“Hopefully you don’t make me look real old and shit!” laughs Nathan Flack aka DJ Flagrant
"Hopefully you don’t make me look real old and shit!" laughs Nathan Flack aka DJ Flagrant, he may have already passed the dreaded 30 mark, but he assures me "I can still party with the best of them." While the new resident DJ at George’s Sweat may already be a well-known face on Australian scene, Flack, who also works in music management, is happy to admit that his sleep-withdrawn capacity has changed since he started out on both the battle and club scene some fifteen years ago. Though he still enjoys a good night out with the lads, he laughs "They are just fewer and further between those sessions. I can’t bounce back like I used to. It is a two to three day affair to recover from a big night with the lads.
When I was younger and starting, I had a full time day job in IT. I used to do Monday nights DJing till 3am, go and sleep for 3 hours, get up and go to work. Then Wednesdays it would be the same thing. I could do it fine, no worries. The thought of doing that now, I would have a heart attack."
The well humored DJ is more than a little bit pleased about his upcoming residency, stating emphatically "I just want to play gigs that I really enjoy." Having played a guest slot at the night a few months back, the revelation that Sweat was the night for him was almost instantaneous. "A lot of the people that are coming to Sweat are more discerning and know their music better. It’s got its regular and what not, but its also got a general walker, passer-by trade too. But the people who generally end up there are the people who know about music and want to have a good time too. I’m really excited about going in there and playing regularly. I wanted somewhere that I could just play all of the music that I thoroughly enjoy. The kind of stuff I am playing is all mixed genres; it is not like I am just playing hip hop or anything like that. I am playing funk, soul, hip hop, a bit of disco. Just anything basically that I think is genuinely good music, I will be playing it there."
Passionate about music, Flack may have become renowned for his connection to the urban world, but his sets have always been celebrated for their diverse appeal. Rather than being boxed into one genre, he enjoys the freedom that his reputation brings him. While certain club nights would tie him down, Sweat leaves him free to play as he pleases. An attitude that appeals to the party-goer in him, "I don’t want to just go somewhere, play and just leave. Otherwise it is just a job. I could be doing the same thing but working in an office for a few hours. I want to do something I enjoy doing and look forward to doing."
With such an array of music in his collection, how does he ensure that his output pleases his public? The answer is sheer logic, with his time on the circuit allowing more than enough time to learn from early mistakes. "I think the key is, you’ve got to really look around the room and see what the majority of people look like in there, then make an assumption of what sort of tunes they’d like." The reasoning is easy enough, but looks can deceive. However, Flack is as aware as any regular party-goer, "All it takes is one song to get things started. If you find a particular tune that will get a couple of girls out on the dance floor, then you know by following on by playing tunes in line with that song, that it is going to work and it will build with more people on the dance floor. You have to always pay attention to who your audience is, you can’t just pre-plan a set at home and think it is going to go off without a hitch. You have to always be aware of who you are playing to."
With that in mind, has experience taught him which tracks garner instant response? Is there such a thing as a sure-fire, universally appealing party-starter? After a lot of umm-ing and ahh-ing, through which it was clear that behind the fog lay the answer, Flack finally arrives at the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back, "You will always get people on the dance floor to that. It doesn’t really matter, the people in the audience could 18 or 19 but they still love that song." While Jackson 5 may be guaranteed to get the booties shaking, is there on record that has an unparalleled effect on Flack himself? With a little less hesitation, he settles on Give Me The Night by George Benson. "It’s just the groove in it and the vocals. It’s got an awesome breakdown in the song which is just sick."
You can see DJ Flagrant at his new weekly residency at Sweat at The George, Saturday Nights from March 19
By Jeremy Williams
