Australia’s dance music scene is thriving beyond belief right right now, so it’s easy to miss the country’s most exciting new producers that are just starting to poke their heads out of the ground. It’s all good though, FBi Radio’s Sandro Dallarmi has got you covered.

Every week, he plucks out one of these head-pokers and features them in his mixtape/interview series, Fade Up. He’ll keep you updated on Stoney Roads fortnightly.

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SLUMBERJACK

Perth’s sleepiest purveyors of melodic bass music aren’t exactly brand new on the scene, but they’re not old hands either.

Both members of the two-man production team come from a  background of big room electronic music, but that was never going to be where they stayed. One half of Slumberjack, Morgan Then, told me in his Fade Up interview: “I did the whole big room/electro/bass thing because it was my introduction to dance music and production, and it gave me a really good grasp of the tip of the electronic music iceberg. That’s not to say I don’t like it anymore, but too much of one genre can get a bit depressing”. While they’ve left their electro and dubstep tinged beginnings behind for the most part, the production experience gained during those few years has led to some very well-crafted music being put out right now.

Their remix of Wave Racer’s ‘Rock U Tonite’ is superb. Melodies flit and spiral above a lurching body of monstrous, half-time synths for a few froth-worthy minutes before trailing off into a gorgeous (though charmingly low-budget) piano outro. The main synth hook undoubtedly takes cues from Flume’s version of ‘You & Me’ by Disclosure, but Slumberjack have warped and embellished upon the idea more than enough to make the track something of their own.

When interviewed, both Morgan and co-Slumberbro Fletcher Ehlers agreed that they wanted to tour the east coast soon, however they also said “there’s a lot of work (and studio slumber parties – yes we’ve had to sleep in there before) that needs to happen before then”. This track and their Fade Up mixtape might have to suffice for the moment, but keep your calendar free over the next few months just in case.

LISTEN TO SLUMBERJACK’S FADE UP MIXTAPE

 

MADE IN PARIS

Australia’s techno scene has been swelling up over the last couple of years. The growth can mainly be chalked up to Motorik‘s excellent releases and excellenter parties, which are drawing increasingly younger and more diverse crowds. It’s not surprising then, that we’re starting to hear exciting techno music coming from young Australian producers, one of whom goes by the name of Made In Paris.

Paris Forscutt is her real name, and right now she’s based at the heart of the Australian techno scene – Sydney. She’s got some interesting stories from nights out in the city (“I was at ARQ one night and saw a guy doing something to another guy that I did not think was appropriate for the dance floor” she told me in her Fade Up interview) but she spends more time behind the decks than on the dancefloor.

Made In Paris’ interest in DJing was piqued at an early age. “ I attempted DJing when I was 14 years old”, she told me. “I forced my Mum into buying one of those all-in-one DJ CD mixer things. Not knowing what ‘beat matching’ was, I would just fade in and out of tracks haha. I would soon get bored with it and sell it.” Luckily, she met someone a few years later who would teach her how to DJ properly, and now she finds herself as a regular behind the decks at The World Bar in Kings Cross. It’s clear that Made In Paris can hold her own as a selector, but more impressive than that are her skills as a producer.

She has an erratic sound to her music, especially in the above track, ‘Switch’.  It barrels forward without hesitation, but each time she provides a small gap in which to breathe, it’s guaranteed that there will be another surprising idea on the other side, ready to tighten the dancefloor’s grip on everyone’s feet.

LISTEN TO MADE IN PARIS’ FADE UP MIXTAPE

There are another couple of young, techno-toting Australians worth keeping an eye on in 2014, namely Floria and Vergil. Keep them on your radar right alongside Made In Paris.

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Each week’s Fade Up mixtape premieres on Sandro Dallarmi’s dance music show on FBi Radio, The Mixing Bowl. You can tune in from midnight to 3am every Saturday night.