A free intergalactic cyber festival is happening this weekend to raise funds for Support Act

SIMULATION 4 is a three-day cyber festival showcasing Melbourne's best underground nu-jazz, jazzy house, broken beat, disco, neo-soul, afrobeat, and house musicians.

SIMULATION 4 is the fourth instalment of the ethereal cyber festival that promises a spectacularly supersonic simulation, featuring a range of Melbourne artists, to be livestreamed for free from 7-11pm on October 8, 9 and 10.

It will be livestreamed on Twitch and all donations on the night will go to Support Act, which has been providing a vital lifeline for many Australian artists throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

What you need to know

SIMULATION 4 showcases Melbourne nu-jazz, jazzy house, broken beat, disco, neo-soul, afrobeat, and house music.
It’s free and donations on the night will go to Support Act.
It will be livestreamed on Twitch from 7-11pm on October 8, 9 and 10.

Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

The SIMULATION series is a partnership between Muuzostream, a livestreaming service and Channel 31 show set up to help remunerate Aussie musicians for live sets during COVID, and artist agency Moor Music.

“We were put in touch with Muuzostream through our mates at Velodrome Events and loved their mission to get artists gigging again in the pandemic era,” Moor Music’s Josh Olave says.

“At first, Muuzostream were interested in booking my artists for their television program on Channel 31. Instead, I pitched them a three-day livestream festival as a continuation of a series of livestream events I ran last year at Love Machine – Simulation 1, 2 and 3. They excitedly agreed, and here we are.

“In addition to the performing artists (Honey, Beatnik Collective and Uncomfortable Science are on the Moor Music artists roster), we’ve brought in our in-house lighting and visual artist John Carolan (Rainbow Serpent) to ensure things look as supernatural and mystical as possible.”

Friday promises to be a jazz doof vibe with Honey, Beatnik Collective and Proto Moro. Saturday night is the most eclectic showcase – featuring afrobeat band Ausecuma Beats, improvised jazz outfit – Uncomfortable Science, featuring Barney McCall, Horatio Luna, James Bowers, and synth-based electronic party band, Empress.

Sunday is an evening of neo-soul featuring powerhouses Audrey Powne, Elaura and Velvet Bloom. Each night will be supported by a host of Melbourne DJ’s; Milo Eastwood (PBS The Breakfast Spread), DJ Friday (PBS Headhunters) and Mr Pitiful (Natural Selection).

Muuzostream, who provide the backend technology with all the angles and engineering of a live show, are promising their festival experience will be unlike any music livestreams you’ve seen before.

“We are focused on the future and developing Muuzostream from a TV show on C31 into a standalone platform specifically for music,” Muuzostream’s Peter Bain-Hogg said. “Our initial inspiration was to be the lovechild of Netflix and Spotify.”

“Moor Music’s aim, with our Simulation streams, brings an out of this world experience with high production values to your screens,” Josh continued. “Backed by Moor Music’s in-house lighting and visuals artist, with his use of generative visuals and reactive lighting, he’s ready to bring the festival experience to lounge rooms or anywhere on any device. Expect visuals that are high contrast, geometric, reactive and colourful, with some fun pop culture references thrown into the mix.”

The two organisers both have big plans for the future, as well, as they go from supporting artists to survive lockdowns, to thriving alongside them with the return of IRL festivals.

“Next year is going to be an epic one for Moor Music. We have many open-air day parties, festivals, and large-scale festival collaborations that we’ve been working on throughout lockdown and are excited to reveal to you in the coming months.

“Muuzostream is just getting started and developing organically as we go. We want to be able to support more performers by recording more sessions for streaming, and we’re looking forward to the time when the borders open again and we can offer these opportunities to interstate artists.”