“Rave, because fucking shut up and rave.” They’re stern words from Sydney producer/DJ Vengeance, but when it comes to the genres he dabbles in (see: destroys) he’s not messing around.
We find Vengeance making these bold proclamations midway through his Acid For Blood Australian tour, slamming its way around the darkest clubs in the country for a pumped-up series of shows featuring his patented brand of all-out aural assault.
“I actually feel like the rave gods have smiled upon us this whole tour. All the shows have been busy and the people have been awesome, which is pretty much all you need to have a killer time.”
Vengeance is no stranger to the club circuit, with four years of high-profile club and festival shows behind him along with a heap of international remix work. It’s been in his blood for a long time.
“I loved dance music when I was a young sproutling in the ’90s, and I mean way too young to even understand clubbing, DJs, mixing, producing, drugs, whatever… I was just a little kid who loved dance music.”
Citing the likes of Nick Skitz and the Wild FM/Ministry of Sound compilations as a driving force in those early days, you’re now likely to find his originals and extensive remix catalogue in record bags owned by Chuckie, Porter Robinson, Nick Thayer and Plump DJs, to name a few.
Prolific as Vengeance may be, the beatmaking process is by no means an easy one. “I sit down, have a panic attack for 72 hours straight, and if I’m lucky I’ll have a track at the end of the ordeal … I like to focus on one key sound/riff/loop and build the entire track around that sound as if the whole song is just a pedestal for the delivery of that initial, inspiring sound. The same works with remixes except it’s a lot easier because you get to pull apart the track and choose the inspiring sound or element you want to focus on, rather than create it.”
The current tour is focused around his latest mixtape,Acid For Blood, an intense and diverse selection of sounds ranging from acid rave to electro, EDM, trap, dubstep and more – all providing a snapshot of what to expect at his shows.
“I like to play my sets super high-energy. The only major difference is I mix my mixtapes much faster, to battle that short attention span syndrome the internet has given everyone – myself included. The mix is eight months old now, so people can expect a whole heap more fresher shit than that.”
Being such a fixture in clubland for the past few years, who better to ask about the current state of affairs on the dancefloors of our nation, especially given the government interference of late?
“To me, you can go all night sober, drunk or drugged out of your mind and as long as you’re having a good time, enjoying the music and not posing any threat to anyone, yourself included, then the rave is strong with you. A vast majority of clubbers have this mindset, and that’s why my high-energy rave sets have worked all over during this tour. It’s not a testament to my own talent, but to how well adjusted all the clubbers and patrons are.”
See Vengeance at The Wall atThe World Bar onWednesday April 2.
