Melbounres Club Vision - Vol 2 Issue 3 Nov 1998

Much has changed over the past decade; the illusive underground has been coaxed into the spotlight and the world of commercial reality. What was once termed rave or dance music has been redefined into separate genres and within them subgenera. Electronic music in Melbourne has crept from the confines of bedrooms and exclusive parties into every recognisable facet of contemporary culture and in the process, has evolved beyond recognition.

Big corporations, initially choosing to turn a blind eye, have been forced to recognise its impact, you can’t turn on the television without being sold a car, a soft drink or even insurance without the backdrop of some form of electronic music, albeit commercial. I can’t claim to have been around during this whole evolution and what I wanted to know was where it started how it has changed and the answer to the question on everyone’s lips, where is it going? What I found is that everyone has a different story to tell.
The warehouse or outdoor party has been central to the development of the (for lack of any other word to use) ‘rave’ scene. Starting off as private parties where the invitation was word of mouth, they transformed into large and lucrative, full-scale productions. Tracing the development of these one-off events has proved to be an impossible task. Most people have a difficult time remembering the particulars of something that happened last week, much less what happened eight or ten years ago. The history of the club has more to offer, as it is, after all, easier to gauge how much the industry has changed by tracing a pattern of transition as opposed to comparing a series of dimly remembered events. It is beyond the scope of this article to give a complete history of the evolution of electronic music in Melbourne or to mention every influential Club, DJ and promoter. What I offer is the accounts of some of the people we associate with the Melbourne industry’s formative years.
Everything has its origin; it all depends how far back you want to go. Maze at the Commerce Club dates back to ’91 and is remembered by most as the first club in Melbourne to be based purely on electronic music. Richie Rich, Will E Tell, Jason Rudeboy and Heidi John are a few of the names most associated with success of Maze. All have moved on to bigger if not better things; Richie Rich to Hardware, Jason Rudeboy to Filter and Heidi to MUD. Heidi John recalls that at the time Maze was started: "It was a case of waiting to introduce the rave to the club." It worked. Since Maze Melbourne has seen a host of different clubs open over the years, some which have lasted and others that have not.
MadRod and Jason Rudeboy were involved from the outset. The two have been responsible for Filter, Melbourne’s longest running techno club, since it opened its doors in ‘92. MadRod describes Filter’s early years as "basically a combination of progressive house, garage and experimental techno". The club was opened to provide a mid week alternative to the weekend raves. On how the club and the industry as a whole have developed since then, Mad Rod says only "things have changed dramatically". There is no doubt that it was underground then, that the rave community was smaller and more integrated. Be it for better or worse, the underground has evolved. What we now have is a situation where, as he puts it, there is "more choice, more direction, more everything."

More seems to be the operative word. Countless clubs have followed in the footsteps of Maze, Pure and Filter. Scott Alert describes the early days of Climax at Inflation as a fusion of "trance, hard house and a general selection of tracks we now term rave anthems." Scott has maintained his connection with the techno club and is presently promoting and djing at XSIVE. "The techno club", he stresses, "plays an equal role to the warehouse or outdoor party, they feed off each other." Heidi John agrees, attributing the steady growth of the rave culture to the "support it had within its own framework". The club provided the necessary support by providing a regular and viable method of exposing a wide audience to a broad range of music styles.
Teriyaki had its humble beginnings in the much-loved Sadies and is now a significant player within the industry. The formula that made it succeed, as Dee Dee sees it, was that it is unique. "Without putting myself on a pedestal, I came with a different style and that’s what people enjoy." Many complain that the rave has changed beyond recognition, that it no longer has a nucleus and has splintered into so many different subcultures that there is no common thread of consciousness left. Dee Dee has this to say on the subject: "I think everything starts off amazing and awesome for everyone. I went ‘wow’ this is unbelievable, all these people coming together and having an amazing time and all this togetherness bullshit but after time it becomes business. All the big party crews out there are still enjoying the actual parties but there is a serious side to it as well. People start wanting something different; it’s a natural progression." Mark James’ club involvement dates back to Pure at the Palace and he is currently involved in Saturday nights at the Mansion. His view is that the industry has not changed, "the industry doesn’t change, it’s the people that change: the styles, the music, and the fashion. One group gets older and the next moves in."
Urban legend has it that raving has a shelf life of two years after which you either burn out or you join the industry. It is arguably an unsustainable lifestyle and people do move on. What was exciting initially eventually loses some of its appeal. The more varied the industry becomes the broader the cross section of people it attracts. These people bring with them a wealth of influences from a multitude of musical tastes and in the process, breath new life into the industry. Variety allows for continuity. The fragmentation within electronic music is part of a natural and healthy maturation process.
If variety is what you want, Melbourne has it. Whatever your inclination be it house, techno, drum and bass or trance, somewhere in Melbourne there is a club that caters for you. "We are lucky in Melbourne", says Jeff Tyler "to have so much choice." As the number of electronic music clubs continues to grow so too do the opportunities for new and undiscovered talent. Clubs provide an avenue for bringing the bedroom DJ or artist out into the open. The more the merrier.
New clubs open all of the time and there is no formula for what makes one a success and another a failure. The club that can withstand or adapt to change has a distinct advantage over the rest. Purveyors has managed to weather the storm. It was started as a hip-hop night by Ransom "back in the early 90’s when hip-hop was a dirty word". Today it plays an eclectic mix of drum and bass, electro and break beat, whilst maintaining its hip-hop orientation. Revolver is relatively new in the scheme of things but has managed to successfully combine bands, DJs and live acts under the one roof. Psi Fi at the Mansion has taken the outdoor party indoors. Says Richard Sekisan, "What we wanted to create was a regular and classy psy trance night". Slapo is less than a month old and is an original variation on the standard club. Equipped with cameras, a screen and an Internet link, the possibilities are endless.
Within a few short years clubs, via the Internet, could take on a whole new form becoming a global playground where time, distance and any other physical barrier that may impede the reach and growth of a global community, are compressed. Music will be global and instant with styles and subgenera mutating virally at an ever-increasing rate. The growth and fragmentation of what was initially a tight, but limited, community is not a bad thing. We face the dawn of the new millennium with a degree of uncertainty about where this whole evolution will lead but at least we are guaranteed something; things will definitely be interesting.

Written by Belinda Ford
Compiled by Belinda Ford, Billie Wheatley & Brad Every-Stephen



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