Can you tell us a bit about the mix we are about to hear?

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It's based around this word I found in the dictionary recently -  echindated. adj: densely covered with stiff bristles or spines : prickly like a hedgehog.

Dance music can be real spiky sometimes. So can ambient music. The intersection of rounded and spiky sounds ended up creating a mix that looked something like this to me -

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(aka massage balls). Hopefully this means you can dance to, roll in, lie with, and be massaged by these sounds. Or find them incredibly pointed and jarring. Up to your discretion.

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Your skylab show 'Porcelain Pool' is reflective, immersive and meditative music, "music for bathing". The connection you have with water and the landscape you paint with your show is so captivating. Where did this concept come from and where do you draw inspiration from?

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It comes from a deep love for and fascination with acoustic ecology. I am really interested in the study of sounds in our environment, the often pervasive human presence in these, and the melting between what we consider 'natural' landscapes and 'non-natural' landscapes. The acoustic presence and damaging effects of invasion and colonisation is something that must be deeply acknowledged in this space. The tension between our conception of 'natural' and 'artificial' feels important to me to sit in with a field-recorder, and to do so encourages me to observe the environment and hear the pervasive infiltration of humankind in almost all avenues of our environment, be that harmonious, destructive, or other. This can sometimes comes through (on a very simple level) through things such as the presence of my breath, the sound of my footsteps, aircrafts, or more concentrated urban cacophony, even the sound of the field-recorder itself - for me it's a constant study in observation and curiosity towards presence, pollution, impact, integration, divide, footprint, and history.

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You've contributed music to some kick-ass compilations in recent years, Fluxx, Theory Therapy & Chill Pill. Although quite different to each other, your tracks are all very spacious and thoughtful. What's your process when making music and do you have any musical influences that have helped you develop your sound?

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I like to lie in bed, usually at 6am or after 10pm, and render myself incredibly overwhelmed by the beauty of the Arturia Keylab 61. I then make a huge mess of stems, spend months furiously re-arranging them, bring the field-recorder in, then continue to battle with this creature that I never quite understand. It's an incredibly undisciplined and inefficient approach. It feels more like a children's playground than a refined music methodology. Wolf Müller & Cass's The Sound of Glades will always probably stand as the most arresting and inspirational piece of music that invited me into the landscape of music-making and the creation of sonic spaces & fictional soundscapes.

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What's something people might not know about you?

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When I was 10 I wrote a 250+ page fantasy novel about children with emotional dysregulation who also have super-powers that allow them to modulate the weather. I spent about two years writing it after school every day before sending it to Text publishing ... I expected it to absolutely go off. Which it didn't.

I always wonder what poor person had the pleasure of having to wade through that manuscript. Needless to say, the book was returned with a polite letter of decline. I hope it never gets a re-issue.

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Your love of your local music and arts scene is apparent in everything you do, from hosting the weekly Sound and Vision segment on PBS fm to your podcast 'Narratives of Neighbourhood: Soundscapes of Community Space' for Melbourne Music Week. How does presenting these stories shape who you are as an artist?

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I think my access to a microphone, speaker, or platform in any format (radio, podcasting, djing) necessitates that I think about my intent and impact with such devices.  It is important that I constantly reflect on this and acknowledge the dynamics of unearned privilege and oppression that exist in all of these spaces - both historical, current, and future. It is an ongoing practice to reflect on, and be aware of, what space I'm taking up and how I can change this to be more inclusive and accountable. The power dynamics that contribute to how people's voices, art, and experiences are unjustly silenced or elevated is a topic that I sit heavily with, and with a commitment to working in this space with the hope that I can contribute in any small way to positive change. I do not know the rule-book for how to do this perfectly, and I think this will always be a work in progress as I navigate how to best walk alongside others.

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Favourite dance-floor moment of 2021?

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Dancing in the full nude around the kitchen table during one of the first lockdowns with my housemates. Weekend activities required creative thinking. No club has yet matched this moment.

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What change would you like to see in our local scene?

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How many pages can I submit here! Inaccessibility, exclusivity, and tokenism are still deeply entrenched. I feel I need an essay to do justice to exploring the shortcomings (and progress) that exists in our local scene, but these are three things that are on my mind a lot both when participating or performing in such creative spaces.

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Any other projects you'd like to shout out?

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There's more tracks coming out soon from various record labels - both local and international, excitingly! Most recently I'd love to shout out to Local Knowledge for having me on their new compilation, Return to Nature. Much love and respect to the crew there for all their love and work on this incredible project. For other tracks ~ stay tuned! :)