New Sydney club night Eight By 8ight will return to the Bald Faced Stag next weekend with local hip-hop producer Jonny Faith in the headlining spot.
For their first party since their launch in January, Eight By 8ight have put together a fairly diverse event. Jonny Faith is well known for his bass-heavy Brainfeeder-esque productions, while DJs like Trinity, Oliver Gurney and Dave Stuart are firmly grounded in house and techno. Other acts set to spin include Dane Austin and The Autohoare, both of whom appeared at Eight By Eight's maiden venture. A portion of the proceeds from will continue to go towards The Wilderness Society, a not-for-profit environmental organization responsible for advocacy and government lobbying across Australia.
RA recently caught up with Eight by 8ight promoter Daniel Muller, who told us a bit more about the party and its ambitions:
Next weekend's bill has a somewhat unusual mix of hip-hop, house and techno–why was this the combination you went with?
I completely see Jonny Faith's music as a form of down-tempo electro. It's full of melodic synths and slick, spacey production. On reflection, yeah, the beats are hip-hop, but we're opening him up to a new crowd here, and I know it will sit well with other acts like Dane Austin and Trinity. We have a great blend of music that will attract diverse tastes, and I know from experience that party-goers don't strictly adhere to their favoured genre.
The gig is supporting the Wilderness Society. Why was this important?
We're working towards making Eight By 8ight a truly green event by 2012, in the hope that we can get a full endorsement from the organisation. So far, we've cut down on printed material, which means our May 7 event is mainly promoted on the web and radio, which is more cost effective these days anyway. Why is it important? Because I want to protect Australia's natural beauty for future generations–why wouldn't people get behind something awesome like that?
The Bald Faced Stag seems to be a pretty underused venue. What's is like?
The sound system is wicked, the drinks are affordable, the venue's easy to get to, it's clean and the dress code is completely human (read: no douchebags)–a winner all round!
How often will Eight By 8ight take place?
We're doing it quarterly right now, the first one having happened back in January. The venue is highly supportive, working with us towards some degree of permanency. We don't have aspirations to build it into a mega-festival or pummel people with a monthly event just yet–we just want to use the high quality artists we have on show to attract true music-lovers. Having a good time at Eight By 8ight is about enjoying the music.