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DJ GULLY
(West Coast Beats Cartel)
Gully aka John Rodgers embarked upon djing as a profession in 1993.
Since then he has thrilled, grooved and moved dance crowds both in Perth and overseas, including Indonesia (Jakarta & Bali), Malaysia (KL) and China (New Years 2000) .He was chosen to represent W.A. for the first, Nokia N-gage tour (Nov-Dec 2003). This saw him tour the country with the cream of Australias breaks community, including Kid Kenobi and Nu Breed. Gully has just returned from a month in the UK and Spain that saw him mixing it up with the breakbeat scenes heavyweights. This included a back 2 back set with good friend Terry Ryan aka Atomic hooligan at the nuskoolbreaks.co.uk allnighter in London, one of the top billings at the 2500 strong maximizes party in Malaga Spain and a mix up on breaksfm.com.
He has been the driving force, pioneering the Perth breaks scene, that is widely respected as being one of the most upfront in Australia and indeed the world.
He has held residencies in the majority of underground venues in Perth over the past ten years, many of which have been integral in shaping Perths dance scene to what it is today. His passion, belief and commitment, has gained him the respect and admiration of both the punters and his peers. He is a regular contributor on radio stations as well as having had his own show and being a Perth co-host on JJJs Groove Train. He was voted best new, club dj only a year after first gracing the wheels of steel and to this day he continues to set the standard by always raising the bar for himself. He initially played house but it was not long before he discovered where his heart really lay, breaks and beats.
His vision in 1996 was to make breakbeat a major player in an industry that was driven by a 4×4 beat. This goal was realized early in 2000 when he started the now infamous BackBeat, Perths and one of Australias first dedicated breakbeat nights. More recently it has been recognized as the countries longest running breaks night now in its 7th year.
Backbeat has been recognised by International DJ mag as one of the pioneers of the breaks scene in Australia. This excerpt is from an article on Aus. breaks producers in International DJ mag, issue 41, June 2004.
Where the Aussie breaks scene began is an argument that punters across the land chew their jaws off about, but within the DJ and producer community, its generally agreed that Brisbane kicked things off back in the mid-90s, soon followed by Perth and then the two cities that now spearhead the scene, Melbourne and Sydney. DJ Shredlock started the Brisbane scene by forging the first breaks night, Fresh N Funky, at The Moon Bar, while across the desert in Perth, a DJ by the name of Gully opened the legendary Backbeat night. The rest is you guessed it, so theres no reason to bang on.
BackBeat was the catalyst behind the emergence of Ambar Nightclub and Breakfest (an annual, three thousand strong outdoor breaks festival). He has just relaunched Backbeat, after a well deserved eight month rest, at what has been considered until now Perths premier underground house venue, Geisha Bar. This has proved to be a refreshing change of setting for Perths beat heads as well as a perfect opportunity to convert some new recruits. Backbeat is stronger than ever and growing, and Gully is once again showing why he has endeared himself to dance crowds over the past twelve years. Gully now finds himself in the next stage of his breaks odyssey with a large percentage of his time devoted to his studio and producing.
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DJ SARDI
Sardi emerged onto the West Australian D&B scene in 1996, quickly establishing himself on the local DJ circuit as one of the main players in the burgeoning Perth underground music scene. Since playing his first set at the now legendary local Perth nightclub ‘Gravity’ he has gone on to hold residencies at some of WA’s most well respected nightspots as well as being a regular fixture on Loaded Dice, Delirium and Trafik events supporting DJ’s and artists such as Grooverider, Fabio, LTJ Bukem, Matrix, Ed Rush, Bailey, Doc Scott, SS, Dom & Roland, Fierce, Moving Fusion, John B, Peshay, Klute, Trace, Zinc, Roni Size & Total Science. His talents behind
the decks have also secured him bookings around Australia & Europe pushing his discerning selection of beats.
His love of music pushed him to study audio engineering for 3 years, giving him the necessary skills to pursue his production ambitions. After setting up his studio, numerous local and international releases followed on various labels including Fabel, Aspect, Renegade, Interphase, Sole, Offworld and Marble Bar (a down-tempo excursion), as well as a host of remixes and production credits for other local artists.
Inspired by the soulful, musical and techier flavours of D&B and with a vast array of influences ranging from 70′s Soul & Funk to modern day Pop music, Sardi’s productions reflect his DJing style, fusing melody with energetic beats and pulsating basslines guaranteed to make you dance whilst still fitting perfectly at home in your living room.
As well as constant DJ bookings and a heavy production schedule, Sardi finds time to co-host ‘Full Frequency’ on RTR FM 92.1 every Wednesday afternoon. Throughout the week the show covers a variety of underground electronic music genres and is WA’s premiere dance music program airing for over a decade.
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DJ JUNIOR
Six months after purchasing his new turntables, Junior entered the 1996 W.A. DMC Competition “just for fun”. At the time Junior did not realise how much of an impact this would have on his career. He was crowned the 1996 West Coast’s champion, at the age of 17, defeating veteran DJ’s such as S-Man, Cut-Nice, and David ’3D’ Ward, and ultimately becoming the youngest West Australian DMC champion. Junior went on to the Australian finals, where he was placed fourth amongst the best the country has to offer. In 1997, Junior successfully defended his DMC State title, and became the first West Australian DJ to win back-to-back titles. The Australian finals that year saw Junior redeem his fourth place position, for the second consecutive year.
The past few years have seen Junior play an active role in Perth’s DJ scene, and participate in numerous Turtablist Competitions. In 2003, Junior became the first DJ to tour across Australia and New Zealand for the entire Autosalon Automotive Show series.
In 2004, Junior decided to re-enter the DMCs and became the first and only West Australian DJ to have 3 state DMC titles under his belt. Adding to his numerous achievements, Junior became WA’s first and only Scribble Jam DJ Champion in 2006, a title held by only the very best. He was also one of the semi-finalists at the Australian Scribble Jam Nationals.
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DJ ARMEE
Armee, party block rocka, turntablist, cut master wonder kid! Standing as one of the strongest forces of hip hop and break beats in Australia.
Representing Downsyde (6 piece hip hop outfit), Fdel (Invada Records) Trafik crew (one of oz’s finest D&B club’s/collectives) & base101 (premier Drum & Bass, hip hop and breaks promotion company).
His DJ skills stretching across genre’s hip hop, drum & bass & breaks. Dropping combinations of sets with explosive turntable/cdj sampler tricks, precise mixers and straight up stage presence throughout all the different styles.
Solo and alongside other performers. Also a recording artist for many years with Downsyde, has just recorded new single with New York hip hop legend Guru of Gangstaa, FDEL and a heap load of other artists racking up loads of radio play, album sales and putting on more than 100 mighty live shows across the nation.
His travels saw him play major events such as the national Big Day Out tour 2004, Big Day Out Melb & Brisbane 2003, Big Day Out 2007, Splendor in the Grass 2003 & 2004, St Kilda Festival 2003, World Of Drum & Bass Tour 03, Science Fiction 03/04, Delirious Festival, DMC DJ competition, Homebake 2003, In The Pines 2003, Adventjah 2003, COSmonautical 2003, Mainbreak 2003, Rock It 2003, Global Festival 2003, the Mainbreak 2004 and the Australia Day concert 2004. He has played in London (Herbal), Hong Kong (Volar NYE & Hot), Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, Canberra, Jindabyne, Margaret River, Port Hedland, Christmas Island, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Esperance, Albany, Kalgoorlie. Gnowangerup, Denmark, Karratha, Broome, Kununnurra, Lismore, Newcastle and Tasmania and many more.
During this touring schedule he shared the stage with some of the finest hip-hop and breakbeat acts in the world; The Roots, Cypress Hill De La Soul, Method Man, Redman, Jurassic 5, , Grandmaster Flash, Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys), Hilltop Hoods, DJ Craze, Scratch Perverts, Roni Size & Dynamite MC, Pendulum, DJ Premier, DJ Kool, Guru, DJ Bailey, MC Stamina.
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DJ SHOCKONE
Hailing from Perth the epicenter of the Australasian drum and bass scene, ShockOne aka Karl Thomas is fast becoming one of D&B’s major talents.
From his origins in a band with Rob & Gareth from Pendulum, through to his recent assault on drum and bass dance floors worldwide, his musical energy and expression is powerful to say the least.
Karl quickly found his own voice in the drum and bass sound, which culminated in his first two singles being picked up instantly by DJ Friction for his Shogun Audio imprint, in the shape of “Silverscreen”, and the party smasher “It’s On”, before putting out a devastating 12? for Andy C’s Frequency label, in the shape of “The riddler” and “We be droppin this”, which saw his sound gain airplay on BBC Radio 1.
2008 has seen ShockOne continue releasing music with the mighty Viper Recordngs, and put out arguably his best work yet. The electro tinged ‘The Calling’ smashed dancefloors all over the world, and the cheeky led zeppelin sampling ‘Way you move’ continues to hold stead in crates months after release. This year also saw Shockone take out ‘best tune of the year’ at the Perth dance music awards for the second year running, this time with Phetsta for the tune ‘The sun’.
With his tracks being aired frequently by the scenes biggest hitters such as Andy C, Hype, Friction, High Contrast and Matrix + Futurebound, watch out for his solo EP featuring mc Spyda of Pendulums ‘Tarantula’ fame and new comer vocalist Reija Thomas, dropping on Viper recordings in February 09
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DJ JOBY
When asked to describe oneself it is natural human capacity to answer by detailing where we work, what we look like or what it is we have achieved. But when it comes to describing Joby Vaughn, the answers lie in the years of passionate exploration and creative energy he has contributed to music.
From an initial journey of cultural discovery, 1993 saw Joby based in London, the platform from which his undeniably dynamic understanding of music evolved into an expansive and influential dance music career. His potential was immediately evident, recognised and rewarded with his first ever do or die DJ gig, when asked to play to a 600 strong crowd in Lamia, GREECE, remarkable for never having played on technics turntables prior to that night. It was this defining moment that cemented Joby’s passion for DJing and his love affair with dance music.
Returning to Perth in 1995, Joby assumed the role of nightclub manager and session DJ at the legendary Krush Niteclub. A position he maintained until 1997, before staking his claim as resident DJ at the Jackal nightclub.