“I’m fiercely proud of this city.”
So declares Paul Derons, and he’s talking about a city that in the 1990s shaped up on par with Detroit, Chicago, Berlin and London, in terms of the rampant nature of the hugest, coolest underground warehouse rave parties in the Southern Hemisphere, the array of respected DJs and producers stopping by every weekend and often on weeknights as well, and the quality homegrown electronic music it was spitting out.
We’re talking Melbourne, Australia, the city that’s continued to nurture some astounding producers, DJs and live acts, across an array of styles, from the more commercial (Anthony Pappa, Madison Avenue) to some cutting edge electronic fiends, including Ollie Olsen, Zen Paradox, Voiteck, Honeysmack, Josh Abrahams, Little Nobody, Pat Stormont, Digital Primate, and David Thrussell from Snog.
It’s a city Derons – increasingly better known as production outfit, Enclave – calls home, and a scene he’s been immersed in for years.
“Honeysmack has been a huge influence, especially when I was first gaining my feet as a live electronic producer around the turn of the millennium,” Derons recalls. “His ‘Flick Bubble’ release set the tone for me in a big way, as did the times I caught him playing his now notorious, completely hardware-driven shows.The tension, release and acid, mixed with deep, Detroit-infused rumbles, still resonate with me today. Voiteck is very much in the same boat, and it’s great to see him treading the boards again. I caught Steve Law [Zen Paradox] only recently, and loved his set. He is a godfather for electronic/techno producers, and is also a highly respected sound designer as well – not to mention incredibly humble.”
Having finished with the veterans, Derons turns his eye to the relatively newer entries into the Melbourne scene, people already established, or rapidly gaining the respect of their international peers.
“Pat Stormont is a top bloke, and easily one of the most diverse producers I’ve ever heard,” he enthuses. “Among tough to harder techno, I’d include KL, Machina, Koda, etc. Smashbang Records, home of my big influences Bubble and Squeak and Luke McD, deserve a special mention – those guys gave me a good go with some gigs a few years back, and have since taken their labels to much of Europe and beyond. Bill Hunter, aka Blinky, and his new outfit Beatgeek Records, also deserve a nod and are doing quite well on the progressive/electro and breaks tip. Blinky is a stunning producer in his own right, and a great guy and supporter of mine too.” He smiles. “This is why I love Melbourne so much.”
It’s obvious he’s being completely honest, and if you meet any of these producers in this city, you find they all feel the same way – even Little Nobody, who’s been away, in Tokyo, for almost a decade.
Devons is eager to go on: “This tradition of creative, live electronic performance was already well entrenched when I turned my attention to it by 1998. Why? Because people in Melbourne expect diversity in the arts. The city is completely overrun with it, and it has been for decades. It’s what Melbourne is renowned for.”
Devons released his debut EP, ‘Ironyism’, this year through IF? Records, and is now showcased as one of the three hand-picked producers at play on the sensational new Elektrax release, ‘Depth Charge Remixes’.
‘Depth Charge’ was the title track for what was supposed to be Little Nobody’s third studio album, a somewhat legendary record reminiscent of the Mary Celeste, in that it was never actually released, the original components disappeared (something to do with a lost hard-drive), and the cuts were the stuff of whispers – that is, until a previously unknown live mix of ‘Depth Charge’ surfaced on the ‘Live In Tokyo’ release through Hypnotic Room, earlier this year.
In that live session, Little Nobody collaborated with Japanese artist Magnet Toy (who previously starred on Thomas Heckmann’s Trope imprint), and it was an interpretation that blew most tech-house aficionados out of the water.
Hence the remix selection here, which in some way or other refer back to that wonderful gem of a live mix.
By themselves they’re nothing short of stunning, and hark from Little Nobody’s two homes: His place of birth, Melbourne, and his adoptive abode, Tokyo.
“Both Andrez [aka Little Nobody] from IF?, and Simon from Elektrax, were really liking what they heard on ‘Ironyism’, and they suggested I give remixing an old Little Nobody vs. Magnet Toy live cut a going over. I’d never remixed anything before, so I jumped at the chance – and obviously it was quite an honor to be asked so soon after my EP’s release,” Derons says.
“Happily the other mixes on the release also appeal to my sensibilities. DJ Warp’s re-cut is a pure stormer, with some innovative and punchy rhythm elements that really meld the head to the hips for me. Bitch shift’s cut has what I believe to be some of the best atmospheric, slow-burn, cerebral elements I have heard for a while, too. That slow, cybernetic, atmospheric pad that just keeps ducking in and out makes this a track to lose your head in, ad nauseum. It’s great to be on a release alongside such like-minded artists, but each track sounds so bloody different, too!
So how would Derons define his own remix, in a nutshell?
“A dubby, rumbly, acid trip that stubbornly holds on to the darkness of the original,” he laughs.
© 2008 Angela Fox @ Zebra DMC
