The passion project of Brisbane DJs Scott Walker and Magoo, Drop will celebrate its seventh birthday this weekend. Over its illustrious run, the party has hosted the cream of the international crop – Nathan Fake, Stephan Bodzin, Danny Howells and Jody Wisternoff to skim the surface – while championing home-grown purveyors of deepness. Drop’s standing in the Brisbane scene is something well worth celebrating, so inthemix heard about it all from the two guys who make it happen.

Drop has set its own agenda with guests and music policy – what would you say the dominant ‘sound’ in Brisbane is?
It seems the larger more commercial clubs are still pushing the big room electro tunes like the Laidback Luke, Swedish House Mafia and Roger Sanchez sounds, but slowly and surely the housier influences seem to be creeping back in. If we are talking about the underground scene, then I wouldn’t say there is a particular dominant sound. Each promoter tries to cater to a different niche, whether that is deep house, techno, progressive, dubstep, D&B, breaks or trance.

Is Brisbane a reliable town for the kind of music you push, or is it quite variable?
Promoting and getting people through the door in any city is a hard job, and Brisbane is no different. Our population is a lot smaller than Sydney or Melbourne and the pool of people interested in underground music is not massive by any means. In saying that, the music lovers who do attend ours and others events in Brisbane are very passionate and educated, but there are always those weekends where even with all the right promo done and having strong acts both local and international booked, it all goes the way of the tumbleweed. It can be disheartening when this happens, but it also helps sort out those serious about promoting and those in it for all the wrong reasons.

When you think back over the history of Drop, what are some of the standout memories where it all came together?
Our second event Double Drop back in 2003 was a standout memory, for sure. Our first party had been a low-key success in its own right, and just through word of mouth from those who came previously the attendance doubled, and infamously I’d say nearly everyone there – ahem – ‘doubled’ so to speak, and our guest DJ Dan Marshall from Cairns ended up playing the set of his life.

That one event really gained us a very loyal following for the next few years and allowed us to put on larger events in different spaces such as Danny Howells at Monastery, Habersham and Numinous at the Shamrock, DJ Misjah and Michael Mayer on our stage at the Queensland Earthcore and Deetron, Nu-Breed and Tarrantella and Redanka in a warehouse at Advent*jah.

We eventually made the move to the Moonbar in 2006 and we have had a really strong run for about four years doing pretty much an event every month with more success than fail, which I am very proud of. In recent times, being asked to host the Sneakerpeeps stage at last year’s Stereosonic festival was a great honour, playing alongside some of our heroes including Laurent Garnier and Marco Carola.

With the club scene going through so many changes, what do you hope punters get out of a night at Drop that they couldn’t find at a festival?
Intimacy, musical integrity and like-minded people. To expand on that, I think the music policy we push is really suited a lot of the time to a smaller to medium-sized room, maximum 200 to 300 people, with a big fuck-off sound system. You don’t really get either of those at a festival. Sound at a festival never really blows you away and with 30,000 people running around, it’s kinda hard to find the music lovers amongst the bogan hordes that just want to get wasted to the latest Nova crap. People come to Drop to party with like-minded people who are there for the music as well as wanting to get amongst it and have some fun!

You have the much-buzzed-about Pezzner on board for the next Drop. What is your criteria for choosing guests? And who is on your future wish-list?
Yes, we are very excited to have Pezzner playing for us! Our criteria is pretty simple – we have to love either love the music that the guest produces or really respect their skill on the decks. I guess it’s a fairly self indulgent decision in that respect, but over the last seven years it has done us well. We like artists that are looking forward in their musical stylings as well. We have a few guests we have come back most years such as Deetron, Habersham, Funk D’Void and Danny Howells, but these guys are not resting on their laurels. They are still pushing the envelope of what can be done in both the studio and in the DJ booth.

Our future wish-list includes artists such as Dixon, Ame, Kaiserdisco, Gabe, Mark Broom, Steve Lawler, Mihalis Safras, Ramon Tapia (in house mode), Dennis Ferrer in an intimate club gig, and John Digweed.

DJ PROFILE: ADAM SWAIN & RIKKI NEWTON

Tell us a bit about your own Subtrakt parties; what motivated you to set up your own night?
Rikki: Subtrakt began in October 2007 by two like-minded mates who shared the same passion for music. We wanted the night to be held in a small intimate club, capacity of no more than a few hundred. We found the perfect venue in Barsoma, which we’ve continued to use since the beginning. The motivation was to showcase the local talent in Brisbane who played a similar style of music and give the guests, and ourselves, the freedom to play the music we love. Six months later we hosted our first international, Will Saul, and since then have continued to bring some of the most respected artists in the business including Vincenzo, Charles Webster and Steve Bug to name a few.

What are some of the challenges facing smaller promoters in Brisbane?
Rikki: The biggest challenge we face is probably getting numbers through the door. Let’s face it, the music we play isn’t a hugely popular sound and the internationals we book are artists that we admire and are also not known by a lot of people. That, combined with the abundance of festivals, makes it difficult sometimes to get people through the door. But that’s a challenge we embrace and it’s just a matter of sticking to our guns and doing what you believe in, spreading the word and hopefully building our followers and supporters.

Is there a good community of like-minded DJs and producers around your hometown?
Adam: Brisbane has a very solid, supportive and talented community of DJs and producers, across all styles of dance music. I don’t think I could really drop all the necessary names that I believe to be doing it proper, because, to be honest, Brisbane has so many. All of the DJs I have spent time playing alongside at events, kick-ons or house parties have always got something to offer and have inspired me to keep on doing what I do. Producers in Brisbane at the moment that are really putting Oz on the map would be Alex James, YokoO (ex-Brissy), CJM (Chris Mosterd) and most recently a very talented young gun doing some real deep house who just got a tune signed to Affin Records, James Hunter.

Are there any particular nights you’ve played at Drop that really stand out as highlights?
Adam: I had a great time playing a late back-to-back slot with a good mate of mine Dan Abbott when Drop presented Robert Babicz!

Rikki: For me would have to be doing the warm up with Scott Walker for Frank from Ame, who is one half of one of my favourite acts of all time and who are signed to my favourite record label, Innervisions. His set is still one of the best I’ve seen since I’ve been living in Brisbane. And to be asked back into the booth at the end of his set to play the last track was a pretty special moment.

Drop’s seventh birthday, featuring Pezzner, happens this Friday 27 August at Family Nightclub.