Melbourne Techno Collective

With the next Lab party looming on November 28th, the MTC took the chance to chat with Lab founder and all round nice guy Uone about his upcoming productions, “killah” sound systems and of course Lab….

Q Who is behind Lab?

Scott Dickson, Ewan Scott (Uone) and James Cooper (Robot Friendly)

Q Four years is a long time to be hosting events in what is a fickle industry, how did Lab get started and what is it that has made the Lab Crew survive the test of time?

LAB was started at LOOP bar simply through the love of  deep minimal techno, killah sound systems and love to party  and celebrate life with close friends. The music has played a key roll over the years. We are always looking for fresh new artists, and ways to bring them to the stage. In recent times we concentrated on bringing a fresh approach to the party simply through doing Warehouse party’s, rooftop party’s and garden party’s.

Q Lab has always focussed as much on production and visuals as it has on music, why do you put so much effort in to this side of your events?

Killah sound systems make killah party’s. It does the music so much justice, especially when it comes to minimal.

Q What is your favourite Lab highlight?

So many good times. if i had to selected 1 its probably when Sean O’Neil (Someone Else) played 2 hours of Live deepness at our first warehouse party.

Q Musically where do you feel that Lab is right now. Is this different from where you began?

The music has remained the same, still underground.

Q As a DJ you seem to be having a real purple patch of late and we have seen some original productions from you as well. What are you working on at the moment, outside of your Lab events?

I have been working closely with label BEEF records and have debut EP called Kontrol coming out in December with BEEF, plus EP called Kingdom on PLANETARIA recordings early next year. I have also got number of remixes coming out on Plus Minus, (Oliver Klien and Jürgen Driessen Label) a remix of Darius Bassiray coming out on Dark Beat Recordings.

Q What can we expect from your 4th anniversary event? Can you tell us anything about this “secret warehouse”?

Unfortunately the warehouse has been postponed due to some circumstances out of our hand, but we are lucky enough to move it to the Mercat. Not to worry though the warehouse is definitely on the cards. Expect to here Cesare Vs Disorder playing some of the deepest and coolest minimal techno with full Funktion One rig and lighting show. MASSIVE..

View more information about the upcoming Lab event here.

Melbourne’s own Mike Callander has served up a truly wicked mix in the latest podcast form the Likes of You. The Haul Recordings owner and longtime Melbourne favourite, delivers what could loosely be described as a minimal or tech house mix, but which is anything but straight up and down. With moments of wonky, almost disco flavours and big bass lines weaved between tighter, digital numbers, Callander’s mix is evidence that in 2010 the name of the game will be diversity. Taken from a recent set at Sorry Grandma – where Callander plays weekly between 5 and 10am  – the set is an essential download. Check it out now!

Berlin tech house legend Daniel Dreier has been announced to play Melbourne on December 12 for a special collaboration between Tickled Pink and Slap. The daytime event will take place at the King street hotspot La Di Da with an allstar local cast including the Melbourne Techno Collective’s own Sam McEwin.

Daniel Dreier started djing in 1999 at fashion shows in trendy in Berlin, but was not until his first residency at Berlin’s Pfefferberg in 2002 that he made his make on the local house and techno scene. In 2005 he landed a guest spot at the well known Sonne Mond und Sterne Festival in Germany and it was then that his DJ sets began to gain their legendary appeal, soon conquering the majority clubs in Berlin and across Europe.

His sets combine freaky, funky and deep minimal house and techno always themed by the motto: ‘Joy keeps us being curious’!

Currently Daniel holds residencies at Panoramabar, Watergate and Bar 25 which speaks for itself. On the production side, Daniel has his finger in many a pie, gaining huge respect for projects such as Phage & Dreier (Highgrade, Klang Elektronik), with Tom Clark on Highgrade, with Lee Jones on MyMy and his own highly regarded releases.

Catch Daniel Dreier On Saturday December 12 at La Di Da. Find more information here.

Melbourne DJ and Slap honcho Nadine, will appear live on SYN fm this Friday night for a special guest slot for the Deep Audio show. Showcasing her talents from 8pm Friday November 13, Nadine will play a very special set ahead of upcoming support slots for Daniel Dreier and Christian Burkhardt.

Hosted by Vic Navarro SYN’s Deep Audio program showcases exclusive mixes and interviews with the finest local and international artists in deep house, tech-house and deep tech every Friday night on 90.7 SYN fm