Rock DJ

Vines drummer Hamish Rosser isn’t just another rocker-turned-DJ cashing an easy pay cheque. He’s sacrificed for his art.

“I DJed at Splendour just a few weeks back,” says Rosser, who joined The Vines before the release of debut LP 'Highly Evolved', “and when they were booking it I said, 'oh, put me on at the same time as Wolfmother’. I thought that'd be cool, because then I could go watch The Strokes. I get the schedule and I'm on at the same time as The Strokes. Thanks, guys!

"So I was in the Jager Cube when the whole festival was pushing over the fence at the amphitheatre. But it was cool, because I got people in there dancing and having a good time. I made sure I didn't play any Strokes songs, because I didn't want there to be this realisation in the crowd, like, 'oh my god! The Strokes are on!'”

Rosser got to play the amphitheatre with The Vines the following night and ended up having the “best festival ever”, so it may not have been much of a sacrifice. But that's not to say he and his fellow Vines DJ, bassist Brad Heald, haven't put in the hard yards.

“I've got a couple of buddies who book clubs,” Rosser explains, “and I saw a lot of the DJs and thought, 'oh, that looks easy, I could do that'. It's not as easy as it looks! First time I did it was a train wreck. In fact, the first half a dozen times I did it were complete train wrecks, but I gradually got the hang of it.

“I just figure out what people are responding to the best and go that way. I never go in there with a plan … I always figure out what people want. If you want some indie rock, you'll get that. I find hip hop goes down a treat, too. I'm like, ‘really? Hip hop? Ok, cool. Let's go that way’.”

If you think you know The Vines, Rosser and Heald's set might surprise you. But they know their limitations.

“I never play 'dance' music,” Rosser admits. “I leave that to the other guys. I leave that to the experts. I like indie rock you can dance to. Bloc Party's always a killer. Everyone loves The Strokes … Phoenix goes down well. Gossip. Friendly Fires. That sort of stuff.”

About the only other thing you won't hear at a Vines DJ set is… The Vines.

“I never do it. I prefer playing those tracks on the drums, really, not on a CD.”

The Vines DJs play Port Office Hotel on Saturday September 4.