It’s an umbrella brand that hopes to become Melbourne’s premier booking agency, record label, record store and club event for underground techno music. While there’s an abundance of talented techno and electronic artists in Melbourne, many do not receive proper representation or have an accessible platform for performance. Melbourne Underground wishes to provide these outlets to artists within the underground scene.
What’s underground about it though? Don’t ask the founder, who wishes to remain anonymous.
“You don’t have to explain [underground techno] to our audience, they get it.”
What he did reveal is that it’s “fairly static to its principle’s”, alluding to the necessity to party hard, loud and at any means possible with no interruption. This ideology echoes the attitude of illicit rave caves in the UK from the ‘80s and early ‘90s, born out of mass unemployment and boredom. Acid house [and other forms of acid], abandoned warehouses, go hard or go home; while these kind of parties can still be found scattered throughout the city, Melbourne Underground wishes to retain the same spirit in a more organised fashion.
Their management and record label endeavours are still in development, but Melbourne Underground already has two mammoth events lined up.
‘Sessions with’ is Melbourne Underground’s weekly club event. The promoter is looking to run the show slightly differently to other techno clubs, endorsing a free flow event between attending artists.
“I’m thinking no set times, rather each set available for download from our website the week after an artist has played live, with a complete track list.”
The venue is said to have a purpose built sound system ready to blow attendee’s minds with specs chosen in favour of the acclaimed Funktion-One speaker system. The promoter also promises a week-to-week change up of laser, visual and sound equipment to suite the style of whoever is on decks.
‘Sessions with’ also aims to be as “cost effective as possible” for both club-goers and resident DJ,s with artists receiving a percentage of the door loot rather than an hourly pay.
In short, Melbourne Underground will be “a night with the best underground artists in the most beautiful surroundings.” Expect it to be “loud, dark, [with] interesting visuals … oh and did I say dark?”
‘In bed with’ is their second event, the after-party, an all-day extravaganza for those who don’t want the good times to stop rolling. It looks to be “more of a collaboration of promotors, artists, venue owners etc.” True to Melbourne Underground’s name the location for this event will remain a secret. How does one find out where it is? That’s also secret and won’t be revealed until closer to the date.
They’re “currently in discussions with some local artists who we feel will complement the sound we are looking for”, the founder says, but no artists have been locked in just yet.
‘Sessions with’ and ‘In bed with’ are set to take place on Saturday December 8 and Sunday December 9 respectively.
These are parties built from the foundations of the rave scene with an acute passion for techno music. For those who’re missing their times in Berlin, who never got to rave in the ‘80s, or simply want to dance in the dark, Melbourne Underground’s upcoming events are for you. However, good luck finding the front door.
