Saint Surly And Monster Monster Interview

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:38 Written by Burnt Toast Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:28

Where The Wild Things Are

The underground blunted beats scene in Brisbane has been there for decades, simmering on the back burner, rolling scoobs and graffing the toilet walls - but in 2010, Scene predicts the scene will heat up nicely thanks to locals like Monster Monster, or Dan Wright as his Mum calls him.

“Things are going really well with the album (‘Out Of The Woodwork’) - it’s 99% done, we’re just getting it mastered by Dave V - he’s a Brisbane producer who has taken a mentoring role with us and he’s launching a record label off the back of this called Videorama Records,” he says while walking to Brisbane’s Laneway Festival to catch N.A.S.A. “Four or five tracks are  collaborations between Surly and myself, there’s interludes and some quirky stuff in there as well - it sits generally at under 100 BPM, and our live stuff is generally at about 80 BPM.

“The scene up here is developing and it seems like there’s a little community of producers and promoters - you’ve got guys like Dank Morass doing some pretty important stuff, bringing some good guys out and putting on great shows. A lot of the bands are keen to have mixed bills, including DJs and producers to play at band shows, so the whole thing is coming along really well.

“I only spin my own stuff when I DJ - I hope that doesn’t sound weird? I generally use it as a platform to get my own stuff out there, and we’re moving towards a more live show. At the moment it’s an MPC and Serrato on the decks show - I’m just getting into the whole VJ side of things.”

When I ask Dan what lil’ ol’ Brisbane could use more of, he responds with the natural answer - gigs at coffee shops.

“I really like Blackstar Coffee, those kind of small events, the way they have live gigs that aren’t based around drinking alcohol - it’s kind of more of a sit-back-and-have-a-coffee and listen to some tunes vibe. I really enjoy that and I find it to be a really refreshing change to the usual gigs.”

The Step Inn has (cringe) stepped up to the plate in terms of giving underground beats of all tempos and sub-genres a much-needed new home - what does Dan think of the joint?

“I like the different levels of the place - you’ve got a certain atmosphere downstairs, the bar around the back, and then the sound system upstairs is just awesome. The room isn’t too cavernous, smaller acts like us can play and not feel like we’re playing to no one (laughs). They lend a hand with poster runs and promotion as well that a lot of other venues won’t do.“

Saint Surly and Monster Monster play Sinster Jazz’s Plastic Cups show at The Step Inn Friday February 5.