- “A new Friday night techno club is opening at the start of June. It’s called Fokus and from all reports it might just be ok.” - Beat, May 2001
It had been a forgettable day at work. I was tired and in a foul mood. I didn’t really feel like going out. But this was Fokus. From Sub Club, to Cartel, to Seven, to Deep 11, to Seven again, back to Two Floors Up, it had been a defining institution of Melbourne techno in various guises for almost two years. And now, with its largest party ever at the Prince of Wales, Fokus was saying goodbye.
As I bolted up the stairs my spirits instantly lifted. Call it the inspiring aura of Fokus, call it a characteristic mood swing, but by the time I had got to the first floor, instantly seen good friends, and heard the unmistakable, rapturous beat of techno, I was yelling about how pumped up I was.
Sam McEwin provided the sounds as I made my way around an already lively Prince. The numbers were looking good and everyone was delighted to see so many so early, not least Fokus frontmen Luke Rivett and Mike Callander.
Hugs and high fives were exchanged with what seemed like an endless stream of familiar faces. Just as the final Fokus at Cartel had been an emotional experience with 300 of the nearest and dearest, so too this party would bear testament to the unique vibe and camaraderie long ago dubbed the ‘Fokus Family’.
McEwin played to the standard he’s been setting over at the MTC. “Slammin’ synthetic funk” (to quote the pen of Callander) that was at most times on the money. A nice warmup to get us excited about a night of techno.
Simon Caldwell was up next and to be honest I was a little apprehensive about how he would fit in. In his native Sydney there is a sizeable contingent of people who have dubiously labelled him as “Australia’s Most Boring DJ”. I have heard him play sets at Honytonks that go some way to refuting this title, but I was nonetheless skeptical of his inclusion on the lineup.
Caldwell was at times quite funky and danceable but at many times simply the antithesis of what people had come to hear. To his credit he played some delightful vintage techno and booty, not to mention Detroit infused masterpieces like ‘Blackwater’, but overall he was just not the right DJ for the Final Fokus.
Admiteddly, he was a pretty inspired choice to lead into Phunk dE Sonique, who completely blew me away with the melodic crescendos of their opening, and continued to play out a funky hour of tight as fuck live material.
The lineup continued to flow logically with Damian Laird and Ben Cromack not only an excellent pairing but the most capable blokes to follow on from the live act. With their trademark classy mixing Cromack and Laird were exactly as anticipated, with tough and funky numbers sewn together with the incredible skills these two possess.
Cromack had the crowd in hysterics with the Fokus fave ‘Shake Whatcha Momma Gave Ya’ and a superb mix into one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed, ‘The Bells’. Laird did his best to keep up with tunes like the legendary ‘No UFOs’ and ‘Spastik’ sending us...well...spastic.
Mike Callander vs Disko Pussy was perhaps a match made in heaven. This set was the definitive Fokus brand of techno, as categorised by a cavalcade of hits; ‘Player 3’, ‘Rhythm Machine’, ‘Schall’, even ‘Blue Monday’ got a look in. That’s really just scraping the tip of the iceberg, in fact out of this collection perhaps the only notable absences were two signature tunes – ‘Compound’ for Mike and ‘Worq It’ for Daisy.
Technically these two killed it, Daisy is such a talented DJ, and Mike, with all his little trademarks – the double beating, the bopping – was, as ever, a joy to watch.
The hardness knob continued to be turned up as Dee Dee took to the decks, plans for his much anticipated live set having been quashed after his mixer blew up during sound check.
Dee Dee played that harder, doofier style that I can only describe as ‘Teriyaki’, with frequent breaks for some monster hits. The words might fail me but my feet certainly didn’t, this techno oh so danceable and again proving why Dee Dee and the Tezza crew are rightfully held in such high respect by Melbourne’s techno fraternity.
I froze solid as I thought I heard the ‘Sunshine’ beat coming in. Was it? Could it be? I didn’t want to get too carried away...but YES! Here came the familiar tune. I dropped to my knees and praised Dee Dee.
From a massive tune of 2002 to what must surely be a massive tune for the rest of 2003, Dee Dee mixed into a monster that got the dancefloor PUMPED. I can’t say I’m a huge Queen fan, but it didn’t matter that this spring chicken hadn’t heard their 1980 'Flash Gordon' theme before – this reworking had me going mental.
To the best of my knowledge it’s the first time this tune has been played out in Melbourne – certainly it was the tune that the Fokus contingent were all talking about. The tune is entitled simply ‘Flash’, the artist is given as ‘Queen vs Vanguard’ (Vanguard being Axel Bartsch and Asem Shama), and it’s going to be BIG.
At Fokus the extended mix was played pretty much in full, Dee Dee playing other tunes alongside the dark, brooding buildup before arresting the dancefloor with the tune’s addictive percussion. Whilst originally released in August last year, the new remixes release on Frisbee also features an electro remix plus another excellent edit from Smith & Selway. Add a hard trance type effort from Tomcraft, and you know this track is sure to a get major thrashing on a variety of dancefloors.
But there were more aces up Dee Dee’s sleeve, with the killer bass chords of Redhead – ‘Darkness (Tom Hades remix)’ adding another delicious form of European techno to the mix, and even some acid classics like 2 Bald Men – ‘Acid Phonk’, which got some older kids yelling the lyrics. And if you thought a Queen cover couldn’t be beat, try The Doors – ‘The End’ on for size! A nice surprise, and rather apt, too.
Although his set didn’t flow well enough to keep our attention 100% of the time, Dee Dee whipped out some amazing tunes and inspired mixes which made his performance memorable.
Throughout the night I had noticed the stars of Fokus parties past dropping many of the Fokus anthems that had made those parties so memorable. So as Fokus t-shirts flooded to the front of the dancefloor in anticipation of Pham vs Rankine, there was only one thought on my mind. The sound system fell silent, Pham cued up his first track. I yelled out, “NERVEHAMMER!”
And a second later that’s exactly what we were listening to.
A moment, to be sure. But there were more to come, because right after we completely and utterly lost it to ‘Nervehammer’, ‘Unknown Synthetic’ kept us screaming. Yep, that hardness knob had just been turned up to 11. Familiar track after track meant the dancefloor mayhem continued unabated, reducing at least this reporter to a quivering mess. Yes, there were tears. All those memories of the best in hard techno came flooding back, ‘Point Blank’ ultimately finishing off a thunderous opening stint.
Then the tone was slowed down somewhat as the party headed towards an emotional finish, particularly by Dave Rankine. Not to be outdone, Pham helped out when he was lent Boney M - ‘Rasputin’, the treasured possession of a certain Fokus fan. Not naming names, of course. And although Pham attempted to recover some credibility with a few Squarepusheresque records of total headfuck mayhem, the damage had already been done. Yes, Dave, you should’ve played the Dancercise LP :P
Personally, I thought Rankine’s choice of ‘Shapeshifter’ for the final tune was a curious one, but Pham stepped up to make amends as the lights came on and the ‘One more!’ calls echoed around the Prince. I was giving ‘Idioteque’ short odds, but in fact it was Jark Prongo’s ‘Movin’ Thru Your System’ that was the very fitting encore. Pham first levelled the dancefloor at F3 with it in June last year, and this classic was a regular highlight of his ensuing Fokus sets. Nice.
And that was it. Mike Callander said a few words, the Fokus Family up on stage and on the dancefloor shared hugs, tested the security’s patience by staying around to reflect on the end of an era, and then walked away.
It was a crisp Saturday morning on Fitzroy Street, the sun rising with the promise of a gorgeous cloudless day. Life was good. But at 6.20am on Saturday April 12, 2003, a little something in all of us died.
We wish Luke Rivett every success he deserves in New York, and we know Mike Callander will be back behind the decks at all manner of parties, passionately pushing the techno sound that Fokus has been so influential in creating. As for the many, many friends that have met through this club, they will continue to be as enthusiastic about Melbourne techno as ever. But the reminiscing has only just begun.
01.06.01 – 11.04.03
Farewell Fokus.