Category Archives: Event

dB Magazine, Event, Interview, Music, Writing

Steinski

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Winning the Tommy Boy remix competition with their “Payoff Mix” of G.L.O.B.E & Whizkid’s Play That Beat Mr DJ in 1983, little did Steven Stein and Doug DiFranco realise they would become two of the most important names in hiphop, whose production techniques would span all genres of popular music. “I was fairly old… early 30s I guess maybe,” Stein begins. “We didn’t know if everybody made mixes like that, and we didn’t know if it was anything special. We just did it in a weekend, we liked it and said ‘OK, lets send it in’. It was a contest, and we hoped we would win, obviously,” he says humbly, “but we didn’t know. As it turns out they knew heard once they heard it!” In fact, the organisers left it for the judges to hear last, and they broke out in spontaneous applause once it was played. Steinski and Double Dee became an instant hit on urban radio.

The Payoff Mix was a mind numbing mix of hiphop, pop culture samples and sound effects, and soon became known as Lesson One. Lesson Two: The James Brown Mix featured the now infamous sample “Lesson Two” ripped from a dance instruction record was released in 1984. Lesson Three: The History of Hiphop features a whole heap of breaks that were common to hiphop, and strongly featured Herman Kelly & Life’s Dance to the Drummers Beat arrived shortly after, although none were released at the time due to copyright laws.

“Boy, are you asking the right person!” Stein laughs when I bring up the subject of copyright laws “I feel somewhat constrained by them,” he chortles. “But at the same time there are two sides to it. On the one hand, the idea that musicians should make money from their records is something that is close to my heart these days. What I don’t agree with is the sweeping nature of the laws and the enforcement as it is happening now. I feel constrained by copyright laws because I would not make something that was obviously illegal with intent to sell it… I wouldn’t not make it, I just wouldn’t sell it”, he smirks. “It’s kind of stupid; the whole attitude is so corporate. They don’t see it as art. It’s frustrating in that respect, but I can make a legal album,” he concedes. “The album I’m working on currently is all legal, and I feel much more confident about that than I did in the 80s.

In 1985, the pair split amicably. Stein went out on his own, and produced the chilling, evocative And the Motorcade Sped On. “Douglas and I had decided that we weren’t going to make records together for a while,” Stein begins, “and here I had this challenge – I wanted to make another record, because I liked making records it turns out, and I wanted to do something that had a very emotional impact. I took my own money, and it took me a while because I was working with a guy that was good, but who I had never worked with before, and it wasn’t a partnership, it was really just me steering the fire engine. At the time, 20 years ago, the Kennedy assassination really had a lot of impact; there were a lot of people around even younger than me that remembered it. In the same kind of way that September 11 was a shock, that had a big impact in the United States, and hearing those sounds gave people an electrical stimulus.”

“I did a 9/11 piece,” he begins when I ask if there’s any subjects or samples he wouldn’t use. “I used audio from one of the plane to ground communications that was released after the investigation, and it’s really intense. I wouldn’t be playing this out at a party for a variety of reasons – first of all there’s no beat in it, it’s a ballad essentially, and the other it’s REALLY depressing and slow moving, it’s not really something for a party. But there are lots of samples and issues I wouldn’t touch. If it turns my stomach or if it violates someone’s privacy, I wouldn’t touch it.”

Steinski is touring Australia in December with the Nextmen and DJ Signify, and promises to offer something new to all those who go to see him. “I’m learning a new software package for when I perform in Australia. I’m not going to be DJing records. I am a really lousy live DJ and this is going to turn me into a good one!” he chuckles. “I’ll have a lot of digital material that I can play and mix live, pre-recorded material, whole records of tracks, plus I’m going to be performing with DJ Signify on the turntables, and we’re going to be doing his material also. So it should be a gas. Right now it’s theoretically a wonderful idea,” he chuckles, “and we hope to see soon if it’s a good practical idea.”

I let him know that he’s playing at a rave, and he is stoked! “Really?! Oh no kidding!” he cracks up laughing, “What’s the date like man, that’s something I haven’t experienced!” I explain to him how Enchanted Forrest usually works, and he becomes as enthused as I am. “Oh boy, are they going to be surprised at my stuff! I’m kinda of new to playing out, this is all news to me. I’m really interested to see this!” He’s a little concerned that people may find him a little slow. “My stuff is very hiphopish, so if you’re listening to stuff which is hard house, or drum and bass which is 140 to 150 or more BPM, my stuff is going to sound like doped out reggae compared to that… That sounds interesting,” he muses, “that will be fun! Really? A rave an hour and a half outside Adelaide… Cool!” If Steinski’s set is as fun as this interview was, then it’s going to be a corker!

dB Magazine, Event, Interview, Music, Writing

French Maid Alliance

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The French Maid Alliance consists of a bunch of mates, some of whom are some musical performers, some just regular punters, who know what they want in a good night out. Dale Tiver is the main organiser, and we spoke to him about the coming party simply called “Blind”, which is supporting the Royal Society of the Blind. The name French Maid Alliance is a nod to the Adelaide rave party crews. “You know the ones with super cool mechanoid Lego men, Transformer logos, and the like. I wanted to turn that on its ear a little bit and make it all about fun”, Dale says cheekily. “‘The French Maid Alliance’ just makes people do a double take, and I hope it encourages people to find out what we’re about.”

So what, exactly is the French Maid Alliance about? “I have had strong ties in the local club/music scene for years,” Dale begins. “I hosted an event just over a year ago called Deliverance with MK-1 and Yoshi, and I had a French Maid giving out free chupa chups, CDs and other treats all night. It was a night where I called in a lot of favours from friends and did everything I could to make it feel like a party, not just a regular club night. For some time I’ve been searching for a formula that could turn the love I and many of my fellow party organisers have into something completely positive,” he continues. “A night that supports musical talent over the established pecking order, and was more about having a good time rather than making money. After spending some time with Rotary, it dawned on me that fundraising for a charity was the perfect way to go.”

Organising any party is hard work, and organising one for charity must be quite a chore. Dale says: “in my experience people don’t mind giving their time to help others if it is well organised. When I put pen to paper and realised what I could create by channelling even a small portion of Adelaide’s musical talent into a charity event, I started the search for my charity. The Royal Society for the Blind were the first organisation I thought of and right from my first approach, they were completely supportive. They agreed that the use of French Maids and other fun devices was the perfect way to counter the stigma that charity events ‘can’t be fun’. They made available all their useful contacts and have been involved in approving every step in the promotional process.”

As for past charity events, the Adelaide dance community has strongly shown it’s support for this event, with all DJs and performers donating their time for free, and others offering free advertising. For example, DJ C1 and Noddy have designed all the flyers and magazine artwork. “There was a lot of work involved in that,” Dale says, “and they deserve credit for the time they gave for nothing”. Further support comes from the kind people at Cadbury/Schweppes and Diageo (the company that distributes Smirnoff/Archers) who Dale says, “have been great from the outset. Both have donated free stock and their time. As a result there will be a launch for a new Archers product on the night and the first 400 heads on entry will receive an Archers drink, Pepsi and a chupa chup”. Other help has come from Blake at Traffic for providing the venue, and “the rest are all my good friends from Adelaide Massive website (www.adelaidemassive.com). There are a lot of little things to do for a show of this size and I can’t thank them enough,” Dale adds.

Dale’s strongest musical passions lie in drum and bass, breakbeat and live funky acts, so that’s what will be represented at the first party. Yes, Dale has already decided to do some more shows for charity at a variety of different venues, to keep the idea fresh and fun. “To be honest, there are a couple of acts that couldn’t do this show due to other commitments and I can’t wait to roll out the next show,” he says enthusiastically. “I hope to be able to organise these kinds of shows three or four times a year. I have four or five venues I’d like to try, a long list of charities I’d like to assist, and a heck of a lot of talented musical performers I’d like to big up. Hopefully Adelaide gets behind the whole ‘having fun that helps people idea’… I think it’s a winner!” he adds.

The live area inside will consist of Kumfy Klub regulars the New White Sneakers and The Break, playing live funk. Mojo favourites and SA Dance Music Awards Best Live Act 2003 Hooligan Soul, and The Jupiter Sound Project will be performing live Drum n Bass with live vocals, live instruments including Saxophone and Classical Guitar. MC Hype and his brother Piers will do some beatboxing to alongside DJs John Doe, Lachlan Pender and Funky J, performing breaks sets. Techno will feature early in the night care of Fenetik and DJ Anarki, and Mal Chia.

The outside area has the cream of the Adelaide DnB crop, including the SADMA award winners MPK, Patch and Noddy, Canada’s DJ Static, Drumsounds C1, 5158 record guru Mark 7, D-Jon, inbound’s Filter and Fiction, Altitude’s Jayar, Adelaide’s producer extraordinaire Skyver, Turbine’s Khem and Ozone, Rukkas’ Phink, alongside Adelaide Massive favourites Solace, Lucas, Frost, Harass, IQ, Del, Trucker, and Spark. Lyrical accompaniment will be provided by MCs G-Swift, Pab, Stryke, Pase, Mennan, XPress, and Mission.

Also, thanks to the performers and the kind donations of many others, a team of highly skilled French Maids lead by Tasma will also be working very hard at giving out free CDs, tickets to up coming parties, lollies, fruit platters, and many other freebies throughout the night. They will also take care of any dusting that may become necessary! Visual effects will be provided by Yasmin, with Fire Twirling by Toby. There will also be special guest appearances and prices for best dressed and most enthusiastic are also on the cards!

dB Magazine, Event, Interview, Music, Writing

DJ Debris

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Adelaide has a unique hiphop scene that’s fuelled by the love and dedication of its fans and practitioners. Although we seem to miss all the larger acts that tour our fair brown land, the scene is still pretty large and healthy for a small town. Maybe it’s because the DJs and Acts we have here are as good as those that tour. One such act is the Hilltop Hoods, who have been lauded in international as well as local press. With 3 albums and a following from Gawler to Mt Gambier, they’re about to embark on a national tour with the 2003 DMC Technics World DJ Championship Heats, performing and judging. We spoke to DJ Debris (Barry Francis) about the state of hiphop and a few other things as well.

“Deep down I always had a notion that we’re going to get somewhere”, Debris begins, “because of the skill and dedication of the people I work with”. The Hilltop Hoods formed about 8 years ago, as most groups form, by someone hooking someone else up with common interests. This common interest centred on hiphop, and out of the South came three young hoods who knew how to rock a mic. “I think we’ve grown out of the Hood attitude, as has our music, although we try and make music for the ‘street’ that appeals to the Average B Boy,” Debris says.

With regard to the local scene, Debris has nothing but praise. “The hiphop scene in Australia has come a long way, a very long way, from where it was when I first entered the scene. It was very fragmented between state to state. There wasn’t very much communication between the states,” he says. “Now it’s very collaborative, mainly due to the internet and online community. Plus the availability of home studios… everyone seems to have one. There’s probably been a 20 fold increase in terms of local releases. I think dedicated followers of hiphop want to see hiphop remain underground, at the street level. And I don’t think Aussie hiphop and the Aussie accent will ever get accepted to the level of US stuff,” Debris muses. “If people live in Australia, and people know that its where they are from, and they’re rapping about guns and American issues rather than local issues, your average hiphop punter will see it as a load of crap really.”

The Hilltop hoods are fiercely independent. “We always want to keep it independent. We’ve never aimed to go commercial. We make music for ourselves, and our friends, and the people who like us.” It’s this kind of attitude that keeps Aussie hiphop ‘real’ and stops it sliding off the rails, like it seems to have done in the US. On this topic, I asked if there could ever be a dance remix of Hilltop Hoods. “We’re dedicated to hiphop, no disrespect to other forms of music, but that’s what we do. I don’t think we’d ever make a dance track. Maybe an instrumental track for a movie, that’s more our niche,” Debris says.

“We used to do a lot of collaborations with people in the past, but we’ve backed away from it with this album, tried to focus on ourselves and try to get our own sound without having too many people with their hands in the pie,” Debris says of their forthcoming album, ‘The Calling’, which should be out Mid-September. “But we’re always open to collaborations, we’d like to work more with Pegasus from Melbourne, Regent, Downsyde, Hijack & Bones, people we have in the past”.

DJ Bones will also be present at the DMCs, and I wondered how they go about judging such a competition. “I’ll be looking at Originality, skill, ability to beat juggle and scratch, variation, the ability to master of all DJ techniques,” Debris says. “Usually at a competition there’s someone who really stands out, who gets the crowds reaction”. The DMCs have been running for 17 years and cover 30 countries, with many currently well-known DJs and producers having performed in the comp, including Adelaide’s Groove Terminator and Brendon, EK, Ransom, plus overseas acts like Carl Cox and the late Tony de Vit. In 2000 Australia’s best ever placing was achieved by DJ Dexter from The Avalanches, who finished 2nd, which is no easy feat. Could this year be the year a South Aussie makes it all the way to the UK Finals? Find out by checking out the skills of the Hilltop Hoods, DJ Next and DJ Bones, as well as a heap of hopefuls who will surely tear the place up!

dB Magazine, Event, Interview, Other, Writing

Yumi Stynes

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Yumi Stynes is the lucky “hostess with the mostest” of Channel [V]’s Room 208. Juggling a career in television and a young child, this cute, happy, energetic young woman’s story is the stuff of legends. One day she’s making sandwiches in a Melbourne takeaway – the next moment she’s being kissed by Robbie Williams live on national television. Now hosting TXTr, Australia’s first live SMS request show, and Room 208, which is going on the road with an all-ages event, we talked to her about her career and the show.

Stynes had some idea of what she was going to be in for when she was picked in Channel [V]’s “search for a reporter” contest. “I used to host radio shows for 4 years while at uni, and worked at a radio station in the Torres Strait Islands for about a year. And I used to do other things here and there like make music videos for friends and stuff,” she says. Her first time on air was “pretty scary… I can’t really remember it. I remember that I thought that all I could do was try my absolute hardest, or I’d hate myself if I didn’t give it my all… I know it sounds pretty wanky, but that’s how I felt. I had to completely lose myself, forget about being inhibited and being coy, just grab it by the balls and have a laugh doing it.”

Losing herself is something she’s become adept at, judging by her on air escapades. “I’m kind of immune to embarrassment now,” she laughs. “I got hypnotised once. That was pretty bizarre. I ended up dancing pretending like I was Madonna.” Another time the camera zoomed out to find her on top of someone’s shoulders at the Big Day Out. “He was just some guy I asked ‘can I sit on your shoulders?’” she giggles. “Covering the Big Day Out this year was pretty awesome. We had free range of the venue, and we had technology that meant as long as we could see the broadcast van, which was on top of a hill, we could broadcast from anywhere in the festival”, she says. “And it was just the most exciting thing to know there were thousands of people watching, and we were bringing them something you don’t really see very often – that really raw, high energy you get within a rock festival”.

Sometimes when people get positions in TV by winning contests, there’s a certain animosity towards them. Not at Channel [V]. “Most of the people who work at V aren’t frustrated presenters, they’re there because they want to be,” she says. “It was really a massive thing for every one at the channel. It was a huge endeavour that everyone had to pitch in with, so they were all invested in it, and when James (Mathison) and I got the job they all thought that we were their ‘babies’”, she says, laughing.

Stynes hosts the show TXTr, Australia’s first live SMS show. “We get great SMS’s on the show TXTr. They’re always really, really clever. We did a Father’s Day special, and we were asking what advice their father’s gave them, which was kind of an open topic – people could take it how they wanted. There were a lot of straight forward responses, but heaps of really black ones, like “my dad was always too drunk to give me advice”, and “Fuck you Dad, happy Fuckers day!” You get the whole gamut of intelligence and age groups and seriousness,” she adds. “My favourite one was one after Enrique Englasius got his mole cut off, and as a TXTr topic we had “What did Enrique do with his mole?” People who texted us had hilarious answers, like ‘it was going to be the major prize on the next big brother’, and another one was ‘he chopped it up and made guacamole with it’” she giggles.

Her other hosting job is Room 208, which got it’s name from one of those corporate ‘brainstorm’ weekends. “Well, with Channel [V] everyone just parties, plays loud music and gets silly”, she says. “At this conference, everyone went back to Jabba’s room. People were flicking the lights and having fun dancing to loud music, and someone came up with the idea that we should do a show that was “just like that”. It sounds like one of those ridiculous ideas that never goes anywhere, but somebody remembered it the next day…” And Jabba’s room number was of course, Room 208.

If you’ve never seen the show, it’s kind of like Soul Train for the chemical generation, and it’s quite funny to watch. Stynes describes it as “it’s like a party on TV, but there’s a competitive element where the best dancer takes home $1000”. Stynes thinks the Karaoke segment is the funniest, and says, “There’s times we can’t talk on air because we’re laughing so much. We like it because it gets played back pretty soon after filming, so we can kick back without being sweaty and hot and crazy and watch it and laugh. But at the same time we’re there with them. The people at home do have that distance so they can take the piss.”

There have been times in the past where off handed remarks can cause trouble, as Stynes discovered. “There was this large girl dancing, and Mike (Kerry) says to me ‘What would you call that move?’ and I said ‘I think that’s the horny lesbian,’” she giggles nervously. “But even before the show was over, the girl comes up to me with tears in her eyes and says ‘I’ve got family members watching – I come from a Greek Orthodox family… do you have any idea what you have just done?’ and I was like ‘Awwww… Fuck!’ It was awful – I didn’t mean for it to be taken badly”.

Last time Room 208 toured, they shot the footage and edited it back in the studio, but this time it’s being filmed and mixed live. “We’re trying to get the essence of each city we visit”, Stynes says, “and it’s going to be massive. The studio is smaller than it appears; it’s really the size of a large bedroom, and the clubs we’re visiting have quadruple the capacity,” Stynes says excitedly. “Adelaide was one of the most successful dates on the last tour. The people were just mad for it,” she says, “Absolutely hyped!” and she hopes this time people will be just as keen.

dB Magazine, Event, Interview, Music, Writing

Jayar

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Julian Rutt aka Jayar is one of those rare individuals you meet and think, “wow, what a sincerely nice guy”. Returning to Adelaide after being in the UK for a few years, where he developed his passion for dance music and vinyl addiction, Rutt turned his hand at promoting from a position of “pretty much seeing what can be achieved, getting inspired by these guys I knew doing similar, and noticing a few niches that weren’t already covered here”. Rutt is “impressed in fact with the amount of nights and visiting internationals coming to Adelaide”, but felt a need to fill in the gaps. This resulted in events such as Altitude (smooth drum & bass) & DeepFried! (Nu-school breaks) parties at Minke’s Skylab, and in a scene that’s known for it’s “if it’s not hard it’s not dance” attitude this was pretty gutsy for a relative new comer, but he has an enthusiasm and energy for the dance music industry that is infectious.

His latest event, PEACEBEATS, will showcase the best DJs and performers Adelaide has to offer in an attempt to show the claim that the ‘rave’ scene is apolitical, hedonistic and apathetic that many outside the scene level at it, is in fact untrue. Indeed, look at any of the dance music web sites such as inthemix.com.au, Adelaide Massive and System 6, and you’ll find heated debate on the causes and consequences of the (Iraq) war, where other forums have simply banned discussion of anything related to it. For Rutt, “this war is something I feel strongly opposed to, and instead of just getting angry or feeling completely powerless when our Government can so easily ignore what seems to be popular opinion, I decided to do what little I could to voice my (and others’) opposition”.

Instead of being dismissed as trivial or pointless, Rutt argues that “sometimes you have to focus on something positive to maintain the morale to deal with the scary reality”, and this is indeed the point of this party – to raise our awareness and to show opposition to the Governments position, whist having fun. “There are dance parties going on around the world all the time, most of them being pure escapism – which is fine. But this one is acknowledging what’s going on, and trying to contribute some positive energy to the situation, and at the same time, give real support to those groups who are working hard to change things for the better. I’m not putting this party on thinking that it will single handedly change government policy, its just one more peaceful, positive event for another section of the population,” he explains. “At the same time, this isn’t a propaganda push, it’s a dance party & fundraiser”.

With many approaching Rutt before he even asked, all performers are giving their time freely, and Rutt is promoting the event for free. “All of the money earned (after expenses for printing and sound hire) will be going to the not-for-profit groups NOWAR SA, Justice for Refugees SA, Urban Ecology Australia and Tall Storeez Productionz – the group who made the indie film ‘Holiday Camp’ about the Woomera detention centre riots and breakouts last year. As these groups have limited budgets for their campaigns (people may remember the inadequacy of the PA system hired for the 100,000 strong peace rally a month ago) and often rely on donations, the money raised will help future campaigns or in the case of Tall Storeez, help in distributing the film to a wider audience.”

The party has had “a good cross section of Adelaide’s top DJs respond and offer their services, which has been great, and my aim is being able to have representatives of some of Adelaide’s top club nights involved, getting a great line-up and covering a variety of styles.” On the night Rutt says “Minke and Skylab will crescendo, starting the night on a more cruisey tip, slowly building in tempo and intensity till its completely going off at the end! The Souk room is going to be a dedicated chill out room all night with couches and beanbags, while playing anything from experimental ambient to dub reggae to tripped out beats – a good landing pad for those not up for dancing but still want some good tunes.”