In music, segue (pronounced seg-way) is a direction to the performer, translating from Italian into English: to continue without pause. In electronic music, the segue especially uses beatmatching for the improvisation portion that leads from one section to the next. But when you enter something vitreous into the electronic mix, you are then referring to the clear and transparent manner in which this segue – the improvised section – moves. And so Brisbane’s Leo Hede, former Gold Coast boy Dave Ryan and Amsterdam-based, Brisbane-born Chris Buckridge come together for what will undoubtedly be one of Brisbane’s most interesting sets: Segue back to back with Vitreous at Barsoma on Friday to support UK’s Jamie Jones for Therapy.

That these three gentlemen have a strong background in the local electronica industry is undeniable. Chris Buckridge as the former bass player of feted My Ninja Lover has altered tracks; leaving behind his Brisbane home to pursue a lucrative creative electronic career in Amsterdam, and emerging with an enviable collection of releases on various labels, including Queensland’s own Dektek Records. Leo Hede too is greatly celebrated in Queensland’s dance industry, cutting his teeth with distinctive local electronica/ tech act Statler & Waldorf and releasing a highly lauded EP and album, to follow with remixes of the incredible voice of Sarah Blasko and performing before massive crowds at Big Day Out and Earthcore. Dave “Dri” Ryan’s musical experiences are just as qualified, with Australian tours alongside breaks collective Superfluid thrusting him headfirst into the industry, his talents reaching one of many high points with a solo tour across Europe and a set at Serbia’s Exist Festival.

As Segue, Dri and Leo have made waves both locally and nationally, with their unique synthesis of acid tech and progressive house. With plenty of blips, airy melodies, snares, kick drums and tribal rhythms all presented on copious equipment, Segue is unique. Add to this exclusive brew a sashay through the electro, minimal techno and dancefloor tech-house of Vitreous, and we really have something special! ITM sits down with Chris and Dave to chat lightsabers, the meeting of musical minds and coming together in spite of the oceans separating Brisbane from Amsterdam.

This seems to be an extraordinary meeting of minds. What would you say was the catalyst that finally made you turn around and say – we have to work together now?

Dave: Chris and I have had a number of amusingly similar circumstances for meeting over the years but one of the key moments would have to be after a series of remixes. Chris did a remix of the Segue release Reset which was a peak time crowd favourite acid house track we would close the set with. Fergus Alexander (Logic) was pushing one of Chris’s tracks in his sets and I got interested to remix it. The remix unexpectedly charted.

What would you say is the signature Segue sound?

Dave: Leo and I fell under the influence of both the flavour of tech-inspired progressive house that guys like Scott Walker was playing, or listening to Underworld and Chemical Brothers. Those two really sum it up for influences in rolling arpeggios and big filter-sweep riffs. It was organic, definitely inspired by our DJ friends and many many mornings reminiscing with other producers about those glory years of the big lives acts out there.

How will Vitreous come along to add to the Segue sound?

Dave: Vitreous has been a great conspirator in pushing away from the grinding arpeggios and white noise filter sweeps of the live set at the time and getting into some arranging and instrumentation. So for me, working with a producer that can play a handful of instruments better than I can, is an inspiring change and opens a lot of room for weaving in between each other’s expertise.

What music does Vitreous stand for and represent? Can you explain a live Vitreous performance?

Chris: Vitreous is basically the work I’ve been doing on my own since the end of 2006, which is when I left My Ninja Lover and moved to Amsterdam. It’s a lot more focused on house and techno than MNL, but spans a pretty broad range within that: minimal, organic tech to deeper, disco-tinged house, and even the occasional proggy detour. The “live” performance, is probably better described “mix’n’FX” – taking my own tracks and mixing them with various FX and loops thrown in.

You utilise quite a bit of equipment for a Segue performance. Do you want to outline what this equipment is and what is it that is so special about these tools that help you achieve your unique sound?

Dave: Somewhere over the last few years we staked out a fair bit of floor space on the stage with what really boils down to self-indulgence for a bunch of band and live act veterans. There’s no politics or statement in what we use, and it is a bit of a conflicting collection of gear that walks the line between being useful and simply bringing some joy to play on stage. The challenge of the live act is that middle ground of having great music, but offering an experience. I’m really lucky that I’ve gotten to somehow play all these gigs over a handful of countries and not losing that feeling like I’m still that kid in my bedroom wishing I had a Moog to go “pew pew pew!!!”.

They say that the world really is getting smaller – and this seems especially so when we can have an electronic act in Brisbane working with one in Amsterdam. How have the oceans between Amsterdam and Brisbane made things musically difficult?

Chris: The difficulty is obviously not having the chance to be in the same room, bounce ideas off each other and just share that vibe you can only get in person. But that’s just meant that we’ve developed an alternative method, and it really grew very organically and unexpectedly. First, it was just bouncing ideas and tracks to each other to get feedback. That turned into remixing each other’s stuff, which turned into working on original tunes together, which is now blossoming into a live entity. I don’t think either of us know quite where it goes from here, but between that passion for music and nice, fast Internet connection, I think you can certainly expect to see more from the Vitreous/Segue combination.

What do you do to challenge yourself as artists? How do you make sure you develop you musicality?

Chris: Speaking for myself, it’s not like I have a massive career or fanbase pushing me in any particular direction, so whatever I’m doing just has to be interesting for me, and I guess that means I’m usually trying new things, new techniques, new combinations of sounds and instruments. I guess you sometimes have to set your own limitations in order to push yourself to innovate.

Dave: To be honest I don’t think the first few years of Segue were challenging anything at all. We simply focused on having an incredible time and filling whatever stage or booth we crashed into. Being the producer for the act, I always struggled with the classic case of having to rush tunes out to fit the live set, and the desire to take the time to focus on something of substance. In terms of growth, it’s projects like this that provide a lot of excitement. Just playing bass guitar again has brought new directions to programming and tonality, let alone all our friends popping up who play violins, cello, and the all essential toy lightsaber.

You will be doing a back2back set with each other on December 4 at Barsoma in support of Jamie Jones. What is it especially about his music that you think Vitreous and Segue will be perfect as supports?

We were pretty blown away by the sets that we heard – hearing a lot of similarities to what we were pushing into. That cool house charisma, stripped bare of the cliches and with that texture of old vinyl and Detroit vibe. We have a more tech and prog inspired take on that sound, but it’s the same pursuit of groove and a wide range of textures and sounds. By playing live we can really vary up the set and push each other outside of what we expect in our other live sets as separate acts. House, prog and Detroit are all pretty universal sounds, so we’re all in on the same floor.

What can your audience expect from the dancefloor on the night?

Chris: Between us, we cover a lot of stylistic territory, so I think we want to go into it with as much flexibility as possible. But expect to see two overly excited guys up the front of the room, twiddling knobs and playing anything from deep house to proggy tech. Just come and see the show!

Segue perform back to back with Vitreous in support of Jamie Jones at Barsoma on Friday night. Their recent collaborations, Guise (Dektek Records) and Pine (Smash Bang Records) are available on Beatport now.