The always-reliable Balance series is back with the latest instalment of the Electric series. And behind the decks is rising Australian star DJ Agent 86, whose Todd Terje-style of music is rocking floors the world over. And as a taster for Electric_04, we’ve got a live mix by 86 from Lucky Coq in Melbourne…
If the rumour mill is to be believed – and who are we to doubt it – Australia’s DJ Agent 86 achieved the impossible with his new mix album. Apparently, when the staff at DJ magazine first played his entry into the Balance – Electric series, they were so enamoured with its uplifting party sounds, they started dancing round the office. This, we’ve been told, is unheard of.
So what is it about Electric_04 that got to this group of hardened music hacks? Probably the fact that – as with mixes by the likes of Todd Terje and Prins Thomas – it manages to be playful, credible, uplifting and downright danceable all at the same time. In true block-party style, Agent 86 plays hip hop, house, techno, rock, disco, electro, pop, new wave and funk, and just about anything and everything in-between and outside of the box.
A fixture on the Adelaide scene for several years, playing a mixture of tech and old school electro, 86 honed his deck skills before being placed several times in the DMC and ITF mix competitions. After a move to Melbourne, he started turning heads on the urban scene, throwing down hip hop and R&B, but it wasn’t long before he demonstrated his versatility, starting the long-running electro clash party Roxy. His DJ sets have been described as “the stuff of legend”, and at this moment in time he’s busy playing five nights per week, and squeezing some time in the studio to work on some upcoming releases. Now we reckon he’s set to be really big – time to find out more…
Where did the idea for your name come from? A fascination with espionage and the secret service?
Well, it’s obvious it came from Maxwell Smart [from the TV show Get Smart], but I can’t say it was the most inspired choice for a stage-name. I think it just came from smoking far too much green stuff and watching late-night television. The Cone Of Silence was always a fascinating piece of equipment though.
Tell us about the clubs in Australia where you have residencies? The Australians like to party, right?
Australians love to party – hell, yes. The clubs I play really range in styles, which suits me fine. For instance, on Wednesdays I do a hard-rock/rock’n’roll/rockabilly/indie night that attracts a lot of, well, rock’n’roll heads, and quite a few students. Thursdays is more of a professional sort of crowd, Fridays are a big one for me in what is probably one of Australia’s most infamous clubs, Revolver. It’s just mental. It’s open from Friday midday to Monday midday, and some crazies try to go all the way. Beats me how they do it, or even why they do it, but they do it. If you’re ever in Melbourne, it’s a must.
I do a lot of different things on Saturdays – for instance, just last Saturday I played at Global Gathering after Mark Ronson and before Kraftwerk. The weather was horrendous but the crowd were rocking. Sundays I play at a great club called Bimbo Deluxe – it’s a great space and attracts a great crowd.
All in all a healthy scene, then?
Quite healthy indeed. All things considered, Australia is a great place for clubbing despite its distance from the rest of the world.
There’s recently been an array of excellent electronically minded bands come out of Australia, like Midnight Juggernauts, Cut Copy, The Presets… Is this reflective of what you see happening at home right now?
The bands you’ve mentioned have been huge here for a long-time, especially Cut Copy and The Presets. I don’t think they’re entirely reflective of what’s going on in all the clubs as there’s a wide array of different sub-scenes and those bands merely represent one of them, but I make no exaggeration in saying that those guys have been very popular over the past few years.
How do you rate these acts?
I like them. In fact, I wish I had some of their mojo – I’d love a credible hit record…
The Electric 04 mix is brilliant. It subtly takes in a lot of different musical styles so I gather your own musical palette is pretty wide.
My musical palette is terribly wide. It’s successfully given me a bad back and kept me poor. I’ve taken a positive inspiration from almost every DJ I’ve ever seen, and in the early days I was extremely lucky to be helped and/or inspired by some truly gifted selectors. A few of the locals were HMC, Groove Terminator aka GT, Chico, Mike Evans, Chris Despotakis, Madcap, Angus, Uzi and P-Voy. Some internationals were Too Tuff (of Tuff Crew, the best hip hop band ever), Jeff Mills, 2120 aka Claude Young and Q-Bert.
Does your heart lie, ultimately, with any single genre over the others?
No. I love all sorts of music. There are no favourites.
What can we expect from your upcoming releases?
The forthcoming planned releases will be hip hopish party beats and a little bit of disco flavour. I’ve got quite a few tracks on the burner that haven’t got any plans for, so I’ve been thinking of making them free-to-download, but I haven’t decided anything yet.
Is the studio work something you’re new to?
I’ve been tinkering around the studio for a while now. I love it. I’m quite slow, unfortunately, and I don’t think I have the natural knack to make a hit pop song, but I enjoy it immensely and hopefully you’ll see some more music coming from my direction over the next few years.
Balance presents… Electric_04 mixed by DJ Agent 86 is out now on EQ Recordings. Visit www.myspace.com/djagent86, www.balance-series.com and www.stomp.com.au
CLICK HERE FOR DJ AGENT 86’s TRANCE-FUNK EXPRESS MIX, RECORDED LIVE AT LUCKY COQ, MELBOURNE
TRACKLISTING
The Spirals – Permission To Fly
Camaro's Gang – Fuerza Major (Tensnake Remix)
Featurecast – Disco Diesel
Inflagranti – Where Is Miss Palmer
Crazy Penis – Music
Gwen Guthrie vs Daft Punk – Stronger Better Faster (U-Tern remix)
The Spirals – Magnify
Riosin Murpy – Let me Know
Bary Mason – Body (Faze Action remix)
M-Swift featuring Vanessa Haynes – Fantasy (Spirit Catcher remix)
Hedford Vachal – Toys (Richard Sen remix)
Unknown Factor – Ring Me When You Know
Kathy Diamond – Over
Reverso 68 – Take Me Back To Yours
Holy Ghost – Hold On
Chic – I Want Your Love (Todd Terje re-edit)
HAVE YOUR SAY
