Craig McWhinney, a music lover from the age of 5 is no stranger to complex rhythms, the concept of harmony and the will of a musician. In the past couple of years Craig has rapidly climbed the Melbourne techno ranks, from being an up and comer one year to earning himself support time slots at major events. His drive to succeed and stand tall in the competitive world of DJing is what has made him quickly become a favourite local to many a punter.

By the age of 12 Craig had picked up the guitar and in his early teen years Craig’s musical curiosity guided him to learn the flute, clarinet and saxophone, which meant he was a prominent member of the school band. From there he discovered the beauty of the drums. Not unlike many techno DJs, learning to play the drums was just the tip of the iceberg, a platform for which they appreciate with greater understanding the power of the bass and where it can lead to musically.

5 years of bashing at the drums and being involved in a metal band and a Latin jazz outfit, again resulted in Craig exploring different sounds, sounds that weren’t necessarily all drum based but heading in the electronic direction… Portishead, Massive Attack, and Tricky. The more Craig got into electronic music the deeper he delved into the gamut of sound. He bought turntables at the end of December 2001, and since then he has been playing gigs for about 2 years. His DJing debut being in August of 2002 at Melbourne techno institution Fokus.

In such a short period of time Craig has already had a hand in being the promoter, from running a weekly Wednesday night at the Lounge called Jack the Basics, to becoming an influential partner (alongside Sam McEwin and Matt Radovich) in the infamous free MTC parties, that occur once a month in Melbourne at Deep 11. In recent months Craig has also joined forces with friend and fellow DJ Matt Radovich, to run a monthly night called Snatch at Tilt. A night where residents and guests have free rein and can play as eclectically and creatively as they like. A concept that Craig is very excited about being pigeonholed into a particular sound is like clipping a DJs wings and Craig is very adamant about letting people know that his sound is more than just techno, or more than just one genre, its about his influences, his creativity and his background in playing music.

Craig’s style is hard to describe, his eclectic tastes and influences make him one of those DJs that can adapt to his surroundings with graceful ease. His groove is aggressive but smooth, from the hardest of the hard techno, Detroit techno, house right through to dark electro and minimalesque beats. Drawing DJing influences from his (now) peers Mike Callander, Ben Cromack, Dave Pham and Dallas Raft.