1.Growing Up

Luke O’Connor: My parents lived through the punk era, so there’s plenty of interesting stuff to be found in their record collection. Some prime picks are David Bowie, Gary Numan and The Residents.

Rohan Willard: Standout parental influence memories include Paul Simon, Led Zeppelin, Annie Lennox and Eurythmics, Joni Mitchell, Gershwin, Beethoven, Kiri Te Kanawa.

2.Inspirations

LO: Way too many to list. I recently bought a copy of Aphex Twin’s …I Care Because You Do on vinyl for my dad’s birthday and listening to it brought back a lot of memories, it’s such a good album.

RW: Anything that makes me feel something. Spotify tells me this week’s tunes included Aretha Franklin, Arthur Russell, Robert Hood, Kelela, Arvo Pärt, Lord Of The Isles, Sade, Caribou, Salsoul Orchestra, DJ Jus-Ed, Dolly Parton.

3.Your Crew

RW: I was introduced to real house and techno music in Berlin’s club scene circa 2009 (excuse the cliché). In Sydney, a few brilliant people run long-standing big-production queer parties that unite large communities, incorporate non-musical art forms, and are full of love and deep record collections. These heroes set a beautiful local example that we’re trying to follow in our own way with L’Oasis. In general I feel pretty close to an extended family of ‘queer’ creatives who inspire me every day, both in Sydney and around the world. I work at a university three days a week to pay the rent and stimulate other parts of my brain.

4.The music you make and play

LO: Currently I am playing a lot of house and techno, focusing on darker and more industrial tones. People like Marcel Fengler, DJ Richard, Trevino, Young Male and Stefan Vincent all regularly feature in my sets.

RW: My primary style is I guess what you’d call ‘underground’ house and techno. Lately – among many other bits and pieces – I’m playing lots of older (purer!) acid house and techno tracks, particularly Chicago stuff. In general I tend towards more instrumental, progressive, dreamy spacey reflective hypnotic sounds. Some contemporary artists who spring to mind are Florian Kupfer, Matrixxman, Patricia, Paranoid London, Levon Vincent.

5.Music, Right Here,Right Now

Obviously doing anything in a nightclub is really tough right now because of the NSW Government waging wars on drugs, non-mainstream culture and personal responsibility. We are trying to stay optimistic – there is a potential for the current puritanical clusterfuck to actually further unite and strengthen our night-time music and dance scenes.

Get along to L’Oasis at Slyfox on Friday September 4.