Get Phunked... at Phunk You!

Breakers tuned-in or lucky enough to have attended the last Phunk You event at Milk Bar or its antecedents at the Jubilee will be frenziedly dribbling at the news that another is on the production line.

The event – now number four in the successful party series – will be held on Saturday 30 October at Club VIP (formerly Viva), on Given Terrace in Paddington. The venue, recently refurbished and phunked up (no pun intended), has large dancefloors for those with stamina, comfy couches for those without, and city views and cheap drinks for all. As the only hindrance to the last party put on by the Ampt Productions crew was the inappropriateness of the open-plan Milk Bar venue, this should really give the night a boost!

Local Dave da Silva will again play the event, kicking off the beats at 8pm – although he played a hard techno set at the last Phunk You night, it is expected that he will as opener delve into the less hyped world of funky house and breaks. Dave will be superceded by must-see newcomers Cleptophonics, an eight-piece group from Brisbane that is expected to bring along somewhat of an orchestra of instruments to facilitate its unique hip-hop / funky house / breaks sound. Word is that these boys are quite spectacular and destined for big things, so secure your “I knew them back when” cred while stocks last.

Melbourne’s Breaking Point music master Nick Thayer will collaborate on some breaks with MC Sureshock from 11pm. This in particular should prove to be a pumping set: Nick Thayer’s style has been described as “three-deck plump and primed breakbeat via old-skool b-boy funk, block party jams, cut-up funk and the occasional disco cut”, and the success of his recently released “Theme One” has led to his being touted as the next big thing in Australian breakbeat (or, according to Beat magazine, as “doper than dope”). MC Sureshock, also a veteran of the Phunk You events, will add his rap / hip hop vocal layer to the set to once again give kick and audience rapport to the set. Sureshock’s stage antics are in fact so well regarded that the Phunk You gig will be his last before he accompanies Kid Kenobi overseas to spread the Australian breakbeat word.

At one am the live two-piece band and Phunk You favourite Teschnik will again fold its deep, moody breaks over the dancefloor before abdicating the decks to UK Mob Records breaker Klaus “Heavyweight” Hill, whose impressive resume includes Mob Deep mixing, London residency, solo releases and worldwide touring. Hill is known for his tough, mentalist breakbeats and absurdly heavy basslines and for the dark, dirty touch that infuses his sets alongside the “booty-wagglin’ groove”.

Shredlock will pick up where Klaus left off by leading the breaks into further darker, dirtier places until 5am.

One of the main points of note and attraction of the Phunk You parties is, however, not the DJs but the incredible psychedelic pulsing, swinging, chopping VJing that flicks from the fingers of the Ampt Productions crew. The boys mix in live, real-time footage with tape shot around Brisbane to create lighting and visuals consistently so diverse and dynamic as to warrant a visit to a mime convention, let alone to such a breakbeat fiasco as is expected on the 30th.

Entry is free from 7.30pm until 9pm and $10 (Ampt members) or $15 (non-members) after nine (membership available on website www.amptproductions.com), but a second area will be free all night; so get yourselves down to Paddington for a chunky, funky, chopped, and varied night of local, Australian, and international breakbeat masters and awe-inspiring visual treats.

Frances Stephenson

You need to be logged in to add comments... Login Now

There are 0 user comments