Upcoming Gigs

Here are my upcoming gigs,

16th, Apr, Saturday -- I'll be playing a combined set at a new venue called Templebar [98 Smith St] with Dj LuKo from 10pm - 1am this Saturday. Entrance is Free so come on in and have a drink. I'll be playing some funky and chunky US House whilst LuKo keeps the rest happy with some Funk/RnB/HipHop :-P

LuKo: `This place is cool with a big projection screen, showing whatever I decide to bring and with comfortable surrounds, it makes the perfect warmup before moving either down the street to Republika (which doesn't open upstairs till 1am anyway!)' or some other club.

21st, Apr, Thursday -- I'll be playing at Two Floors Up [185 Lonsdale St] [date to be confirmed]. This is a lounge/nightclub and I'll be doing a 1 hour set sometime between 9 pm and 12 am. If interested, email me and I'll get back with full details. (I'm pretty sure entrance is free).

The Age, A2, 29/11/03, Melinda Houston: 'Similar to a nightclub, only nicer, this intimate venue has lounges for lounging and a dance floor for dancing, and a hypntic arrangement of liquers behind the bar.'

29th, Apr, Friday -- I'll be playing at Stellar Bar [98 Bourke Street] again, doing a 1 and half hour set, taking over from resident DJ Clint Hargreaves. Will start at around midnight. Entrance is free.

Website: `Nestled in the heart of Melbourne's CBD in Bourke Street, Stellar Bar is the choice when looking for a sophisticated and funky time with plenty of house grooves Thursday to Saturday provided by some of Melbourne's newest breed of vinyl spinners.'

30th, Apr, Saturday -- I'll be playing at Bunker Lounge opposoite RMIT on Swanston as a guest.

April House Mix

Also posted in the House forum at inthemix.com.au. Received some positive and useful feedback which I'll post here once all the feedback comes through!

1. Bassline Road -- Infused
2. Solar House -- Basement Nights
3. Jake Childs -- Plain As Day
4. Joey Youngman -- The Pickup
5. Lawnchair Generals -- Speechless
6. Joey Youngman -- Keep Rocking
7. Lawnchair Generals -- One Thing
8. City Loop -- U Got Me
9. Armand Van Helden -- My My My (Ashley Beedle's New York Fam Remix)
10. Troydon -- Phat Boy
11. Jake Childs -- Soundz (Screwed and Chopped Remix)
12. JT Donaldson -- Makin' Music
13. Johnny Fiasco -- Jazzmatic
14. Jesus -- The Second Gift

LukeMCD @ Republika

Went and saw Clint and LukeMCD perform at Republika. Was a good night! Luke played after Clint, although I thought it should have been the other way around as Clint's set was a bit more upbeat. Went with 5 friends and got free entry because Clint put us on the guestlist.

Open Decks @ Stellar Bar

Performed at the open decks session at Stellar Bar (98 Bourke St.). Had to drag my set along for 2 hours (10.30 - 12.30) because they couldn't find anyone to fill in the 11.30 - 12.30 gap. Stellar has a Rane mixer, and 2 technics 1210's and a nice soundsystem. No CDJs so had to play exclusively on Vinyl for the first time! Clint finished at 10.30 and I took over. Was heaps of fun -- would definitely have a go again sometime in the near future.

Caught a Few Gigs

Went to the RMIT Orientation afterparty at the Lounge. Luko was playing some old school hip hop and funk. Couldn't stay for long because it was a work day the next day. It was good to check him out after seeing him play at the fundraiser, in a more stress-free environment. Saw Luko the week after as well on the first day of their residency at a new night called Perseverance. They played some nice Funk/HipHop/House (mashup with DJ Snowie).

The next Thursday I went to see Clint Hargreaves play some layed back tunes at Stellar Bar, and a couple of days later at Republika where he played Electro.

Was good to see some fundraiser DJs in action!

Tsunami Fundraiser -- Pool Party!

Held a pool party as an effort to collect money for the Asian Boxing day Tsunami

Overall, the numbers at the pool party were very low, probably because many people bought tickets just as a donation, without having any intention of turning up! :-) Another reason could have been that it was not hot enough for an outdoor event.

However, with a total of 150 tickets sold before the event, and around 30 sold on the day, we have raised a total of AUD $2,700 for OXFAM! OXFAM will use this money for long term Tsunami Relief. The money was sent to OXFAM (can be confirmed by calling OXFAM Australia) and we're waiting for a receipt.

Despite the low numbers, the entertainment at the Pool Party was top of its class, with DJs playing a variety of tunes covering House, HipHop and even a mashup of Rock and HipHop! Thanks to Al Mac,LUKO, Dave Chestwig, Clint Hargreaves and JulesPLees for putting on an awesome display of skills!

Thanks also to the many volunteers, without whom we would not have sold all those tickets (and without whom there would not have beena BBQ!). The volunteers who made this fundraiser possible were; Dronan Atkins, Lasantha de Silva, Valerie Raffa, Nuwan Malawara Arachchi, Gaya Jayatilleke, Suranga Hewagamage, Tharanga Madurapperuma, Sheilina Geerdharry, Asiri Wanigarathne, Sanjay Reddy, Dakshika Nawaratne, Sanjaya Wickramasinghe, Thish Muthukudaara, Hashan Kodituwakku, Nalaka Gooneratne, Claire Barratt, Ivan, Nayoma, Angelika Widjaja, Nadhi Jayatilleke, Alex Mckenzie, Clint Hargreaves and Dave Chestwig.

A big thank you to all our sponsors who provided us with much needed resources and facilities. Bar Altitude allowed free entry for the Afterparty and gave us funds for the event, YMCA gave us free useof their pool area, the Leader Community Newspaper gave us free advertising space on their newspaper, X-Treme Entertainment gave us all the DJ equipment for free, Lustre Lounge gave us funds for theevent as well as a free glass of champagne for everyone with a ticket, DRUIDS Cafe and Bar gave us two large platters with cakes and nibblesfor free and Village Curry House gave us a platter full of Samosas for free.

Thanks also to JB HiFi for giving us many DVDs to give away as prizes, and Fox FM for letting us advertise the fundraiser on their website.

Last but not least, thanks to the two bouncers, life guards for theirhelp and entertainment, James Phung for helping with poster design and a huge thank you to everyone involved in making this a fun and charitable event! :-)

RMIT CS and IT Orientation Again!

Played for RMIT CS/IT Orientation again. Not many people turned up and I turned up late (had to pick up the dex/mixer/speakers after 12 pm and the BBQ started at 12.30 :-/ ). I was also struggling a bit with the DJM100's (cueing is a bit funny in those compared to the CD dex I'm used to). Managed to get things working but not a large turn-up and I ended up playing only for about an hour. Most of those who turned up were Asians so they wouldn't have enjoyed the commercial house I was playing either! :-/

Engagement @ Lustre Lounge

Played at a private function at Lustre for an engagement. Luckily they were not too fussed about the music! Played about 20 mins of 80's in the beginning, and when it looked like they weren't enjoying it, switched to HipHop for a while, played House for a while and due to popular demand, had to switch back to HipHop. Overall it was a fun night and they were very satisfied with the music.

No More Saturday Nights @ Lustre!

Heard from LustreLounge that they will not have their usual Saturday nights anymore!! This means I will only be playing at private functions! This gives me a bit of space to try out some other venues and concentrate on my PhD :->

House Music in Cairns

Went around looking for some good clubs/bars/pubs for House music in Cairns. Found a place called "Inbox Cafe" where the DJ (Psytron) was playing some funky, deep house tunes. Stayed there for about an hour. Nice setup consisting of Technics 1210's and a few Yamaha speakers going around the bar. It was an internet cafe + bar + cafe with some friendly staff. The day before I left for Melbourne we went to a nightclub called 1936. The resident DJ was playing a combination of RnB and Commercial House (my my my, push up, four to the floor, like a prayer etc.). The PA system there was amazing!! Some of the lights were controlled by the DJ but the smoke machines kept going on and off -- not sure who controlled those or whether they were timed. Had a drink and headed back to the hotel to leave for Melbourne the next morning :-(