Well, this is most certainly your Reason #9 to be riding that line between house and techno at Motion:Theory:Music 1.0: Ben Abrahams !! Ive been there for much of his djing journey as have many of you and its continuing THIS FRIDAY NIGHT at My Aeon! Hear him for yourself tonight on 3Fold Radio, Kiss Fm :) Meanwhile, spin out a little over his journey: Ben Abrahams is one of Australias seminal house djs. In dj parlance Ben Abrahams years of experience playing records in places like Byron Bay, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane speaks volumes for a man who epitomizes positive dance floor energy and enthusiasm. A self-confessed vinyl addict, Ben saw the first wave of acid house hit Sydney in 1989, long before words like tribal, deep and progressive had become house music folklore, and has never looked back. In the early nineties Ben found himself djing at house clubs like Flow at Marz (Oxford St), Chinese Laundry, The Bentley Bar, Site, Q-bar and Cauldron. Then with news of free outdoor beach parties and a vibrant scene Ben hitchhiked record box in hand to Byron Bay. Ben soon became one of the areas most sought after djs, His eclectic mix of house & techno (with a dash of acid) seemed to fit perfectly with Byrons Balearic vibe and he quickly became a sunrise favorite at many outdoor full-moon gatherings. Brisbane in 1994 saw Ben being booked for large Brisbane events like Seismic, Adventjah and Thunderdome, while at the same time he ran his own Friday night club Acid Drop at The Tube, and put on a series of infamous parties - Bass Invader and Kinky Techno. Over the next 12 months Acid Drop moved to a bigger venue La Discotheque and became Watch Your Head, quickly garnering a strong reputation for being one of the only places in town to hear proper techno and house music. In 1999 Ben decided to take on the largest scene in the country - Melbourne. He started Spacefunk at a basement venue in the city, and as the night gained momentum found himself being snapped up by Earthcore for their club night Freebase at One Six One. This led to a residency and a set to 700+ people at the Lake Eildon Millennium New Years Eve Festival. The next 3 years saw Ben as a regular fixture on the main floor at Earthcores massive parties, and over the next year or so djd to thousands at the famous Brunswick St and St Kilda Festivals. Melbourne uberclub Monkey also found an interest in Bens sound, and after his first guest spot was given a residency at their Sunday night club, quickly securing peak time main room sets at their biggest parties. It was at Monkey that Ben earned his reputation as one of the most exciting and entertaining djs in Melbourne, being chosen to support house legends Clive Henry (Peace Division), Huggy (20:20 Vision), Terry Francis (Wiggle) and Hippe and Halo at Melbourne venues The Palace, QBH and Seven.Following these successes, Ben was chosen for the first release in Earthcores mix cd series, which was quickly touted as one of the years best. It blended bottom heavy house from the Odori All-stars with breaks from Meat Katie to the acid house sounds of Rocket, from DJ Garths imprint Greyhound Recordings, to the New York tek-house of Floppy Sounds. Bens trademark smooth mixing style and solid bass-line driven grooves scored him cd of the week in Tekno Renegade, Beat Magazine and HR. This led to djing dates around the country and guest spots at Revolver, Honkytonks, The Lounge, Seven and Room 680 in Melbourne, with showcase gigs djing before Groove Armada at the Forum, The Orb at Earthcore and DJ Garth at Loquegroove. During 2001 - 2002 his new club Goodtimes on Saturday nights at One Six One opened to a full house. For Ben, Goodtimes was an opportunity to control the flow of the night, djing every week for 6 hours, and employing an eclectic music policy that moved from deep house and techno to breakbeat & old school funk and disco - with just a dash of punk aesthetic. Because of Goodtimes musical reputation and no attitude door policy that rewarded regular patrons, the club was consistently packed every week and it became famously difficult to gain entry. In 2002 Ben and his partner Katharine moved to the north coast of NSW and established Motion:Theory:Music, choosing The Billinudgel Hotel just outside Byron Bay as home for their monthly party Strange Brew. It wasn’t long before he was playing at Baja (Gold Coast) with his weekly dose of techno house packing the intimate venue. Around this time Ben held residencies at various Byron Bay venues, played the main floor at Summafielddayz for 3 consecutive years and also two years in a row to packed dance floors at Splendor in the Grass (Byron Bay). Fast forward to 2005, Bens Saturday night club Motion:Theory:Music at Elsewhere on the Gold Coast, took hold as one of the strongest club nights in Queensland, providing punters week in, week out with quality underground music. Over the next 3 years we saw names such as DJ Three, The Electric Press , Spirit Catcher, Bobby Peru & Metro Area play at Motion:Theory:Music. But the general consensus told us that we loved our local djs. So we said yes, with a roster that was all-local most of the time. Roll forward to late 2010 and after 7 years and 370 odd capacity Saturday nights in a row with guest appearances by Spirit Catcher, Dj Three, Metro Area, Paul Woolfood and the usual suspects, we drew the curtains on the last bastion of underground house and techno music on the Gold Coast, for now. Ben now finds himself in Melbourne djing at his Motion:Theory:Music parties, for the Killing Time Bar, the Twice Shy parties, 303 Touring, Circus, Black Market, Earthcore, Terrobang and as part of Sick:Box. His current sound is an exciting mixture of low-slung, deep Dub:House:Disco:Tech (with a twist of acid). The music speaks for itself. See:With:Your:Ears.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:31:00 +0000