Slo-MO COSMIC funk, MESMERIC electronica AND FOLKSY MEANDERINGS BRING IN 2019.

One of Australia’s long-standing and finest DJs, Phil Smart, kicks off the year with a masterfully crafted brain-boogie, featuring a duo of ‘80s leaning cuts from The Kloom and Coss & Iorie.

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Firstly, could you please tell us a little bit about your journey into electronic music - how and when did the dance music bug bite you and then lead into DJing?

I came to electronic music through bands like New Order and clubs that played danceable alternative music in the late ‘80s. Then I discovered the warehouse rave scene in Sydney.

How did you decide to approach your lazydaze mix? Any favourite tracks or moments in there for you?

It’s all there in the name I guess, lazydaze. The mix has been on the cards for a while, so I put a whole bunch of lazy music in a box, and sifted it until this mix dropped out. There’s a couple of great vocal tracks on there that are particularly special, one from The Kloom and another from Coss & Iorie.

Your mix at times wonderfully straddles the line between home listening and the dance floor, which ties in nicely with your ‘Slow Dance Experiment’ club night series. Was the concept behind SDE to experiment with people’s perceptions of club music?

Yeah there’s a couple there that could cross over to the dance floor quite well, although I was definitely aiming for the home, the car or the park or whatever. That said, I listen to a lot of house music at home anyways!

As for the Slow Dance Experiment, I’m interested in trying different things and presenting a variety of music to people, creating a different experience. There’s so much great music around and a lot of it is under 120 bpm and totally danceable, but there’s nowhere to play it. We’ve done it a couple of times in Brisbane, and it really is an experiment, but there have been plenty of willing test subjects and the results have been fantastic. A dancefloor grooving at 110 bpm is a beautiful thing!

It feels like there is a growing appetite for more leftfield sounds within electronic music; be it ambient, world music (eg the Multi Culti label) or slower paced house music. Do you think people are more open-minded in clubland these days?

I think it’s all part of the ebb and flow in the evolution of music, and people are always looking for fresh sounds that take them to different realms. I do miss the ambient chill out rooms at the raves though, they were something special that could do with a reboot, particularly when you add the visual element.

What was your favourite album of 2018?

I can’t really say I listen to albums much any more to be honest. Funny that huh?! I can tell you my favourite mix series of 2018 from the lazydaze end of the musical spectrum is the Casa Caos podcast from Brazil.

What’s your all time favourite DJ compilation in the realm of home listening?

There are plenty of contenders, but right now I’ll say Adam Freeland’s mix for the Back To Mine series.

You can check out the full tracklist for Phil’s mix over at SoundCloud.