Home-grown DJ and vinyl fanatic Noodles is fast becoming a household name with nine residencies stretching from Brisbane all the way down to Sydney. Thanks to a wide repertoire including Hip Hop, Breaks, Techno and House, Noodles has managed to avoid categorisation and at the same time, earn himself a spot at a wide range of events such as Earthcore, Livid and Adventjah just to name a few. As well as this, Noodles consistently supports major international artists such as Krafty Kuts, Stanton Warriors, Black Eyed Peas, Tayo and Crystal Method when they grace our shores.
Residing in Northern New South Wales, Noodles is dedicated to co-ordinating and promoting events around the North Coast as well as presenting a radio show with co-host Dave Atkins (Resin Dogs). With an appreciation for countless genres, Noodles strives to challenge, excite and expose his audience to the diversity that is, well… music.
What inspired you to become a DJ?
I got into it through record collecting basically, when we started in radio I was just collecting for the show and as time went it wasn’t really a big jump from playing records in a studio to playing them at parties, mind you I think I spent about 8 years on radio before I ever did a gig. I also was lucky enough to watch Mark Walton play early on and he was a definite inspiration and still is.
Do you have plans to one day produce your own original material?
Yeah I have been mucking about for a while and I would love to do more, but honestly I’m still learning so much about the craft of DJing that I don’t seem to find much time to get into it, I have got a few breaks stashed away for sampling when the time is right though.
Who has been your favourite artist to support?
Probably the Nextmen as I really love their productions and they got skills on the decks, definitely one of the best unrehearsed 4 deck shows I have ever seen, them and DJ Shadow, that dude is ridiculous.
Do you find inspiration for your own work from this artist?
For sure, I’ve got really short fingers, so it was a totally encouraging to see Brad from the Nextmen scratch, and I still can’t see how he got his chubby hands around the fader at all, but he was pretty damn good, it gives me hope anyway? hehe.
What artists would you like to work with in the future?
I’ve never had the chance to play with DJ Ransom, and any self respecting DJ would appreciate that opportunity, in the studio as well I’m really into his new Bionikworld remix. I would also like to work with Harry Love again, great dude from the UK, we had some good jam sessions last year, so yeah those two guys I reckon would be on top of
the list.
What are your thoughts on the dramatic social and cultural changes that are currently happening in Byron Bay?
It’s hard to figure out exactly what is happening in the bay these days, the most noticeable thing is that the price of everything has gone up, and its not as easy to find somewhere to live anymore, most of the original residents now live in Suffolk park or Mullumbimby. There are all sort of meetings at the moment to deal with the New Years Eve issue, which has got a bit out of hand, in a lot of ways it seems that Byron works against itself, its nearly impossible to find a good independent venue, and yet everyone comes here for a party, and then there are the noise complaint issues around at the moment. I really don’t know where it’s headed, its being loved to death in some ways, and blatantly commercialized in other ways. Like everyone I’m just hoping it doesn’t end up like the Gold Coast, which to be honest is what a lot of powerful people want for our town.
How do you find the Breaks scene in Byron considering the fact that psytrance is the primary dance scene in that area?
Well that’s not the case anymore, although the psy-trance scene is still strong I wouldn’t say that it’s the primary sound you will hear in Byron, with the police cracking down on the beach parties it moved out of town and into the hills. The most popular Byron sound would probably be what Nick Taylor plays, that punk electro house sound. A lot of DJs do play breaks and Fridays at C-moog are dedicated to it, but its usually mixed up not so much a purist thing as you will get in the city. I’m most involved in the hip hop scene which is small but healthy, we are lucky to have all sorts of styles represented in town.
Do you find that the two genres work well together?
I think the thing that we owe to the psy-trance scene is that a lot of people were exposed to music that they have never heard before, the trance scene if anything else is not a commercially driven music movement, and it means that the crew here usually still expect to hear stuff that they haven’t heard before, which as a DJ can make playing locally an absolute pleasure.
What would be your favourite gig to play at?
At the moment I am having a lot of fun at the Moonbar in Brisbane, good sound and a nice crew of people to work with, it’s been great to be able to play interstate most weekends, I get to pull out a whole heap of different music to what I play in town.
Do you have a favourite venue?
Probably any party in Bellingen they are all the best, you can’t beat a good outdoor gig I reckon, the last castle party I played there was unbelievable almost 1000 open minded music lovers in a beautiful location. If I had to pick a club it would have to be elsewhere, it is obviously a club put together by people who really care about a good night out, mad sound system and an old lighted disco dance floor, top marks for that.
What would be the most memorable experience on stage, bad or good?
Doing the 10 hour set at Rics on a Friday I will never forget that gig, without a doubt I learnt more about playing records there than anywhere else, thanks to Zonk for sticking it out with me back then, he used to bring food and coffee up. Nice.
Tell us a little about your radio program on Bay FM, do you have a set program that you adhere to each week?
No its pretty much made up every week, although being a specialist show at least half the program will be new tunes we have acquired recently, or a feature on artists playing around town. Dave Atkins who presents the show with me always has a bit of new Aussie stuff to air or something new on Hydrofunk. We usually do an digging segment, play a few original breaks, it’s basically just a hip hop show with me and Dave talking shit about our favourite tunes.
Do up coming djs and producers get much air time on the program?
Well again obviously anything being released on Hydrofunk gets a spin, and Dave usually gets new material from all around Australia sent to him, so quite a few new Aussie acts are getting air time. Locally we have had Noel Boogie, Kristian Hernandez and Afro Dizzi Act drop into the studio.
Collecting records is one of your passions, roughly how many records do you think you have?
Around about 2000, with a few crates of shitty records in the garage, but you know you can never have enough, my mate Gab has easily got twice as many so I’m trying to catch up.
You’re renowned as a diverse artist with a range of different styles that is always adapting and growing, what would you define as your style at the moment?
Well I guess because of that I don’t really have one style but at the moment I am really getting into the whole heavier end of the UK hip hop sound again, you really don’t get the chance to play it too often but its dope material.
With residencies and guest spots in Brisbane, Byron and Sydney you keep yourself pretty busy. Do you have any plans to travel overseas in the next year or so?
A trip to the UK next year is on the cards, I’m going to take up all those offers from visiting English DJs that I have had over the years, see of they are dodgy or not, I guess if I wait till our summer they will all be over here and I can snake their gigs back home!
If you’re in Sydney you can see Noodles, and for FREE! Simply click HERE to RSVP for free entry to inthemix’s upcoming Smirnoff ICE party at Boogie Down, Friday March 18th.
