The name Orinoko is one familiar to all fans of Brisbane techno any beyond. Better known to his friends as The Womble or just plain old Dave, he’s been spinning records since his early hardcore days in Townsville, later progressing to techno and all things ‘funky and driving’ in his current guise. Along with the surly Shadrach, Orinoko has earnt the respect of his peers through his hard-working efforts in throwing some of the best parties Brisbane has ever seen, namely LiquidBASS and more recently The Goodness. After a brief hiatus, LiquidBASS is back in a couple of weeks with special Melbourne guest Simon Slieker, so what better occassion to track the man down to find out what he’s about…

Give us a quick run down of your DJ’ing history… when and where did it
start, how did you know you wanted to DJ, what were your early influences?

Bought decks a long, long time ago now, I’d always loved listening to mix tapes since Grade 8 and thought I’d give it a go myself. Always listened to music of all sorts since I was a kid. Early DJ influence would have to be Brisbane’s Angus, got mixtapes of his from my brother from the Tunnel and Adrenalin parties and the Beat, and that had me hooked.

What’s all this womble stuff about?

The womble business is just a laugh because someone said I looked like a womble when I mixed. I guess it just stuck… 7 years later!

Did you have a ‘techno epiphany’? Was there one defining moment where you saw the light?

I travelled through the UK and Europe in ‘96 and went to Resurrection – a massive Hardcore rave in Scotland. They had this small tent off to the side, nowhere near as busy as the rest of the place that had Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Blake Baxter playing. I walked into the party a raver, and walked out a techno convert. I spent the rest of my trip chasing techno DJ’s and broadening my music scope around Europe.

Give us the official Orinoko definition of Techno…

Techno? It’s all house music to me! Funky and usually driving. Big bass helps as well.

Your record collection contains a lot more than just techno, how do you find out about new music?

Listening to it usually helps… I go in bursts of no music for a month or two, then spending hours and mucho dollars listening and buying new stuff.

How did you come to know Shadrach, and how did the LiquidBASS parties start?

Shadrach and I have done parties together for 7 or 8 years, first up in Townsville where we met (both liking Techno in a town not really famous for music but with plenty of amber liquid) and later down in Brisbane. LiquidBASS came from a combination of boredom, Mantra nightclub closing, a great urge to play music really loud, coming across a venue to accommodate us (Jubilee before the bastard noise restrictions), and having a good relationship with a few other locals DJs and artists that helped to create the vibe we were after.

Do you have any memorable stories about any of the great acts that you brought to Brisbane for Liquidbass?

Can’t remember most of them… but mistranslating Chester Beattie’s Japanese and thinking he was asking to “go to the were prostitutes were” when he didn’t was pretty funny. I’m also no longer allowed to drop guests off at the airport anymore after 2 or 3 missing their flights – apparently it takes more than half an hour to get to the airport, you know? I also learnt not to book midmorning flights for them if you can help it ‘cause staying up doesn’t always work.

Is Shadrach really as surly as everyone says he is?

Yup… or is he just misunderstood?

What, in your opinion, is the most defining factor holding back the techno scene in Brisbane?

The consistent lack of a decent size, multi-room venue, that is willing to let smaller independent parties occur. Every time a decent space gets found it’s usually out of action 12 months later. The size of the dance scene in Brisbane is also a big factor. Techno’s a minority in most places around the world but when the scene as a whole is 10 times the size then that’s more people for everyone. I think the underground scene is Brisbane, be it techno, house, DnB or whatever is, while small, fairly interesting and healthy. Lots of small things going on all the time which is good.

What is the ethos behind The Goodness?

Good Tunes and Good Beer. We just plug in a wall of speakers and get on with it. The first one was friends and friends of friends but from then on in we keep getting all these new people that no-one knows coming along which is really cool.
Don’t miss the latest installment of the LiquidBASS parties, Saturday April 9, upstairs at the Shamrock Hotel. For more information check the Whats On guide:

http://www.inthemix.com.au/whatson/show/20241/