Some of the most powerful contemporaries on the techno circuit are uniting for a huge party at The Timber Yard.
An event of epic proportions – the likes of which Australia doesn’t usually get treated to – CLOSER by Warg Records will bring raw, unorthodox and relentlessly heavy techno to Australia’s shores.
With a stacked lineup full of killer international acts, including mainstays of the Glaswegian techno scene Slam, world class underground talent Truncate and high tempo enigma Cleric, it’s an unmissable event. It all goes down next week, September 23, for a massive party that will be pumping from the early afternoon all the way through to the night.
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Marko Sperac, who performs under the moniker of SPEZ, founded Warg in 2017. On the label’s creation, Marko “wanted to bring something different to the table within Melbourne’s events space” and he has certainly succeeded. With an emphasis on the odd, the underground, the heavy, the hypnotic – Warg are known for promoting high energy events.
Warg was conceived within the haze and hedonism of Amsterdam’s most infamous electronic festival; Dekmantel. “There, I heard one of my favourite songs – Warg – by an an artist called Recondite,” Marko remembers. “When I heard that play to tens of thousands of people, it was an eye-opening moment.”
Amongst the lasers, lights and sweaty Dutch bodies, one thing was clear to Marko as Recondite’s Warg had the audience in a chokehold: “This is going to be the name of my brand – I’m going to start my own brand.”
After that, the rest is history. “I got back home and started reaching out to clubs, promoters, DJs … the first ever show we did featured an international called André Winter.”
From 2017 onwards, Warg focused on touring high profile artists, although they always had a vision to include a record label under the Warg name.
In 2021 that vision came to life with the formation of Warg Records, their record label that’s dedicated to uncovering underground techno. “I always wanted to start a label focussing on a specific style of music,” Marko states.
“For me music in any genre has to tell a story or bring up a memory, the same with the music that I want on the label,” Marko explains on the process of signing artists to his label and subsequently touring them. “If the idea is there and is executed at a high level then I want to see how the rest of the demo submission sounds to make the EP a whole package.”
“Our focus is raw, odd and heavy techno music with a loopy rumble to bring that energy. I am also always open to something a little more experimental to also change things up within a release. It also depends on who the artist is.”
“A lot of the times we’re signing new talent and it’s a bit more underground – hidden talent,” he says. “It’s always about making sure that the label and the events align.”
Having bought out a huge variety of talent to Melbourne this year alone, including the enigmatic Stef Mendesidis and Keith Carnal, Warg are putting on another huge event at the end of this month. Taking place on September 23 – the eve of the Grand Final – they’ve got some killer names taking the headlining spots, including UK legends Slam, Los Angeles mainstay Truncate and the ever enigmatic Cleric.
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Consisting of Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle, Slam are an incredibly prolific global tour de force. Hailing from Glasgow, they’re an established pair who perform their vinyl sets together.
But how do they plan their sets as a duo? “Simple,” Slam told us, “we don’t.”
“We’ve always had a high degree of commonality even when we used to buy vinyl – often returning from the record shops with almost 70% of the same records – it’s still the same now in the digital era.”
“Not planning our sets is what keeps it so fresh and interesting – we’ve no idea in which direction the other is going to go in – keeps you on your toes and exciting.”
“We’ve always loved coming to Melbourne and had some great gigs and times there – it feels like a real gritty and diverse city – just like Glasgow,” they say. “Got some great friends to catch up with as well.”
Is there any difference in the techno scene in Melbourne and Glasgow? “To be honest – we think crowds have somewhat homogenised globally – but we’ve had such brilliant visits to Melbourne – we can’t wait to arrive.”
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Getting his start in the underground early 90s warehouse rave scene of Southern California, Truncate will bring his heavy mixing and high octane live show to The Timber Yard for CLOSER.
“The warehouse party scene had to have been the most exciting thing about the rave scene in So Cal,” Truncate reminisces. “The mystery and bit of danger of looking for an address to an underground party in some sketchy areas was quite exciting.”
“It still exists today in Los Angeles, just a bit more fine tuned now. It’s not as difficult to find a warehouse party now, but there’s still that underground feeling to it.”
“Generally the energy in Australia was a bit more hype, maybe because people down there don’t get techno as often as we do in the states. We are a bit spoiled in LA now with so many artists coming through every week.”
“But either way I’ve always had a great time down under and look forward to returning after so long!”
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With multiple bookings at Berghain, Fabric and Awakening, Cleric is excited to bring his hectic live show back to Australia. “The last time I was here it was on fire,” he told us. “The crowd seemed really up for it, so I’ve been looking forward to coming back.”
Established in 2014, Cleric runs his own label Clergy Records. “The latest compilation was a fundraiser aimed to help the children affected by the war on Ukraine. Which we were able to raise over 4000€ so far. For this in particular compilation we went closer to home, inviting artists that have already featured, or were due to feature on the label alongside some close friends.”
But how does Cleric choose artists to appear on the label? “It’s hard to explain how I would sign a new artist to the label in a normal circumstance, because as much as I’d like to go through all the demos that are sent to me, it can be overwhelming. I think it would help all of the label managers and A/R people out there if producers were much more targeted when sending demos.”
“I usually look to names I recognise when listening to demos. While on the road I’m constantly traveling and interacting with people. These personal connections we create usually end up being really important to hearing demos and potentially work on building an EP together.”
Slam, Truncate and Cleric – all legends in their own right – are coming together for Warg’s huge party on September 23. Taking place after two public holiday days – the Grand Final Holiday and the one-off day of mourning for the queen – it’s the perfect party to dance the day and night away and celebrate a four day weekend.
It’s gonna be huge. Grab your tickets to WARG’s CLOSER by heading here.
