Techno first emerged from Detroit during the mid to late 1980s and is often seen as the foundation upon which modern electronic dance music has been built. The synths from European music fused with African American Chicago house, funk, electric jazz and electro and influenced by the technology, it all came together to form a new innovation of transferring the spirit from the body to machine. While the term ‘techno’ is often confused and used as a general description of electronic dance, techno has become its own living organism and evolved into many subcultures, eventually circling around the globe from Chicago, New York to Northern England, eventually to Berlin, the rest of Europe and finally to Brisbane, Australia. When techno lovers Scott Walker and mag00 first came together in 2003 as partners in crime, their vision of showcasing the best in tech, tribal and progressive sounds has since grown to mammoth proportions some six years on with their infamous Drop parties.

Already they’ve featured such heavyweights like 16 Bit Lolitas, Deetron, Danny Howells, Funk D’Void, Guy J, Habersham, Michael Mayer, Nathan Fake, Stephan Bodzin, Steve Bug, Supermayer, Superpitcher and H.O.S.H behind the techno wheels of steel. But Scott Walker and mag00’s powers of might will come together for one of the biggest nights in Drop’s history, with Way Out West member Jodie Wisternoff ready to hit The Moonbar at Empire Hotel this Friday. ITM sits down with Brisbane’s local techno crew, Scott Walker and mag00 from Drop to discuss what they have done to push their sound without compromising their musical principles while surviving six years in the fickle town of Brisbane ahead of their highly anticipated three hour set from Jodie Wisternoff.

How has the last year been for you? What have you both been up to?

The last year has been fantastic. Gigs for us have been flowing well including a couple of interstate appearances with Darkbeat in Melbourne, magoo playing SPICE in Sydney, and Scott playing Malaysia and Thailand. All were great events. It was a pleasure to step outside of the state and play to a new audience. Locally, tech/house has been receiving great response on the dance floor, in saying this, you can be adventurous with the music and it will not scare people away, in fact in a lot of cases it would draw more people in.

Scott, you have always maintained that you are uncompromising with your musical tastes in your DJing. Are you still finding this attitude working for you?

Definitely, if it sounds good and will fit into a set, we’ll play it! We do try and steer clear of any obvious, commercial club sounds though – as these are overplayed to death by a million other locals, and it’s a bit more fun working a floor by playing relatively unknown tunes.

With Sony inthemix50 over for 2009, what are your thoughts on Austraslia’s #1 DJ Poll?

ITM50 is not something that we actively chase after. If recognition comes out of it, that’s all good and well, but at the end of the day we do what we do for the love of it. If people are on our dancefloor having a good time, that’s all the reward we need.

With Drop having just celebrated its 6th year of “survival” in an exclusive scene that is oft times finicky and fussy, what do you attribute Drop’s successes to? What are your observations on the local techno scene over the last year?

The BPM keeps coming down, we’re not complaining though. We played an old school set recently after Kazu Kimura and we were surprised to find most of the records were written for about 140bpm. Nowadays the average BPM would be more around 124. We find at this pace the music has much more depth and groove to it – which we prefer to be honest. We are also noticing that techno and tech house is gaining popularity these days. A lot of international acts that would of once skipped the Brisbane leg of a tour are now hitting out clubs and audiences are turning up to show support, good times. Passion above anything else would be the key to our success. We have never tired of seeking out new trends in dance music. Techno/house/tech house is constantly re-inventing itself, which keeps both of us fresh. Tech in general is consistently breaking new artists and sub genres and it is exciting to be a part of that.

As you look back over the years with Drop, are there any particular Drop events that stand out for you?

Double Drop remains the DROP of Drops. Dark, loud, smokey, packed… Dan Marshall played one of the best sets we have ever heard that night, it represented what DROP was all about! A night that progressed beautifully from the opening set through to the closer, an atmosphere that has since been hard to match. A close second would be both times we’ve had Danny Howells, particularly the first time at Monastery on a school night! We’re sure those who were there will attest to how incredible that evening was. Thirdly would be the Supermayer night. Supermayer were given the wrong time to play so we played one of our most memorable three and half hour sets to date.

Where do you see Drop heading?

We would be happy to just keep bringing some of the more innovative artists to Drop first and breaking them into Brisbane. We have people like Sacha Dive and Habersham maybe happening – so we’re just gonna keep the deep stuff rolling.

What does each Drop DJ bring to the table?

DJs like to get on the Drop bill due to the reputation we have built of playing good, tasteful underground music. It enables local guest DJs in particular to spread their wings and play the music they feel they cannot in a more commercial setting. Individually, mag00 brings a unique mixing style that has everyone asking “how did he do that” along with an uncanny ability to pick the right tune at any given moment, whilst Scott likes to layer long smooth transitions and usually always with a nod to the old school house DJs.

What will be in Drop’s future?

Stay tuned for our next international guest on Friday Oct 2nd – the most talked about man in the underground house scene this year – Johnny D live!

What do you think Brisbane can expect to hear for with Jodie’s epic three hour set?

We are very lucky in that Jody will be playing a lot of his own unreleased solo material, and testing the club reactions to them, and I know he is definitely packing new Way Out West album tracks. So I guess a little bit of everything from the cosmic disco sound, working his way through house, and onto his more traditional pumping melodic progressive and trance sounds. Bring it on!

Drop featuring Jodie Wisternoff from Way Out West will be held in The Moonbar at The Empire Hotel, Friday August 21.