Still carrying the brightly lit torch from the recent Harri show, Animals Dancing are doing it to us again, presenting two of New York’s finest: Prince Language and DJ Spun – and I must say, the flame will be burning mighty hot for this one. Taking place in the Mercat basement, the king of all dungeons, boasting a beautiful sound system and ample dancing vibe.

Prince Language (NYC – The No Comprendo – DFA/k7/Editions Disco)

Prince Language’s acclaimed remix work for artists like LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture, Lindstrøm, MGMT, The Juan Maclean, Joakim, Editors, Sons and Daughters and Armand Van Helden, as well as numerous re-edits for the mysterious Editions Disco label, have earned his tracks a place in the sets of DJ Harvey, Tiga, Carl Craig, Rub N Tug, and Gilles Peterson, and have made him one of the go-to remixers in dance music today.

His series of mixes entitled ‘The No Comprendo’ have been some of the most talked about mixes of the last few years. In addition to numerous remix projects, he is currently at work on the forthcoming debut album of Prince Language & The No Comprendo as well as an upcoming project with Liv Spencer (Still Going, House of House).

Born and raised in Chicago, Prince Language has been strongly influenced by the city’s rich musical tradition, especially its heritage as the birthplace of House music. Raised on a steady musical diet of tapes of disco and house legends Ron Hardy and the Hot Mix 5, Language began DJing at Chicago warehouse parties and soon found himself holding down numerous residencies throughout the city.

Moving to New York in 1999, he soon met Philadelphian DJ Rich Medina, and together the pair established the now-legendary Stoned Soul parties. In 2002 he formed NegroClash, which has featured artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, Juan Atkins, Marshall Jefferson, DJ Spinna and Larry Heard/Mr. Fingers and in 2004 the Village Voice named NegroClash the “Best party in Manhattan to dance sweatily to smart music.”

DJ Spun (NYC – Rong Music)

Starting his music career in San Fransisco in the early 80’s, playing alongside bands such as the Dead Kennedy’s and Black Flag, DJ Spun began his DJ career opening for Kurtis Blow, and from there went on to his now legendary club nights, and appearing at countless parties the world over.

In 2003, with partner Ben Cook, they started the label Rong Music to release their own style-bending, genre-blending music as well as releases from Mudd, Chicken Lips, Woolfy and many others. The label offshoot, Tu Rong, also releases re-edits and remixes from the classic Nu Groove label.

Spun has released records on NOID, Editions Disco and Watchawannado and his recent remix work has included James Chance and the Contortions and Mudd as well as collaborations with Liv Spencer(House of House, Still Going), Eric Duncan(Rub n Tug, Still Going) and Daniel Wang.
Currently residing in New York City, Spun’s P.S.1/MoMA’s prestigious Warm Up Music Series is acknowledged as NYC best Summertime Party with “Warm Up” averaging 4000 attendees each Saturday. He’s also resident at APT. and 205 club with Eric Duncan of Rub n Tug.

Support from Animals Dancing residents Otologic and Tornado Wallace. Tickets from all moshtix outlets, promoters and from the venue (9348 9998). Or you can purchase directly from this link. First release $20; second release $25. Game on.

And here are some tracks by Prince Language, a great array of his remixes and beautiful edits:
MP3: LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 (Prince Language Remix)
MP3: The Droyds – All I Ever Wanted (Prince Language Remix)
MP3: The Rapture – Get Myself Into it (Prince Language Disco Edit)
MP3: The Juan MacLean – Happy House (Prince Language Dub Mix)
MP3: Gino Soccio – Love Is (Prince Language Edit)
MP3: Von Spar – Troops (Prince Language Pleasure Mix)
MP3: Ahmed Fakroun – Yo Son (Prince Language Edit)
MP3: Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – You Can’t Go (Prince Language Edit)

And now it’s DJ Spun’s turn:
MP3: James Chance and the Contortions – Incorrigible (Liv Spencer and DJ Spun Mix)
MP3: Paul Simon – Late (DJ Spun Edit)
MP3: 33 1/3 Queen – Steal Blue (DJ Spun Disco Re-Edit)

Its that time again. New Negativ Magick mix has dropped, exclusive to Waves At Night. Loyal readers will be well aware of these guys (here & here), and this time they’ve dropped the track anonymity and provided us with a tracklist.
The Dark Pool mix flows full of brainwashed fleshy beats, inky black lyrics, ebbing through graveyard synths, and consists mainly of unreleased edits from the boys.
Wrap your face around this.

Psyche — Dark Pool
Throbbing Gristle — 20 Jazz Funk Greats
Jaki Liebezeit — Nervous Breakdown (Negativ Magick Edit)
Sisterhood — Giving Ground
Death in June — Foretold (Negativ Magick Edit)
Diseno Corbusier — Ritmo (Negativ Magick Edit)
Defuser — Bouquet of Weeds (Negativ Magick Edit)
Bunnydrums — Too Much Time (Negativ Magick Edit)
Nagamatzu — Murderous Passions
Dead Can Dance — Fatal Impact
A Split Second — Kiss of Fury (Negativ Magick Edit)
C Cat Trance — Sudaniyya (Negativ Magick Remix)
Poesie Noire — Mohenjodharo (Negativ Magick Edit)
Paul Haig — World Raw (Negativ Magick Edit)
Clock DVA — Pool of Shades

MP3: Negativ Magick — Dark Pool Mix

Uni for this semester is coming to a close (exams in two weeks) and thus, I’m trying to get all these tracks out on the blog, one step at a time. Let’s progress onwards shall we disciples? > > > >

Heard this one in a Revenge mix a while back. Acid Pauli makes it cool deeep. And who doesn’t love that Gaye vocal?

MP3: Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (Acid Pauli Remix)

Here’s a nice remix by The Popular People’s Front released in 2009 on Redux. Buy here.

MP3: Drrtyhaze – New York City Jacks Popular (Peoples Front Remix)

“Deeper” by Nacho Lovers just dropped on Fool’s Gold and the always wonderful Azari & III performs superbly on the remixing duties. Purchase on Beatport – grab the CFCF remix as well.

Hercules & Love Affair aka. Andy Butler has done a lovely remix of Jori Hulkkonen’s “I am Dead”. Other remixes out there are by CFCF and WhoMadeWho. Purchase the 12″ from Rubadub – out on Sugarcane Records.

Rush Hour are reissuing releases by critical Chicago house label Trax – this one, done by Jamie Principle, is taken from ‘The House of Trax Vol. 3′. Purchase this ‘bad boy’ here.

MP3: Jamie Principle – Bad Boy (Unreleased Demo Mix)

Innervision’s Dixon has an unofficial release on the obscure Philomena label which features two great edits – Romanthony’s ‘The Wanderer’ (contains kick drum and bassline sample from ‘Martin Buttrich – Hunted’) and on the flip is Lykki Li’s ‘Dance Dance Dance’. Massive. Try and find this although I think the 12″ quite sold out.

MP3: Romanthony – The Wanderer (Dixon Edit)

From the people that brought us the Discos Capablanca label comes this new offshoot. Los Massieras is a re-edit project formed by two Berlin DJs aiming to bring “a fresh approach to the art of bastardization.” ‘Boogity Boogity Boogity’ is their first EP, which also launches the new label Banamania. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I love a nice ripe banana and this release is no exception (and no readers, that remark isn’t suggesting anything fishy…). Mutant discooooowww.

MP3: Los Massieras – Boogity Master

Oh Danny boy. Two great edits here.

MP3: Chicago – Street Player (Danny Krivit Re-Edit)
MP3: Giorgio Moroder – Evolution (Danny Krivit Re-Edit Evolutionary Dub)

Dimitri from Paris is releasing his fifth compilation for BBE in May entitled ‘Get Down With the Philly Sound’. This particular selection focuses on the “Philadelphia disco sound that was so successful throughout the ’70s, and paved the way for disco fever to spread across the United States.”

MP3: Philly Devotions – Hurt So Bad (Dimitri from Paris Super Disco Blend)

Second release from Bruce Ivery for Stilove4music, containing more rawness, jackiness and punch than his last. Includes an edit of an old Lil Louis track “I Called U (Why’d U Fall)”.

MP3: Ivery Bruce – Track 1

Thought I might throw in a little DJ Harvey as well. Released on his Black Cock Records label, ‘Love Is Everything’ a re-edit of “The Mighty Clouds of Joy – Everything Is Love” on ABC Records.

MP3: DJ Harvey – Love Is Everything

Kimberly Isaac Moyes (KIM;1/2 of The Presets) has been a busy beaver – that’s when he isn’t caught up with his Presets duties. Here are remixes he did for Tame Imapala, Via Tania and also AKA JK (Jonathan Kreinik – aka Limozine Unlimited aka Tanline; please check out the Runaway remix of this as well as it is a bomb). You can really feel his love for tech-house/prog/techno/et. al. You get the drift.

MP3: AKA JK – Someone Out There… (KIM Remix)
MP3: Via Tania – Fields (KIM Remix)
MP3: Midnight Juggernauts – Vital Signs (KIM Remix)

I really love this Tame Impala cover as well:
MP3: Tame Impala – Vital Signs (Midnight Juggernauts Cover)

The Revenge is coming out to Aus very soon for We Love Sounds, and is playing in Melbs on the 4th June at Revolver. So down for that (besides the trip across the river…). One edit Im really digging of his is an old Q-Tip rework. Damn funky and damn smooth.

MP3: Q-Tip -Breathe & Stop (The Revenge Redd Version)

As a loyal Waves reader, you may know of my love for the original version of this next track by UK’s Orange Juice from the early 80’s, but here is a nice, simple and clean edit for mixing, if you were so inclined.

MP3: Orange Juice – Rip It Dub (Dicky Trisco Edit)

I just couldnt help but post this. The new Chem Bros track is amazing. Its been on repeat for days. This album will be huge, with hopefully no cheese ‘Do It Again’-esque tracks.

MP3: The Chemical Brothers – Swoon (Radio Edit)

~ ANDEE FROST INTERVIEW ~
28th of April, 2010

I was very lucky to have an opportunity to speak with the main man in Melbourne city, Andee Frost. He’s been around these parts for a while now (but still looks young and handsome as a 21 year old choir boy) and has built quite the reputation for mastering dance floors where-ever he travels. Although quite a novel in itself, the result of this interview reveals an insightful passage into the inner-caves of Mr. Frost’s world. There’s innuendo on his latest joint-venture with good friend and fellow producer Ooh-Ee (the two of them combined are titled ‘A+O’; a great future lies ahead with a track dropped on the latest DJ Kicks courtesy of Juan MacLean and also a new EP coming out on Stilove4music) and also the important topic of the current state of the Melbourne club scene… or an honest take…

I ended up selling my sax to pay for a car when I was 20. By this stage I had already taken up DJ’ing and was more concerned with buying records.

I also started doing community radio at 16 in a small station in the eastern suburbs. This is where I taught myself how to mix records together. I was a co-host on a show called Clubfront with a friend of mine. This kind of gave me an introduction to dance music. It was my first foray into community. So, I was DJ’ing for two years before I set foot into a club.

PATCH: I want to know about how you got your first gig, and what was going through your head?
ANDEE: I don’t remember my first club gig because from 16 I was doing radio and also doing the lighting at an underage (Jooce in Ringwood) but I also jumped on the decks there from time to time. The other two DJ’s who I guess you could call my mentors were James Ash (who went to do Rouge Traders) and Ivan Gough (of TV rock fame). Pretty funny, but nevertheless, they are both great DJ’s and taught me a lot of good lesson’s and tricks. This was all pre pioneer mixers and CDJ’s too; pretty much exclusively vinyl.

What I do remember is I used to get really nervous and pretty much putting the needle down on the first record was such a task. That doesn’t happen that much these days but every now and then the nerves attack.

PATCH: You were mentored by James Ash and Ivan Gough? That’s amazing.
ANDEE: Yeah kinda funny seeing I am the way I am. Maybe that’s why? But you know, I started out as a commercial DJ. It’s the best place to start. It gives you an understanding of people instead of just jumping up and going, “Well I’m gonna play my Beatport top 100 that I downloaded this week.” You learn to read a crowd – you jump up and look at the crowd and see what they need instead of playing what you need.

PATCH: Just touching upon you doing radio at age 16; is it now a dream come true to be hosting your own weekly show on Melbourne’s independent radio station RRR?
ANDEE: Yeah it’s pretty awesome although the timing could have been better. I love doing RRR but I think the importance of radio now has gotten less in this digital age, which is a shame.

PATCH: So you think you should’ve started several years ago?
ANDEE: Oh no, not like that. I’ve done radio continuously my whole life: Eastern FM, Street FM, Kiss FM, RRR, etc. What I’m saying is that nowadays with podcasts, iPod’s, etc. people listen to the radio less and less, compared to the old days. For instance, do you have a radio tuner in your house?

PATCH: *laughs* Good question! I have a stereo amp that has radio connectivity but it isn’t connected to the wall. I guess all my radio listening is done in the car or streamed.
ANDEE: Exactly my point. But in answer to your question, yes I do feel extremely lucky to have a show on RRR.

PATCH: And I now understand why you have such an anti-podcast ethic.
ANDEE: *laughs* I’m not anti-podcast. I’m more anti-technology and the negative effects it has on the way we go about our lives. I would podcast but I’m too lazy.

PATCH: *laughs*
ANDEE: No, actually I am planning it at the moment.

PATCH: Get out!
ANDEE: I now have copies of all of this year’s shows and I’m getting a website built.

PATCH: What ever happened to what you told me: “They have to be tuning in to hear the music. Like an exclusive experience….”
ANDEE: Well they should be… but I guess if I want to let the world know about this show, this is sadly the only way to do it these days. I have to update my thinking

PATCH: True true, we must all adapt to the changes. OK, I want to shift focus now onto your job in selling records. You worked at Central Station right?
ANDEE: Yep, but first I worked at a label Prodj. You may remember them from such hits like ‘Wamdue Project – King of My Castle’ and many cover versions of tracks Dujour. I then worked at Central Station from the time of the re-opening of their Melbourne store in, I think, 2000 or 2001, in Swanston Street.

PATCH: Can you tell me about how Central Station evolved into Hear Now and also your involvement?
ANDEE: So the owners of Central Station, Jo & Morgan, decided to retire. They owned the store CSR was in and they wanted to sell it, so they told us this and asked us if we would be interested in taking it on. At the time we didn’t know anything else so we got together what money we could and made them an offer for the business. We then scoured the city trying to find a location to move it to. It was then that we came across the old Au Go Go store.

We liked the idea of reviving an old record store space; there was even an old bunker shelf left in there. We opened the store and ran if for five years. It was awesome and was so rewarding to have people like Danny Wang, James Murphy, 2many DJ’s, Moodymann, Maurice Fulton and so many more come into the store and just get blown away that there was a store like this in Melbourne – that was the best bit.

PATCH: Would you personally invite them or would they just stroll in without warning?
ANDEE: Nah, they would be with friends or they would want to go record shopping. Sadly, the people of Melbourne (bar a very small few) didn’t really care for a record store so it became increasingly hard for us to pay the rent and that’s when we decided to give up and close the store. But looking back on that now I can’t really blame them; I buy the majority of my records on Juno now and it’s so easy. But the one thing I do miss is the interaction. You can’t get that online. And the recommendation. And the chance discoveries. All my favourite things about going shopping and none of them you really get online.

PATCH: All you have to go by [when buying online] is a 10second ripped sample.
ANDEE: Exactly! So many records I’ve bought and just felt so cheated by the guy who records the samples. That’s why I prefer buying old music because you can always go find that track on Youtube, hear the whole thing and buy it on Discogs.

PATCH: Plus, there is so much emphasis on playing the latest, newest tracks these days…
ANDEE: There was in the old days too. But the difference was only a select few people had the newest tracks/promo’s – these days the kid down the street is just as likely to have that new DFA record as I am. I think that’s where I stopped caring about new music. I’d rather play good music than the latest greatest track.

PATCH: I’m guessing the average person would just know you as Mr. Frostie and that’s all. So please enlighten the readers of your F*kn Poser days. A duo of some sort right?
ANDEE: Fukn Posers was myself and Jim K, my best friend, and we had the record store together. We DJ’ed together for probably about 4 years, playing backroom at Revolver on a Sunday for 8 hours at a time and all sorts of other places.

PATCH: When did you guys form?
ANDEE: Umm…. like maybe 2003? I can’t remember. But we basically were playing all this stuff, everything from Rock ‘n’ Roll to RnB, all mixed. It was the beginning of the whole mash up sound. I guess it was more about an attitude than a sound. We kind of had a take no prisoners approach to DJ’ing.

PATCH: *laughter*
ANDEE: It was great fun but then Jim grew tired of DJ’ing and stopped turning up to gigs and that’s when I came up with Andee Van Damage. Well, Andee Van Damage was one of the Fukn Posers first. It’s kind of like creating a personality that your projecting onto people to do something you normally wouldn’t.

PATCH: An illusion of some sense…
ANDEE: Yeah totally. I used to DJ as AVD and also as Andee Frost and the sets were always completely different. AVD was a piss take noisy wasted character for tweens and club kids, where as Andee Frost used to play disco and house and a bit more sophisticated stuff for older crowds at clubs like Witness Protection Program and Honkytonks, etc.

PATCH: Ah, I was just going to ask about your styles of music and if you had alias for each style of music.
ANDEE: Yeah, that’s why I create them.

PATCH: So as Andee Frost, this is how you started out?
ANDEE: Umm, actually I think I was Frosty first. I could list all my alias but that would take all day, but the main 3 were: Andee Van Damage, Frosty and Andee Frost.

PATCH: And these days you stick with Andee Frost, playing your House / Disco tracks?
ANDEE: Yeah, Andee van Damage died of an overdose around the same time as Third Class shut its doors.

PATCH: *rapturous laughter*
ANDEE: Andee Frost is fine by me for now, I guess. It’s my real name so I only use it when I’m playing stuff I really love and now days I only play stuff I love.

PATCH: That’s the way it should be or else where is the fun/enjoyment?
ANDEE: Fun and enjoyment sometimes get lost along the way when money is involved.

PATCH: I want to know if there is much comparison to the music you play now to say your early radio days / early DJ days.
ANDEE: Not really. As I said before, I started playing commercial music (alot of disco could be classed as commercial in its day) but I also loved house music but it was just straight up house music or remixes of commercial acts. I have gone through a lot of genres along the way but it’s primarily house music and disco stuff but there was also a bit of a prog/tribal phase I went through.

PATCH: Oh sorry I forgot about the commercial background – see, it totally doesn’t suit you!
ANDEE: Well it depends on what you class as commercial. Now days, a lot of stuff is commercial. A lot of what was underground is now commercial. Back in ‘98 there was a very distinct line as to what was underground and what was commercial; you had to search out the underground.

PATCH: So much has changed then. What people consider indie/underground in today’s standard really is “commercial” to some.
ANDEE: Yeah, conformity is the new individuality. I guess this is because of the internet – it influences everyone into liking the same shit. There is no discovery anymore; you get force fed everything. So it creates this mass influence over what people like. Like everybody likes the Bloody Beetroots or Deadmau5 or Crookers because if you go to the Hype Machine and type one of those artists in, it links you to the other ones.

This is for a blog yeah … so I’m kind of slicing my throat being anti internet. *laughs* However, I don’t hate blogs – it’s a great way for someone to get their material out. It’s more the lazy people who rely on them I have a problem with. Discogs and Youtube are recourses. It’s like going to the library. Blogs are more like vending; there are heaps of different ones but at the end of the day what comes out of it is the same.

PATCH: Am I right to say, apart from playing Revolver and such with Jim, that Honkytonks would be your first proper playing field?
ANDEE: As far as nightclubs that I would call a home goes, yes. I played Honkys (guest spots) on Saturday nights at the Slap Shack to start. Then I started running a Sunday called “Gag Reflex” and also a Wednesday named “Hear Now Presents”.

PATCH: And how did you get on board?
ANDEE: I started going to Honkys to hear DJ’s play. From there I met Angela and Anthony, and also Michael. I just started going every week as it really was the best place in town to party. You could get away with almost anything. They always had the best internationals on and the crowd was one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen – a lot older and more educated and not so worried about being seen but more worried about getting fucked up and dancing. Plus you could smoke inside back then too! So yeah, I just kept going every week and then Ant & Angela gave me a guest spot. And then after that Michael asked me if I would like to do a Sunday night and it just went from there.

PATCH: And so when the Tonks went under, 3rd Class immersed….
ANDEE: Yes. It was only ever supposed to be for three months. This was all at the time when the licensing laws started changing dramatically. So at the time Michael had a new space that they were waiting for a licence on (which is now 1000 Pound Bend) but sadly a group of residents started lobbying against the proposed licence. They ended up having something like 500 complaints put in against it and the licence was barred. Meanwhile we were supposed to be kicked out of the Honkytonks building after a few months because they were starting construction but they didn’t have all their permits and stuff so it just got dragged out over two years.

PATCH: Jeez, amazing. Everyone would’ve just been counting their blessings of each visit to 3rds then.
ANDEE: Yeah, it was pretty temporary. It’s a shame we couldn’t have kept it as Honkytonks but Michael found out so late in the piece that there wasn’t much he could do about it – the wrecking ball was already swinging, so to speak. But Third Class was fun too. I think that environment made for an even crazier party. Honkytonks was opulent beautiful and totally over the top; Third Class was like going to a squat party every week with a bar and running toilets.

PATCH: Did you think Third Class defined a culture?
ANDEE: I think that Third Class defined a shift in culture. OK, this is where it starts to get deep. I think Third Class was more defining a change in guard which in turn ended up a complete change of the culture purely because the new guard had different values. They were also part of a different generation which changed things immensely, but not always for the better.

PATCH: Very interesting Andee. We know that you feel very strong in this area (the Melbourne club scene) so we will come back to this a bit later on. Since the close of Third Class, the Melbourne kids are really in limbo on where to go and we’ve seen new opportunities pop up here and there, for example, New Gurnica, Mercat and Sorry Grandma! (just to name a few) that are taking greater focus. And we know you were the music director at Sorry Grandma. Can you tell us about your experiences at Sorry Grandma!?
ANDEE: Sorry Grandma! was the club Melbourne so desperately needed in my opinion but seeing it fail the way it did brings up so many questions about the actual scene and the people involved in it. In the year that I was music director there we brought out some amazing acts (which I’m not going to name because I will forget too many), but the reality is there just isn’t enough people who are dedicated to going out, to support these acts week after week. The club holds 700 people and it’s hardly ever full. It’s a great grand old nightclub, but it’s never full. There actually aren’t enough good people going out in Melbourne for it to be amazing so you have to let in a few randoms from the King Street traffic. The Paradise Garage, Studio 54 – all these legendary clubs held upwards of 2000 people. Even somewhere like Chevron, which used to have “Freakazoid”, all these clubs are massive. But people would go to Sorry Grandma! and say, “Oh, it’s too big, ah! It’s this or it’s that…”. Totally forget about the fact that the music that is playing is amazing. There’s a purpose built dance floor, amazing sound system, good cocktails, private rooms out the back and friendly staff – that’s not why you go out is it?

So in the end the management really didn’t understand what I was trying to do with the music in there, even though everyone else was applauding it. They became increasingly difficult to deal with and like with all things I do, I do them staying true to myself and my beliefs. This was not the case there so I resigned.

PATCH: Did you and Michael end it on bad terms?
ANDEE: Not at all. We are bestest of friends. I should make this clear: the management is not Michael (who has also resigned now). The management of Sorry Grandma! is a company called EMS. It is run by Peter Iwanik who also owns the following venues: Bubble, Mens Gallery, Inflation, Centerefold Lounge and a few more I can’t remember, but basically the guy owns half of King Street. So reading that list you can probably understand why he didn’t get what we were doing.

PATCH: Can you give me a rundown of your night “House deFrost” at the Toff?
ANDEE: The House deFrost is my tribute to the people I most admire. It’s approaching its 2nd Birthday this year. The night started from basically me getting tired of touring. Around that time (of Third Class and such) I spent alot of time playing around the country and when I came back to Melbourne, apart from Third Class, there really wasn’t much good going on. I was also beginning to get a bit tired of Third Class as it’s a pretty one dimensional venue. So the Toff had been open for about six months and not really set anything in the Saturday night spot so I approached them with a proposal and we went from there. It started out as me and a guest but it didn’t work out so I started doing the night by myself. For me, I come from a background where playing the whole night is pretty much the norm. I also thought it was kind of timely considering what was happening around town where DJ’s were playing 45 minute sets and shit, which I think is a joke.

PATCH: Well, who really wants to play a rushed set? And with the whole night to yourself, you have the utmost complete control.
ANDEE: Totally. Well, when I split the night between me and another DJ, we would end up finishing at 3am but when I took control of the whole night, people stayed til 5.
Then I slowly introduced bits along the way: I bought the Bozak, we’ve had a few shows and a great line up of internationals.

PATCH: Ah, the mighty Bozak: everyone loves her.. or is it a him?
ANDEE: The Bozak is a tranny; bit of both.

PATCH: *laughs* Just shows that your presence alone is enough to keep the punters happy!
ANDEE: That and a really dark light setting. But yeah, the disco is evolving every-week. I now have a new lighting controller to compliment my smoke machine. I have some dancers who will be performing soon. I’m basically stepping things up a notch now since I have some more spare time on my hands.

PATCH: Well I believe the Toff has such a rich environment. In some sense, the music you play really wouldn’t suit anywhere else really. The Toff just has that magic; it’s hard to describe.
ANDEE: Yeah, it’s got a certain chemistry. The venue, the music, the smoke and the sound-system. Plus all the staff are a real team.

PATCH: The soundsystem sounds so authentic as well.
ANDEE: The soundsystem is amazing. It’s a full Nexo rig that’s about four times more powerful than it needs to be. The sound tech is amazing although he is leaving in a week which I’m sad about. The best bit is there are no noise restrictions so we can run it as loud as we like!

PATCH: That’s always a positive. You’ve had a nice range of special guests, Holy Ghost!, Sweeney, Horse Meat, etc..etc.. Are you going to keep bringing out people?
ANDEE: Trevor Jackson, Canyons, Optimo, Andrew Weatherall, Thomas Bullock, Felix Dickinson, Jonny Chingas.. sorry, trying not to leave anyone out. Plus we were also voted one of the top five nightspots in the world by V magazine. I would like to keep bringing out people but the support that most of these shows get is a bit lack lustre so it makes it hard. I am only one person who takes all this on. The venue help out with a bit of stuff but ultimately I am the one responsible for paying the bills.

PATCH: And also the fact it’s such a small and intimate venue. Maximum of 250ish people?
ANDEE: And yes, the price you sometimes have to charge, people are not willing to pay. It costs a lot of money to get these artists to Australia alone, and then you have to pay for accommodation, internal flights and all the rest. And with such a small capacity you have to basically sell out the show most of the time just to make your money back. So for the moment I have kind of taken a little rest with the internationals. I had DJ Harvey but the tour has been postponed till the end of the year so that will be the next one.

PATCH: You said that you were busy touring before House deFrost? What did that involve? Countless festivals? European tours?
ANDEE: *laughs* Nah, more club shows. I did a few national festivals: V fest and big day out – they are fun because you usually have a group of people that you tour with and it makes time go by quicker. For V fest I was always with the Bang Gang boys and The Presets, and for Big Day Out I would hang out with the guys who run Lilyworld. Fun times! I kind of got fed up with it [touring] and wanted to just have something good to do every week in Melbourne instead so that’s why I started The House deFrost.

PATCH: I know you are also affiliated with Modular? I see the term Modular DJ get thrown around everywhere.
ANDEE: Modular do my bookings for the rest of the world (outside of Melbourne), and I did that “Leave Them All Behind III” mix as a “Modular DJ.”

PATCH: When did they sign you?
ANDEE: I’ve been with agent Modular since the agency started – a few years now I think.

PATCH: Now, let’s talk about the production game. When did you first get into music production?
ANDEE: Ummm… 2000. I did a bootleg with a producer named Luke Chable, who’s kind of a big deal nowadays. It was pressed onto vinyl and I think it did pretty well, although I never saw a cent from it but that’s not really the point. But then someone bootlegged our bootleg and repressed it a few years ago so that was funny.

PATCH: *laughter* And the sad thing is they probably made money from it.
ANDEE: Yeah I know who it was too. He’s been bootleggin’ a heap of Moodymann stuff so I think he will be getting a knock on the door soon.
Then I did snort it with Bongmist around 2005-6 I think, which was just for fun. But nowadays I produce with Oohee and we have been doing stuff for the past four years I think – 3 or 4.

PATCH: You and Daniel have just had tracks surface up until recently, right?
ANDEE: We did a remix for The Presets and some for Beni last year. But we are just starting to release our own original stuff. We have a 12” coming on Stilove4music in May, we were on Juan Macleans’s DJ Kicks and we have a few bigger labels sniffing around so it’s starting to get interesting. There is a whole new batch of A+O stuff almost completed. We have been giving it test runs in clubs across Melbourne and it has been a pretty positive reaction so far.

PATCH: My money is on ‘What’s a Name’.
ANDEE: *laughs* As long as the samples doesn’t come back to haunt us.

PATCH: Do you have a release date for the EP? Sometime in May you said?
ANDEE: Umm pretty soon. It’s stilove26. I just got an email from the label. It’s getting cut this week. So I would say mid to late May. But ‘Take Me’ was also included on the vinyl pack for DJ Kicks so if you’re hungry for it, you can get it there as well.

PATCH: So on the stilove4music vinyl it will be ‘Take Me’ and what else?
ANDEE: It’s a three track EP: ‘What’s a Name’, ‘Take Me’ and another track ‘Misunderstood’.

PATCH: Very exciting.
*I then found the Discogs entry of Luke Chable/Andee Frost release and I expressed my keenness to hear it.*
ANDEE: I think I have a record lying around somewhere. It doesn’t exist digitally. Oh wow! Two people want it on Discogs.

PATCH: Six for sale, here’s my chance.
ANDEE: *rapturous laughter* OK, back to the current stuff then. Let’s leave that one in the closet, until prog makes a comeback .

PATCH: *rapturous laughter* Ok, so with you and Daniel, obviously you guys are on the same wavelength and gel well together when making a track?
ANDEE: Yeah after four years we have a good understanding of each other. He gets what I mean when I say no more like this or like that. He is probably one of the more talented producers in Australia but totally doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He has done a lot of production for a lot of big names that you’ve probably heard so it’s nice that he is actually getting some recognition for this stuff as he is really talented!

PATCH: Now… What’s planned for the future?
ANDEE: Well I will be running a new club night titled ‘WAX!’. I am taking over the back room at Revolver upstairs – starting June 4th. We have the Revenge for the first night.

PATCH: That’s big!
ANDEE: After I left Sorry Grandma! I was kind of left a bit lost as to what’s going on with the Melbourne scene; all these clubs have pretty much sold out. I thought there is only one true underground club left in Melbourne and that is Revolver. Revolver has never sold out; they have always stayed true to what they believe in and it’s an amazing venue with so much history. And for me, I kind of got my start in Melbourne city there so it’s kind of like a homecoming to return there to run a night. Plus they fully support my music vision which is nice. So I’ve handpicked my favourite DJ’s and will be taking them with me to hopefully try and re-invigorate what is becoming a pretty stale scene.

PATCH: Can you reveal who’s on the roster?
ANDEE: Oohee, Otologic, Mr George, Aram Chapers, Lewie Day, Fantastic Mr Fox, Jnett, El-sea, Roman Bruce, Biscuit… and myself of course. Plus regular internationals and guests.

PATCH: Kicking off with The Revenge is bound to get the new night rolling in style. Oh and I’m sorry, did you say what nights?/weekly?/etc. ?
ANDEE: Totally! This is Friday weekly.

PATCH: Now Mr. Frost. This is my final question and one which I’ve saved for the end. And we know how passionate you are on the topic. So, please enlighten the readers of your opinion of the current Melbourne music scene.
ANDEE: God, I’m sure everyone’s sick of hearing about it but here we go. The scene is in a very weird time at the moment; everything has changed and it doesn’t look like it will ever change back which really makes me sad. I was lucky enough to see a fair share of amazing clubs and have some great memories, but when the children of today’s scene reach my age, I’m sad that they probably won’t know how it really should have been for them. Here’s what I think is wrong with our scene:

Everyone’s a DJ.

Everyone else is a promoter or a wannabe club photographer, or a social climber.

Nobody wants to pay to get into a club. Why would you when you can become a promoter?

The internet has killed individual taste the world over.

Kids these days have no respect for each other and no patience; they expect everything instantly.

Drugs are getting worse and worse.

You can’t smoke inside clubs, so you can’t keep dancers’ attention; they are always darting outside. Smoking also makes your drugs work better; when you could do it on a dancefloor you never had to leave and it created a sick vibe! That’s why warehouse, house parties and festivals are so good because there is no smoking bullshit.

Once upon a time people used to go out and interact; now everyone sits on Facebook and does their interacting via an online personality. This creates cliques inside a club. The group gets smaller and smaller and no one is united anymore; everyone spends all their time bitching about the other people in the venue. In the past it used to be you and everyone else in that club against the rest of the world every night, and you thought you could do anything. Now people spend all week talking on Facebook and then when they go out what do they do? Talk all night. What happened to dancing all night?

Too many DJ’s are sheep and don’t have enough balls to play the stuff they really love and try push new music onto people. Nine times out of ten if it’s good, they will dance.

People are force fed everything so they have become more lazy to go and seek out new things.

In the old days, people used to have jobs outside of the club they went to. This sustained a club because people spent money on entry, drinks, etc. Now the trend is to try and work for the club, throw a night, be a promoter, be a bar tender, even though you really want to be a DJ. It’s all an “in” to the industry. No one does anything because they “love” doing it, well, at least in a good chunk of the clubs across Melbourne.

There is an information overload: once upon a time, if you wanted to become a producer or a DJ you had to dedicate yourself to do it, go out and get a second job just to be able to afford records or equipment. Now it’s as easy as anyone with a computer can “give it a go” – you can download a week’s worth of music in just over an hour with the right connection. These people dabble for a short time and expand on the masses amounts of shit mediocre music, DJ’s, clubnights already on offer and it dilutes what little scene there is even further.

And finally, old people like me bitch and moan about how good it used to be, which kids either love or hate. At the end of the day, we are only trying to relive what was an amazing time. I think the clubbers of Melbourne deserve that much!

And here are some edits from the man himself, “for DJ use only”:
MP3: Andreas Frostarelli & Damiano Diggerelli – Heart & Soul
MP3: Village People – Macho Man (Andee’s Body Conscious Edit)
MP3: Andee Frost – How to Piss Off a Bogan

Pumping, funky, disco-breaks. The best. Anyone out there who digs this stuff, send me links. Currently digging.

MP3: BT Express – Keep It Up (Superbreak Edit)

NYC’s Jacques Renault (one half of Runaway) can do no wrong at the moment. Every mix/track he has dropped in the last few years hasnt seemed to tire in my ears yet. Favicon is his new release on Canyon’s own label, ‘Hole In The Sky Recordings’, and its four tracks of pure disco edit gold. This is going to be on heavy rotation for a while.

MP3: Jacques Renault – Norman’s Fire

ZE Records, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, released some of the best and most iconic No Wave and Mutant Disco tracks of the time. Not just from New York (such as the founders Partner, Lizzy Mercier Descloux) where the label was based, but all over. It pretty much died in the late 80’s but since 2002 ZE has been up and running re-releasing all their old shit. These tracks come off the ‘Zevolution: Ze Records Re-Edited’ comp, which has some big names (Greg Wilson, Todd Terje, Idjut Boys, Rub N Tug, etc) editing old tracks.

MP3: Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy (Soul Mekanik Bounty Girls Edit)
MP3: Gichy Dan’s Beachwood No 9 – On A Day Like Today (Todd Terje Friendly Children Edit)

This may perhaps be my last post before christmas as Im off down the coast to soak up the sun; and while Im in a happy, sunny mood I think Ill lay out some great disco cuts for your listening pleasure.
I saw Tim Sweeney play last weekend here in Melbourne (well, Meredith Music Fest to be exact) and he was absolutely spot on as usual. Amazing eclectic selection of tracks and edits; I didnt hear a beat fall flat even out there pumping out over the ampitheatre with a diverse crowd. One thing that caught my ear was this edit which actually took me a while to hunt down. It’s The B-52’s ‘Love Shack’, but renamed on a random vinyl only release, and one MONSTER build up. It takes you so close, then when you least expect it: BANG BAANNNGG!!

MP3: For Disco Only – Null Zwei (Love Shack Edit)

Patch: here’s my version. 7 days only.

If you’ve listened through James Murphy & Pat Mahoney’s Fabriclive 36, you’ll recognize this track. If not, you’ll still very much enjoy it. SPEAKING OF WHICH: The afore mentioned duo will be bringing their ‘Special Disco Version’ down to Melbourne this summer with The Juan Maclean on Friday the 8th of Jan. If you miss this there is something seriously wrong with you Im sorry.

MP3: Daniel Wang – Like Some Dream (I Can’t Stop Dreaming)

Mindless Boogie brings another edits bundle which sidesteps the obvious. This time it’s a Wade Nichols edit (Todd Terje’s alter ego). The track name says it all.

MP3: Mindless Boogie – Boogie (Wade Nichols Edit)

Now as for the next Mixtape; Im leaning towards either some Goth/Dark Beat (ie. Bauhaus, DAF, Neon, Wire) or No Wave (ie. The Contortions, Lydia Lunch, Mars). Any preferences out there?

I am more than obsessed with RVNG. Anything RVNG I have to have, as it always pure gold. Eclectic mixes, disco edits, new producers…..it has it all. The only thing to come close to it in my opinion is Black Disco. The latest Black Disco tracks have been amazing. So I thought Id compile up my favorite tracks from the two series for you to have a browse through.

From Mock & Toof – RVNG Of The NRDS Vol. 3:
MP3: Mock and Toof – Digit 3

From Wade Nichols (AKA Todd Terje) – Rvng Of The Nrds Vol. 5:
MP3: The Bottom Line – Disco Dobro (Abracadobro)

From Jacques Renault – Rvng Of The Nrds Vol. 6:
MP3: Jacques Renault – Sweet Rollin’ On

From In Flagranti – Rvng Of The Nrds Vol. 8:
MP3: We’re Lofty Volt – Alter Flaw

From Black Disco Vol. 1:
MP3: John Martyn – 1984 (Summer Of Lovefingers Mix)

From Black Disco Vol. 2:
MP3: Lee Douglas – Fuego (Lee Douglas Edit)

From Black Disco Vol. 3:
MP3: Bionic Boogie – Chains (Nitedog Anonstop Edit)

From Black Disco Vol. 5:
MP3: Abel – Round in Circles