"Late November I woke up and I'd had enough . . . there was this compilation being put together and they were only choosing people for it who were already associated with a record label which was basically ridiculous and it became evident that it was a matter of 'who you knew' not what your music was like and that was the catalyst for Gulp Communications".

Writing on the Hordern period, Andrew Murphie and Edward Scheer in 1992 concluded that Australian dance music in the late 80s was "a terra nullius . . . a dumping ground for pre-marketed product jettisoned from the more volatile European and American markets . . . House music in Australia is about using borrowed or translated signifiers". Whilst some have argued against this, the hedonism, disposability, and anonymity of much house and techno musics have made the "Australian-ness" of local product either relegated to the "obvious" use of indigenous tropes such as didgeridoo samples, or worse, the band-oriented product-focussed approach of major label affiliates like Volition. However the last year or so has seen an explosion of independently released local dance music. Outside of the major label and mainstream radio denial of dance music, small scale releases, usually released for the sake of getting the music out rather than making a buck or starting up an "industry", have flourished capitalising on public radio support from increasingly dance-friendly stations like 2SER, 2RDJ, Radio Skid Row, 2RES and FBI coupled with the changes at Triple J and the fragmenting of crowds that now spend more time listening in their lounge rooms and their cars than at clubs and raves. Clan Analogue, Biz E's pH Recordings, Juice, PsyHarmonics, If, Blue Sector, Zonar and now Club Kooky and Andrew Kornweibel's Gulp Communications all have releases that are not only diverse and cutting edge but are also selling well enough to fund future projects. And they are all proud of, if still a little unsure about how to define, their "local Australian-ness".

If the rapper children of African-Americans grew up on blues, soul and funk and later sampled these 'roots', and England's fertile post-war musical history is largely the result of immigrant cultures, from the Carribean and South Asia blending influences with those of working class Anglo-Celt youth then Australia seems oddly placed drawing on second or third-hand versions of these subcultural musics primarily through imports. Maybe it will be another decade or so before our own multicultural mix develops distinctly local musical styles on a large enough scale to reach the gaze of the mainstream, but right now it seems that most of us lack a history, or don't know how to articulate it. "I grew up listening to my parents' music - world music and jazz , imported music - and it wasn't until the late 80s that I began to develop my taste for music that wasn't mainstream Oz rock" says Gulp Communications' Andrew Kornweibel. "Australia is unique because we draw our inspiration from a lot of different places and imported sounds and then when the [British] music press dumps them we hang on to them . . . . so instead of being say in England, being restricted to being a "dub artist" or a "drum'n'bass artist", here in Australia you listen to hip hop from America and go 'fuck this I'm going to put this into a dub track and add a bit of the acid style from Germany too' and you mix it all and let it gestate into a quite unique sound . . . I mean my own influences include American R&B and hardcore rap . . . . its a big melting pot really".

Because dance music exists primarily at the club or special event and is by its nature ephemeral, record companies find it difficult to implement the tried and true methods of "sourcing new talent" simply because they don't attend these events or know what is going on. "The majors have no idea about dance music and will freely admit that. Their A&R [Artist & Repertoire] people are basically rock men who have no idea about small bands or a one-hit from a home studio. They can only see a four-piece band with two guitarists". As far as commerce is concerned Andrew Kornweibel is more interested in people hearing the music; "on the one hand I'd like to get lots and lots of people to hear my music - I create it to be listened to not to be exclusive or anything like that - and if people listen to my music instead of rock'n'roll I'm really happy and in that sense I'd love it to get overseas and it would probably sell better in England and Europe. But on the otherhand I'd really like to have my biggest influence here in Australia and I'd like to have other Australians hear it. I got so excited when I heard Atone and B(if)tek and people should be realising that this is as good as, if not better than, stuff overseas". Andrew continues; "At the moment there is a lot of support amongst the street press and the shops for local music and most import shops have a really prominent stand of just quality Australian music . . . and I've noticed a change in Triple J as well especially in terms of local electronic music. . . . but because techno is so anonymous you rely a lot on radio for people to find out about it. A classic example is the Head Affect track on the Kooky CD, I'd heard [Seymour and Gemma] DJing that for weeks and it is one of my favourite songs but I never knew it was Australian!"

Local radio like 2SER is pushing local releases spearheaded by Seymour and Gemma's 2FO and Clan Analogue's Electroplastique both of which have predominantly Australian-only playlists each week, taking the local sounds out to the local people and making sure people know that it is Australian rather than hiding it behind the veil of club chic. "Johnny [Seymour] and Gemma are great and did a whole show committed to Australian stuff and then Clan as well doing Australian-only shows and they have a lot of faith . . . . eventually I'd love to take my music out of the inner city and play it to people who probably won't hear it outside of the inner city clubs . . . . maybe in a mall or something . . . We have a big self-confidence problem here and I'd like to have people turn around and agree that we have world-class music coming out of here".

The debut compilation from Gulp Communications is titled The 30,000ft View and is available through MDS.

Yellow Peril

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