Melbourne DJ and A Colourful Storm label boss Moopie shares his thoughts on crate-digging culture and the city's thriving dancefloors
When your label looks to reissue records, how do you decide what’s been unfairly lost versus justifiably forgotten?
What’s been unfairly lost isn’t up to my label to dictate. The only question I ask myself when releasing new music or reissuing older stuff is how I felt after hearing it for the first time.
Does playing Melbourne’s lounge bars, where the DJ isn’t the main event, teach you to read a room differently?
Not nearly as much as environments with actual crowd engagement. But bars still offer sound systems that are better than most home setups, which makes for excellent listening practice.
Is there something about Melbourne that makes it fertile for crate-digging culture?
There’s surely something unique about how far Australia is from the rest of the world that permeates into the music being created and left here. I don’t know what it is exactly and if its traits are exclusive, though.
What are the Melbourne electronic music scene’s biggest strengths right now?
I feel electronic music is in the strongest position it’s been in since I started involving myself in it. It’s so much more popular with younger crowds now, which is a positive thing.
Do the city’s younger DJs have broader references than you did at their age?
Yes, and I love how blissfully unaware some of them are when showing these reference points, like playing old tunes by artists whose significance they don’t care for, or downloading low-quality rips of rare records. Things that seem to annoy the right people.
Has the cost-of-living crisis affected what music people want to hear?
Yes, there has been a shift in appetite towards higher energy levels. That’s not a bad thing – I love looking for compatible music, or music with unexpected potential, to work for these crowds.
NTS Naarm 2026
- Where: Northcote Theatre, High Note
- When: 28 Feb – 1 Mar
- With: Yu Su, Lyra Pramuk, Moopie and more
Tickets here.
