Tim Sweeney
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Tim Sweeney

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This is quite obviously a very fictitious scenario. Ignoring the journalistic cliché of speaking sycophantically, Tim Sweeney has one of the more eclectic and respected knowledge banks in contemporary electronic music. It’s in light of this fact that in an exchange of hungover drawl (Sweeney having just celebrated the 13th birthday party for his revered Beats In Space radio show and myself also indulging in a night of debauchery) I find the temptation too great not to ask that if the Mayan prophecy were to be found true and Sweeney was appointed the decision-maker of the end of the world party, how would he plan the proceedings?

 

“I’m loving playing in Hawaii at this 39 Hotel, which is this spot Harvey helped start,” notes Sweeney in his demure radio voice. “It’s got the old sound system from Mancuso’s loft parties. I ran the Precious Hall in Sapporo as well and I could see myself doing something there. Again – the soundsystem is just amazing. The experience of playing there is just something really different. It’s actually where I’m playing before I come down to Melbourne. So I’m kind of flying from one end of the earth to the other.”

 

As he lists of his all-time favourite selectors, I note the peculiarity that both Optimo, Harvey and himself have all taken to the decks of the beloved Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre.

 

“Yeah, that has been amazing. I love Meredith. I think that has to be my favourite festival I’ve ever done.

 

“He’s a character. He’s a rock star,” he notes of Harvey’s infamous smashing of Andee Frost’s prized Bozak rotary mixer, an Alpha Recordings 5-band equalizer, two CDJs and two Technics 1200s at the 2010 Meredith. “Everyone is going to be talking about that forever. Unfortunately, for Andee, his equipment got messed up and I think he still doesn’t have the crossover fixed, but it’s definitely going to go down in history.”

 

No stranger to Australia, Sweeney moves towards his impending return, remarking on his intrigue on how his performance at the National Gallery of Victoria will pan out. “I’m curious about how it is going to be in a museum,” he notes carefully. “I’ve done museum things here in New York and it can kind of go both ways, from being really amazing to being terrible. Playing at MOMA, we did a DFA party there and that was amazing. Then there is PS1 in the summertime here, which is part of MOMA, but it’s in Queens and they do outdoor parties which are insane – the best parties of the summer in New York. Definitely my top show this summer, I think, was when James Holden was supposed to play and didn’t show up. His flight got delayed and he wasn’t going to make it in time. They texted me and they were like, a couple hours before, ‘Would you be able to play?’ I went over and it was 5,000 people and it was insane. I don’t know what it will be like in Melbourne. I’m hoping it is going to be super fun. I know it’s going to be way different than when I’m usually playing at The Toff.

 

“Every time my perception of Australia is, well, it’s really fucking far away,” he laughs playfully. “But everyone I meet over there is awesome and people want to have a good time. I don’t know, it’s kind of like, it’s just the partying aspect. It feels good over there. I love Melbourne and Sydney, I’ve had good times. When I played in Perth, there was no one actually at the show,” he laughs in jest. “I was with Canyons and they’re from Perth. I remember we went to one of their houses and we just stayed on the guy’s lawn, drinking rum and cokes all night, until the neighbours called the cops on us for being too loud. And that felt good. I liked that. I would love to get to see some more of Australia but I’m usually sticking to Melbourne and Sydney. I feel really comfortable there.

 

Referring to international perceptions of Australian electronic proclivity, he explains, “It’s not just deep house. It’s just across the board for quality good music. People in Australia love to party. That’s what my impression would be. There is a lot of afterhours clubs like Revolver, which we don’t have in New York – a 24 hour club. Someone like Andee who will go for the weekend, 48 hours, DJing, from one party to the next – it’s pretty amazing to me. Everyone I’ve met there, when I’ve hung out, know all the different records and they’re up on everything. I think you’ve got good radio there, the Noise in Your Head show is super well-respected across the world. It’s a shame Andee doesn’t have his anymore. I really don’t get that impression that it is just a one-sided thing. I don’t even want to put Tornado Wallace in a deep house vein. I’d put him in the bearded kangaroo dude category.”

 

Turning conversation to the rapidly advancing technological world and the preconceived notions on the death of certain mediums, I quiz Sweeney on his view of the future of radio. “I definitely can tell radio is a dying thing but I’m still nostalgic, just like [how] I still bring vinyl with me to play. I still like the format and the idea of radio,” he shares with a hint of lament. “Turning on the radio and listening at home or listening in the car or wherever. When I’m doing the radio show, I still have that idea in my head that I’m broadcasting to the tri-city area – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut – and so that anyone could be turning in. Some kid could just be listening in every Tuesday and checking it out. Maybe nowadays more people are listening to the podcast than the radio but radio is just, for me – well, I still like doing live radio. I still see Boiler Room, with the video and kind of small club thing and I love the idea of that and I think that’s great. And I see that as the way forward. At the same time I like the idea of no video as well. Just the audio. It’s been going on for so many years and it’s a tradition, you know?”

 

With his passion for radio still as prolific as it was when he began Beats In Space in 1999, he shares his ethos when compiling his program. “I see it is how I originally started it – and that’s just with trying to play new stuff every week. I don’t want to copy myself all the time, but put music out there people might not normally get a chance to hear, try and like, bring in these DJs or artists I support and think deserve more recognition. Then the main part is just having fun every week. Not getting bored, you know? After doing it so long it would be really easy to get bored if I was repeating myself all of the time and so I have to just keep doing things to make it interesting to me. I want to come in every Tuesday and feel excited for the show and feel excited for the guests coming on, which I am.”

 

BY TYSON WRAY