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Pits and peaks of 2016 with Freedom Time

One final review of the year before we welcome 2017 at the velodrome

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Yo 2017, I’m really happy for you, Imma let you start, but 2016 was one of the worst years of all time. I think almost everyone can agree on that. Between Bowie dying, and Trump getting elected into office, I struggle to look back on 2016 with a positive light. Luckily not everybody is as forgetful as I am, as a few artists from Freedom Time spare a minute to look back on their own 2016 with all its ups and downs, and remind us that this year wasn’t all just iconic deaths and human rights violations.

Rest assured that 2016 is indeed finally dying, and the funeral is being held in the Coburg velodrome this Sunday at Freedom Time. Can you think of a better way to welcome the new year?

01. Prequel

Best moment: Playing my first Boiler Room in my hometown of Melbourne with some of my Rhythm Section brothers and sisters. I had an absolute blast.

Best live show: I was lucky enough to see Peven Everett perform with his band at Gilles Peterson’s World Wide Festival in the south of France. It was absolutely incredible! Close second was Yussef Kamaal at that festival too.

Worst film: Toss up between Suicide Squad and Batman vs Superman. I could write an essay about how bad they both were but let’s just leave it at the fact they were both HUGE disappointments. 

Worst moment: Unfortunately we have lost many great entertainers this year so I guess collectively those have been the worst moments. Oh yeah, and Trump getting in was pretty shit.

Best story: I can’t really do it justice retelling it but when Louis first explained how he met Beans (The two brothers of Chaos in the CBD) for the first time I died laughing. He continued to tell that story throughout our whole Rhythm Section tour and I continued to die laughing.

02. JNETT

Best moment: My posse of unreal super women that salute me at every festival and big gig from the dance floor – front row of the crowd, with a unified boob flash! It’s powerful and liberating, and wonderfully hilarious, and I love and admire every single one of them. Their liberating youthful energy is infectious and new recruits keep flooding in.

Best collaboration: Definitely without a doubt getting to collab with the legend, my mentor, Maurice Fulton on his label for my first official EP release, Wildlife.

Worst moment: The realities of still being acknowledged after close to a quarter of a decade of DJing as a ‘female’ DJ. Grrr!

Worst outfit: The first one that comes to mind is my pseudo-corporate business suit, that I wore to Inner Varnika 2016, as part of the day’s theme. Seriously hilarious rocking up on stage looking more like an usher. But certainly a great moment was seeing and hearing Jamie 326’s reaction about 15 minutes into the set – he was like “What the fuck! You rock up looking like a flight attendant and shit, and damn you can mix the shit out of those records! You play like you are from Chicago, damn!” Ok, so that turned into a great moment… let’s not dwell on the negatives hey?  

Best story: My best story for 2016 is without a doubt getting the opportunity once again to play at my absolute favourite festival, Melbourne’s greatest festival – Freedom Time!

03. Edd Fisher from Wax’o Paradiso

Best moment: Wax’o Paradiso selling out ://About Blank in Berlin with San Soda and Volcov.

Best live show: Khruangbin playing an acoustic set to a few hundred people on the beach in Croatia at sunrise 

Worst quote: “Make America Great Again” 

Worst outfit: When my girlfriend confiscated my bright green undies and then wore them as a top out to dinner one night.

Best story: Getting rejected from entering Christ’s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, for wearing shorts that were too revealing. Maybe next time. 

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