He’s one of one of Australia’s most respected DJs and producers, and having singed a multi album deal with global music force Sony BMG has been the icing on the cake. With his second release for the Onelove mix series, alongside rising star Kaz James of the Bodyrockers, now in stores and walking off the shelves, we can look forward to his TV Rock debut single “Flaunt It” smashing out in the summer sessions around the country. He’s also playing the inthemix.05 events in Sydney and Melbourne alongside headliners Tiga and Ajax.
How did you get into the industry?
Good question: I started off out of school. My first inroad into the dance and nightclub industry was running nights around town on the university scene back in the days of The Carousel, The Red Head and The Original Saratoga in Melbourne. After a couple of years of doing that from 93 to 96 I found that I was trying to book guys for events and there weren’t enough of them to fulfill the roles. I started to buy my own collection and put a few records together and turn my attention from promoting to more the DJing side of things. Sort of a natural progression from one side of the console on the dance floor to the other side. It was a good and entertaining time. I started playing properly in 97-98 and it’s been an up hill climb ever since; it’s been great fun!
Are there any specific eras that have influenced your present style?
As far as influences I think they’re pretty wide and varied. I grew up listening to anything and everything which is pretty much still the same. What I might play and produce with house at the moment is influenced by electro and late 80s pop culture kind of stuff. I love listening to rock n roll, hip hop and chill, and anything really other than for house when I’m not playing. I find inspiration in other things and other people’s music because I find if you listen to the same thing all the time you’re probably chasing your tail. You’ve got to look outside the square sometimes to find that sound or that idea of a hook that will give you the idea to move on for yourself and as far as the studio is concerned. I just like to play and buy good records and rather than being limited by genre I try to put a set together of the best music that you could possibly find, throw in a few favourites along the way but predominantly just try and see what you can get away with along the journey.
Has your style and sound changed since you began?
Yeah, my sound changes constantly. It’s pretty fluent. When I first started playing there were two roads I was going down. There were some old favourite DJs like Jay Smart, Tim Spry and Sean Quinn who I was working with a bit and they had all varying styles. I started playing a lot of vocal stuff when I first started. It was either really vocal or really dubbed. From 1999-2002 it was pretty vocal stuff. There was a lot of vocal house out at the time. Labels like Yellow Orange and Basement Boys were consistently getting some good releases. I think there was a lot more soul in the music and more organic piano sounds and I was all over that stuff. Kind of did disco in there but not a whole heap. In the last 2-3 years it’s been more electro movement coming through. I think that’s incorporated into a lot of my stuff.
Are you a DJ that’s got to have everything that’s out there or do you hear a track that you mightn’t be sure about but will still pick it up?
That’s spot on! I love good tunes. I’ll but them and I mightn’t be able to play it out tonight or tomorrow night or even a month but when the gig comes up where you can play a particular record I want to own it and have it with me to do whatever I want to do with it. I’m a typical person who might get on a hot record and smash it until I hate it. Even if it’s in my car because I can’t play it out. I love getting good records, I think that’s part of the culture of DJing. You love it and you appreciate awesome music, It doesn’t matter what genre it’s from, I’ll try to make it happen! If you push hard enough and you’re not all over the shop with your programming you can work with crowd to make it happen. That’s all part of the challenge…Make a square box fit in a round hole! That’s what I love to do.
You’ve recently done some work alongside Mr Timothy and Katie Underwood with Electro Freak which was featured on Onelove Vol. 2. Can you fill us in on it?
That was done late last year. Went in with a vocal in mind and just laid it down and recorded it over 3 days. It’s funny how long it take to get into in the marketplace. It’s just about to go off to be pressed in Italy at the moment and hopefully be back in time for Christmas. It can be a long and interesting process. Since that time it’s been marching forward with the TV Rock stuff taking a bit of a backseat. It will finally see the light of day!
Are you working on any new material at the moment?
It’s exciting for us to be in the studio. We’ve just bounced and finalised our first original single which is coming out on Ivan’s and myself own label Bimbo Rock. It’s our first TV Rock single, “Flaunt It”, featuring Seany B from Dirty Laundry on the vocals. We’ve done two mixes. One like on the Get Physical side, kind of hip, and another one more main room, electro peak time mix along with a Dirty South remix. We’ve got a solid package and we’re happy with it. It’s just been signed off to feature on the next Onelove compilation out in December, it will be great profiling for us. We’ve had some fantastic success in the studio this year. Three number #1 remixes with The Fruit, Paris Avenue and Soulchip’s Let’s Rock recently and 5 top 10s as well, couldn’t of asked for a better 2005! For the next 3 months until the end of January we’re going to be writing originals. The priority for TV Rock at this point in time is to get a good body of new stuff out there in the market place and really cement ourselves, particularly overseas. That’s the reason why we started our record label so we can press vinyl. There’s not a lot of Australian labels that want to produce the vinyl. We want to get it into the punters hands. Especially get distribution through the UK and Europe. I know that 90% of top DJs in the world play CDs, as I do myself, but that doesn’t stop the people down at ground level who go out and support dance music and play it as a hobby. I think it’s really important as a marketing tool to still be on vinyl.
Working with your studio partner Ivan Gough, you’ve done remixes for the likes of Bodyrockers “I Like The Way You”, Sander Kleinenberg’s “The Fruit”, Vandalism’s “Girls and Boys” and Deepface’s “Been Good”, all resulting in top 10 ARIA Dance chart positions. What was the most enjoyable to do?
I think the Deepface project was a great one to be involved with and featured on the documentary. The original was fairly standard and pretty basic seeing as it was a radio record which didn’t have much club appeal at all. So to be able to go through all the parts and select on guitar rhythm and write a whole record around it to make it fit was an awesome challenge. In the end the result was phenomenal. It was the most added dance record on the Austereo and Nova Networks last year from an Australian record across the board if you don’t count The Bodyrockers “I Like The Way”, which is sort of a cross between the Australian and UK markets. We’ve done a heap since then. Deno Lenny’s latest record and The Freemasons “Love On My Mind”. The Fruit was great seeing as we were given an awesome record already. To make it a better record was going to be a pretty tough challenge when I was already 100% in love with that record. Sander’s been playing our version as his own record and you can’t get much better than that! He ended up licensing our version back to his own label “Little Mountain” and has been on compilations on Cr2 and his new disc that he’s about to drop in Australia. To get that kind recognition is fantastic; being played on Pete Tongs show is another highlight. There’s been so many highlights this year that it’s hard to put a finger on which one’s the favourite. The documentary was great but hopefully next year we’ll feature on a documentary of our own originals with someone else who’s remixing us. It would be great to be on the other side of the fence. It’s been interesting even having Dirty South remix our record and get it back for the first time listening to what they’ve done with our tune. It’s quiet a humbling experience to hear the talents of someone else by giving them complete control . We’ve got some great guys doing some fantastic production here at the moment.
When can we expect it to drop?
The first single “Flaunt It” will be servicing to all the DJs around the country next week. So that will be going out to all the top place/taste/pace makers around the country and probably be heard in the clubs by as early as next weekend. Vinyl is being pressed next Monday in the UK and will probably be back in Australia in 3-4 weeks. So by the end of November “Flaunt It” will be in record shops right around Australia. Our follow up single called “Hip House Is Back” will probably be around early January and a couple of other ones which we’re working on right now which will probably be out sometime early next year. The plan is to release 3-4 EPs with 3 tracks on each one. Looking over the next 12 months to produce 12 originals and still do some remixes. We’ll probably base ourselves from July/August next year in Spain and the UK and be writing and remixing from there so that every time we finish a record we can take it over to the islands of Ibiza and make sure it’s getting into the right guys hands -not taking a backward step. It’s all good to be doing well here; not disrespecting the Australian scene but our goal is ultimately to make it internationally. I think it’s a pretty good time for Australian dance music and our aim is to get over there and be a part of that and do our country proud!
Can you give me the low down on the new album Onelove Vol. 3 album?
It was all put together with a couple of months of planning with all the releases, tracks and remixes that we wanted to get on there plus the strict deadline from Sony for when we had to finish our particular TV Rock remixes that were going to go on the album. Working with Kaz was great. We had a couple of interesting moments there when we were close to deadline because he was busy recording the new Bodyrockers album (which they’re doing right now). He had a few moments when he thought tracks that he had in his collection he didn’t have and it was the 11th hour trying to get this thing mixed. I had to trace the files. Which is the beauty of the net these days that you can do that at 3 in the morning and still get your product to each other. It was good working with him and it’s a shame that he couldn’t get out here to do the tour. I’ve been doing a lot of the tour dates to support the album which have been fantastic. We’ve played Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Wollongong, Newcastle, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart… you name; we’ve been there! He’s coming back out in December and I’m looking forward to catching up with him. Who knows – we’re going to spend some time with a heap of people in the studio over the Christmas and New Year period. The CD has been amazingly successful for the club and Sony. It’s continuing to fly off the shelf because the selection is more underground and upfront. People who like to get their hands onto the new records before they break . It’s very good and mechanical to do that. It’s good to promote new Australian stuff and what’s happening overseas instead of relying on the hits. It’s been really well received…
Tells us about your recent trip to Europe and what ya got up to?
Europe was sensational. Went over there in August, I visited the UK, Paris, Italy and the Greek Islands and had a fantastic time over there. I met up with the guys from Wall Of Sound, Fabric and a heap of different people. I went over there just making contacts and just playing my records to a few people, played a few gigs, bit of holiday and r&r. But it was certainly a great experience to see the way the scene operates over there. We’ll 100% definitely be back over there next year without a shadow of a doubt in July/August for the two month period to make sure we really get over there and make most of the time. You’ve got to be in it to win it! And you’ve got to be there.
Are you looking forward to playing the inthemix.05 events in Sydney and Melbourne alongside Canadian electro superstar Tiga and local mash-up master Ajax?
Absolutely… Looking forward to the gig at Home. I think it’s going to be fantastic. I’ve been a fan of Tiga’s for a long time and been looking forward to his set. Just to be given the opportunity to play after him in Melbourne and Sydney is a great thrill and be able to play some serious music. I think he brings credibility to the brand and to the night. He will command respect and I think that will rub off onto the rest of us. Hopefully we get the single minded people into their music. Some guy’s attract the masses and they don’t necessarily come for the right reasons but I think for Tiga he will certainly attract a body of people who are into their tunes. I think that should be well on the night and show the way the music should operate. I think we’re all in for a real treat.
Most embarrassing moment whilst DJing?
That’s a good one… I don’t know? The best thing when you embarrass yourself is to acknowledge the fact that you’ve made an ass of yourself and more often or not get the crowed on side. I think once or twice in the past I might have picked up the needle on the record that was playing and the music stops. At the time rather than put it back down I’ll make sure I lift it off properly and make a complete idiot of myself. Then try and start it with a different record by taking my time going back to my box and leave it for a minute. So if I’m going to make a mistake, I want everybody to know I made it and I want to make the best out of it at the end. Sometimes if you make a mistake you can turn it into a positive. I don’t think I’ve had too many embarrassing ones. I’ve might have ended up with my pants around my ankles being dacked up there one time when I was younger… That wasn’t that embarrassing!
With such a varied career, what do you see your future directions being?
It’s hard to look into the crystal ball. I think I’d like pursue this for the next couple of years as far as production is concerned along with the label and make sure it really hammers! As far as an exit strategy down the path, nobody releases 60 plain records anymore unless you’re Danny Tenaglia. Christ! I think I’ll be over it by then. I come from a marketing and business background so ultimately I think at some point I’ll move into management of a pretty high profile act. Put them on the road and make sure their on the right road to success and be happy to help them out rather than my own stuff. I think I will always be involved in the music scene, radio might be my ultimate job. I don’t know… There’s so many variables down the track I’d like to think that maybe I’ll take each day as it comes. Fingers crossed and the cards fall your way. If you work hard enough I think they ultimately do. Enjoy it at the moment and see how it goes. Anything beyond that’s a bonus.
If you weren’t in the music industry, What would you like to be doing?
Well if I wasn’t in the music industry? In the past I’ve worked for a marketing and design agency. So I’ve done all that kind of stuff but, I’d probably be best as a… Pimp for sure ….Making sure that everyone is working hard and everyone has got a smile on their face! Too easy…Driving a big Caddy or in a nice set of threads. Jump in the big ride.
‘Onelove Vol 3’, mixed by Grant Smillie and Kaz James, is out now through Sony BMG. Don’t forget to check out Grant alongisde Tiga, Ajax and a whole lot more at the inthemix.05 events in Sydney and Melbourne this November:
Fri Nov 18th – Melbourne, Metro (BUY TICKETS)
Sat Nov 19th – Sydney, Home (BUY TICKETS)
