The immaculate conception of The Drum is God! in 2004 brought even the most hardcore clubbers to their knees, genuflecting wildly to a new breed of drum-beating deity. This month, Australia’s dance altar is set for a faith-restoring return to form with The Drum Is God! The Second Coming at Brown Alley in Melbourne on Friday July 29th – the ultimate eulogy to all things tribal house. O come, all ye faithful…

Administering the soul-stirring sermons will be the host of the original The Drum is God!, the UK’s inimitable DJ Promo (UK); the duo that make up two-thirds of his dance music triumvirate: Spain’s Enrique Soto and Pedro G from Portugal; Tony Thomas, tribal house production impresario, also from the UK; local Aussie legends Nick Dem Q, of Bamboo Music fame, and Gavin Mak; and Rollin Connection, of DJ Promos very own Pixelfree. InTheMix collared DJ Promo up for questioning in the run up to the event.

Having played in America, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa and across Europe, you traded in the life of an international jet-setter to put roots down in Melbourne nearly two years ago. How do the two lifestyles compare?

It’s a lot slower here than I’m used to but I’ve made a lot of friends and even though I miss travelling all the time, I am enjoying being settled down for a bit.

When you first started managing DJs in the late 1980s, was becoming one yourself a conscious part of the plan or did it happen by accident?

No, not at all. Infact, I never wanted to be a DJ at all. The guys I was managing were so good and I just couldn’t imagine doing what they could do. They mixed so naturally. I had decks at my place for 2 years and only ever turned 1 on so I could listen to music, never to try and mix. I started DJing purely to get on mailing lists from record companies, nothing more than that.

How has the Electronic Music Movement developed since you first jostled your way onto centre stage?

It seems to be constantly reviving itself with the rehash of some other style. Everytime there’s a big electronic chart track the whole scene gets a boost for a while but there is very little in the way of original music around at the moment.

Your sound encompasses numerous genres of house, from the sublime jazzy sound of Europe and the US through to the dirtiest, darkest tribal and progressive there is. Do you have a favourite genre stashed away in there?

I love BIG drums in music, I love BIG b-lines and I love jazz, when you put all those sounds together you generally end up in the Tribal House genre which is where I’m at at the moment and definitely enjoying myself. Tribal is definitely my favourite sound when clubbing on either side of the decks.

How would you describe the Australian club scene to the uninitiated?

It’s still fairly under-developed. I think there is a lot of scope for expansion here in Melbourne but at the same time there is a very strong scene in a few styles. I can’t speak of the whole of Australia as I’ve only really clubbed in Melbourne.

Has your sound evolved since you arrived in Australia? And if so, who – or what – have been your influences?

I found out very quickly that if the punters over here don’t know the tune, they wont dance to the tune. I brought so many tracks that were massive Dancefloor tracks in London and Europe but got no response over here. I guess the big change has been keeping certain records that are popular here in my box a lot longer than they would have lasted in London. I still get asked for tracks that should have died a long time ago!!

What inspired the launch of the inaugural The Drum is God! event?

It was an idea I had about 5 years ago. There are certain elements that are essential in dance music. The beat, the b-line and the hook. You can lose the b-line and still make a track, you can lose the hook and still make a track, you can lose both and still make a track, but if you lose the beat you have nothing. Drums are the principal element of all dance music and one of the oldest forms of communication. Faithless said God is a DJ, but take away his/her music and that’s not something I would worship. It’s the music that is God and the drum is the single most important element of the music. Therefore…the drum is god! I just wanted to acknowledge that and create an event where you pay homeage to the drum by having the music at the event focus on the drum and Tribal House is the best example of that.

The night itself was the culmination of several Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of perspiration. How did it feel?

It was fun, big fun. I had the idea for the artwork when I had the idea for the night and I had the full support of the venue so I just did what needed to be done without having to keep dipping in my own pocket to fund it which made a change.

Playing alongside Nick Dem Q was something you’d wanted to do for a while. Did the realisation of that dream at the launch of The Drum Is God! live up to expectations?

Yeh he’s great. He’s a great DJ, he has a great sound and he is such a nice guy. Really honest in his approach to the whole thing.

Talk us through your plans for the Second Coming – what aural delights await?

Well firstly it’s in a much bigger venue, so I’ve had to push the boat out a little with the line-up. There a 3 internationals at this one and a bunch of amazing domestic DJs as well as live percussion and live sax. There’s a pre party and an after party which is also new and the promotion is 20 times the scale it was last year. TONY THOMAS (UK) is an awesome producer with over 200 records under his belt. PEDRO G (Portugal) and ENRIQUE SOTO (Spain) and I used to DJ all over Europe together and they’re going to blow people away when they play as I’ve never heard anyone/anything like them in Melbourne. Nick Dem Q is back with Gavin Mak who is awesome and Rollin Connection who are great too and that’s before talking about the funky house room which will be rockin!!

What calibre of crowd are you expecting?

What I’m expecting I don’t really know. It’s been a year since the first DIG party, it’s in a new venue for me and it’s on a much bigger scale to what I have done here before. What I would hope for is a crowd of people who love their music and will be blown away by the quality of the sounds they hear.

How does staging such a mammoth music marathon in Australia compare to doing the same back home in Britain?

It’s a lot harder here. Maybe because I don’t have the support network here or maybe because people aren’t aware of what I’ve done before but it’s a lot harder here.

Already famed for your non-stop 19-hour sets, you’ll be challenging the Guinness World Record for the longest DJ marathon – which currenty stands at (HOW MANY HOURS?) – later this year. Do you ever sleep or are you wired into the mains?

It’s currently 84 hours. Yeh I sleep but when I’m in the middle of a project as long as you don’t sit me down, sleep is just that yellow shit you get in the corner of your eyes!  As for wired to the mains, that would be nice sometimes. Except my hair would get all frizzy I guess?

Assuming you are actually human and not some sort of battery-powered DJ-bot, what are you doing to physically prepare for the forthcoming record attempt?

Oh masses. Failure is not an option with this one. At least 3 months of physical training, diet change and sleep deprevation training and lots of sacrifices. No alcohol will be fun (not).

And what about mental preparation?

Just sticking with failure not being an option. I want to raise $500,000 for charity and that’s a feat in itself so I keep telling myself that I have to succeed so that I can raise that money. That’s my principal reason for breaking the record.

Once you’ve successfully smashed the record, what’s next for DJ Promo?

Sleep and alcohol!

If you could play any set at any venue, what would it be, where and why?

I’ld like to play at Fabric in room 1, Lux and Kremlin in Portugal and Zouk in Singapore because they’re great clubs and it would be great to play there to a packed crowd.

You’ve already created your first album of original music – is there a follow-up on the horizon?

Yeh definitely. I’m going to work on some singles first though.

The Drum is God! is on this Friday 29th July.  Check ITM whatson for more details.