The past decade has taken Darko on a path through a wide range of styles and events, from hiphop warehouse parties to clubs packed full of house-loving disco-heads. After winning 1st place in the UDJ Melbourne Competition 2010, his latest journey brings him upon the world of the darker rhythms. Emerging into the underground scene with a passion for everything funky, dark, hard-hitting and twisted, influences and interests spread across fat progressive and techno soundscapes, to killer breaks and filthy dubstep & drum n bass. His passion for searching out new rhythms brings out the monster in him. So, 1st place in the UDJ Melbourne Competition last year. Epic! Tell us about your involvement in the competition.. We all had a lot of fun playing the UDJ Melbourne Comp. This all began when a friend sent me a link to the competition's facebook event page, so I decided at the very last second to give it a shot and put in a demo. It was definitely one of the best decisions I've made, and it kicked off an awesome chain of events. It was the first DJ competition I had ever entered, so I was over the moon to receive the response that I did! It was a great learning experience also, being surrounded by so many DJ's each with such unique styles and previous experiences. I met some very talented people involved in that comp, and the entire crew from Abode are absolutely amazing. I'd definitely say to any aspiring DJ's reading this, if you have the chance for an experience like this, jump on it! You never know where it could take you and what you could learn in the process. What first influenced your interest in the world of DJ'ing? From my earliest memories, music has always driven me. I grew up listening to my Dad playing all the classics on vinyls from as far back as I can remember, and natural progression led me to take the next step and become a party DJ when I was 17 years old. This gave me the chance to cultivate a good grounding in how to work with some amazing (and some difficult) crowds, and I loved every second of it. The energy you get back from a crowd that's having the time of their lives to the music you're playing is the reason I do what I do. My journey later into the underground electronic scene in Melbourne was influenced greatly by a couple of DJ mates, including DJ's Freya and Mischief who ran the Instinct series of techno parties. They were a great inspiration to what can be achieved in the music scene with the right vision and dedication. Your journey in the world of music has taken you through a plethora of genres. What do you mainly spin these days? There aren't many styles of music I haven't played at some stage or another. I have a very wide range of influences, which really carries through in the different genres and styles I like to surround myself with at different times. My early days as a hiphop DJ in the old warehouse parties led me to developed a strong affinity for broken beats of various flavours, from breaks, to glitch-hop, dubstep and drum & bass, which are always a lot of fun to mess around with. My latest venture is into the deep dark recesses of funky and twisted driving techno, progressive and tech house, and psytrance, which is carrying over into my latest production projects as well. It's a never-ending journey, I always have so much I want to find, play, and learn. 10 years ago, would you have placed yourself where you are now or made some changes along the way? When I first started DJing I never imagined it would take me on the awesome path it has so far. I've experienced an amazing musical journey, and some of the best event management experiences and lessons I could possibly have hoped for. It's allowed me to get to a place where I'm able to focus on doing exactly what I love doing. I've been running parties for almost a decade, so now I'm enjoying focussing on developing my music collection on a more personal level, and spending more time in the studio with my music production. I also enjoy just being a punter instead of the DJ, which gives me great opportunities to observe and study other DJ's method and genre choices. What are you involved in currently? Do you have any residencies or radio shows that you would like to share with us? No residencies at the moment, just a few events and parties on the horizon. The next party I'm playing at is Prognosis at Loop Bar on March 19th, run by the Substance crew responsible for the Substance rooftop parties. They're an awesome crew, they're always a whole bunch of fun, and I'm stoked to be a part of their new event. I was also lucky enough to be a part of the launch of the recent White Noise event brand, which is the birth of an idea belonging to fellow UDJ comp entrant Luke Lawrence. This brand holds a lot of promise and fills a gap in the market for a dedicated darker-style progressive, techno party. How do you like the current scene in Melbourne? Melbourne has always had an amazing amount of hidden talent that sometimes goes unnoticed by the night-life population at large. The city's rich mix of cultural influences, in both the music, art, and lifestyle communities, gives us all a fantastic grounding for eye-opening events and festivals. However, we need to be pro-actively leading the industry away from this "promoter-DJ" craze that is taking over. Let the talented DJ's focus on doing what they love, let the fans come to experience it, and let the event owners, promoters and PR experts handle the marketing. This is how it started, this is the way it should be, and this might slowly turn Melbourne's famous night-life scene back into the accepting community it was once known for. There are a large handful of very talented, very dedicated DJ's and event crews out there in the Melbourne scene that are doing things the right way, for the right reasons, and it really shows in the final product and the network of punters that support them. Do you have a DJ Hero? (no pun intended ) I think I tend to pay more attention to the awesome local talent we have around town more than anything else. DJ Freya has always been an inspiration to me, with an amazing way of structuring a different vibe to each set she plays, that is always somehow distinctively Freya style. Muska is another local talent that I have always respected, he has a brilliant talent for tracking down very unique styles and mixing them into great mixed genre sets that captivate the crowd every time. Lastly, and on a casual note, beer or spirits? Haha, unless it's a ripping hot day and there's an ice cold imported beer in arms reach, it's spirits all the way for me. I'm an advocate of a good scotch or a white spirit, and I have a sweet tooth so I get down with the girly drinks too
