If you’ve ever hit the town while visiting Byron Bay chances are you would have had a hop, skip and a jump on the dancefloor while Noodles was in control of the 1s and 2s. Having recently relocated from his long time home in the sleepy Northern NSW town to Sydney with DJing ‘partner in crime’ Noel Boogie, he took some time to answer a few questions for ITM about the repositioning.
ITM: Mark Rae described you as “one badass on the decks”. What are your thoughts on getting such a compliment from a guy like that?
Noodles: What can I say? Obviously its great having anyone be into your work, apart from the fact that I’m a fan of his label and his work as a producer. Really he just owes me one because he stole my CD wallet…
ITM: You played at Splendour in the Grass again this year. Knowing that you prefer smaller more intimate gigs, do you enjoy playing Splendour? Do you find it harder to connect with the crowd when up on a stage?
Noodles: Actually I got to play at the infamous local Tipi Circle this year so I didn’t experience that problem, but yeah I do find that to be the case, in general. I prefer clubs or outdoor locations; the whole DJ’s on stage thing just doesn’t work for me personally. Stages work better for bands, whereas with DJs the focus should be equally on the dance floor and you just can’t get that feeling at big festivals. For me Hip-Hop usually suits a smaller room anyway.
ITM: We hear that you do a regular gig in Brisbane where you play an 8-hour set! That must be very draining to play for so long but it must also give you the scope to take party goers on a journey. What is it like to play a set that long?
Noodles: I’ve cut it down to a weekly 5-hour set these days but to be honest I still miss the 8 hours on the decks. You certainly do get the chance to build and develop the night musically, so that there is more of a journey. Mind you after that long the audience tends to come in shifts and you also need a hand. My mate Zonk used to bring up food and coffee while I was playing. I also got together a good collection of extremely long funk records during that time. I can understand why the 2 hour guest spot has become the norm but I’m not really feeling it. I would prefer to hear a DJ work the room for a whole night.
ITM: Tribe187 is your production company / brand image. Why did you choose a name with such violent origins [187 being the US police code for murder]?
Noodles: I didn’t choose it actually, my mate Gab started it up and I joined a few years later as we all had the same aim both with production and musically. He is into the whole Shiva death of the old, Vishnu birth of the new trip which is cool. I guess it doesn’t mean the same to me. I am however very into the tribe idea of a group of people working on a gig rather than just one, I really do sound like a hippy don’t I?
ITM: You have most of your gigs in Northern NSW/Brisbane but you also now have residencies in Sydney and Melbourne. How did you come to have this geographically broad range of gigs? Was it by reputation? Knowing people? How?
Noodles: Probably it’s the fact that I live in Byron Bay and at some point most DJs and promoters will float through, so you get to show your stuff to them, trade gigs that sort of thing. I have also only asked to play at gigs where it will work with my style rather than just for the sake of playing elsewhere, I think a good reputation helps and I’ve been doing this for quite a while now, but meeting people that play the same stuff you do is still the best way to get gigs outside of your local scene.
ITM: You may have noticed the huge predominance of House music in Sydney of late. Being such a well travelled DJ can you comment on whether this is the case elsewhere? As a purveyor and producer from another music genre how do you go about promoting your musical style and in doing so encouraging diversity?
Noodles: Yeah that’s pretty much the case everywhere but then again it always kinda has been. As far as promoting another genre goes that has already been done by guys like Katch, Mark Walton and Ransom in Australia. So there has been a healthy Hip-Hop scene all around this county for a while, I just carry on doing what I’m doing. I love playing beat orientated stuff so any chance I get to play the out you just try it on, even if it is to a traditional house audience. I think people are more open-minded than we like to assume. A well programmed night of music can include several musical genres and still work for everyone.
ITM: I was lucky enough to catch your set at sounds recently. First of all, absolutely brilliant set! Did you enjoy the gig? Who was the guy that you had with you doing the scratching? He was awesome.
Noodles: Glad you enjoyed it. I have always had a good time playing there. The man on the scratch is Noel Boogie, he is probably better known in Brisbane where he has worked for a numbers of years at the Moonbar, but he lives in the Bay. He is definitely off the hook with his scratching. He puts me to shame every time we practice. We do a four deck show as the ‘Nod Brothers’ which is becoming far more dynamic the more we jam. I prefer to play like that than solo these days.
ITM: What is the best way to keep tabs on the upcoming gigs of Noodles? Is it http://www.tribe187.com?
Noodles: It sure is. We are both moving to Sydney soon so all the new stuff will be posted there.
ITM: I’ll finish with the hard hitting question…You played in support of the Black Eyed Peas. How close did you get to Fergie and is she really that hot in real life?
Noodles: Well there was a yellow line taped around the stage area and the production crew told all of the local acts ‘You stay on that side and the Black Eyed Peas will stay on the other, no problems.’ Seriously! So I can’t say we had a chance to meet up or anything but after seeing Ice-T’s wife in the flesh, I think I would prefer to stick to photos. She didn’t look quite right up close.
Keep your eye to ITM Whatson for upcoming Sydney gigs with Noodles and Noel Boogie.
