In Town: 6th Borough Project1

With our most excited-for gig of the year (well, next year) drawing closer, the sold out Animals Dancing New Years Day event at a brand new venue in Melbourne’s Docklands with Motor City Drum Ensemble and 6th Borough Project headlining, we managed to grab 6th BP’s Graeme Clark, more commonly known as The Revenge, and his partner in crime Craig Smith for a chat about their first Australia tour together!

First of all, well earned congrats to both of you for another fantastic year for the Borough. A big debut album on Delusions of Grandeur, a couple of incredibly good podcasts, remixes, numerous parties around the world and it all climaxing with your first Australian tour together.. How have you rated your 2011 so far?

Graeme : 2011 has been another great adventure for us, both with solo projects and together as 6th BP. We are still very small fish in a very big pond, so it’s really nice to see the positive response from different corners of the scene for our album and performances together.

Craig ; Yeah as Graeme says I have been pleasantly surprised by the reaction to our joint and individual projects. Having been doing this for years you realize that nothing is a given in this business.

Tell us a bit about your One Night In The Borough full length that saw it’s vinyl release in three separate parts earlier in the year. What was the thought process behind that, and do you think it’s something you would do again?

Graeme : We worked closely with the Delusions Of Grandeur guys in deciding on how the album would be packaged and presented to the audience. It was very important for me to allow people with different budgets and different musical preferences to decide which parts of the album they wanted to purchase and not to alienate our core supporters for fiscal reasons. Vinyl is a very specialized format and is also costly, so it was important to give people the option in a time of financial uncertainty. Our follow-up album for Delusions is due out at the beginning of 2013 and will likely be presented in the same way after the support we received for the debut.

Craig ; We were very conscious that the vinyl release not only had to look good but more importantly had to sound good. We were very lucky that D.O.G. agreed to go with a 3 vinyl release. It’s a tough time financially and to get that kind of support from the label was amazing. As an avid record collecter of 30 years the sound quality of the vinyl release was paramount and the 3 part 12” allowed us to realize this.

DJ Weekly Podcast 36: 6th Borough Project by djmag

Graeme you’ve become a welcome regular guest down under over the last couple of years, making a solid crew of Aussie mates along the way, while Craig this will be your first time playing in Aus right? What do you guys enjoy most about touring together, as opposed to the solo journeys?

Graeme : We don’t get to play very often together so it makes it more special when we do. I’m always excited to hear what Craig plays and that naturally has a knock-on effect to getting different results from our solo shows.

Craig ; Likewise playing with Graeme is always a pleasure. We have individual styles of playing but I feel we gel well when we are together. We both feed of each other and that means each gig is always fresh and interesting. I find it can be hard work to dj with someone else as I’m so strong willed (a polite word for pain in the ass!) and have real trouble relinquishing control but with Graeme it’s a breeze and very natural.

Along with cool gigs penciled in for Sugar in Adelaide and Alloneword in Brisbane, you’re booked to bring in the new year at arguably Sydney’s most notorious party Mad Racket on NYE, then jet down to headline Melbourne’s NYD party for Animals Dancing at a brand new venue in Melbourne’s docklands with Motor City Drum Ensemble. Sounds hectic right? Will there be some time for a holiday in amongst all that?

Graeme : It’s a frantic schedule this year and we’re cramming a lot in, so there will only be a couple of days rest for us in between the madness … but these are some of the best parties to play in Australia in my opinion, so it’s definitely worth the lack of sleep. You may need to bury me in a shallow grave somewhere in Melbourne on January 2nd though.

Craig : For me the trip is double edged as I’m really looking forward to the gigs but also I was born in Melbourne 44 years ago and left when I was 2 years old so this is a sort of homecoming for me.

6th Borough Project : One Night In The Borough (Part One) by The Revenge

Ali OOFT! mentioned his excitement for your monthly Instruments Of Rapture parties at the legendary Sub Club in Glasgow, where you guys have the entire night to do your thing. How has the response been to the first few parties?

Graeme : It’s still a very small party, but the vibe has been incredible at every event. It’s really just an excuse for us to all play together in one of our favourite clubs in the world and get very drunk.

Craig ; I have really enjoyed the parties so far, a great crowd who allow you to do you thing. This gives you real freedom to stretch out musically. The Sub Club is one of the best clubs in the world in my opinion.

Still on Instruments Of Rapture for a minute, you’re set to close up shop for the label next year with a final OOFT release, what has been behind that decision?

Graeme : The final release is actually a compilation of unreleased tracks and remixes (one of which is an OOFT track). It’s just a nice round number to finish the series on a high with some great material from some friends and family of the label blurring the lines between disco and deep house.

What is the plan for 2012? Production wise you guys have maintained the mid tempo output this year that you’ve become so well known for under the 6th Borough Project name, do you see that trend continuing into next year and beyond?

Graeme : We’ve got a few remixes due out in the first quarter of 2012, and we’ll be continuing work on the second album beyond that. I guess it’ll be a mixed bag production-wise as usual … funk, disco, house, techno … keeping it interesting for
ourselves basically.

Craig ; For me it’s never really been about one tempo or style so will definitely be a mixed bag of all our influences.

Finally, what can we be expecting from your DJ set on New Years Day in Melbourne?

Graeme : I’ll be on part 3 of my 24-hour-four-part-gig-challenge by that point … so it’s anyone’s guess what’ll be going down!

Craig : We never know till we step up to the decks so expect the unexpected!

Thanks to the lads for taking the time out! If you have one of the golden tickets, you will see 6th Borough Project for the first time in Melbourne on New Years Day.. they’ll be playing in the evening at 6pm before Motor City Drum Ensemble.
See you at the party!!

Craig Smith | The Revenge | Animals Dancing