Sunshine
Sunshine has been a fixture of the Melbourne
scene for almost 10 years. Earning her stripes in a myriad of different
spaces around town, she’s created a sound that is truly her own. What
gives her the edge is sheer versatility – you’re just as likely
to hear bleeding-edge techno alongside underground R&B or soul ‘n’
jazz in the space of one beer. It’s hard to categorise, but it sure
ain’t coming from anyone else.
As a teenager growing up in Perth, Sunshine
first tapped into the illegal rave scene to nurture a growing interest
in dance music. Several years on the dancefloor led to her first vinyl
purchase, exploring the worlds of hip hop, jazz, funk, soul, disco,
house and techno. By the time she moved to Melbourne in 1998, she’d
amassed her first crate and a dream to DJ. Within a year she’d garnered
her first gig, at a small party in Port Melbourne. Naturally, she started
playing bars around town, eventually working her way up to sets in the
side rooms of the bigger parties such as 33 & 1/3.
An ongoing love affair with Revolver
began around this time as well, when she started playing Wednesday nights.
It’s fair to say that DJs earn their money at mid-week gigs – the
punters aren’t up for a big one, so they’re constantly fighting
just to get them on the floor, let alone keep ‘em there. It was here
that Sunshine honed her craft, mastering the art of building sets all
the way from downtempo jam to undisputed banger and back again.
2001 saw the start of OREO, a monthly
club night run by Sunshine, 8Bit and Ladyboy. Essentially an R&B
night for the not-so-R&B crowd, it attracted a diverse group of
people to Alia, all of them keen to get their funk on. OREO tapped into
the trends of the time, when names such as Missy Elliot, Outkast and
The Neptunes were pushing the boundaries of hip hop and in the process,
drawing the attention of kids outside the usual urban spectrum. Success
brought the chance to do several big one-offs at the Public Office,
with crowds of up to 1000 people showing up.
By 2003, Sunshine had turned enough heads
to be offered Saturday mornings at Revolver, a reasonably prestigious
set in the grand scheme of things. She grabbed the chance with both
hands and made it her own. Hell, any morning set at Revolver is bound
to be rather monumental, but to this day she’s brought a sense of
humour to her work, proving she was one of the punters rather than a
superstar on raised platform. Not many DJs would have the sheer nerve
to stop while the club is rammed, stand on the turntables and start
belting out a rendition of The Gossip (as she did the morning after
Daft Punk’s Melbourne show).
As regular visitors will confirm – you walk in for “just one drink”
and you end up rolling out the door a la Andrew O’Keefe several
hours later.
With gigs as large as the Big Day Out
under her belt, the future seems bright for this talented spinner. Catch
her before her career takes off and she’s playing festivals overseas
- you heard it here first.
Current Residencies
Revolver Saturday mornings 7am-12pm
Sorry Grandma Saturday nights
Acts Supported
LCD Soundsystem, Radioslave, Stacey Pullen,
Scissor Sisters, Claude Von Stroke, Vitalic, DJ Medhi, Booka Shade,
Carl Cox, Tocadisco, Style of Eye, Alex Kid, Jason Herd, Barbra Tucker,
The Presets, Ritchie Hawtin, Brett Johnson, Mike Monday, Dave Spoon,
Chromeo, Deadmau5, Stephan Bodzin, Kraftwerk, Felix Da Housecat, Zoo
Brazil, Eric Laville, Fatboy Slim, Sven Vath, Black Eyed Peas, LTJ Bukem,
Sneaky Sound System.