Eighteen years is a long time to be a part of any industry – let alone one as fickle as the dance industry. Yet this is how long John Course’s passion has spanned. Eighteen years of listening to music and listening to music change. Nonetheless it should be noted that the entire eighteen years wasn’t just dedicated to one particular facet of his career; John course is a man of many faces.

With a penchant for funky sounds, John Course, the DJ spins around the country from unadvertised intimate club nights through to stadium raves. John Course the producer, on the other hand, is particuarly studio savvy with notable remixes under his belt and collaborative production work galore. Finally John Course, the Vicious Vinyl head honcho is quiet and astute but also a vital component to the Melbourne music scene. ITM’s palu gets the lowdown on the man with many faces, just before his long anticipated gig in the nation’s capital.

Firstly, how was 2003 for you? What were some of the highlights and low points?

2003 was a busy year and in some respects both very successful and very volatile. From a DJ point of view it was a great year. I continued many of my regular touring gigs, fitted in some new ones, did the “A Night Out with Vicious grooves” compilation which won a DMA and did the Minsitry 2004 Annual. From a label perspective we had great success with J Wess, signed NuBreed and returned to and moved on from our label deal with FMR (although they still handle J Wess for us).

What have you been up to lately?

DJing lots and working in the office lots! J Wess’s album is coming as is NuBreed’s so the planning stages of all that keeps me very busy. DJ wise the GP weekend in Melbourne was craaazzzyyy! Ferrari party, TAG party, One Love and Betterdays… busy!

How would you personally describe your sounds?

Up, funky and fun. I try to keep plenty of new stuff in my sets but still a few you know.

Do you think your sounds have evolved much over the years? And how so?

A DJ’s sound is always evolving as is club music. But for the last 5 years or so I have revolved around funky house mainly, with a touch of an electro-ish track, a breaks track, a progressive-ish track thrown throughout.

Being the bigwig for VV, What sort of tunes or artists are you getting into at the moment?

Ha, big wig…sometimes when your sitting behind a desk being a “professional e-mail replier” you seem quite removed from that description! Vicious wise I have heard a lot of the NuBreed album…”One Day” is an amazing tune…such a top vocal. Have some bits and pieces from some local producers and on a personal level I am eagerly awaiting the new NERD album.


What was it like winning People’s choice best DJ at DMAs last year? How important are these types of awards to you?

It is always great to win something like this because you’re being acknowledged for something you already love doing. It’s nice to know people dig what you do but you shouldn’t let it go to your head.

Having been around for a while, how do feel about the failing of superclubs and notable publications overseas leading to speculations of dance music’s supposed demise?

Superclub’s success or failure is not reflective of the success of dance music and what I have been involved in for the last 17 years. I think people will always go out and dance but the scene evolves, from tiny and underground to mainstream. The commercial opportunities may change a little due to the mainstreams perspective of dance music but I was involved before there were superclubs so what difference should their success or failure make to my love of club music? One of my favourite gigs as a DJ is Q Bar in Melbourne that basically don’t advertise… it was great 6 years ago and I am still there now and it is still great.

What’s the criteria for selecting tracks for something like Ministry Annual 2004? What sort of stuff do you look out for?

Different compilations have different criteria…by the very nature of the ANNUAL it requires a certain amount of the year’s anthems so I tried to get some of the really big tracks that had been played by me a lot and were massive for me. People should be able to buy the Annual and get a snap shot of the overall 03-04 summer in clubland. If they want a more detailed definition then go and find the specialist breaks CD, or the hard house one, or the local club one. For the One Love CD I am currently working on I want it to reflect the actual club and what I play there, as opposed to reflecting an overall vibe of the whole Australian scene which I think the Annual does very well.

How do feel about the Internet and its role in the music industry today? Do you think illegal file sharing is damaging or beneficial to the artist?

First question…how many artists use a bootleg plug in, soft synth or sequencing program? I would estimate 99.9% so they have very little case to argue about pirating of copyright material. That aside, I do think people should be rewarded for their artistic work and I believe that when tracks are available for a couple of bucks people will not cringe about buying them. But at the moment that is not the case. I feel that many big music organisations, particularly Publishing companies are incredibly close minded to what is happening and the limitations they are imposing on download technology is leaving us at risk of a Beta Vs VHS type war. Consumers, hesitant to adopt either, will simply continue to use the totally free and non limited services, which is bad for everyone.

Can you tell us about any current projects you’re working on at the moment?

AT the label on the NUBreed album and J Wess stuff (that’s on a business level). Personally on a One Love Mix CD and starting back into some production.

Any production/remix plans this year?

As above…but its easier said than done so I wont speak too much until
I have something to show.

You’re playing in Canberra for the first time in a very long time. Do you have any expectations?

I know the Canberra crew are into lots of music and I know a few people from there via the label so hopefully we will have some fun and get to see and hear what I am about as a DJ in a live environment.

Catch John Course at Academy this Friday 11th