Prognosis ~ Aug 20th @ LOOP

by J-Slyde

Prognosis August 20th EFlyer

Back at Loop for their bi-monthly edition, the Prognosis krew are gearing up for yet another prog-fueled party of legendary status! Gaining quite a notorious reputation amongst underground EDM circles, not only for the quality of music at their events, but also for the fantastic vibe and up-for-it crowd, Prognosis are set to host one of their largest events to date!

Headlining the festivities, Dean Millson, front man of the Private Function parties and one of the crew behind Pretty Simple at Ffour, joins us for a smathering of all things progressive. Playing a key part in the flourishing Melbourne prog scene of the early 2000’s, Dean has been a stalwart in Melbourne’s local underground scene for quite some time. With a keen nod towards his roots, whilst delving deep into his vast record collection, Dean is set to offer up what will no doubt be a set full of old-school flavours along with newer cuts of the highest quality. Known for his precise mixing ability and vast knowledge of all things progressive, we couldn’t think of better hands to be in!

Alongside Dean, we are also extremely excited to welcome two of sunny Queensland’s most finest beat purveyors, Travis Lucas and Dan Mada.

Frontman of Qld based production company Involved, Travis has been leaving his mark across the sunny Gold Coast and Brisbane for the past few years. Not just restricted to Oz, he’s toured and performed the world over – from supporting Carl Cox at Fabric in London, to more recently entertaining the Japanese massive in Osaka and beyond. His unique approach to music has seen him in high demand on a truly global scale.

Adding to the madness, and definitely a case of saving the best till last, Dan Mada, another key member from the Involved krew, will bring his unique blend of house and summery vibes to cold ol’ Melbourne.

Visual duties will yet again be handled by the highly talented VJ PiedPiper, projecting onto two 20ft screens throughout the venue for the entire night.

Auditory prog-support will be handled by the mischievous Prognosis trio: Aaron Static, Simon Murphy and J-Slyde.

WHERE:

Loop – 23 Meyers Lane

WHEN:

Sat, August 20th. 10pm till late

PRICE:

FREE!

LINEUP:

Dean Millson (Pretty Simple / Private Function)
Travis Lucas (QLD / Involved)
Dan Mada (QLD / Involved)
Aaron Static (Indigo / Skyline / Spherax)
Simon Murphy (Substance / Interview)
J-Slyde (Substance)

VISUALS:

VJ PiedPiper

FURTHER INFO:

FACEBOOK EVENT
http://facebook.com/substa​ncesounds
http://twitter.com/substan​cesounds

SHILOH and LUKE CHABLE ~ August 12th @ Brown Alley

by J-Slyde

Shiloh and Luke Chable @ Brown Alley - August 12th

Substance Sounds and LockNLoad are proud to present Justin Moreh, one half of Canadian duo Shiloh, and Melbourne’s own Luke Chable in an exclusive three hour back-to-back retrospective performance.

Having never toured or performed in Australia, Shiloh have been somewhat of an elusive act to Australian clubbers until now. With over 8 years of success at the forefront of progressive music, it’s hard to believe that neither of the brother duo have ever made it down to Australia, especially considering their close ties with Melbourne progressive kingpin Luke Chable.

Taking time out from their collaborative rock project, EMPIRE, Luke and Justin are set to deliver what will be one of their last performances before they knuckle down to work on the release of the debut EMPIRE album. Needless to say, for all self respecting progressive fans, this is an experience that may never be repeated and is definitely not to be missed!

Joining forces for the first time, Substance Sounds and LockNLoad will transform Brown Alley into a progressive house wonderland. Not one corner will be cut in order to deliver a memorable experience for all. A top of the line sound-system tuned to prog-perfection will ensure that the quality of sound is of the highest caliber. With a keen nod towards the vibe of yesteryear, a full color laser display will be in effect, provided and controlled by Melbourne based laserist pHotonCulture (aka JaseFOS). World renowned VJ, vdmo Kstati, will also be in the visual cock-pit, projecting onto large screens throughout the venue to complete this audio visual assault.

 

LINEUP:

● Shiloh (Canada / Baroque)
● Luke Chable (Lostep / Trojan Records)
● Steve May (Baroque / Armada)
● J-Slyde (Substance / Prognosis)
● Jules Plees (LockNLoad)
● Simon Murphy (Substance / Prognosis)

● Visuals by vdmo Kstati
● Lasers by pHotonCulture

 

WHEN:

● Friday, 12th August – 10pm till late

 

WHERE:

● Brown Alley- 585 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

 

TICKETS:

● $15 early birds from promoters – only 50 available. BE QUICK!
● $20 industry tickets from promoters
email tickets@substancesounds.net to secure

● $20 + BF online tickets from:
Festival Tix
Substance Sounds
Facebook – Click the TICKETS tab on the left hand bar

 


SHILOH (Canada / Baroque)

http://www.shilohmusic.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/shilohmusic
8 years into their collective career as Shiloh the Moreh brothers need no introduction. In such a fast paced high turn-over industry Shiloh is a godfather to the latest incarnation of the progressive dance music scene without a doubt. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a progressive house DJ or artist that doesn’t cite Shiloh as an inspiration and influence.

Shiloh LiveShiloh’s rise to the top came fast and furiously with their very first single, “Will U Ever Come Around“, signed as the theme to a reality UK TV series and was one of the biggest dance releases of 2003–getting hammered by Sasha and pretty much every one else for that matter. The progressive breaks genre that had taken over at that time was championed by Shiloh and you couldn’t crack a magazine or e-article about the scene that didn’t mention that fact. 2007’s “Café Del Mariachi” by the duo is another highly notable release–one of the biggest records of that year, getting constant play from Sasha for months. “Cafe Del Mariachi” firmly entered the cannon of all time great progressive house releases.

As producers Shiloh are an icon of the dance music scene. Their discography has grown too numerous to keep track of with well over 100 entries of originals, remixes, compilation appearances and video game credits. They’ve done remixes for EMI and Global Underground, been commissioned by Jaguar Motorcars, and their music has made it into a handful of Sony Playstation games. Their fans include Sasha, Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto, Armin VanBurren, Hernan Cattaneo, Paul Oakenfold etc. who have all given heavy support regularly playing Shiloh’s tracks for almost a decade. Their music has been remixed by greats like Nick Warren and their mix compilation appearances resemble a who’s who list.

Shiloh’s full length artist album “Bleed” was named DJ Mag’s “Album of the Month” receiving 5/5 stars, praised as “little short of magical” and compared to dance music legends Orbital for album track “Melt”. The praise continues on with M8 Mag’s 8/8 and EQ Mag’s 5/5. “‘Bleed’ is arguably one of the most anticipated album releases in recent memory. No doubt that Shiloh with ‘Bleed’ has created an album that will earn them a place in the top of the leader board between BT, Hybrid and Way Out West. I can’t praise this album enough, the quality and the pure pleasure of listening to this album will mesmerize you.” (Clubbing Magazine)

Shiloh’s BBC Radio 1 mix on Annie Nightengale’s show (one of the most listened to radio shows in the world) went off to massive praise. Shiloh are in the highest demand as DJ’s and regularly play in all the far reaching corners of the globe, taking top billing at some of the best clubs, parties, and festivals around the world in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America–headlining to as many as 12,000 people at Russia’s DJ Parade Festival.

Shiloh’s illustrious journey through this scene hasn’t been driven by marketing specialists or press juggernauts. Their success hasn’t been fueled by gimmicks. In fact, one thing has spearheaded their career and one thing alone… their music. It’s this fact that has made Shiloh an undeniably revered treasure to all progressive-minded dance music fans–a sentiment that has withstood the test of time and will continue to for many years to come.

LUKE CHABLE (Lostep / Trojan Records)

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Luke+Chable
Luke ChableLuke Chable has been at the forefront of the international dance music scene for almost a decade. Since his first release, ‘Accelerator’ (under the moniker Traveller presents Quest) which sold out of four pressings and appeared on no less than eight compilations around the world, Luke hasn’t looked back.

It wasn’t long before Luke had a plethora of original releases under his belt. Club hits like ‘Eat Static’, ‘Sealer’s Cove’, ‘Midnight In Cyberfunk’ and ‘Bitter & Twisted’ were standouts. The quality of Luke’s songwriting and production skills was soon recognised by DJs across the planet and his tracks became regular favourites with the likes of Deep Dish, Sasha, John Digweed and Danny Howells. Following on from this support, John Digweed signed Luke’s smash hit ‘Melburn to his Bedrock label. This in turn put Luke on the global map and set him up for his overseas success.

Luke’s defining moment on the international scene came from a collaboration with Danny Bonnici from seminal Australian electronic act Nubreed. ‘Ride’, a melodic, progressive house bomb was signed to major dance label Alternative Route and the rest is history. The instant success of ‘Ride’ set Luke up as an international powerhouse. In 2005 Renaissance invited Luke to do a compilation mix CD with Dave Seaman before embarking on a year long tour of the UK, Europe and the United States to support the release.

Off the back of his solo success, Luke has been a remixer in demand. His thumping main room sound has been sought after by labels such as Bedrock, Positiva, Ministry of Sound, Yoshitoshi and Black Hole. Some of the big names Luke has remixed include Steve Angello, James Ash, Tune Brothers, Stockholm Syndrome, Kasey Taylor and Shiloh.

More recently Luke has been collaborating in the studio with Australian dance legends TV Rock. This partnership has proven to be a killer combination with the hugely successful releases ‘Happiness (I’m Hurting Inside)’ and the hit ‘In the Air’ – feat Rudy which was released on Axwell’s Axtone Records. Luke has also remixed numerous TV Rock originals such as ‘Everything Changes’, ‘Times Like These’.

More recently Luke has provided remixes for UK superstar Dizee Rascal, ARIA winner Bertie Blackman, TYDI, Tin Alley, Sunlovers and Kaz James.

 

Prognosis ~ June Live Recordings

by J-Slyde

Prognosis JuneThe June installment of Prognosis saw the Substance krew back at Loop. Belting out beats from 10pm till stumps at 5am, the place was packed to capacity with smiling faces all round. Every DJ brought their A-game, showing off their skills behind the decks whilst offering up some of the most upfront electronic music going round. Was fantastic to see such great support for the Progressive sounds that we’ve been pushing. Many thanks to all those who made it down!

Downloads from the night are listed below.
None of the recordings have been edited or mastered and are provided as they were played live on the night. All files are 320kbps MP3s.

Insomnia
01. 16 bit lolita’s – Nobody Seem’s To Care [Anjunadeep]
02. Da Funk – Weekend Rubdown (Jaytech & James Grant Respray Mix) [Anjunadeep]
03. Jaytech – Djembe [Anjunadeep]
04. Danny Loko – Coastal (Eelke Kleijn Remix) [Anjunadeep]
05. Darin Epsilon & Paronator – Esperanto [Perspectives Digital]
06. Panoptic feat Jay Lumen – Surface Reborn (Ormatie Remix) [Baroque Records]
07. Medway & Luke Porter – RTFM (Shiloh Unreleased Remix) [microCastle]
08. 16 Bit Lolita’s – 4v2 [Anjunadeep]
09. Humate – Love Stimulation (Tom Middleton Remix) [Grand Casino Records]
010. Shiloh – Landmine Hopscotch (Soundprank ‘Aperture’ Mix) [Proton Music]
11. Spooky – Belong (Sasha Remix – Prankster Edit) [Anjunadeep]
12. Paul Keeley – Relic [Anjunadeep]

Jules Plees
01. Poison Pro feat Miusha – Alien {Proton}
02. Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile – Cripsis (Quivver Remix) {Sudbeat}
03. Trim the Fat – Words {Baroque}
04. AlterImage – The Wasp {AlterImage}
05. Derek Howell – Weightless (Ad Brown Remix) {CDR}
06. MiracleBlue feat. Minnette – Chance (Matrick Remix) {Indigo}
07. Domy Castellano – Clouds {MistiqueDigital}
08. Deslaye – Hot Chicks {Baroque}
09. Ad Brown – Marimba (Urban Breathe Remix) {Perspectives}
10. Humate – Love Stimulation (Glenn Morrison Remix) {Grand Casino}
11. Jan Hammer – Crockett’s Theme (Tom Middleton Remix) {AnjunaDeep}

Timothy Allan
01. Mory Kante vs. Loverush UK! – Yeke Yeke (Timothy Allan Remix)
02. Made By Monkeys & Rossko – Euphoria (Timothy Allan Remix)
03. Kassey Voorn, Pete Mccarthey- Enso (Egostereo Remix)
04. Audiofly & Alex Flitsc – Long Way To Go (Pele Remix)
05. TA’s Space Manoeuvres Mashup
06. Dirty Cover – Diskotecha (Responz Remix)
07. Wally Lopez and Richard Dinsdale – Shamba (Sidebum and Redondo Remix)
08. Pablo Cahn – Elle (Original Mix)
09. Tetchy – Bring It Back
10. OTP – Out Of Phase (Original Mix)
11. Timothy Allan – Bring it Back
12. Ovidi Adlert Alan Leal – Mechanical Speech (Oscar Akagy Remix)

Simon Murphy
01 Pig & Dan – Tears of a clown (Max Cooper Expanded Remix)
02 Oliver Schories – Black Rain (Original Mix)
03 Sistema – Lenceria Barata (Dosem Remix)
04 Takt Tick – July Rain (Solee Remix)
05 Morris Cowan – Cavern Jive (Microtrauma Remix)
06 Emok – Tokyo Slickers (D-Formation Remix)
07 Secret Cinema & Egbert – Topaz
08 Spektre & Miniminds – Guillotine (Christian Smith Remix)
09 Kassey Voorn – Neptune (Cid Inc Remix)
10 A. Balter & Eitan Reiter – Sunny Afternoon
11 Ryan Davis – Supernova (Microtrauma Remix)
12 Flippers & DJ Slater ft U-Prag – Virus (Fiord Remix)
13 Dibby Dougherty & Dave Young – Hydra Island (Cid Inc Remix)
14 Blaues Licht – Subsoil (Microtrauma Remix)
15 Guy J – Heliscope (Egbert Remix)
16 Weekend Heroes – Supernova (Magitman Remix)

J-Slyde
TL / NA. Tooooo lazy. Shazam that shit!

Aaron Static – (withheld due to licensing issues)

 

Next Prognosis is set for Sat, August 20th featuring Dean Millson (Pretty Simple / Private Function), Travis Lucas (QLD / Involved), Dan Mada (QLD / Involved), Aaron Static, Simon Murphy and J-Slyde. Stay tuned for further details!

 

My Top 5 Most Influential Releases ~ Simon Murphy

by Simon Murphy

If you have ever been in my car, my house or even just seen inside my record bag, there is one thing that is blaringly obvious….. I have a small obsession with music. Well actually, who am I kidding really? I have a full blown, OCD laden, verging on unhealthy, obsession with music and have done so for as long as I can remember. I have hundreds of records, CDs, tapes, DVDs and videos plus hard drives FULL to the brim with every conceivable genre of electronic music from the last 15+ years of collecting. The collection fills any spare bit of shelf, cupboard, car or floor space that I have and then some. Am I concerned? Not at all…. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, when you have as much music as I do and somebody asks you to come up with 5 albums that have influenced you the most as a DJ it does tend to open up a Pandora’s box. It was my equivalent of someone asking a parent which is their favourite child in that even though deep down I had favourites, I felt bad for the others. It was no mean feat to come up with this list as I could have easily made it 20 or 50 influential albums but through a lot of thought I have managed to narrow it down to my top five.

This list is by no means a definitive list of the best or most defining releases across the whole scene. These are not necessarily the most highly praised releases across the genres that they cover or are they even necessarily the most highly regarded releases by the artists included. This is simply a list that captures where my headspace was musically at different times, where I have drawn inspiration from, and most of all, what has shaped my outlook on music and the tunes that I play. It was hard to prepare this list without sounding conceited or self righteous as I had to try to justify what were extremely tough decisions. Passion can easily be mistaken for arrogant self indulgence so I hope that this comes across as the former as this was my intention. The list naturally formed in chronological order as it follows what I was listening to at different times, a few explanations of the scene at the time (sorry if some were long-winded), my changing tastes in music and how I went from being a music-obsessed party-animal promo-whore to a…. well…. to a music-obsessed  party-animal who feels lucky to have the opportunity to spin the tunes I love (when people let me).

So enough of my rambling (or the start of a whole lot more rambling?) here are my choices……

1. The Prodigy – Music for the jilted generation (1994)

The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted GenerationAs a teenager in the mid to late 90’s I was, like everyone else, riding the grunge and punk waves. I liked music with a lot of energy but never really liked the more classic ‘rock’ sound per se. I got into dance music when I was pretty young and I’m not going to lie; a lot of the stuff I listened to was horrible stuff. Whilst bouncing around between these almost polar opposites, I found myself unknowingly searching for something that would grab me and shake things up. Enter stage right…. The Prodigy.

The Prodigy turned any preconception that I had of music on its head by merging the ideals of punk with the structures and sounds of electronic music. I blasted this through my walkman like there was no tomorrow. They were the gateway act that got me hooked on the good stuff and made me thirsty for more. With the little money I had from my part time job at KFC I would hit up Dixon’s and buy anything and everything from the ‘dance music’ section. Buying second hand CDs from Dixon’s, armed with minimal knowledge of what I should be looking for, meant my collection included everything from Detroit House to Rotterdam Hardcore, from trance to jungle, from commercial cheese to experimental Goa. Again, a lot of it was horrible, but it opened up my eyes to a whole new world of music that I fully immersed myself in. This exposure to such a wide array of sounds meant that I always kept an open mind about music and this is an ideal I still try to remain true to.

PURCHASE

2. Sasha + Digweed – Northern Exposure : Expeditions (1999)

Sasha & Digweed - Northern Exposure ExpeditionsBy 1999 I had a bit more knowledge of the electronic music that was out there and had started to go to club nights and events around Melbourne. My weekend diet consisted of a whole lot of trance and a whole lot of techno. Like most kiddies I liked my music banging so there was a fair bit of hard house and other UK sounds in there too. I was still listening to anything and everything that I could afford and as I slowly got more involved in the scene I read about or got told about more and more acts that I should check out.

As is still true to this day, there aren’t many bigger names than Sasha and John Digweed so it was no surprise that I came across this compilation on my travels (I think I may have actually lashed out and bought this at Sanity Dance Arena). I’m not going to lie, at first listen I really wasn’t that impressed, it sounded like a chill CD and I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. After subsequent listens though, it all started to make sense. This double CD taught me that music didn’t have to be banging to be awesome. The music had so many layers, so many different sounds and the mixes were so long that you almost couldn’t tell where one track stopped and the next track started. Every time I listened I heard something different that I hadn’t noticed before and I loved it. This album is still one of the reasons that I still look for music with lots of layers and textures that can be played around with and used to make long mixes.

PURCHASE

3. Dave Clarke – World Service (2001)

Dave Clarke - World ServiceBy the time I heard this album I was well and truly hooked on the Melbourne scene. Whilst I was at uni I was promoting around Melbourne so that I could go to all the events that I wouldn’t have been able to afford to attend otherwise. After listening to enough trance, hard house and hardcore to turn anyone sterile I began my techno honeymoon with this double CD being one of the key catalysts. I am pretty sure it must have been in the @mosphere DJ’s contracts to have a copy of this on vinyl as the tunes on here received a fair caning and formed part of the soundtrack to that period of time. As a promoter for @mosphere I met a bunch of the techno faithful and didn’t look back. I was promoting for crews like Hardware, Wetmusik, Melbourne Techno Massive etc and my brain was well and truly rewired to run on techno time. Even though I cross between genres a bit now, techno still forms the basis of the majority of what I play and Dave Clarke still reigns as one of my favourite DJs (Ben Sims still takes the cake as the best DJ I’ve ever seen though – sorry Dave).

PURCHASE

4. Vitalic – OK Cowboy (2005)

Vitalic - OK CowboyIt’s blatantly obvious to anyone who has been around more than a couple of years that after years of techno domination, electro hit the Melbourne scene in a BIG way and before it became a taboo word due to commercial oversaturation, there was a thriving scene with some exceptional music. By this stage I’d been heavily involved in promoting, running events, writing reviews & other press, event photography etc and I had always been quite content to let others do the DJing. This was probably due to minimal funds whilst studying full time and working casual jobs but also because I never really felt the need. Heaps of my mates were DJs and I’d go to so many events I could always hear the tunes I wanted to hear. I was happy with this arrangement.

When I finally jumped behind the decks I did much the same as when I started buying CDs, I bought records (a lot which were second hand) that crossed a number of genres. From early on I got hooked on the heavier electro sounds of artists like Anthony Rother, The Hacker, Fischerspooner, Black Strobe and of course Vitalic. Seeing Vitalic smash out his set at Two Tribes in ’04 was a set that resonated in my mind when I was first buying records and when this album came out it was definitely a major influence in the sound I was aiming for. The Melbourne scene had some great electro gigs and DJs which definitely contributed to the sound I was playing. Sometime around this point I went from being a bedroom banger with absolutely no desire to play in public at all, to getting a couple of random gigs around the traps and then BANG…. my vinyl addiction morphed into a burning desire to play gigs.

PURCHASE

5. Trentemoller – The Last Resort (2006)

Trentemoller - The Last ResortAfter electro got destroyed by hideous electro house I was looking for something new (note: before anyone jumps up and down there definitely was/is some very good electro house around, it just got totally paled in comparison to the amount of absolute trash around). I moved back to my techno roots but in a new form; minimal. Much like when electro hit the scene in a big way, minimal threw a net over the scene and I got hooked (again, there was some terrible minimal but there was also some amazing music around at this time). Trentemoller’s music acted as a catalyst for me as his music bridged the gap between my taste for electro/early electro house and minimal.

One of my very early records was a white label of Trentemoller’s Beta Boy. After falling in love with the track, I went on a search to find anything and everything that Trentemoller had anything to do with. His EP’s on Poker Flat plus a long list of remixes were staples in my sets and they never left my record bag. This album was released about a year after I had first gotten into his music. I had loved his previous work but this album definitely struck a chord much in the same way that Northern Exposure: Expeditions had done all those years earlier. This album is a beautiful piece of amazingly structured melancholy techno. It re-taught me the value of quality production, texture and layers in music. This album made me really listen to the music I was playing and is probably partly responsible for the OCD I have now about finding the right tunes for the right set. Since this album I have immersed myself in a lot of down tempo, melodic and often melancholy music that really did changed the way I played my sets.

PURCHASE

 

So there you have it. There were numerous other releases that I would have loved to include from acts like Daft Punk, Laurent Garnier, Sasha, Gui Boratto, Lamb, Joris Voorn, Shpongle, Booka Shade, Riccardo Villalobos, Protoculture, James Zabiela, Phonique, Trifonic, Lusine and well, the list goes on. Overall, I think that the five releases above are a good cross section to illustrate how I managed to get to the point I am at now. Hearing my sets, after looking at this list, you will hopefully be able to hear and understand where I draw a lot of my inspiration. The elements presented in these releases have all contributed to the ideals that I seek in music. I attempt, with varying degrees of success, to translate these core elements into my mixes and my sets. Add to this the huge amounts of quality local and international DJs I’ve been spoilt enough to catch playing around Melbourne over the last decade and you should also be able to see why I am still addicted to the music after all this time and why I can’t see that changing any time soon.

Prognosis Promo 2 ~ Mixed by Simon Murphy

by J-Slyde

Mixed in preparation of our April Prognosis event, and running hot off the heels of the first Prognosis Promo Mix, Simon Murphy, resident and all round nice guy, has offered up his skills and taken the reigns for our second offering. Covering Simon’s unique take on Melodic Techno and Tech-House, it’s an 80 minute journey that delves deep into the forward thinking music Simon has been pushing at our events. Available as a free download to all our loyal supporters!

Prognosis Promo 2

01.Max Cooper – Solice (Original Mix)
02.Max Cooper – Heresy (Dosem Remix)
03.Ryan Davis – My White Zebra
04.Andrew K – The Doppler Effect (Max Cooper Remix)
05.Microtrauma – Contrast
06.Oliver Schories – Wildfang (Original Mix)
07.Alex Dolby – City Shark (16 Bit Lolitas Remix)
08.Thomas Bjerring & David Skog – Ice (Microtrauma Remix)
09.Beatamines – Diamond Girl (Microtrauma Remix)
10.Jim Rivers – Black Keys (Cid Inc. Remix)
11.Solee – Ice
12.Max Cooper – Enveloped (Ryan Davis Remix)
13.Guy J – Azimuth (Original Mix)

 

Direct Download

If you like what you hear, ensure you like Simon on Facebook!

 

We Heart Simon Murphy

by Taran M

Simon Murphy DJing at Room - Photo by Alison SpongThere are not too many people I can say that I have watched from punter/ promoter to DJ as gracefully as one man and that is Simon Murphy. From the first time I met him, in an acquaintance’s house nearly nine years ago, it was clear that Simon possessed a didactic approach to his love of electronic music. At that time Simon was heavily involved with the MTM crew with PDT and Degenerator. It was clear this cat had the knowledge, a refined appreciation for everything from hard trance to his first love, that being techno. Before he was even DJing his ugly mug had graced the cover of “Play” Beat’s dance music centerpiece. Every undertaking that Simon has contributed to the Melbourne dance scene has been done with aplomb. Not one to name drop, or even more so big note himself, the focus for him is to always push the music. If anyone ever accused him of having his head up his ass, I and I think anyone who knows Simon, would glass them immediately and after explaining to the police why they glassed them, gain the order of Australia. Simon worked tirelessly for such crews as MTM and Smilepolice for the love. You have to remember back in those days he was not even DJing; There was no underlying reason other than his passion for electronica. When I think back on every action that I have personally undertaken in the EDM, Simon has always been in the foreground.

So when I found out he had started spinning and I was harvesting people I respected to work with me on Substance, it wasn’t hard to see that I would naturally ask him to assist. What Simon brings to Substance is only just beginning to be recognised in terms of being a DJ. If you have ever played a versus set with Simon the first thing you will notice nowadays is his precision in mixing, cutting and general demenour around a mixer and CDJ/ 1200’s. I can think of a number of DJ’s who are tricky, have great show pony tricks but when it comes to precision mixing, lightning accurate cuts and set structure there is only one person… Yup, you guessed it.

To be rivalled with his skill in mixing is his scary techno dictionary of tune knowledge. If you want to know who has done a remix, ask Simon…”That tune that goes da da da da ” Simon will know it. The tune knowledge that Simon has amassed into his little cranium defies logic, if he wasn’t Simon we’d think he is obsessive compulsive. If his knowledge was physical matter, we’d call him a hoarder. And it is also lucky that the digital medium has overset music consumption because Simon would have to be living in a 200sqm meter warehouse to accomodate the mythical amounts of vinyl he would now own.

So the points you have learnt in this article:

  1. He has done everything in the EDM scene and has not become the Dick Smith of it.. thus making him awesome
  2. His DJ skills are on fire…. watch out
  3. He is awesome
  4. Chuck Norris and Mr. T only concede defeat when arguing Adam Beyer to Simon Murphy

For those who like Simon as much as we do, ensure you add yourselves to his Facebook Fan Page!

You can catch Simon at our upcoming April Prognosis event!