There’s a messiah in my BeatGeek

There’s a messiah in my BeatGeek

26 October, 2008 | 5.51PM

• Written by: blinky_live
• Filed under: Music News : beatgeek records, blinky

“I’ve been featuring Australian producers on my show on Kiss FM, in Melbourne, for four years now, and these guys who’re on board now are some of the best young Australian producers around. I’ve been lucky in that respect; I’ve been able to really take my time and select my crew well.”

So declares Bill Hunter, a Melburnian with great ambitions for his fledgling label BeatGeek Records, which he kickstarted this year. And while the global competition may be stiff these days, Hunter comes across as not only fearless, but focused and inspired, with a sense of humour as well.

“We’ve got so much good music coming out of Australia at the moment, and it’s a really good vibe down here,” he enthuses.

Hunter’s label can take direct responsibility for a major chunk of that vibe coming out of Melbourne, at least – a city that’s always been a hotbed of creative electronic music and techno creativity, stretching back to the activities of labels like Psy-Harmonics, Wet Musik, IF? and Truck Musik, in the 1990s.

Hunter was in his early teens back then, and rather than just manhandling the subsequent baton, BeatGeek is leading the field right now.

“BeatGeek is about showcasing some of the amazing talent we have here in Australia, in Melbourne especially. We’re a modest little label and we care about the music we put out, the people who make it, and the people who dance to it,” this particular label honcho espouses.

We’re putting out Timothy Allan’s ‘Forward’ on October 28. It’s an awesome tune, and it’s great to have him on board. He’s a great producer. I can also confirm that we’ll be putting out a release from Kultrun called ‘Fade Away’ – he’s relatively new to the scene, but the music he’s been writing is amazing, so I’m stoked to have secured him to put out some music with us. I’m still searching for a remixer at this stage, and am keen to hear from anyone who’s interested.”

The label’s catalogue is available in the digital download medium via Beatport, a fact that some music ‘purists’ find issue with. “What a crack-up,” Hunter laughs. “I totally disagree. How could offering a catalogue of music to a larger, more diverse and eager group of people be selling your soul? More people listening, playing and enjoying music in more ways than ever can only be a good thing.”

Aside from label and radio work, Hunter is just as excited about the contemporary music scene, in general.

“I’ve been listening to so much music recently – more than ever, I think, and for the first time I really feel that across all the genres I’m listening to, DJs are just hitting the nail on the head with their track selections. I’m loving the Julika guys’ remix of Devil Fish’s ‘Manalive’; that tune has been a favourite of mine for years, and it’s good to see Bush Records back on top where it should be, thanks to honorary Aussie, Eric Powell and my new favourites are Schoenbrunn and Pfenning who are just blowing me away at the moment.”

The number one question touted by hack journalists of late is an easy one to slide into, and who am I to resist the urge?

It goes like this: Do DJs really need to continue to use vinyl, or can they instead construct entire sets out of stuff they’ve downloaded off the internet?

“They definitely don’t need to,” Hunter suggests. “It’s a matter of personal choice. For me, I’m not a fan of the chiropractor, so I’d prefer to carry a CD wallet or laptop instead. It occurred to me the other night while I was playing a gig that, to a large extent, the final nail in the coffin of vinyl could be in the hands of the venue owners. I’m progressively seeing more clubs are only setting up CDJs, so DJs who play at different clubs every week or are on tour, they’re going to just pack CDs – because getting the house engineer to go down to the basement to dust off the turntables for you is a pain in the ass!”

The laughter is the thing that kicks my memory – as does the cheeky title of his own debut record for BeatGeek, ‘There’s A Jesus In My Nectarine’, released in August.

Not only does Bill Hunter share his real name with a famous Aussie character actor (the Bill Hunter who did the voice of the dentist in Finding Nemo), but he shares nicknames with one of that country’s most iconic kids’ books characters from the 1930s: The mischievous koala, Blinky Bill.

Andrez Bergen, Tokyo 2008

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