BLUE KING - Warp Magazine

20 Club / Electronic Club / Electronic 21
mINOR
NOTES
Welcome to the first instalment of Minor
Notes, a virtual record box full of tracks,
labels and DJs that are exciting me this
month and that I am keen to share. This
will also cover general views I currently
have on the Tasmanian electronic and club
scene.
Some people might not know that the
clubbing and dance music scene in
Tasmania is alive and kicking. But I’m
really amazed at the amount of talented
DJs around that are into such a vast variety
of music.
These days we are lucky enough to not
be confined to clubs to hear the music
we love; bars and even restaurants are
jumping on the wagon incorporating a DJ
into their décor.
The amount of interstate and international
DJ’s and Producers that are gracing our
shores week after week is staggering. So
go out, support the local scene because we
are the ones that make it what it is.
In Warp’s electronic music section this
month, we’ve scored an interview with
Simon Shakleton, aka Elite Force. He tells
us about why he has moved from CDs to
Serato and Novation Dicers.
Act yo Age show us some of their quirky
personalities and local DJ Kireesh - or is
it Island Boy - shares with us his move
from Martrius to Hobart and compares the
Tassie trance scene with his experiences in
London. It’s a tasty read and our monthly
news section now includes local and
national entries, and pencil this in, for
exciting upcoming events to look out for.
AINSLEY WhITE
ainsley@warpmagazine.com.au
CLUB AND ELECTRONIC NEWS
PENCIL ThIS IN
based label Enig’matik records and is a
compilation of Australian, New Zealand
NATIONAL NEWS
QBIk & MC SEEkA PRESENTED BY
BROkEN PANDA
and English glitch producers. He’s joined by
Melbourne’s Editor (ex-Tassie) who recently
signed to Spoonbill’s Omlette Records. He
appears with with VJ Phaic, ripping out
doped up hi-fidelity tweaks and sub-bassy
vibes. Local supports include Limerence,
That Bob Guy, rBeNt and Shammie at the
Brisbane Hotel on Friday June 10. Entry is $15.
SPENDOUR IN ThE gRASS
Splendour’s epic line-up is epic, and the
dance component is super too: DJ Shadow,
Flight Facilities, Aston Shuffle, D-Cup, Ajax,
Hoodrat and Dangerous Dan, Cut Copy,
Pnau, Wax Motif, Kato, Cassian, Hoops,
Kato, Charlie Chux, at Woodford in QLD from
July 29 – 31. If you hurry, you might get a
ticket: www.splendourinthegrass.com.au
Drum’n’Bass DJ and producer Qbik will be
dropping in to Hobart late April.
The New Zealand expat Qbik has made his
mark in Australia, gaining support for recent
productions from the likes of Pete Tong, Annie
Mac and Nerm. His first release My house
featured on Drum and Bass Arena’s Summer
Selection Compilation. Catch him at PlanB on
Thursday April 21, kicking off at 10:30pm.
Entry is $10 on the door.
MEAT AxE AND hEfTY OUTPUT
Meat Axe is the Victorian breaks project of
Tim and Dan from the cult dark psy act Hefty
Output. Since 1984 their dynamic friendship
has combined Tim’s mad glockenspiel skills
with Dan’s ability to play drums at a sensible
volume. Supported by Seane and Newport,
the night will be at The Brisbane Hotel on
Saturday July 2. Entry is $15 on the door.
JAMES CURD (gREENSkEEPERS) AT
IVORY BAR
Chicago-based electro-percussionist producer
James Curd had a hit with Greenskeepers
and their Hottest 100 track lotion. He’s since
worked on the Grand Theft Auto iV soundtrack,
signed with DFA and made a new mix CD for
Electric Circus. Catch him with local supports
Malakai and Mez at Ivory Bar on Saturday June
18. Entry is $7, or free before 11pm.
LOCAL NEWS
fRACTANgULAR BANgER
Tassie psytrance crew Fractangular draws the
battle lines with little vs Big: War of the islands,
pitching Victorians Luke Shamanix and Ben
Evans two-for-two against locals Psywise
and Shammie, with support from Seane and
JustinTime, at the Brisbane Hotel on Saturday
May 7 from 10pm. Entry is $10.
SUN IN AQUARIUS AND EDITOR
Trifolium presents the next in its series of
psychedelic inspired events with an album
launch party by Australian producer Sun
in Aquarius. Painting Pictures on Silence
is the debut release from his Byron bay
fRICTION AT SYRUP
Drum’n’bass fans are in for sick treats as UK
genre heavyweights Friction, Spectrasoul and
Sp:MC. Perth’s Diamond D and MC Stylee get
amongst it along with Hobart’s Mylestone.
Flowing from deep and minimal to dirty tech
grooves and tear-out party anthems, the drum
n bass will be flowing at PlanB on Saturday
June 11. Tickets are available through Moshtix,
Ruffcut Records, Hotel Tasmania and Mojo
Records.
PSY SESSIONS IS BACk
Hobart’s popular psy trance night has
had a hiatus so far this year, but hits back
with a solid lineup, featuring Idle Hands vs
Sporangia, Shammie vs Sharman, Loagsta
vs Seane and Leafy vs Island Boy, at Halo
Nightclub on Friday May 20. Entry is $8.
LALALAND’S BANgER BIRThDAY
Lalaland’s tenth birthday is reason for one
final dance party reuniting the uplifting
tranceheads behind one of Hobart’s longestrunning
club nights. Featuring MarQ, Guy and
D2M, the very special female vocalist Miss
KLR will be performing a legendary trance
anthem on stage at the Grand Poobah on
Saturday May 21. Entry is $15 at the door.
MATT NUkEWOOD AT hOTEL NEW YORk
Flying the house flag high, Sydney DJ
Nukewood (Ping Pong DJs, Kno1nose with Tom
Piper) effortlessly swoops between big room
driving basslines, relentless grooves, melodic
and vocal overtones. Catch him at Hotel New
York in Launceston supported by Joycie, PD
and Boaz on Saturday June 11. Entry is $10.
PROxY DOWNUNDER
Moscow’s Proxy hits Australia again in June
after slaying dance floors last visit with his
remixes of Peaches, Prodigy, Tiga, Boys
Noize, Chromeo, Digitalism and Moby. Catch
him live in Perth, Wollongong, Melbourne,
Canberra and Sydney during June. More
info at www.myspace.com/useproxy
DEfQON.1 fESTIVAL AUSTRALIA
The third installment of the much anticipated
Hard Dance festival, Defqon.1 is locked in for
September. This festival will have a massive 8
colour-coded stages, offering a variety of not
only Hard Dance but many other underground
genres. Held over an entire weekend, giving
punters the opportunity to go to both pre and
after party celebrations.
Sat 17 th Sep, Sydney International Regatta
Centre.
Tickets go on sale 1pm sat June 4 th and are
available through www.q-dance.com.au
SAfARI BEATS
This Queens Birthday long weekend get
your self up to Sydney to check out some of
Australia’s best DJ’s all playing at the one
event. Featuring TV Rock, Zoe Badwi, Stafford
Brothers, Timmy trumpet, Hook N Sling, Aston
Shuffle, Tommy Trash Feat Mr Wilson and
many, many more. Boasting three arena’s that
can hold up to 20,000 people.
With a thumping sound system and a state of
the art light show, why would you want to be
any where else?
Safari Beats, Fairfield Showground, Sydney.
Sun June 12 th .
For more info head to www.safaribeats.com.au
Dj INTERvIEW
KIREESH / ISLAND BOy
Kireesh Gopal, aka Kireesh, aka Island Boy, aka
Brown Boy, aka many other things unprintable,
has become a fixture of the Tasmanian
psytrance scene over the past three years,
playing regularly at club nights and outdoor
doofs. He took some time to tell us where he
came from and where he’s off to next.
So your DJ name is Island Boy - or have you
changed it again? To be honest with you, I was
baptised Island Boy by my now wife Michelle
while having a chat with one of her best friends
before a doof. It came out of nowhere really, but
I like it. On a serious note though, I have always
used Kireesh as my DJ name. Advantages of
having a unique name I guess.
You’re originally from Mauritius in the Indian
Ocean off continental Africa – do you have a
pre-prepared geography lesson to explain
it to people? Yep. Born and bred in Mauritius.
And oh yeah, people go like, ‘where?’ It has
come to the point that I am perplexed if people
don’t ask. Always stoked to promote one of my
islands though!
Can you tell us about Mauritius? Sea, Sun
Sand! One of those beautiful idyllic spots you
kinda see on TV shows. The main income is
tourism; it’s as multiracial a place you could
think of. I kinda miss those beaches at times.
We got our independence in 1968 and became
a republic in 1992. The beauty of freedom, hey.
What drew you to London to live? Once I’d
finished my high school education in Mauritius,
my Dad asked me if I wanted to go to Uni in
London.
Apart from going to Uni sometimes, there was
a whole lot of partying. The electronic music
scene over there is out of this world. I took a
year off and worked in bars, then at the nowdefunct
Turnkey Music Store in London.
At its peak, it was the biggest music
superstore in Europe - it was like working in
a massive toy shop with the latest in music
technology on display.
I moved up to become supervisor of the DJ
section. It was my dream job at the time. The
crew I worked with was all trashbags too; we
all worked hard and partied hard.
What inspired you to start DJing? Got me first
set of decks back in early 2001 and haven’t
looked back. My inspiration has always and
will hopefully always remain the dancefloor
and its people. I love seeing a happy smiley
crowd and music being the main factor
triggering that happiness.
DJ kIREESh (ISLAND BOY) is playing
at Psysessions at Halo Nightclub on Friday
May 20.
kIREESh’S TOP 5 TRACkS
IMAGE: ANTONY MARKOVITCH
The other inspiration would be how the scene
has moved hand in hand with technological
advances. I love hi-tech stuffs and things. I also
have a fetish for wanting to belt tunes through
massive sound systems.
Why are you living in hobart, over Mauritius? I
went back [to Mauritius], played a few gigs over
there but felt the scene wasn’t for me. But it’s
not the reason I came to Hobart – I originally
planned to move to Melbourne with my little
bro. A few weeks before the move, he got a job
offer in Tasmania. Three years on, I am still in
Hobart and love it down here - happily married
to a Taswegian too. The people here are just
amazing! It makes the psy scene here pretty
special. Tight unit for sure!
how does Aussie and Tassie psytrance
compare globally? Tough question that one -
I’d rather not compare hey. They all have their
beauty. The psy scene has evolved so much
since its beginning back in the early 1990s.
I am just stoked to have been a part of it all
at the stage where it was still underground
and working its way to what it is at present.
Big respect to all those organisers who go
well out of their way to setup parties of mega
proportions.
Most DJs start producing eventually. Are you?
I have always seen myself being more a
DJ than producer. Not saying that I am not
considering it - I work on a few things here
and there.
I have always trusted my ears and taste for
good high quality danceable tunes- and it does
not just stop to psytrance. It is what has helped
me progress as a DJ I guess.
1. Neutral Motion- Inextricably Linked -
Wildthing Records(UK) (the whole album!)
2. Loose Connection - Plus 4 - Unreleased
3. Pspiralife -From The Womb - Soundcraft
Records (AUS)
4. Assault Junkies vs Peace KA - Asshole
Junkies - Mindfunk Records (NED)
5. Farebi Jalebi - Carnival Tradition - Parvati
Records (DEN)
warpmagazine.com.au warpmagazine.com.au
NIC ORME
ACTING OUT
Musical acts either have it or they don’t.
“It” being that elusive, exclusive and ever
so protrusive X-factor that enables an act to
surpass the mundane muck destined for the
$2 bargain bin at the local record store.
Sydneysiders Act Yo Age, the “Bastions of
Bounce, and Assassinators of Fakers” obviously
speak the language of this elite breed of
X-factor artists.
A quick scan of the information highway
reveals much insight into their wonderful
world. Remixes for Crookers and an EP on
Fatboy Slim’s ‘Southern Fried Records’, several
releases on multiple labels, international gigs
and accolades galore.
Intrigued to get to know Messrs, Shivers and
Pablo Calamari a little more intimately? They
(or their earthly representatives - still haven’t
gotten to the bottom of that one) were only too
happy to oblige.
“We are born of the ether - we are made of
light and energy,” they tell us.
It seems that AYA have been living on a diet of
saw waves and dance music for quite some
time now. And my, what a regime that has
proven to be. Medical science has long stated
that one’s diet governs one’s energy and this
still rings true as a sampled and heavily compressed
bell, for AYA. When asked where all
this energy is focused, their true purpose was
revealed:
“Our aural alchemistic endeavours consume
us. We are on an intangible infinite quest for
pixie dust and love bites.”
The future is often a worry for DJ-producer
types, with the current music business climate
barely supporting album sales and the financial
crisis causing club goers to tighten up the
purse strings. For our ether-born heroes, the
future is as clear as a crystal ball. Mere mortal
constraints simply don’t apply to beings made
of light and energy.
“[The future is] a moment of eternal white hot
bliss! The barrier between man and machine
will finally merge and a new form will emerge.”
Now, you may be wondering what’s in it for
you? What is to expect from an AYA party?
The answer is a definite winner, and alludes
to the party of the heavens. Would you expect
anything less? “Unadulterated hedonism: bass
vibrations, sound undulation - the blood of the
wolf and the love of the free,” they gush.
Of course, free love and wolf blood are all well
and good, but artists generally need influence.
Most artists have a select few influences, however
for AYA, there is influence in everything.
Rather than pigeonholing it to one piece, super
eclecticism is the order of the day: “We do not
play favourites - we love freely and equally at
every turn.”
BILLY gREEN
Act Yo Age play at Ivory Bar on Saturday
May 21, supported by Mez and Dameza.
Entry is $7, or free entry before 11pm.
PSYSESSIONS
@ HALO
FRIDAY 20th MAY
IDLE HANDS VS SPORANGIA
SHAMMIE VS SHARMAN
LOAGSTA VS SEANNE
leafy VS ISLAND BOY
11PM START
$8 on the door