REWIND: Noone's making fun music anymore!

Apote production.

What's your first gig? I'll never forget it. It was my first interstate gig, was in Perth. I was nervous and it's it's a cracker and so first gig in the state. It's at the Metro. It's full houses, a few thousand people. I get there, I'm nervous as hell, and I get on stage. I play my first song. These pyrotechnics go off. The CD plays stop from the vibration, so I get the old way anyway. My sphinx's pulsating like this anyway, So I start the song again, sweating.

It's all over, you know.

So and I looked at the guy, I go, no more bombs. Yeah, I'll never forget. There's just people, you know, just so nervous, so nervous. I'll never forget it.

Have you ever got that any mistakes while you've been playing?

More so now, like from the beginning to the last couple of years, never made a mistake. Now I'm just having such a good time and having fun, too much fun. And I always have this reoccurring dream where I'll played the same song and I'm doing it now and it's the same song. It's nine pm till I come. I'll play the song, I'll play something else. Someone will say something to me, I've forgotten that I've still got that song in there. I'll press it and I'll play it again,

In nineteen eighty five, you start to just gets mixed.

Correct.

How did that feel when it became so popular? You know what I mean? Did you think it was going to be that popular?

No, not at all.

I just because to me, it's like, you know, Wild FM, That's how I.

Look at it.

Yeah, well we used to when we had a meeting about Wild effam, you know, and that station was huge and they so we're going to release these Wild and MCDs. And I thought that was a great idea because back then we used to have meetings. Not anymore. But yeah, and we released that compilation and obviously I had an involvement with that and they were huge.

But with Skitz mixed.

You know, I did one, two, three, I thought, you know, what if I get to ten, what's it up to? Now?

I think I'm working on sixty.

I thought it was like sixty five.

So I'm working on sixty.

It's taken.

It's taken a while. I used to do three a year, but Covid really knocked me job.

You said three year because I was actually thinking you were sixty five. Because I was you're working out a year?

You would have been right, but I actually took a year or two off. I've kind of lost that momentum. But I've almost finished the new CD. You know, I really want to get back into it, like I had to, had a few changes in my life that I had to kind of sort it out. Yeah, but I'm back on track now and I'm really keen to.

Because it's massive. That skits like it's unbelievable. As I said to you, I got almost did I think it counts? BAK thirteen I found downstairs and in my box.

Really, yeah, I used to always keep them because they're worth money. You've got to wait till I die first obviously, but yeah, there's there's a lot of people selling those CDs quite a bit of money because you just can't get them anymore. And it's almost like a collection. You've got to have those CDs, you know. It's like when you're a kid used to collect footy cards. Yes, yes, you know, you had to have a whole lot.

Yeah. It's the same thing with the skits mix thing. You know.

So what's the best venue you've ever played a look as a club, it would be probably Family Nightclub in Brisbane that used to be Cracker. I used to like finish my set, you know, the crowd would want more, you do an encore. You do an encore, you know, and the owners of the club will come out I no more. You know.

It was almost like a riot. You know.

I appreciated a lot more now than I did back then because back then it was just gig after gig, upter gig.

You're not thinking about what You're just in the motion and that that's right.

But then you reflect and go, wow, that was good. Yeah, and then you do the big gigs. Like the biggest gig I think I did was about two or three years ago. It was called soapop, and it was with Aqua. I'm always I for sixty five. Well there's big and it was that Kudos arena. So here I am on stage, this massive stage and meat, you know, and I'm playing in between the artists and for the artists as well, and that's quite daunting.

Still got the goosebumps when you do live shows all the time.

Yeah, it doesn't matter how big or how small. I still get those butterflies, and I still get excited.

I still I love.

It more now because you appreciate it more now.

I do.

And I think I appreciate it more because of the whole COVID thing, because we had two years off, like music completely stopped for us, you know, and you know, especially at my age, you know, two years is a lot. So right now I'm like, you know what, treat every gig like it's your last, like, so enjoy.

Did you make a lot of music in the COVID? What was COVID? Did you like mix?

Yeah? I did, like it was.

It was a bit tough, like I said, a lot of personal changes and I had to relocate my studio so I couldn't get to do too much. And yeah, I had a pub as well, which I lost in COVID. You know, so, like it was a really tough time for me to try and because you just can't go into a studio and just go like that.

You've got to be you feeling. You've got to be happy, and I was.

I was going through a lot at that time, and I just couldn't write music, you know, so and I had health issues as well, and it was really tough and I'm still trying to get through that. At the moment, you know, so you're flying, you know, like your storybook is.

You know when you mix music, yeah like it and you're doing like a stay say, for instance, skits mixed, right, how did you come up with what you're going to mix. How did you do it? Is it just something that you've always wanted to This song is hit me. I always want to mix this with something else or is it just playing around with whatever on the day now to get that vibe to do it.

Yeah, it's just basically songs that I like.

So half the CD is pretty much like my own music and half like from other record labels, you know. And honestly, even back then, if I wanted a song in two seconds, I had it because the CD was so big and it used to sell a lot, so they'd like to make money from it, so I had a choice of any song I wanted, you know. But now it's it's a whole different ball game. Nobody's giving songs anymore. Nobody's doing compilations. No one's doing compilations, so when I asked for songs, it's a lot harder. Yeah,

Now it's just songs from anywhere, get him in, sell them, get.

Them out, you know. So there's none of that anymore. You look at the Australia, the Australian band scene, you know, in the seventies, eighties and nineties we had the biggest bands in the world. If you wanted to go out, you can go anywhere to see anyone. Now maybe five big Australian bands that are current. Everyone's still kind of going back to the old old Ossie Roth stuff, you know, which which I love.

There is one remix that you did that I must here we go, and I don't know if you're going to know that's the X Files. Wow, okay, I remember that one, and that's the one I used to play all the time in my fucking car.

It's funny that it's funny that you mentioned I haven't seen that CD in decades.

Someone pulled it out last week and I've got it. You got it and I listened to it. I went, did I do that? You know?

Like?

Yeah?

So that was that was Actually that was very popular.

You know. It's funny.

I think that went number two or something in the Australian charts like back then.

Because one well X Files was massive back and it was massive, and that it was a kind of catchy tune.

You know, yeah, everyone kind of knows that that theme, that TV theme, and it just yeah, it was I thought, you know, jump on the gravy train and go for it. But yeah, just like I said, I listened to it for the first time last week and I went, oh, yeah, I could.

Have you enjoyed doing kind of stuff like that.

You know, I loved it because honestly, back then, I'll tell you now, the charts back then were eclectic. You had all different styles of music. Go look at the charts now, it's half Taylor Swift. You know, everyone's singing about how bad their lives are. Really, everyone's singing how about the what of the Venger Boys? You know, just get on the Vinger bus and that's fun. No one's having fun with music anymore, you can't. No one's playing fun music.

You know.

It's just it used to be happy, And that's why I used to go out to be happy.

I think we're on those artists are doing it.

I think it's because the scenes changed now at the club and scenes.

Before it was a bit more for these it was a bit more purist you know what I mean. Clubs were for people who really wanted to hear that kind of music. Now, if you don't play a certain style, you know, people will just walk off. Yeah, you know, although they'll expect you to be a jukebox. They go, can you play this?

Yeah?

Yeah, sure, no, it's give me a hundred bucks, you know. Just yeah, it's different because back then, I can play whatever I want. Now I've got to you know, I've got to see the crowd, see the crowd, make sure make them happy, actually told by the venue what they should.

I've heard that a few times.

They never do it to me, but yeah, I hear a lot of promoters saying people own and saying you've got to play this style of music and then change it to this, you know. But I also was a little bit smarter too, I you know, if I had him really going, I play a couple of songs that weren't so popular so they can go have a drink at the dark because I've got to be you know, conscious of the you know, the turnover at the club as well, you know what I mean.

So you've got to do a little bit of that, you know as well.

Like I know, you said that you're not. You don't you've never adalyzed the DJ, right, Yes, surely there's someone that you must want to work with or you'd like to work with alongside.

Oh yeah, sure, all of them, all of them? Yeah, sure, why not?

There's not one that sticks out there? You go, you know what I mean?

Like, no, no, no, I'm not I'm not. No, none, none. They can work with me if that's how I should be. I'm older, but not really. I mean, look, you know, don't get me wrong. If if David Guetta or Test said, you know, let's do a sorry, my ankles will be hitting my ass, I'd be running, you know, like yeah, sure, you know. But there's not one that I really want to reach out to. Look, there's been a couple that i've you know, you know a couple of mates, like like Timmy Trump and all those guys.

You know, to me, I'm trying to get on there, you trying to get on always said blood.

Timmy, Timmy, get your ass here is at the comery there, get your ass here and talk to you. Look, you know, Timmy is a good friend. You know, we talk quite a bit. But now he's.

Remember when he started coming to the clubs. You know what I mean.

Well, I kid you not. We I never forget this one.

We just we did a gig, like a little local gig in Victoria. It was like Geelong or something like that. And he sat next to me on the aeroplane. I've just met him. Nice kid, you know, and he's played before me and I watched him. I went, wow, this this kid's got something. And on the way back on their pane, I go and I said to him, I hope you remembers. I said, you're going to be a superstar. He's like, oh really, Nick stars in his eyes. I go, yeah, you've got an X factor. And these days you've got

You've got it.

It's a lot more visual now, you know. Back in my day, you just put your head down, you concentrate, and you play.

Now they play for the crowd.

Now they got the monkeys the box, you know, and they're all jumping around and acting.

Like spitting, they're doing all that.

It's all they're jumping up on I can't even get up. I'll break the hip, you know, I can't even do that. You know, it's it's good. It's a lot of energy.

But I think they concentrate more on the appearance than what they're doing. And you'll find a lot of these bigger events and festivals, you know, it's all pre mixed, you know.

The laptops there.

I just don't sound bitter or anything, but I just like, you know, so I'll go to a gig, I'll look at the crowd, I'll go through my music and go, this is what I'm going to play tonight. One of those bigger events, you know, because they've got to sink the lighting with the music and it's a whole show. So therefore it's kind of all kind of premix. But I think it defeats the purpose of the challenge of maybe making a mistake or playing something different, you know,

What's the best remix you've ever done? Why would you ask me that question? You know what that's like.

It's like asking who's your favorite child.

You're not going to tell that kid no. But yeah, there's always a ship one