeth into a big steak when you’re hungry. Drink wise, I have to confess that I’m a bit of a caffeine addict. Last week when I had 2 major assignments due at uni I was averaging about 5 coffees a day.


What have been your favourite gigs that you’ve been to and/or played at?

My favourite gig would probably be Two Tribes this year. There were so many good international acts, the turnout was huge and everyone was really friendly. My favourite gigs that I played at have been Ministry of Sound in Mexico where I played to over 2000 people and recently at Godskitchen in the upstairs bar of Metro City because that was the first time I got to play what I like to a receptive local crowd.


So, what’s next on your agenda? Do your future plans involve dance music?

I’m sure dance music will always be a part of my life. As I mentioned before, I plan to produce some music over the summer vacation to get my name recognised over in the eastern states which I hope will eventually lead to gigs in Sydney and Melbourne and after that, who knows?