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r_y_z_e_r hasn‘t been that busy around these here parts
Added on the 8th Jun, 2010
All About Me
The anticipation in the old iron shed we used for band practice was palpable, no doubt enhanced by the mushrooms we had consumed an hour earlier, as Divyan Slid the cassette into the prehistoric PYE stereo system. "Check this shit out boys, I reckon you'll dig it." As Dyewitness's ""The Future's Acid line oozed from the battered old speakers, something in me was changed forever and where a passion was born an obsession grew.
Having studied Piano from the age 4 I was fortunate to have a teacher in my early teens who was a song writer and arranger. Very learned in the dark MIDI arts. Notator, a 1040st and a clunky old roland U20 soon after deflowered me of my electronic innocence and a monster was born... Having no real kit of my own I dabbled with trackers and various odds and ends. That was until my 6 month Swiss adventure winter 96/97 when the real fun would begin.
Switzerland left me with 3 things. A new found appreciation for 70's funk, disco and 80's hip hop, a whole new bag of T-bar related tomfoolery and a crack like addiction for mixing records. My housemates best friend who lived 2 doors down had decks.
I spent probably more time there than I did soaking in the ambience of the quaint little mountainous country.
Upon returning to Australia, I purchased an sl1200, a cassette deck and a radio shack mixer with the last of my money and proceeded to learn the tricks of trade. A long frustrating and painful process, having to mix a record into a tape, stop then repeat. Time passed quickly as my technique grew.
Next I knew I had 2 shiny 1200's, a battle mixer, a sampler and was programming and scratching for a hard rock band. Moderate success in this venture and my eternal quest for another place to kick on at with my decks soon had me playing some larger festivals in the sunshine state. Dropping "Higher state of consciousness" to a 3000 strong main stage rock crowd, then seeing the crowd explode as the kick dropped would easily be one of the standout moments of my early adventures. About this time I got my first number 1 track on the break beat chart of mp3.com.au. No major feat but it impressed my friends no end.
Packing my bag and heading for cooler climes, I travelled to the snow to do a season. 2 years, 3 Blizzard main stage sets, 2 international supports, a few residencies and red subaru later I decided to put the mountains behind me and head for the big smoke. Things kicked off slowly but eventually little things started to go my way. Winning the Plastic DJ comp playing tough dirty house in 2005 was probably not a popular win amongst the hard style massive massive but it scored me regular sets at Dirty Donkey along side the likes of Mark Murphy, Sveta and the diva of dirt herself Dr Jane. But it was the Bi-weekly residency at Sydney's university of debauchery, Plastic, that gave me a solid understanding of the ins and outs of being a club dj.
A few more international supports, interstate adventures, sleepless nights and a Big Day Out set later and my focus is beginning to change to take in the bigger picture.
These days, along with playing deep, tough, acid laden tech beats, producing, promoting nights and generally trying to positively contribute to the Sydney scnene is how i spend my days. The most noteworthy being the free monthly techno shindig TECHnique. It is a labour of love. A love of the music that I immerse myself in everyday, a love of rocking a dance floor and the love returned by all those who invest themselves in what ever way in our humble little shindig.
Having studied Piano from the age 4 I was fortunate to have a teacher in my early teens who was a song writer and arranger. Very learned in the dark MIDI arts. Notator, a 1040st and a clunky old roland U20 soon after deflowered me of my electronic innocence and a monster was born... Having no real kit of my own I dabbled with trackers and various odds and ends. That was until my 6 month Swiss adventure winter 96/97 when the real fun would begin.
Switzerland left me with 3 things. A new found appreciation for 70's funk, disco and 80's hip hop, a whole new bag of T-bar related tomfoolery and a crack like addiction for mixing records. My housemates best friend who lived 2 doors down had decks.
I spent probably more time there than I did soaking in the ambience of the quaint little mountainous country.
Upon returning to Australia, I purchased an sl1200, a cassette deck and a radio shack mixer with the last of my money and proceeded to learn the tricks of trade. A long frustrating and painful process, having to mix a record into a tape, stop then repeat. Time passed quickly as my technique grew.
Next I knew I had 2 shiny 1200's, a battle mixer, a sampler and was programming and scratching for a hard rock band. Moderate success in this venture and my eternal quest for another place to kick on at with my decks soon had me playing some larger festivals in the sunshine state. Dropping "Higher state of consciousness" to a 3000 strong main stage rock crowd, then seeing the crowd explode as the kick dropped would easily be one of the standout moments of my early adventures. About this time I got my first number 1 track on the break beat chart of mp3.com.au. No major feat but it impressed my friends no end.
Packing my bag and heading for cooler climes, I travelled to the snow to do a season. 2 years, 3 Blizzard main stage sets, 2 international supports, a few residencies and red subaru later I decided to put the mountains behind me and head for the big smoke. Things kicked off slowly but eventually little things started to go my way. Winning the Plastic DJ comp playing tough dirty house in 2005 was probably not a popular win amongst the hard style massive massive but it scored me regular sets at Dirty Donkey along side the likes of Mark Murphy, Sveta and the diva of dirt herself Dr Jane. But it was the Bi-weekly residency at Sydney's university of debauchery, Plastic, that gave me a solid understanding of the ins and outs of being a club dj.
A few more international supports, interstate adventures, sleepless nights and a Big Day Out set later and my focus is beginning to change to take in the bigger picture.
These days, along with playing deep, tough, acid laden tech beats, producing, promoting nights and generally trying to positively contribute to the Sydney scnene is how i spend my days. The most noteworthy being the free monthly techno shindig TECHnique. It is a labour of love. A love of the music that I immerse myself in everyday, a love of rocking a dance floor and the love returned by all those who invest themselves in what ever way in our humble little shindig.
