Like its longer-running Perth counterpart Democracy, underground house and techno drives Hierarchy. With its third edition this weekend headed by German studio maestro Martin Buttrich, the party is steadily building a following. For this edition of Looking Local, the man behind Hierarchy Cameron Duff talks about why good music is worth taking risks for.

Hierarchy is only a few parties old. What planted the seed for you to start your own night?
It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but just never had the confidence to start it up. After some time I finally decided to put my uncertainties behind me and see where this could go. Somebody told me that I would never know what could become of this if I didn’t try and I think that added some extra motivation for me to get this started.

Is underground techno and house a difficult sell in Perth? Or is there a committed following?
It is fairly hard to sell in Perth due to the availability of clubs and the vast amount of festivals that have been invading our shores lately. There certainly is a niche crowd of whom are great supporters of the underground house and techno scene, but when you compare it to the eastern states or the more mainstream shows, our numbers are still quite low.

What do you love most about the Perth club scene and what would you like to see improve?
I think our scene has slowly been building over the last few years, especially with promoters putting their arse on the line such as Democracy, Lucid Dreaming and Habitat to bring such high calibre artists and events to Perth, along with promoting our locals at the same time. I also think that the niche crowd we have supporting our shows are fantastic and they really do bring such a wonderful vibe to the shows I have been to.

In saying that, it would be nice to see more people not having such a conceited taste towards music and to be more open to other genres that they are not familiar with, because at the end of the day, they actually may end up enjoying it.

Your international headliners so far have been Paul Ritch and Satoshi Tomiie. Were you impressed by the performances they put in?
Yes! I couldn’t have asked for more with both the performances they put on. Paul Ritch was a perfect headliner for our first party, where I personally thought he absolutely tore the club apart. With the Satoshi party being held on the Sunday, especially with no public holiday the next day, I thought he did a fantastic job setting a relaxed and pleasant mood for people to come and enjoy something different whilst listening to some good music.

You’re at Geisha Bar with Martin Buttrich. How important is the venue in creating the right atmosphere for a party?
I think the venue is one of the most important parts of creating the right atmosphere for a party. Geisha is a wonderful and intimate club and I think their size and layout will definitely cater to the style of music and vibe that Buttrich will bring to the table.

What’s the plan for Hierarchy in 2011?
At the moment I’m just taking this as it comes and if the right artist and venue comes up at a suitable time, then I will be happy to put on the show. There have been a few little things I’ve planned for 2011, but nothing has been set in concrete so we will have to just wait and see.

DJ PROFILE: KID DEEP

Having kept up your productions on Soundcloud, I wanted to hear a bit about your process. Obviously samples play a key role?
The process generally involves me going out on a Saturday morning and raiding all the local CD and vinyl stores, finding a whole bunch of albums ranging from jazz, funk, Latin music, soul and so on, then spending the next few weeks listening to them. Then I just wait for my ears to start picking up on that one loop in the track that sounds like it could turn into something. I bring the sample into Ableton, chop it up and let the fun begin.

As far as influences, is there an era that you regard as a ‘golden age’ of dance music?
I’d have to say the mid ‘80s to the mid ‘90s. There’s so many tracks still from that era that blow my mind and I could only image how the tracks would have sounded when they first come out when house music was still relatively new. Tracks like Mr Fingers – Can You Feel It and Washing Machine, Adonis – No Way Back, Joe Smooth – Promised Land, EBTG – Missing to name a few off the top of my head all have been around for some 15 years and still sound amazing. That’s why I regard those as the ‘golden years’.

What do you love most about the Perth club scene and what would you like to see improve?
I love the fact that we get to see and listen to so many quality acts in our clubs along with some really great local DJs mixing it up on the same nights. It all adds up to a win/win situation. Crowd number consistency seems to be an issue on occasions. It’s sad to think with all the quality coming our way one week the club is packed and buzzing while the next gig there’s a handful of people watching another quality DJ set and wondering where are the people from the last party? If we can hit some consistency that would make the club scene a lot better.

What does 2011 hold for Kid Deep?
Well my first release Keep It On The Lowdown will be getting released on Aussie label Pure House Music Records very soon. For the future, I hope to release a few more tracks and get something going with my productions. On the DJ front I hope to continue supporting quality club nights and all the great artists we see week in and week out.