Dee Dee: "I won't stop until I've rocked every dancer on the floor"

Do you remember the first time you got behind the decks? What inspired you?

I do remember. The biggest inspiration was that I was too self-conscious to dance! But the music really was the biggest player – the thrill, and self indulgence, of playing all of the tracks that moved me.

So how long have you been playing out? And is it still fun?

I’ve been playing out now for nearly 12 years and hell yes it’s still fun!

From what I’ve heard about your sets you like to keep the dance floor pumping. How does it feel to see people ‘going off’? And do you like a sense of interacting with punters?

I do aim to get the floor pumping. For the most part I get booked to play at “party’s” so I take to assuming the people actually want to “party”, so I play “party” music… And I really love that feeling in music. There’s nothing like seeing the floor respond favourably… And interacting with punters? Sometimes… I often have my head in the mixer for way too long a period!

You’ve lived in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, each of them having their own dance music culture and communities… Do you think you could identify some of the best things of these diverse locations?

I did live in Sydney and Melbourne, but not Adelaide – I was there for the Fringe festival. Sydney has a very raw, or political kind of climate in the dance scene I was part of. We we’re all very active in protests, etc. I was much younger when I was there and to be honest it was all strawberries and cream. It was all a big learning curve, both personally and career-wise. I didn’t really read that much into it. The best thing in Sydney was perhaps the attitude that a lot of the punters had: being more politically aware made people act in a different way. Whereas Melbourne, when I got here, wasn’t quite so P.C. It wasn’t bereft of it, but it wasn’t as prevalent. Melbourne seemed to know how to let all the baggage and drama drop, and just get down and party properly. I’ve spent time in Adelaide and when the fringe festival is on it totally rocks.

You and Jason Platts (DJ Slack) are the directors of Teriyaki Anarki Saki in Melbourne, now in it’s 8th year. How did it all begin?

This is where Adelaide comes into it. I was there for the festival and was asked by an anonymous Melbourne promoter to be a resident at a club he was forming. When I got to Melbourne the deal fell through. Bummer! BUT… I met Jason, who had heard me play a couple of weeks or so earlier, and he liked what I had done so much that he approached me with an idea to do a club night at a club that he was managing, Sadies. After a meeting or 2 we came up with the plan.

And if Sydney clubbers were heading to Melbourne, and like me have never experienced Teriyaki Anarki Saki, how would you describe the night – as in what’s the ethos, music styles, crowd, energy, where, when, etc?

Right from the beginning of Teriyaki our motto and focus has been to have quality, on all levels, and a phobia-free environment. If you want to really let yourself go, then we hope and strive for Teriyaki as being the place to do it: whether you’re straight or gay, a punk rocker (with a secret dance-music fetish) to geeks, anything goes. Of course we’re not into impolite, unsociable behaviour: there’s a way to be loose and still be non-confronting to other punters. Teriyaki has for the most part had 2 sound system: the main room and the chill room. In the main room it’s dancer focused: expect a broad range of funky to hard techno, punctuated with electro, house, booty, breakbeat. But always focused on keeping a dancefloor pumped. In the chill, anything goes: we’ve had 6 piece jazz bands, indonesian puppetry (with accompanying music), rock, classical, 80’s trash, you name it. The crowd is a mixed bag. Everything from ravers to punks and goths to drag queens to classy suit-wearing party-hounds – not business-heads stumbling in from the pub that just kicked them out from up the road! Teriyaki is now on only periodically. Our next event is our 8th birthday on Friday 28th of May at Room680. People can always see what we’re up to by checking our website – www.teriyakianarkisaki.com.

You’ve played alongside a diverse range of DJ and performers. Who else would you love the chance to play with, in a musical sense of course?

Far out… I’ve had the privilege of playing with a lot of people. When it comes down to it, it’s all really a passing thing. You say hi, you play, you party, you go home. I would like to play with people who inspire me to do my absolute best. And who know how to unwind afterwards.

You’ve been producing music for some time now. In terms of music production what essential elements do you want to capture in a track?

The “hook” is the essential bit. The bit that you can remember about a track even if you’ve heard it only once. It could be a bassline, a vocal, a melody… And also high, clear production. I’ve had the chance to hear, buy and then play a lot of (in retrospect) badly made tracks and over a big system they just sound terrible.

Many DJs and producers seem to take a bit of a musical genre journey over time – perhaps these reflect personal shifts and experiences in life… Maybe I’m getting a bit philosophical… But what excites you musically right now?

I like that. All sorts of genre’s are moving me right now. My favorite track at the moment is an R’n’B track called “Here 4 one” by Blazin Squad. It is a great party track, but I wouldn’t play it at, say, Teriyaki, or the party I’m playing at in Sydney: Deep as Funk. Getting to play different types of musical sets at a diverse range of party’s is really exciting me too.

In terms of production do you have any specific goals or people you’d like to collaborate with?

I do fantasize about making music with Fatboy Slim! But I’d be more than happy to get DJ Slack of his (slack!) ass. We’ve got some great ideas that just need to be put down.

What do you find most satisfying/frustrating – producing original stuff or remixing?

The same thing for both: when I can’t get what’s in my head to come out of the machines.

You’ve been playing live as well. How does this compare with your DJing experiences? What do you get from each of these?

The live thing is totally nerve-wracking and, if all goes to plan, the ultimate. I spend at least a month or 2 on each live set, of which you will rarely hear the same one. But because it takes so long to get together, I find it a little draining. Especially when it doesn’t sound right coming out of a venue’s sound system. Which is what has stopped me from doing it: in my studio it sounded great, but out on the big system it was markedly different. DJing is a chance for me to play the kind of music that I love, most of the time, and it is now mostly very easy. It’s a little like rolling up to work after doing the same thing for years, knowing your craft very well, except that I love doing it.

You are playing in Sydney at Deep as Funk’s 1st Birthday at Club 77. What can we expect from your set and what do you hope for from the crowd?

I will not stop until I have rocked each and every dancer on the floor, brought tears of joy to the eyes of my benefactor, leaving you all crying “MORE”... So you think I’m just a techno geek? Wrong… I play party music. Big, fancy, sexy beasts of tunes. Punk rocking, electro-sex, whip-disco, techno-funk: in leather, big shoes, studded belts and sex-appeal by the bucket-load.

If you’re in Sydney be sure to get down to Club 77 on Friday April 30 for Deep As Funk’s 1st Birthday celebrations.

If you’re a Melbournite Dee Dee will be joining the rest of the Teriyaki crew to celebrate Teriyaki’s 8th Birthday on Friday 28th May.