Features

How did you get started?

I got started through my brother, he learnt to DJ when he was in grade six and I started a few years later. Just in the bedroom, I had my first party in 89 with my brother; we mainly did mobile DJing throughout the Western Suburbs for about eight years.

Do you have any technical training?

Nope, I did piano but I was too young to take it in and just wanted to do other stuff really. 

What continues to inspire you?

What inspires me is new music, especially new original sounding fresh music from hip-hop. A lot of krump beats are being made by kids in their bedrooms and a lot of that stuff blows my mind. A lot of future hip-hop producers as well, that inspires me a lot. As well as seeing live music and live bands, for example last night seeing Faith No More. Seeing Mike Patton absolutely consume a stage and it’s just undeniable that he’s legit. People like that, it doesn’t matter what musical background or what art they come from, they can really suck you into their world.

Did you take anything from the DMC championships with you?

Not so much. It’s so long ago, being at that age wanting to just separate myself from the standard style and sound, which I guess I’ve always done anyway,  it was the only way you could find work DJing in the suburbs doing mobile stuff then doing club stuff. That was always the approach, to find myself, my own sound within hip-hop, music and DJing. Now into the projects I work on with Grrilla Step and Curse The Machines they are quite distinct sounds separate to anything that’s going on at the moment.

You put so many different genres together, is there one you won’t touch? 

Not really, it’s like I was saying before in every genre you can find legit music performers and artists that are undeniable, whether it’s pop or metal or drop some Johnny Cash. There’s nothing I won’t touch, but there’s also a lot I haven’t discovered. Just this last few months I’ve been introduced to proper Psy Trance its dope as fuck.

With your upcoming tour, where are you most excited to go and why?

Places I haven’t been before especially in Australia, like I want to do a gig in Broome.

For people who haven’t seen your live show before, what can they expect?

I don’t really think about that, I just do what I do and it’s different to what’s happening.

I hear there is something different about your Melbourne performance, can you tell me about that?

There is going to be a fair few different projects on the one stage all in the one step. Grrilla Step will come on stage, there are 11 of us sometimes 15, there will be Dizz and I doing some Curse The Machines stuff and some b-boys and b-girls who I’ve worked with in the past. I’ll also go through some old DMC stuff that I haven’t played out in a long time. 

Do you have any pre show rituals?

No not really, nothing interesting. I went through a stage of forgetting one or two records which became an annoying ritual.

Do you practice your routines?

Well I will for this and I have been but I don’t practice. Not scheduled I just listen and jam really.

How do you feel about the health of your genre?

I’m not interested in that to be honest. For me music is so personal so as long as it’s good with me I’m good with it. I think people take in what they choose, whether the scene is thriving or not doesn’t affect or bother me a single bit because the music will always be there anyway regardless of people’s opinions

Any new acts people should check out?

I want to check some new acts. Not so much new, but new to me. I checked out Me Shuggah at Soundwave yesterday and that blew my mind, even though the sound wasn’t great they were just incredible. Dizz1 is the other half of Curse The Machines, he’s a Sydney boy and he’s producing some incredible beats.

If possible, what would you see yourself doing if you couldn’t do music?

I’d probably be studying, picking up a lot of varied subjects and travel with it. Study in different parts of the world, being a poor student and wishing I was doing music.

For more on Dexter and the XX World Tour check his myspace and the XX World Tour Twitter.