What have you been getting up to now that you have all this extra free time?

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Honestly the break has been really, really nice. I was hurtling towards burn out pre-rona (was already there tbh) so when we were told to stay home I felt a huge wave of relief wash over me. I had been treating every second of my free time as available real estate to slot activities into - brain storming the next Athletica line up, writing social copy, seeing friends, picking up money gigs, doing uni work, sending invoices, seeing what parties to head to that week, following up on invoices. I was running as fast as I could on an empty tank. When iso came around I spent a lot of time playing video games and Zoom calling my friends. Although there were tonnes of emotional ups and downs, I felt some weird knot in my chest untangle a bit and I could spend some time picking over what fell out while playing Breath of the Wild and listening to Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Fiona Apple, I love you).

I also managed to pivot Athletica to something I was happy with! It’s a NEWSLETTER now, with a new DJ curating it every week. It was cool to flex a different part of my brain to scrape it together, and I’ve really, really enjoyed seeing what people have done with the platform - it’s been everything from cute cat pics to an entire issue devoted to the Free West Papua movement. I love my little community so much.

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You started ATHLETICA parties because there were lots of people you thought deserved gigs who weren't getting any. How would you like to see the Sydney dance music scene grow and reshape post lockdown?

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In a perfect world I would love for some kind of crazy cross pollination between all the little bubbles in Sydney. Warehouse kids shaking ass to afrobeat, rap kids heading to a vibey house arvo party, club kids popping up at a doof. For that to happen properly some deep change would be necessary - many of the barriers between scenes lie across the fault lines of race and class, compounded by the sexism that has been ground into dance music culture from its inception. They're issues I don't think a couple of safe space documents will fix, and they're issues I don't think I'm able to adequately address in a short form newsletter lol. Plus lots of people (mainly Black, mainly queer) have unpacked it better than I ever could - this roundtable series moderated by Scratcha DVA is a good starting point.

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Your style of djing is super "zoomy" with lots of fast transitions between tracks. How do you organise your music to allow for this?

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At the start of my DJ journey I tried to organise by genre and immediately failed, so pivoted to a ~ vibe based ~ system, which meant flicking through folders such as "weee joyful" and "let's gooo" and "sunglasses by the pool", with nested subtype playlists in each. This system worked for a while, but as I amassed more music it began to get clunky and confusing. There was no process to cycle out tracks I'd overplayed or wasn't into anymore, and "vibes" became jumbled as my musical ideas drifted.

Right now my organisation system is one "Stuff I Like" folder, which I totally remake every 6months to a year (leaving behind a "Stuff I Liked" relic). Inside there's Drums (afrobeat, reggaeton, UK funky, anything a little more organic), House (apocryphal, but all things four to the floor), and Club (Jersey and Baltimore club, ballroom, weird electronic shit, hyperpop, and all the left-overs). Within each folder there are playlists broken down by vibe.

That overarching system is super helpful for quick changes. If I want to switch up the rhythm I can move from something more syncopated in the Drums or Club folders to a straight house beat. If I want to switch up the vibe I can go from shiny, glossy, bitchy in Club to something warmer and more earthy in Drums. If I want to stay in a certain zone but change a few tones and colours, I can move from House - "raw" to House - "rolling".

I love it because it's how my brain works, and it helps craft the shape of a set while also giving my music easy places to live.

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Favourite late night snack after a gig or graveyard radio shift?

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Oporto never not hits the spot after a gig (always ask for Oprego sauce on the side to make any burger an Oprego burger), but my early morning post radio holy grail is the egg and bacon toastie from the cafe next to Redfern station. It's crunchy and buttery, it has mayonnaise on it, and even though each bite probably takes a year off my life, I give up those years gladly.

Your biggest inspiration?

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Holy shit I could talk for literally hours about the people who inspire me. I love artists like Jersey club queen, UNIIQU3, who not only hustles tirelessly to lift herself up, but works to enrich and celebrate her whole community. I love Martyn Bootyspoon's approach to club music - pushing forward sounds by updating their exteriors for the Internet age while maintaining a deep reverence for their roots. Nina Las Vegas does whatever the hell she likes and fights for it to be appreciated. The creative friends I have around me, Deepa, Sandro Dallarmi, Venus, Kilimi, Flower Boy, Ninajirachi and on and on and on, are all so ridiculously talented that I want to make things that are worthy of them.

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Guilty pleasure song?

I have zero guilt around any of the things I like (Toss A Coin To Your Witcher from the official soundtrack of Netflix's Original, The Witcher).

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‍Favourite meme?

*pronouncing hors d'oeuvres as horse divorce*