Sauce

Ah, I remember Amsterdam … kind of! Infamous for its state-controlled decriminalised drugs and sex industries, it’s easy to forget about the country’s other attractions and just see it as a paradise for hedonism. Could there, then, be a more appropriate place to find a DJ named Tommy Trash? On the release of a new compilation for Ministry Of Sound, he spoke to me about the music of Amsterdam, and the migration of Aussie DJs to Europe.

So where are you at the moment?
I’m in Amsterdam.

So what are you doing there?
Ah … Just doing the usual! [Laughs]

What, going there for two days, and you sort of wake up a couple of weeks later and go, “Oh shit! What happened?”
Yeah, yeah, pretty much … I shouldn’t really mention that!

Look, we haven’t mentioned anything specific, have we?
No! Not at all! [Laughs]

With a name like Tommy Trash, and you’re in Amsterdam, there are some things that are going to be read into that, that’s for sure.
Well, that can read into it … as long as there’re no facts in it! [Laughs]

So are you working there as well, or is this just a holiday for you?
Bit of both, actually. I’ve got some new tracks happening over here, which is really exciting. And I’ve done some remixes for some Dutch guys. So, yeah. [I’m] back in Oz in two weeks.

So you’re DJing or producing over there or what?
Producing.

And who are you working with over there?
I’m just working by myself, but I’m producing a track for a guy called Benjamin Bass … He’s got a pretty big profile over here, and he’s a mate of mine. I’m kind of just doing some stuff for him. And there’s some stuff happening with Nathan, another mate of mine. So yeah – there’s a little bit of stuff going on, but it’s mainly my own stuff. A change of environment is always good for the creative juices.

Have you been going out much?
[Pause, then mischievous chuckling] Yes …

So is it just trance, trance, and maybe a little more Euro trance? What’s happening in the clubs there?
Not at all. Not at all! You know, in Amsterdam, there’s guys here like Sebastian … Laidback Luke’s here … Nathan’s here. So a lot of house-based [DJs]. Fedde Le Grande’s is just around the corner … There’s a lot of really big house guys from Amsterdam. They love their cheesy trance over here. Do you know Jumpstyle? [Imitates a bleep melody] It’s like the fastest trance you’ve ever heard. And it’s on the radio over here, right … for starters, that’s problem number one. Problem number two is that nine-year-old kids are into it at school! These film clips for these trance songs! I was in a shop the other day, and on comes one of these really hard, cheesy trance songs. And the filmclip was all these nineteen-year-old kids jumping up and down on some kind of springboard platform!

Wow – that really says a lot about the country, when the whole club scene is getting down to the kids!
Smoke weed and mushrooms at lunch! [Laughs] No, I don’t know mate. There’s just so much good music over here. I went to one club, Electro-Nation … and the guy was just playing the coolest shit … probably shit I wouldn’t be game to play in Oz, because I think I’d probably scare half the kids away. But just really cool stuff. So there’s a lot more to Amsterdam than just Jumpstyle and trance.

How did you get involved with the electro house compilation, that you’ve done one CD of, and the Stafford Brothers have done the other … that I can’t remember the name of? [Laughs]
Electro House Sessions.

Oh, there you go! Basically, with Ministry Of Sound, you’ve just got to go, “OK, what style is this?” And call it Sessions at the end!
Well, that’s what the UK’s like, isn’t it? House Sessions … Electro Sound Sessions … Funky House Sessions …

So they just rang you up and asked?
Yeah. I’m doing a lot of work with MOS at the moment – remixes and originals and stuff – and they just said “Look, do you want to do the disc? This is what it’s called. This is what it’s about.” And I thought, “Yeah, I can do that.” So … yep, I did it!

I was talking with Mark Dynamix the other day, and he’s heading over to Germany to live for a while – he wants to get into the whole minimal thing.
Yeah! That’s a good move, I think … If you want to get into minimal, I just don’t think Oz is the place to do it, because there’s just not enough places to play it, and not enough people who are into it.

Someone’s got to lead the way.
Yeah. Look, I think it’s a really good thing, and probably a lot more guys are going to follow suit as well. Dirty South is spending a lot of time in Europe now … So I think a lot of Aussie guys are making headways overseas, which makes it easier to go and move over there, and actually make a living doing what you’re doing over there. That’s the scary part of moving overseas – you can do music full-time in Oz, but if you move over there, will you be able to do it full-time in Europe, without having to work some other job, you know? It’s a bit daunting, but Mark will be fine.

Electro House Sessions comes out on the 11th of August.

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