Understated as he may be, Robbie Lowe is a certified star of the Sydney club scene. While he’s long been the man to call if you want a warm-up set done right, he also thrives in a peak-time slot. His DJ sets can weave between progressive, techno and deep house – whatever the night calls for. In that regard, he’s got a lot in common with Melbourne stalwart Gavin Keitel, who kicked off our Hometown Heroes series.

Given how consistently impressive Robbie has been this decade, we here at inthemix were very keen to know what tracks he rates as the true keepers in his collection. Here he takes us through those special weapons that haven’t left his side…

Dubtribe Sound System – Do It Now [Deep Tech Version]

“A house music classic from a group that have had so many notable releases. One of the good things about playing vinyl for a lot of years is having a stack of gems that never really made it digital. This is the case with the ‘Deep Tech Version’, as it was only released on an Imperial Dub double 12-inch early in the decade. I love the original but I was hooked on this version. I still use this record a lot as I love my house music and enjoy playing a set of this vibe from time to time.”

Rocket – People [Jenos Stormy Weather Mix]

“This is a great deep house record from the legendary Grayhound label. This particular remix has always set the mood for me, whatever time of the night or day it may be. I used to love playing this at gigs like the courtyard of Sounds On Sunday back in the day. It has that timeless house sound that never really goes out of fashion. The moody acid line halfway through the track is awesome too.”

Eddie Richards – Tileefuoynac

“Eddie Richards is partly famous being involved with the UK tech-house movement alongside others such as Terry Francis, Nils Hess and Nathan Coles. And I was playing heaps of their stuff. Tileefuoynac is an example of Eddie’s diversity. When released it could have also been labelled as progressive house, even though it was considered tech-house. I used to always play this at parties like Sweetchilli and it was like my own little secret weapon that no one else played.”

Sasha – Wavy Gravy

“This is just one of the mesmerising tracks from Sasha’s Airdrawndagger that was released around 2002. I have many favourites from the album, but Wavy Gravy stands out the most. Nothing beats Wavy Gravy as a closing or encore track for the end of the night, and I’ve been fortunate to have done this many times over the decade. For me Wavy Gravy captures a period of time so well. A feeling of nostalgia sets in when I’m listening. A lot of talent such as James Holden, Charlie May and Andy Page went into the creation of this album, and it shows.”

Alvredo & Matthew Dekay – Symbiosis [Original]

“I still play this from time to time. In fact, since its release in 2004 it never left my record box and slowly converted to CD. Symbiosis is all about the famous bassline drop in the breakdown. Everyone knows it, and if they don’t, they think they do. There is subtle suspense in the build, but still nobody sees it coming. When it does drop, I usually see people running from all corners to the dancefloor.”

Shur-I-Kan – Rising

“I can listen to Rising repeatedly and will not get sick of it. I can’t really fault it. To me, it’s as close as it gets to perfect. All layers, sounds and sequences come together to make a beautiful tech/deep house track. It always puts me in a good place.”

Riley Reinhold – Lights In My Eyes [Patrice Baumel Mokum Remix]

“Another favourite from the last decade that has stood the test of time, with plenty of good memories. One of those was finishing with this for my James Zabiela warm-up at Ark Nightclub in 2007. It set the mood perfectly for James to do his thing. The groove is hypnotic, with a nice warmish, mesmerising techno pad.”

Tomie Nevada – Meeting At The Cornfields [Original Mix]

“I’ve always been a fan of Tomie Nevada. If it isn’t a tech-rave monster, it will probably be a sweet melodic techno track like this. It moves through the motions beautifully.”

Peter Horrevorts – Labyrinth [Steve Rachmad Remix]

“This is a remix from one of my favourite producers from the last couple years, Steve Rachmad. I have heaps of his tunes in my sets at the moment, but this one I probably play the most. I don’t know how best to describe it, except using words like ‘techno’, ‘rave’ and ‘psychedelic’. I couldn’t really expect anything less from Steve Rachmad; the guy is a legend, to say the least. This was one of my biggest tracks last year. Some of my best memories were from playing it at Colour. It would go off big time!”

Andre Lodemann – Where Are You Now?

“There’s no doubt it’s a recent crowd-pleaser and you would probably hear a lot of DJs playing it. It’s really catchy and clever, to say the least. You can feel the anticipation of the breakdown. Andre Lodemann is brilliant and at the forefront of deep house at the moment.”

As ever, Robbie Lowe will be keeping busy around Sydney this month, with his own Colour night returning to the Civic Underground on Friday 13 August.

Friday 13 August – Colour @ Civic Underground, Sydney
Friday 20 August – Shrug @ Civic Underground, Sydney
Sunday 22 August – Church Of Techno @ Forbes Hotel, Sydney
Sunday 29 August – Spice @ Home Terrace, Sydney