Two artists at the top of their game: Childish Gambino – dominating the world of rap, and Flux Pavillion – dominating the world of bass music. The two recently collaborated on the monstrous trackDo or Die that was released on Flux Pavillion’s new EP Blow the Roof. In an exclusive interview with Music Feeds, Flux Pavillion stated that Do or Die was actually meant to be a remix, but “the beat I was writing seemed like something new to both of us. It just had elements that we could both work with, so we turned it into a collaboration.”

Working on that track via email, it seems that they built a huge respect for each other, particularly when Flux Pavillion started watching Gambino’s starring role in US comedy Community.

“I’d never watched Community when we did the first track. Then because we did the track together, I thought I might as well watch the show, and its awesome. So now I’ve watched all of Community. Then a few weeks ago when we were in the studio I was kind of star-struck. I was like ‘this is weird, I have so much respect for this guy’.”

Letting slip that he was in the studio with Gambino recently, Flux Pavillion expanded to tell us that they were actually working on a new track.

“I was in Sydney a few weeks ago when he was there for Big Day Out and I was working in the studio, so he came in and we’ve written another track together, which is pretty damn awesome.”

Expect a new track from those two soon. Who knows, it may even top the Kanye West & Jay-Z sample of Flux Pavillion’s I Can’t Stop.

Although he had many convinced that he was releasing an album, Josh Steele aka Flux Pavillion instead opted for an 8-track bombshell EP Blow the Roof. It dropped on January 28, bringing his talent as a musician and producer to the fore with collaborations with Childish Gambino (could be the first of many) and Sway. A fact that may deceive you about the music that Flux Pavillion produces is the use of live instruments in the recording process. As his live BBC studio session ofDaydreamer with Example last year exposed, the man is a talented musician and incorporates much live instrumentation into his songs, albeit, heavily disguised. But it is this live instrumentation that he wants to bring more to the fore, as he discusses his exciting new plans for his live show that are completely different from what you’d expect from a live dubstep performance.

Flux Pavillion speaks of his interest in diversifying within electronic music that led to his collaboration with Diplo on Jah No Partial. He also gets into the finer details on the growth of trap music within the bass community, and why its growth is intricately linked to dubstep. With some artists like Example predicting the ‘death’ of dubstep, Flux Pavillion gets pretty firm on his stance as a prominent figure in the scene, intent on sticking by the genre that’s made him an international sensation. Also find out what he really thinks of Kanye West sampling his track I Can’t Stop in this raw interview with Music Feeds.

MF: Hey Josh, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today.

Flux: No worries man, it’s all good.

MF: The long-awaited EP Blow the Roof just dropped in Australia on January 28th. What have you done differently on this EP compared to previous releases?

Flux: For me it feels like a continuation of my sound. I think maybe the fact that I did an 8-track. I was kind of writing an album that turned into an EP. With that you have a lot more freedom to really kind of do what you want…not so much do what you want, but I think maybe to explore yourself as a producer. With an EP there’s actually a lot more stuff you can explore, like ‘actually, I might not have a drop on this one’ or I sort of go into different sections. So its a continuation of how I think about music and how I like to write music. So it’s basically just me exploring my sound a little bit more.

MF: We were expecting a long-player to be honest. Do you feel a long-player pressures you to explore an album-type concept, instead of focusing on key singles.

Flux: Yeah, well I think that an album is quite complete and final in a sense. That’s not to say these tracks aren’t final. It’s a body of work that’s built to be a complete coverage of you as an artist. Whereas in dance music…I’m confident writing tunes. So I could write a new track tomorrow. And an album is such a big thing, I want to be able to get those tracks out. I want to write music in a time when it’s right for me to write that music and then release it. Whereas an album is like you’re trying to completely encapsulate yourself as an artist in one project. But it just didn’t feel right for me right now to put out an album and say this is all that I am.

MF: Were there more live elements on this EP than previous releases?

Flux: They were less disguised than they normally are, with my singing and guitar on there. It’s always my own vocals, unless it’s obviously a girl singing. But it’s always my own vocal on all other tracks. And I’m always playing guitar or saxophone and stuff like that on there. But I tend to cover it with distortion or mix it in with something else so you can’t really pick it out. This EP seemed to work a lot more, bringing those elements out.

MF: I watched the live studio performance of Daydreamer that you did with Example last year in BBC studios and it was excellent. Are you looking to expand on that idea by integrating a live band into your live show?

Flux: Yeah, that’s kind of the plan. I want to try and take it in that direction. The new set-up I’m working with is without live drums, and is more of a three-man sampler set-up. So if you’ve seen that video, you’ll see there’s a guitarist, a sampler and a keyboard. I want to try and keep it to that and keep it electronic, rather than try to imitate sounds with acoustic instruments. I want to keep within the electronics and play it straight from the synth, or sample the drums straight from the sampler. So then I can actually master the track live myself, and make it sound as good as it does on the record. A live drummer is never going to sound as good as the particular snare that I’ve got in one of my tracks because it’s been created and produced in such a different way, and I don’t want to lose that with my live performance. It’s one of the greatest things about it – the energy.

MF: You’re right, some electronic artists like Chase & Status and Example definitely use a live drum kit to portray a certain energy to an audience. When will you start using this set-up live?

Flux: We are in rehearsals next week for a week and a half and we’ll see what comes out. I’m going to try to write a 60-minute set with all the tracks that I’ve written up until this point. If that works out, we’ll be doing some shows towards the end of the year, hopefully. It’s all based on the idea that I’ll get it right. If I don’t get it right, it’s kind of like – if it’s not broken don’t fix it. My DJing and the way I’m operating right now is working really well and is really fun and exciting, and feels really good to do. So I’m not looking for something to do instead. I’m working on a live set to add to that rather than to change it.

MF: Your collaboration with Diplo on Jah No Partial is awesome. It’s getting smashed on Australian radio. Does that single represent a growing interest in your crossover into other styles of bass music?

Flux: Yeah, definitely. The Blow the Roof EP is that as well pretty much. Before I started writing music, I was playing guitar and singing. As a singer-songwriter I wanted something more, so I started writing electronic music to accentuate that, so I could play guitar, have a synth line and sing. So my interest in diversity of electronic music isn’t a new thing to me. It’s a new thing to actually be putting this music out. I’ve been writing all these strange ideas that go across genres and don’t fit anywhere for years. I don’t know if I’ve felt comfortable putting them out or they didn’t seem to work. But in the place where I’m at now, and the place where the whole electronic music scene’s at now, it seems like the right time to actually get some of these experiments out there and see what people think.

MF: Kudos to you, you’ve created a sound that’s internationally recognised, and I think you can hear it consistently on all of your music, even when you change it up. That could possibly be why Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled your song I Can’t Stop. That’s pretty big bragging rights. What did it mean to you as a producer to be sampled by Kanye?

Flux: That was the main thing for me. The one thing I’ve always respected about Kanye is the tracks he samples and what he gets out of the sample. He makes this awesome.. like they don’t feel like hits. But they become hits because they are awesome. Like the track that he did with Daft Punk, and Gold Digger as well is just the implementation of samples within the track in a really kind of cool, creative way. And then to get sampled by him – apart from my respect for the samples he takes – was pretty insane. That was quite a proud moment.

MF: I feel like there’s a big growth in the popularity of trap music. You’ve even been noted to drop the odd trap song in your DJ sets. Do you feel like trap music is going to blow up like dubstep did?

Flux: You see trap has been about for ages. It’s been there since the start of hip-hop. It’s nothing new. But I feel that new minds are working with it. It’s not quite like dubstep, where it was a completely new sound. Like, there was old dubstep, which was a continuation of two-step and garage, and moving into dubstep was where the name came from. But then what I’ve found is that Skrillex and Nero have virtually taken that and made something a lot newer out of it. It shouldn’t really be called dubstep because it doesn’t really encapsulate all the things that the genre does. But that’s just the name that’s kind of worked. And I feel that trap has taken all the inspiration from all the hip-hop and old-style trap and is a continuation of dubstep, rather than a completely new thing that could blow up. I don’t think you can compare the two because they are actually intricately linked together.

MF: We spoke to Example when he was out for Stereosonic and he stated that ‘I feel like dubstep has been done to death, and there’s not that much exciting stuff coming out anymore”. Do you feel there’s much life left in dubstep?

Flux: Talking about the life of dubstep is talking about the hype, really. Hype always dies. Hype always dies in everything. But the actual music will still carry on existing, as long as people make it and those people make good stuff. So I don’t really see the death of a genre, but the death of the hype, because, there’ll be hype on all sorts of other stuff. That’s the way the world works isn’t it really, it is always a flavour of the month. Dubstep was just a big kissy pop with a flavour for quite a few months and it was such a shock to everyone. But, the music still exists and it’s still pretty cool and it’s still exciting to me. So I’m happy with whatever the world thinks of it. I’ll still make it.

MF: Who do you feel is changing the game in dubstep at the moment?

Flux: You see, dubstep as a straight-up genre, I haven’t heard too much that sounds that exciting. But I think that’s because of trap. Because, like I say, trap is so close. It’s the same tempo. So I get a bit excited by stuff in trap that’s been done by dubstep producers like Antiserum, who’s been doing stuff for ages. His trap is so cool, it’s something completely new to me. It’s a weird thing. The game’s been changed so dramatically that it’s gonna take a lot for someone to simply change it like that. These things bubble away in the underground for ages. There’ll be some kid out there, sitting in his room, doing something new and fresh. I may hear of it in a year, and the rest of the world may hear of it in two years. I’ll only hear of it first because I’ll be out there DJing and people like Diplo will play it to me. But it’s quite hard to change the game. It’s always just a sporadic, exciting thing.

MF: On the EP you collaborated with Childish Gambino, who just toured Australia with Big Day Out. He’s actually one of the most hyped acts in Australia at the moment. What was it actually like working with him?

Flux: Yeah, he’s a cool guy. Really awesome. I mean, the first track we went in together was Do or Die. That just kind of happened. I was looking to do a remix for him. The beat I was writing seemed like something new to both of us, rather than a Flux Pavillion remix. It just had elements that we could both work with, so we turned it into a collaboration. That was all done over email. I was in Sydney a few weeks ago when he was there for Big Day Out and I was working in the studio, so he came in and we’ve written another track together, which is pretty damn awesome. But I’d never watched Community when we did the first track. Then because we did the track together, I thought I might as well watch the show, and it’s awesome. So now I’ve watched all of Community. Then a few weeks ago when we were in the studio, I was kind of star-struck. I was like ‘this is weird, I have so much respect for this guy’. But now I’ve watched Community, it’s kind of a bit weird. As a musical entity and a musical brain, he’s not just a rapper, he’s a musician. It’s crazy. He’s such a talented person. I really expect massive things from him and I really hope I keep working with him for the next couple of years, because he’s an inspiring guy to be around.

MF: Thanks so much for your time Josh. We love the EP and hope to see you back in Australia soon.

Flux: No worries man. Thank you very much. Take it easy.

A single man sat in one of Oxford Art Factory's trademark brick inlets at the back of the Main Room, his head snapped painfully back against the ledge, half resting on the lip of his skateboard. He slept undisturbed through the thumping drum n bass and grime that warmed the audience up in the final minutes before Death Grips. Out of nowhere, a laid back instrumental opera song cut through the filth and he awoke suddenly. If he slept through Death Grips, he may as well of been dead.

A single throbbing synth signalled Death Grips' arrival. The red velvet curtains opened and two tall, shirtless figures rushed the stage. The imposing Zach Hill jumped behind his minimalist drum kit set up - a single snare, tom and bass kick. He charged into every movement with full pent aggression, emitting a raw jungle sound under the synth-noise that jumps around playfully at the start of Come Up And Get Me. MC Ride ran onto the stage pumped up, throwing his limbs wildly at the audience, winding the fans at the front into a frenzy. The synth-noise suddenly morphed into an entirely different beast - dropping into an absurdly deep baseline that felt like hitting a brick wall. In an instant the temperature soared as the mosh pit exploded with violent movement. The steam off their writhing bodies thickened the air. 

The stage was constantly flooded in a shade of blood red. Like Death Grips were calling for blood from their fans. Urged by flashes of white light, their fans oblige. As if brainwashed into a state of sheer mindlessness by the nightmare rave Get Got. Its frantic electronic whirring matched by the speedy rhyme "get get get get got got got got, blood rush to my head lit hot lock." The intense tribal jerks of the two muscular members of Death Grips mirrored the confronting sounds they produced. MC Ride jerked the microphone like a cock in the faces of the front row of fans squashed against the stage wall, who's heads sat at the perfect height for more compromising sexual activities. Fuelled by his acts of hedonism, they respond with a crazed state of moshing you'd expect at a metal gig. Bringing Death Grips own statement that "(our music is) like taking a pill that makes you superhuman" to life. 

Images flickered across two iMac sized screens, positioned vertically on a table behind MC Ride. A woman exposed her naked body and red leather gloves, flames engulf a car wreck and strange occult like symbols. The images are intentionally shocking and confrontational. Like their music.  After all, their album art for No Love Deep Web was an erect penis with the title written on it in black texta. Lost Boys took their sound deep into the dark abyss of experimental underground electronica, it became almost like some form of satanic ritual. 

Bodies smashed recklessly into each other with violent enthusiasm. Others were thrown across the sea of heads. Many crowd surfed onto the stage where a single security guard tried in vein to eject them. As if guided by the "Fuck Off" (entry) stamp on their wrists, they ignored him and danced wildly on stage before stage diving back into the fray. Trademark electronic whirs throbbed, building the energy up and up for The Fever (Aye Aye). Hill built the song up with a simple bass snare combo before unleashing a frantic flurry of rhythms when it dropped into the first verse. MC Ride reciprocated, jumping around in a crazed state as he shouted "I got the fever". The electronic sounds they unleash in The Fever are absurd. One lunatic got on stage, pulled his shirt over his head and front flipped back into the crowd. MC Ride then decided he'd had enough of the stage invasions and grabbed some intruders, throwing them back into the audience aggressively. His crazed eyes, thick beard and rough prison-style tattoos would of been enough to deter most sane people.

I've Seen Footage dropped its funky underlying sample that sounds awfully similar to Salt-n-Pepa's Push It. It's an awesome sample. It should be noted here Death Grips production is brilliant. Live though, their so loud and heavily bass orientated that you often miss the brilliant sounds they have on their studio albums. Instead, you get an onslaught of sound that wows you at the very heaviness of it. I've Seen Footage was a great comedown to The Fever. Until this point it was incredible to note that Zach Hill hadn't broken rhythm once, there were no song interludes or breaks of any sort. Just flat out drumming. MC Ride threw himself around to the onslaught of sound, holding his mike as a weapon as he shouted vocals at his fans. 

Hill stood suddenly for the intro to No Love. He drops down with fury to slam his foot on his electronically programmed bass kick, launching sub bass so deep and forceful I felt my brain vibrate in its cocoon. Even MC Ride drops to the ground under its weight. Hill rises and drops again and again, smashing his tom with his clenched fist again and again lifting the intensity to absurd levels. The lyrics are shouted by MC Ride at the audience. His voice so absurdly deep, the words are hard to distinguish - bar the line in the chorus "madness, chaos in the brain." Fitting.


Finishing on the heaving bass of Lock Your Doors, they walked off as MC Ride's voice echoed repeatedly into the silent abyss. The crowd stood, shocked at what they'd witnessed. They hoped for an encore. It was never going to happen. Their dormant bodies confused after 50 minutes of straight aural onslaught and physical abuse. Like Death Grips, they'd given every ounce of energy they had. Death Grips live show was something that - like the first time I heard their music - left me wide eyed, jaw dropped. Their music is so confrontational and dark, yet they manage to drive it home live with this raw aggression and energy that crosses the boundary from being weird and fucked up to being shockingly awesome. Their sound is next level. Their live show takes their next level sound next level. Death Grips - holy shit!

Outside In Festival promised a tantalising lineup of exciting new and established alternative electronica. It was so good; they knew no one would want to leave. Thus, stamping a ‘no pass outs’ sign across the foreheads of staff and security – weirdos. Initial confusion on the triple stage set up in one venue was quite self-explanatory: they had three good dance rooms. The courtyard GoodGod Courtyard sending chilled beats floating into the afternoon sky as a teaser for what was inside. 

A sign above a small door to the side of the courtyard read ‘The Factory Floor’. No it was not a sweat shop work floor. It in fact led to a small, dull room that was completely black. Floors, walls and ceiling. When crammed full it became quite clammy, or in Collarbones words “it’s so moist in here I can barely think.” The only light emerged from a large screen projecting images behind the stage, and a single laser shooting beams of green light into the crowd’s line of vision. It was packed. Polygraphia fumbled around with their glitchy electronic sound; the duo moving from drums to guitar to sample pads in a bit of a mess. Their beats as slightly off cue as their image; the lead singer’s bowl wonky bowl cut giving him the appearance of a tall human mushroom. Their saving grace was a single green laser that entranced everyone as it cut mind boggling shapes in the air through a thick layer of smoke – stars, cylinders and bars all produced in three trippy dimensions.

Mighty Boosh fans look this band up: Holy Balm. They hold an uncanny resemblance to Noel Fielding’s band ala Electro Boy. The man on keys channelled Johnny Two Hats, playing juicy 80s synths with stiff posture, tapping one heel to the beat. He introduced a song in a high class London accent. If only he was wearing a suit. An odd looking blonde stood as the central figure behind a drum kit, hitting symbols at random with whimsical strokes, moving her hands painfully slow, like one of those really annoying wizards in Harry Potter trying in vain to master a spell – Neville Longbottom perhaps. I’d watched enough Mighty Boosh. Time to go Fishing. 

Fishing are the real deal. A packed Factory Floor were witnessing full, well rounded and measured glitch. From front of stage I looked back and witnessed a full room bobbing their heads in unison on the beat. One of the duo grabs the mike and starts rapping. He’s white and wears his collar top buttoned with hipster glasses, yet he raps with eye opening conviction about smoking weed. His voice layered with low end to give it more attitude as he raps “I’m rollin’ double sixes, I'm rollin' double sixes. Cash in my wallet, purple in my system.” Each verse exploding with more energy, egged on by intense strobes. His vocals changed suddenly - auto-tuned to a cartoonishly high pitch. The crowd smile at its cheekiness. The songs bombastic ghetto beat causing the dancefloor to writhe ecstatically. 

A journey into the Main Room was greeted with the ability to breathe, the expansive space filled with the ghetto crunk and trap stylings of Triple J’s Lewi Mckirdy. Dressed like a grungy 90s dude with skull cap, rocking the classic high socks and skate shoe combo like it never went out of fashion. He couldn’t possibly be warming the crowd up for HTRK – their moody, down tempo sounds the opposite end of the electronic spectrum. It made no difference, starting 40 mins late after a solid half hour of technical difficulties. As HTRK start, Janine’s concerned look turns cold. Her eyes glaze over, staring dead pan straight ahead. The stage is drenched in moody purple lighting that meanders in slow circles. Images permeate the screens coming in and out of focus, often turning blank to cast the duo’s shadows onto the screen behind. The songs themselves are a haze of guitar feedback and drenched sounds, her vocals echoing dark and moody emissions into the large space. Their gloomy, ethereal songs perceived ungratefully by the impatient murmerings of the crowd.

A buzz of expectation precedes Oliver Tank. Quickly justified by opening with an amazing remix of Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion, changing the structure adding new lyrics and a nice xylophone progression. His atmospheric sounds sliced only by his sweet voice in Beautiful, “I just want you to know you’re really special.” His love of Snoop Dogg made less subtle by Dropping It like its Hot, playing experimental guitar over the top. The crowd lapped it up, giving him huge props. Pretty stoked that Flume was next on.

Rapturous applause greeted Flume’s arrival “I dropped an album yesterday, so I’m gonna play some tracks off it for you”. Hells yeah he did! He opened with the signature wob, wob, wob  of More Than You Thought. It’s so filthy – the crowd loses the plot immediately. He follows up with his gorgeous Chet Faker collaboration Left Alone, the driving rhythms of Insane, ghetto rap number On Top and the fun and funky Ezra. Flume is dead set the only dance producer that can consistently make an entire crowd lose their minds and dance like lunatics. Bodies flail everywhere, thrown to and fro. Not from the hip or waist, but the entire body. Small circles emerge and dance offs ensue. Everyone loses their inhibitions because everyone is like minded and no judgement is passed. Oh, except for one weirdo girl who consistently kept trying to put her finger in my nose (what the fuck). After her fourth attempt I had to give her the flick. Almost a vibe killer. But come on, nothing could possibly kill Flume’s vibe.

Wandering outside I experience the casino effect - day had suddenly turned to night. Chilled house music flows from the sound system and a crowd lap it up. A great aspect of this festival is that wherever you are, there is always space to dance. Even though it was sold out, the spreading out of the stages meant that you were never so crammed you couldn’t move. That’s what it’s all about!

Outside In was an alternative electronica festival for alternative people. The best dressed and best looking crowd I’ve ever witnessed at a festival. Next level style was everywhere you look. Everyone was there for the music and to enjoy it to the fullest. People get so into it and dance so looney that you feel encouraged to let loose and dance like no one is watching. When the music is cut on stage closer LV’s filthy UK drum n bass banger Sebenza, the crowd shuffled out shouting “rubber bullets” (best lyric). The silence is piercing - no one wanted it to finish. Especially our ears. 


Written By Andrew Nock for Music Feeds

There was a lack of condoms present. “A condom-branded event and no free condoms?” This loud proclamation was echoed by awkward chuckles down the line onto the boat. Instead, their outstretched condom-hungry hands were filled with drink tickets to ease their cravings. Durex, you subtle dudes. As the partygoers hustled to the bar for free drinks, a swarm of photographers preyed on every Kodak moment imaginable. I’ve never seen as large a proportion of social snappers at an event. It seemed like every fifth gent was pulling a camera from his jocks! Reason being, You+1 festival had taken over The Starship inviting a sexy crowd that had one motive in mind – party to some of dance music’s finest DJs on a perfect Sydney Harbour day.

Interesting side note: minority of beards present (finally my hairless face fitted in!)

Rudimental kicked things off with a dynamite DJ/MC pairing. The act played through a host of songs zoning in on the best of what the UK dance scene is exporting right now. The honest and heartfelt track Spoons absorbed the vibrant sun that bounced off the water’s surface, warming the bodies of those dancing soulfully in the spacious lower deck dance hall. The DJ set spanned many genres of UK dance, delving into the bass spectrum with some drum ‘n’ bass bangers, building to Feel the Love as the MC shouted “I can definitely feel the love right now” in his cockney drawl.

A journey out onto the roof deck was greeted with the real view – none of this 360-degree tinted glass bollocks. There were fun tiki vibes provided by bamboo fencing, plants, and giant tiki statues housing the edges of the boat and the two slick pilots manning the DJ booth. With the sun beaming down, there was no better place to be, Coronas in hand and listening to Flight Facilities DJ live. The chilled set of laid-back minimal and deep house mixed in with their brilliant production efforts nicely. Brows were creased as heads tilted upwards into the sky and sung the lyrics to Foreign Languageand Crave You in sheer ecstacy. As a sole seagull glided low overhead in time with the boat, many bodies swayed to new single With You and funky remixes of Miike Snow, Daft Punk and Friendly Fires.

Signalling Steve Aoki’s arrival at the end of their set resulted in a stampede of bodies to the dance hall, snapping the audience out of their tropical trance and into the realisation that the chilly night was upon us and one of the world’s best DJs was about to vibrate the ocean floor.

Arriving unpronounced, Steve Aoki appeared, to complete rapture from his fans. He even had his hands kissed like royalty by one overly keen fan, flailing at him over the barrier. Wasting no time, he hyped the crowd on the mic before dropping into a heavy song with a distinctive trap flavour. Before the song had even finished though, the sound cut out completely and he was left wandering around stage aimlessly – even dropping to his knees in frustration at one point – as the sound techs tried to fix the problem. Chants of “Steve-y, Steve-y, Steve-y” echoed the most Australian way we know how of showing support, and he was back in full force after a few minutes of confusion with a monstrous dubstep track. The crowd lost complete control of bodily function and flailed wildly as Aoki threw himself into the crowd and crowd surfed to signal the real start of the party.

To say Steve Aoki plays loads of EDM genres is missing the point. The point is more imbedded in his philosophy of music. He picks the heaviest, most mind-blowingly intense tracks imaginable from each EDM genre. I could swear he adds layers onto already renowned tracks by artists like Skrillex to further the mindlosingness. Can I now mention his bag of tricks? Cheers. The only other act I’ve ever seen with so many insane nut-busting tricks is Rammstein, and although a penis cannon (circa- Big Day Out 2011) would have been fitting for this condom-sponsored party, Aoki brought the party in his own signature style. It started with the champagne showers (no cringeworthy song to match), shaking it up, spraying it and spitting into the front rows in between taking healthy swigs.

Aoki spent as much time on the stage/in the crowd as behind the decks. Pre-planned set? Who cares! He made the crowd weak at the knees with his antics. Pulling out his inflatable boat, he went crowdsurfing on a boat…on a freaking boat. Why the hell not! His musical prowess was then showed by dropping the trademark beat of Public Domain’s Bass in the Place London underneath the track that brought us all to our knees – Warp 1.9. He slowed things down a notch with remixes of Kanye West and Major Lazer’s stunning track Get Free before he segued into a new rave-worthy single Piledriver that he’s released with Ozzie bass champions Knife Party. To top things off for the big finale, he pulled a bazooka-like liquid nitrogen-filled smoke cannon and sprayed it generously over the crowd, its icy tendrils cooling the sweat off the hot mess of a moshpit that he’d created.

Andrew WK take note – this is how to party!

Oxford Art Factory was packed to the rafters with loads of inner city trendies and a handful of nerdy costumed punters who truly got into the vibe, donning dinosaur suits and headdresses. The room was half full by the time Flume started his set, but you wouldn’t know it by the way people bounced around to his songs. They filled the space with wild, flailing movements. He opted for a grimier choice of songs, including one dubstep track off the new album and a new dubstep-influenced track with his other DJ sidekick in side project What So Not. These bassier tracks had the majority of males on the dance floor jolting their bodies to the two-stepping tempo as the bass wobbled its way through the bodies on the dance floor. He skulled beer in between songs and waved his hands in the air in his trademark fashion – two fingers down – clearly ecstatic to be supporting TEED on this huge show.

The anticipation that had preceded solo UK dance producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ (TEED) exclusive one-off Australian show was huge. Tickets sold out in just 40 minutes and fans stalked social media outlets for months begging for tickets. It was quite a surprise to then see him emerge behind a curtain focused and composed, and start his set in a focused and controlled manner, completely oblivious to the crowd erupting in front of him. It must be said at this point that his costume was awesome! A tidy green dinosaur onesie gave him the look of a mod Stegosaurus, by way of spikes in a mane around his neck that continued to protrude all the way down his back. As the crowd stood mystified by this prehistoric creature, TEED got straight into his set with a melodic intro, singing the vocal line from Panpipes: ‘I keep thinking about my love’ in his soft falsetto, giving the crowd plenty of time to defrost from our ice age of no dancing dinosaurs.

A disappointing light show meant TEED was the sole focus as he raced around his long desk of electronics and triggered samples and buttons, adding extra layers and sounds onto familiar tracks like Stronger. From the very start, the sound quality emitted from the speakers was completely and utterly flawless. The synths were thick and juicy, but also ridiculously clear and atmospheric. The bass was punchy, but didn’t make your eardrums bleed. Stand-out track Dream On was full of trademark, funky 80′s synths driven by a punchy four-to-the-floor house bassline constructed with layered synths and deep bass. His ability to make a crowd move is second to none. The use of fun percussion that borders at times on tribal and at others on jungle is one of many elements that make his music so energetic.

Well-known tracks Garden and Household Goods provoked vocal sing-alongs, with a few lovers – fresh or old, no matter – spotted sealing their love for TEED with a not-so-sneaky snog (and subsequent dirty dance). An attendee was overheard earlier scoffing at the amount of hipsters present, but I couldn’t for the life of me see any or really care, due to the amount of people dancing about without a care in the world. Observing the character of TEED throughout the set, it was odd that he didn’t break his blank expression at all. He remained completely focused and in the zone fiddling around with his electronics, only breaking focus to fire confetti out of handheld cannons into the crowd. It is bizarre that an artist who displays such little emotion can instil such excessive joy and happiness in people through his music.

TEED kept the transitions seamless as he took us on a journey through his catalogue of banging dance floor fillers, all the way back to his 2010 EP All In Two Sixty Dancehalls with thumping trackBlood Pressure that had the dance floor in hysterics! When he dropped the heavy filthy bass ofBlood Pressure around half way through his set, the whole dance floor was bouncing up and down with rapturous intensity. Blood Pressure was followed up by the equally grimy underground basslines of American Dream Part II and That One that well and truly brought the house down. People lost complete control of their bodies as the moshpit turned into a writhing mess of bodies throwing themselves around in between jumping around and flailing their limbs to the beat.

On TEED’s last track, Flume was spotted crowd surfing on top of the mosh pit. The crowd erupted! He surfed to the front and jumped on the stage with his arms outstretched. A security guard then grabbed him from the side and flung him offstage into a metal post, hitting it awkwardly with his shoulder and head. As Flume staggered to his feet and off the stage, holding his face, the crowd stood shocked at the brutal and unnecessary act from the security guard. TEED finished abruptly after this happened. It was a strange ending to an absolutely smashing set from one of dance music’s freshest and most exciting producers in the business right now.

Written for and published by Music Feeds

The highlight of 2012 was undoubtably my interview with Orlando Higginbottom, the brains behind UK dance act Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Orlando sat in for a chat with me for Music Feeds at Sydney’s Universal Music Studios. We caught the solo producer on the day of his exclusive Australian show at Oxford Art Factory on Thursday, October 4 that sold out in just 40 minutes. 

In my opinion TEED was one of the freshest and most exciting producers of 2012, his debut album Trouble, scored him first act on the Field Day lineup, holding no hard feelings from his cancelled slot from last years festival. TEED was apologetic about cancelling his previous tour, although he is keen to make it up to Australian audiences by following up his double new year’s festival appearances with a host of sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne.

TEED jokes about never having met his Australian label counterparts, although funnily enough we sat in their headquarters for the interview. Widely renowned for staying away from trends, Orlando also explored the idea that popular dance music, in particular house music, is quite vacuous in the sense that it lacks the substance to give it longevity.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs album Trouble out now 

Adam and Andrew from electronic DJ/production duo Doctor Werewolf drop in with Music Feeds at Fat As Butter Festival to talk bass music. An ever present force on Australian festival lineups, tours and club nights, Doctor Werewolf know better than most just how much the Australian scene is growing. They talk about the benefit of Festivals like Fat As Butter getting behind bass music as it grows domestically, and huge impact exports like Knife Party are having on the local scene.

Doctor Werewolf are experiencing success also, with their latest EP Wolfzilla tracking incredibly well on Beatport. Keen to build on the success and enjoyment of Wolfzilla, they are aiming to get straight back into the studio to deliver more original material. Keep an ear open for Adam's MCing on future releases.

Wolfzilla out now via Beatport

Music Feeds TV caught up with massive Perth producer Shockone at Oxford Art Factory just before his first headlining show of a national tour in support of Chaos Theory, the first single off the upcoming album Universes. Having moved to London in late 2011, Shockone has been thriving in the taste making circuit, playing shows across the UK and Europe in the lead up to his album release.

The debut album Universes will be a diverse range of bass music that will be "40% drum and bass, and 60% everything else". There will be collaborations with local hotshot Phetsta and UK label mate Metrik on the album, including the vocals of Shockone's internationally renown sister Reija Lee. It will be interesting to see what bearing living in "the city that stays a couple of steps ahead" will have, and whether the future garage bass movement that is blowing up in London right now will have any impact on recordings.

Shockone also explores how Perth's warehouse rave scene dew himself and fellow Perth drum and bass champions Pendulum and Phetsta to drum and bass. A former drummer himself, Shockone explains how the dynamics of drum and bass music convinced him to get into producing and DJing - "it's like the metal of dance music".

The Chaos Theory Tour kicked off at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday the 1st September, playing eleven dates and wrapping up on Saturday the 22nd September at Onefiveone in Wollongong. 

The unfortunate cancelling of Canyons live set meant that Indian Summer DJs took over the task of warming up the crowd for headliner Flume. They were an unlikely duo: one composed and in control, the other oozing crazed energy, bouncing around wildly in a Quit Your Job shirt. He clearly quit his job for a reason: the hyped up energy he put out completely transferred into the crowd. Dropping an eclectic mix of tracks from a sped-up version of Rack City to Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Tapes & Money to the B-52s Love Shack, Indian Summer DJs drew more and more people to the dance floor as they took it to the next level. Even those occupying the ping pong table ditched their bats to groove out to their killer mixes. The epitome was Tag Team’s Whoomp (There It Is) laid over The Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang: brilliant.

Hyped as the hottest producer on the scene right now, Sydney producer Flume, aka Harley Streten, appeared to a huge ovation from the crowd. His huge grin betrayed how stoked he was to be playing to such a densely packed dance floor, and he wasted no time getting into the nitty gritty by dropping his most recently hyped-up remix of Hermitude’s Hyperparadise. The dance floor erupted!

Despite each song carrying a distinct sound and flavour, Flume managed to mesh each track seamlessly into the next, meaning there was an ebbing flow to his growing catalogue of original tracks and remixes. By the third track we were introduced to a new remix of a Chet Faker track that Flume announced he had “just finished”. Probably the most chilled track of the night, with Chet Faker’s soft vocals laying a gorgeous hook over a highly danceable chill wave beat.

Occasionally bordering on experimental electronica, it was only fitting that the air was filled with the smell of marijuana smoke as his songs took the audience on an aural trip to a dimension completely outside of reality. There is nothing normal about the music that Flume produces. His unique sound draws the mind into this bizarrely funky musical dimension, which traverses every spectrum of electronica so effortlessly. Gravel Pit took the mind into the dark underground of electronica, with deep underlying bass lines that vibrate deep in the chest, transcending in and out of a lighter synth-driven instrumental bridge, heightening in an apocalyptic-style break.

A quick glance around the venue was greeted with a sea of bobbing heads; never have I witnessed The Standard so densely packed. At the very height of Flume’s set, I noticed that the ground itself was bouncing as the dance floor moved with everything they had. Arms were in the air, girls were on shoulders, people were jumping around and completely losing their shit! The prime position is right in front of the speakers; if you’re going to go deaf, you want to go out dancing your tits off to Flume.

Flume is an intelligent DJ. He completely understood what mood he wanted to create with each song and constantly heightened the mood with excellent structure and feeling (not like house music does with their terrible repeated and elongated use of build ups). The crowd responded justly. There was a moment when he eased off a song into a really minimal beat, which the crowd vibed to gently, then suddenly dropped an intense bass heavy break out of nowhere and the crowd snapped into the wildest dance moves imaginable. You just want to let your body move uncontrollably to his music.

Highly popular remix Sleepless was introduced as “the song you’ve all been waiting for”. With good reason, it delivered smooth tones of piano and throbbing synths laid over a silky vocal loop and a trademark bass line. It was so smooth it felt like being washed over by warm air. With an encore of his remix of New Navy’s track Zimbabwe to finish off a energetic performance, Flume proved beyond question why he is the most hyped producer in Australia right now, with one of the finest minds for remixing in the business.

Written for Music Feeds