Culture: Melbourne Shuffler Documentary - a dance floor perspective
Have you ever sat back and watched a dance-floor in Melbourne?
You could have been at a Docklands warehouse party in the Early 90’s or maybe you could have been in any Melbourne nightclub or dance event playing any genre of Music ranging from Trance to Deep Progressive Jungle, Acid Techno, Psy Trance… you name it.
What do you notice on the dance floor that is very distinct to the city, something that sets it apart from anywhere else in the world? What is it that the Melbourne dance party scene has that unknowingly unites each of the different aspects of the diverse scene and the people within it, which has made it so unique over the last 15 years or so? I think most may have guessed it by now… Yes, it’s the way Melbournians dance! We have created our own subculture without even realising it, but little did we know… People were watching and they were ready to capture it.
A little over a year ago I interviewed Stephen Coles and Michael & David Knispel, The owners of Underground Epidemic Productions. A Melbourne based team of guys who saw our scene and dance through different eyes and wanted to capture it before it died out and became something different from what we know and love.
This project was to take the past and the present and preserve it, so that we can show the world our part of the scene and the dance that has caught imaginations worldwide. It was a big vision and a project almost impossible to accomplish however the response and support was enormous and the project started to take shape.
The Team at UEP aimed to provide the history of the shuffle and to show different styles of shuffle, to include raw footage from past events such as Every picture tells a story, Hardware, Strange, Brunswick Street Festival (streetrave), Acid Reign & Global Village to name a few. They also wanted to also include many key special features such as a Multi-angle DJ lesson, A VJ Show, Behind the scenes footage, and Interviews with some of the people that have shaped our scene from dancers (known as “Rockers” in the documentary) to DJs, producers and event organisers.
They also wanted to include some feature interviews with international artists such as Leeroy Thornhill (The Prodigy/UK), LAB 4 (UK), Ed Real (UK), DJ Isaac (Holland), Pascal Feliz (Holland) and locals such as Richie Rich, Scott Alert, SOUL-T, Slieker, ITCHY, DJ Compound, Luke Shamanix, Garth (SmilePolice), Kelsta and many more.
After being invited to a “special pre release pre-view” of the finished documentary. I can honestly say I was left speechless. They have not only created a documentary but a complete informative audio/visual work of art. Their vision was not lost through all the highs and the lows and UEP have finished and delivered a great documentation without any outside sponsorship or funding… fuelled solely by passion and determination, which shows in every frame of this documentary.
The sheer professionalism and quality of this documentary is outstanding and worthy of international attention and recognition. A multi-media experience that will touch people of all ages and backgrounds. It holds no boundaries in expressing and showcasing the essence of all the unique pieces of our dance Culture and the electronic music movement.
At the end of the Day, if there was no music, there would be no dance and not to be forgotten, the music in this documentary places the proverbial cherry on the cake. I say this because all the music featured on this documentary’s soundtrack is bursting to the seems with featured tracks from local artists such as NFX, Brewster B feat Parametrix, Ben Kakoschke, Benny Drohan,, Itchy & Geezer, Rob Klasic, Harvest Brothers, Andy Maurer and many more.
The Melbourne Shuffler Documentary is at times serious and at other times informal. It will make you smile, it will make you laugh, it may even make you cry, it will bring back memories and etch in new ones. The documentary captures the fun and the spirit of our unique dance and shows it in its entirety from its simple beginnings to the worldwide phenomenon it has become, with dancing being one of the purest forms of expression and expression itself is of course a form of art.
The Melbourne Shuffler DVD Free Launch Party is on this Saturday 17th December in Melbourne. Check ITM whatson for more details.
Much respect to all the Team at UEP, you are an inspiration and your work will not be forgotten. Be sure to look out for this DVD, especially if you are a music lover like me.
For more details on the documentary check out www.melbourneshuffler.com
