What was the motivation behind starting Motorik?

Well, we like partying, and techno. So it seemed kind of ideal to join the two together. Everything else seemed to be either fun, or techno. There was very little middle ground. Everyone else was far too serious, and we'd all had enough with being serious. Andrew and Pat (CSMNT61) were in serious rock band The Lost Valentinos, Vi had been balls deep in seriousness with Picnic and Lost Baggage, and Gus and Frank (The Finger Prince) had been slated as being not serious enough as a) founding member of Bang Gang and b) founding member of Infusion. We came together in a whirlwind of light and sound. Dance followed.

Aside from music, there seems to be a big focus on design and aesthetics. Is that an important element for you guys?

We're all designers. Who isn't? Gus, Patrick and Vi have all made livings at one point or another—Gus does a lot of the BG artwork, Vi actually somehow does a lot of flyers for labels like Upon.You, and Patrick is full-time art legend at Babekuhl. Look 'em up. Pat actually does all of the design work—healthy nods to Peter Saville and the Detroit Pistons in everything he does for us. We love getting big prints of some of the more obscure stuff and coating the venues in them—as we don't do street advertising—it's a cute little vibe builder. It gets the point across. Unfortunately, everybody stole them... so we started selling them online. That said, people are still stealing them.

How have people reacted to the parties and the concept behind them?

It's been amazing. We don't charge for our parties. We pay for it all ourselves, and do it for our friends. You'd be hard pressed to find them, really, as we don't advertise. We've only just started doing media to coincide with the launch of our record label. Somehow, though, we get this amazing crowd that's a blend of all these different groups and styles, and that's how we like it. Friends, family, and complete strangers that turn out to be amazing (at the kick-on). We get emails constantly from people going crazy about how much they loved the party on the following Tuesday (standard). As long as that happens, we're happy with what's going on. If you're nice, know how to have a good time and don't chin stroke/be too much of a lad, you're welcome. If not, buck off.

What do you have planned for the record label?

Jensen Interceptor, Finger Prince, Wordlife and Light Year all have EPs lined up and ready to go. It's all... techno. With some bonus bounce thrown in. Everyone has their own vibe to lay down, and it blows our mind regularly when we can get together and play stuff we've written to each other. It's very fresh, very clean and very, very fun. CSMNT61, the first release, is kind of a special thing for us, it covers the spectrum of what we do, it's moody and a bit dark, but then it gets driving, and the cuts with Jensen just go for the jugular. There's a romanticism (they're clearly Ian Curtis fans) but tempered. Their last album as Valentinos was produced with Ewan Pearson, and I think a lot of that influence rubbed off. There's something kind of special happening in Sydney... Death Strobe, Slow Blow, Boom Boom—people we love that are kind of following their hearts and getting their vibe on. We want to show people what's happening here. Maybe they'll like it.

Will Motorik remain focused on exhibiting Sydney music?

It's all about the two thousands. We're not here to spit out new tunes from some dude in Paris or Berlin—they've got their world view fairly well covered. What's happening here is what we're all about. Sydney's always been home to amazing music, from AC/DC to INXS to Presets, and that never stopped. We might, you know, do something later—guys like Jori Hulkonnen and Daniel Avery are amazing and it would be a crime to pass that by, or even Nickel from Hey Today!, but for the most part, we've got a core of artists here pumping out amazing tunes like there's no tomorrow, and we're going to be the outlet for the energy that's rotating our hearts and dance floors. Why the fuck not?

Are there any other grand plans for the future?

We're always looking at investment properties—after all, the mountains of money we make from not charging just keep on growing, and you've gotta put that somewhere sensible, right? Hah! We're just focused on making good party and making good record, really. Somewhere along the line we might do a boat-orik, with some of our friends. Maybe. Our #1 top grand plan is having as much fun as possible this Friday night. We'll figure out the rest later.

  Apr 13  Motorik 'Black Tie/Black Friday' L.., TBA - Sydney, Sydney