Two decades since the internationally renowned 90's rave scene in Melbourne drew to a close, Beat Repeat looks back to replay that significant time in house, acid house and techno history whilst integrating illustrious modern day electronic music acts.
Filter @the Lounge on Wednesdays with DJ Rudeboy and co. was pretty good for a midweek intimate dance off or just chill on the balcony. Hardware at Shed14 on the docklands was the only reason you would go to the docklands. And Every Picture at global village in Footscray watching Derrick May or listening to happy hardcore and jungle (i cannot remember where now lol). Papa Smurf kinda reminds me of Chopper if he was into techno....😅 Jokes aside... I learnt alot in the 90's. Used to buy records from Rebound Records on Sydney road where Mickey B. used to work. And from Willie Tell at Central Station on Flinders... Ah the memories... And Kiss90 and Kate Bathgate on trance mission RRR pushing the music boundaries whilst the rest of the stations bombarded us with Aussie Rock...
I grew up in South Yarra behind club evolution me and my dad were rocking it hard from when I was 14 mad vibe best memories my dad ran Sunday recoverys in early 2000 and I tell you no violence people connected through the tunes Papa Smurf is the Maradona of the rave seen. God bless him. My dad's in his 70,s now and we still get that fuzzy feeling when we talk about zos Evo,s VM,s and mon morn 161 or mega bar. Pre social media plastic shit. Papa Smurf brings the crowd like Jesus🙏
"If you wanted to be a DJ, you had to really work to be a DJ" .... *100%* I did the work myself in the early 2000s...1200s, a series of gradually better mixers, really good headphones, and SO _ MUCH _ VINYL _....... PLUS the hundreds if not thousands of hours to get your mixing really, really tight. Some people online say "beatmatching is easy, you can learn it in a couple of hours"....no. Really bad mixing, maybe. But even if you're playing digital, a couple of hours will only teach you how to mix in a very crappy fashion, compared to the greats. And on vinyl...forget about it. To be average, to be 'just ok', you had hundreds of hours of practice ahead of you. And all that created a barrier to entry...which was actually a good thing. Because the people who just wanted to be famous, or popular, who would never have had a deep love of the music, or the ability to build an amazing set....who would just dilute the scene with cheesy track selection and sub-standard mixing....they didn't make it. If they started at all, they soon gave up. But now we have cheap digital files, and technology that will take care of the technical side...fwiw, I have no issue with playing MP3s, I'm not a vinyl purist....but 'DJs' are now being booked based on their social media footprint, *because with sync they don't even need to know how to beatmatch or mix* . And unfortunately, so much of the arguing ends up being about whether digital is valid, whether sync is valid...instead of what it should be about....has the DJ in question earned their stripes by playing small gigs for years? Have they *shown* on repeated occasions that they can build a set? Or are they just there because even tho they probably suck, they are popular online. Which leads me to the final note - when people get introduced to a scene, they form a 'baseline' of what they like, what they think is good. I had a Dutch girl (of all people) tell me recently that 'all the best DJs, like Martin Garrix, play at Tomorrowland". Which tells us that standards can drop sharply when the criteria for booking is popularity not skill, and a large portion of the scene can be diluted into a housified version of pop music, if newbies to dance music are exposed to Guetta and Swedish House Mafia, instead of Carl Cox, Sasha, Digweed, etc. It's too late to stop that now tbh....the horse has bolted...but it would be good to see more underground-type events focusing on DJs who've really put the effort in.
There’ll never be another Chasers - every night (except Monday’s) was a different night. If Inwas at a loss for what to do it was always Chasers. I thought I was the nuts when I got my Membership - thanks to the doorman whose name I forget (he was the short old guy on every night) I would even go on a Wednesday night to Hard n Fast - I was into my metal & hard rock before Beltran, Bolland, Väth etc.
Friday nights at Savage were funk awesome. All us Ravers in one corner with our talcum powder and the gays on the other side with the best DJ’s of the time falling over themselves to play.
RIP Micky B & Phil K they were ahead of there time DJ’s and total gentleman. Papa played from the heart and with passion the people rocking were his energizer his sets at ZOS and all the other places will always stay with everyone who was there to feel his music and the atmosphere it created. Good to see him looking well was always fun to be around and have a laugh drink and splif with and still has the one of kind unique hollywood movie star sopranos voice. Back when it wasn’t commercialized the crowds atmosphere and the feel were in another stratasphere everything about what it’s all about clicked into place.
0:26 I don't have any experience as a dj, but I'm sure I would rock the crowd for hrs. One day I will give it a shot. 1:54 I remember zos days, best club I went to back in the day when I was 17 was the one near the hospital commercial Rd. Can't remember the name the next few weeks it closed down
3:36 bad people, "they were the best people" 🤣. That comment is gold, I can relate 👍.Papa Smurf Sounds like a top genuine bloke. He's right about clubs these days, the best one's are still gay clubs, everyone there just to have a great time and not pass judgement on anyone.
Chasers Sunday nights was one of the best nights out anywhere. Not just the music, it was 2-3 girls for every guy in there, intentionally, and it worked. Wild times, loved it. Then some building renos happened, closed for a bit, never came back the scene was lost. Awesome memories, glad we got to experience it all, I bet those there feel the same.
Hahaha what do you get when you have a wog, hard trance dj talking about 90's clubbing, a great interview!(gotta love the wog coming out, brilliant). But the thing that makes coming from that blessed time is the authenticity of what he's saying. It makes you not only reflect on those times but reminds you how lucky we were and how amazing life was growing up experiencing it, great classic hits!!!!
What an interview. Nothing will or ever compare to clubbing in the 90's in Melbourne. Fuck man.. you just unloaded some of the best memories during this interview. I remember everything Papa said and went to all those parties. We were the clubbing capital of the world and it all turned to shit. I'm glad we didn't have social media back then. It was all about the music , the vibe , the Chartreuse shots and Lamb on Chapel at fkn 4am😂 RIP Micky B and Phil K. Those guys were the ultimate.
By the 2000s the rave scene started to attract the steroid/angry/poser type. The vibe totally changed from one of love, fun, acceptance, freedom to the exact opposite. Next thing you see is everyone to obsessed with how cool they looked, no more love n hugs but lots of anger, posing and intimidation.
Wow, I remember those parties in Bunswick. Ministry of style, with Itchy's record shop upstairs, though I can't remember if it opened a few years after the street parties?
So much respect for this living legend, he took me back to so many awesome memories. The best years of my life was the late 90’s early 2000’s dance scene rave scene ❤
Described an underground era of Melbournes club scene thats unprecedented and unique. Winterdaze, Red Raw, Sleezeball The Loft, Tasty, Dome, Mansion, Check Point Charlie, Fantasia and Freakzoid.
RIP Mick B. What a great guy he was! great interview. Im glad i caught the tail end of the golden era of the dance scene in Melbourne. it truely was a special time. People were friendly, it wasn't commercialised, there were no bad vibes at all. Then something shifted and it was never the same. 😢
Man the way you describe first seeing these parties resonates with me soo much. Really feel blessed to have been part of that scene and movement during the 90's. There simply hasn't been anything like it in my life since. The way people were so chill back then you could approach anybody. PLUR!!
