Hey Convict! will be making a rare Sydney appearance this weekend, stopping into Good God Small Club for Picnic on Saturday.
The Melbourne-based outfit—made up of Jason Evans and Tamas Jones—have been one of the city's best-kept secrets since 2006. Primarily known in Australia's disco circles for that year's under-the-radar mix effort Time To Noodle, Evans and Jones have been flying the international disco flag for Australians ever since. They've spun for Tim Sweeney's famed Beats In Space radio show twice, and, even though the two members of Hey Convict! don't reside in the same hemisphere (Evans is based in New York), have signed a remix of Dominik Von Senger's "No Name" over to RA's current label of the month Golf Channel Recordings.
In anticipation of his upcoming set, we caught up with the man making the trip north, Tamas Jones over e-mail.How have you found Melbourne this year music-wise? Do you find much changes in terms of sounds and the acts coming through, year to year?
Melbourne has been very good to me this year, although I'm probably not the best judge of what's changing even though I'm certain this is the case. Phil Ransom, NHJ and I have been holding down Friday nights at The Toff in Town, and whilst it's not about dancing, we try to make sure the programming has some depth and life. Personally this means looking for good music wherever I can find it, which is a process that happens largely outside of music trends.
Tell us about your label Drongo Drongo—will we see anything from it in the next couple of months?
Ah, the 'Streetlamp for Drunks!' Unlikely! Jason and I started the label because we didn't think anyone would be interested in putting out a mix that features Weather Report and Love Unlimited, but things change (perhaps this relates to your question above) and Golf Channel Recordings are committed to releasing the next mix (if Phil South doesn't run out of patience with us). We've got Jiro Bevis doing the most fantastic illustrations for the cover, and if I have my way there will be a tribute to the late Billy Thorpe's Aztecs.
How often do you guys get together to work?
"Work?" You are funny. Jason and I both have jobs in creative fields that we love and this takes up most of our time so finding the head space to make mixes and music is not easy. Plus, Jason now has a boy named Arlo who we're training up to be the third Convict! Hopefully Jason will make it here this summer for the annual Boxing Day party on the Curtain House rooftop, as the last one was a lot of fun.
What's planned for the rest of 2010?
I'm looking forward to all the music I've never heard before and plan to spare a bit of time to look for it.
Tickets to tomorrow night's party are available here at RA Tickets.