Forget house and breaks, Dave Choe and Matt Aubusson – the brains and brawn behind Glitch – are out to show that clicks and cuts and beaty minimal stuff is taking over Sydney.
A genre of music that became popular in the late 1990s, minimal has already achieved a massive following in Europe. Led especially by those haute mond and uber-groovy Germans, minimal techno has remained relatively underground in Sydney’s dance scene. Why? “Sydney is a huge house and breaks town. It’s not such a huge minimal town but it’s starting to get legs here,” Matt explained. Dave agreed, “I think some people might think it’s too serious or even boring, but that’s not true at all. It’s actually very exciting because it’s a new form of electronic music that has evolved from traditional techno, house and electro, has taken all the boring bits away, and has just left the best bits!”
Considered ‘a sub-genre of intelligent dance music’, Matt confessed the genteel Glitch duo is on a minimal tech mission to bring up-to-the-minute music to the mashed-up Sydney masses. “You look overseas at festivals like Sonar, clubs like the Rex, Watergate, WMF and Weekend to name just a few, and it’s all minimal, minimal, minimal. 40,000 people turn up to Sonar for 3 days each year in Spain and it’s largely for techno, minimal, electro and experimental music. It’s going to happen here soon,” he promised.
And their ambient musical quest is well underway. With the success of Glitch, which has already seen the two of the hottest international minimalist acts of 2006, Magda and Stewart Walker, being hosted at Scary Canary (and four more internationals promised for the year), the two have just recently launched their new, wickedly twisted weekly night Yellow at the same spectral venue. The tagline for their latest music venture is ‘beats and noise for girls and boys’. “We think it sums up what we’re about quite nicely – quality music, girls and boys,” Matt explained. “The night is a home for all the disco-bandits, acid-casuals, pop dressed in pumps, freaked out foxes, party-punks, brand-whore bums and no-namers all wrapped up in a little ball of Yellow”.
So, what exactly was the thinking behind the name Yellow? Matt illustrated the process; “There were a few days of writing down random words and phrases on large pieces of paper stuck up on my kitchen wall and then the Beatles’ song ‘Yellow Submarine’ came into my head, so since our shtick is the whole minimal bit, we had to strip it back. Submarine seemed a bit too serious, so Yellow seemed to fit. We’ve always been total party animals and want that to come across. I think we’ve hit that with Yellow”.
The act of stripping back the music, with songs not much more than beats made out of short clicks and splices of noise has seen the minimal tech scene clouded by controversial views; dubbed sketchy, skimpy and sleazy by some, yet tainted as a musical revolution capable of inducing the dancer into a Zen-like state of mediation similar to Enlightenment by others. In the words of John Coltrane, “It’s not what you play sometimes, its what you don’t”. Dave acknowledged what makes their unique and avant-garde style so cutting edge is their reluctance to slip into one distinctive genre. As Dave pointed out, “A lot of what I play at the moment is being classified as minimal, but I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. It’s kinda like stripped back techno and house, just really cool beats that sound awesome on a big sound system. It can be really deep and twisted, it can be really funky, sometimes it can be banging, but ultimately is just perfect clubbing dance music”.
In producing Yellow the boys have promised to deliver a weekly that encapsulates all elements to ensure a clubber’s wet dream by mixing the good, the great and the affordable. “We’re going to do all the simple things right, great venue, cheap entry, cheap drinks, good sound, lots of fun people and great vibe, but we’re also hoping to provide really exciting music that people can relate to and feel a part of, that people will find stimulating and inspiring, which I think is lacking from many of the weekly offerings,” Dave commented. Matt stressed the absence of scene queens, four-flusher mirror gazers and swollen-headed egotists, “Party is really a big part of the thinking – we’re not a bunch of wanky music posers”. He wants to make certain that “Yellow is not about standing in the corner and thinking about the music, its about letting loose…to bottom-heavy beats, minimal house and tech, noodly disco, clicks and bleeps as well as some very deep haus musik”.
Since winning the NSW student DJ competition in 2001, Dave’s DJing career has catapulted into success with him playing with the likes of international superstars including Tiga, Miss Kitten and Carl Cox. “She’s (Miss Kittin) always been a personal fave and its always exciting to play with someone you idolised as a youngster”. Discussing the people that have been his biggest musical motivators, Dave explained “people that have really influenced me as a DJ have been Michael Mayer, Matthew Dear, Magda and Luciano.” Any song he could play over and over again without getting bored? “Probably Justus Kohncke’s Timecode or even his earlier release 2 After 909. Both are just timeless tracks”
As a DJ, he stressed the importance of taking listeners on an emotional journey rather than simply just mixing good records. “What amazes me with some DJs is their ability to control a crowd through their mixing, and I’m not just talking about having big build ups and massive drops, anyone can do that. But being able to control emotions and create different energies through simple track selection and mixing is like a mystical power to me, and I don’t think many DJs in Sydney can do that”.
Chess grandmaster Capablanca said the simplest move is the best and these ultra-cool, boundary breaking, industry pushing, minimal meddling boys are living proof of this successful philosophy. “I’d like to think we simply throw a good party with decent music,” Dave said. Check mate.
Be sure to check out Yellow at Scary Canary every Saturday night, featuring Dave Choe, Matt Aubusson, Motech, Gus Da Hoodrat and guests.
