Nadi certainly knows what constitutes a world-class musical experience. Feeling a bit let down and disappointed by what the live scene had become in Melbourne, he packed his bags over a decade ago and left for the warmer climes of the Gold Coast in Queensland, where he made a name for himself promoting bands, performing as a session musician, running a weekly radio show, and becoming a titan of the nightclub scene, opening the legendary club The Berlin Bar. His prowess behind the decks is unrivaled, and his knowledge of music borders on the encyclopaedic.
Speaking by phone on a sweltering afternoon, Nadi waxes poetic about this new venture and about how he intends on giving this world-class city a new destination club experience through The Next To Nothing Aesthetic, a live band and DJ extravaganza on Sunday afternoons in the heart of Prahran.
“It’s not really a ‘club’ idea,” he explains, “it’s more an opportunity to get back to doing something a bit more organic and earthy and alive; more interaction with the crowd, really. I think [the scene] has gotten a bit too one-dimensional with the way the club culture has evolved; it’s become more like a conveyor belt of shit!” Nadi laughs loudly at this. “You know, like every second person is a DJ – and the bar’s really been lowered. As much as I love DJing – and I appreciate all the great DJs in the world – it’s been completely barraged with all the corporate crap and all the narcissism and all the false confidence, marketing and hype and bullshit, you know?
“I’ve always chosen to go left-of-centre in whatever I do; I used to play in live bands before I ever DJed,” he concludes.
Which brings us to The Next To Nothing Aesthetic. Though it could be filed under the indie/soul label, Nadi is quick to point out that it’s so much more than that. “As far as the band goes, it’s Freddie and myself – we haven’t worked together in quite a while, and we’ve been toying with this idea for some time. We spoke to Sam, and he really is a unique and wonderful human being … without a doubt the nicest person I’ve ever met in this business in the last 20 years. He’s the real deal, you know? He ‘gets it’ and knows all the references … The Smiths, The Roots, SBTRKT; and he’s just unbelievable!
“So he was really hip to it, and he trusts us and so we’ve sort of jumped back into the deep end!” he says with a laugh.
When I mention to him that he seems pretty optimistic about the good folks in Melbourne “getting it”, he agrees wholeheartedly. “Yeah, it’s Melbourne, you know?” he says. “Living in the Gold Coast was a different story. There’s not that cultural layer that’s in Melbourne – Melbourne is truly an international city. Everybody comes and plays there, there’s a lot going on, there’s an amazing creative energy, and the best thing about it for me is the whole multicultural melting pot. Which is great, because it opens people up for a lot of different things and experiences!”
But what’s really got Nadi excited is the changing face of the entertainment industry in general. “[There’s been] a changing of the guard in the last five years in the entertainment industry and in club culture,” he explains. “I think a lot of the old-school people are in denial, and they’re still trying to do things the old way – there’s a kind of mundane conservatism that permeates throughout a lot of the industry.
“The meat and potatoes thing for me is what the ‘kids’ are doing, with the blogs; they have no fear or hang-ups, they don’t have any baggage, they’re just excited about doing stuff – they’re embracing technology and the internet, they make music and just go for it! There’s a great confidence that comes from that side of things […] and that’s where I draw all my roots from!”
And one group in particular seems to be ignored by the entertainment industry at large, and that’s the over-25s. “No one’s really catering to that age group – there’s not really much progressive or eclectic stuff going on. You’ve got your gallery openings, you’ve got your theatre show, you’ve got your concert venue … but what about a culture that bubbles and feeds on itself in Melbourne? There’s not really a lot of that stuff going on.
“This show, it doesn’t matter if you’re 25 or 65,” he concludes, a smile in his voice. “You can get it. It’s where you’re at, not how old you are!”
BY THOMAS BAILEY
