The word on EDM/Dance Music with Aegipan Samarawickrama
Hear ye, hear ye! Another issue, another column from your Ol’ Mate Pan (not that I was planning on going anywhere!)
We find ourselves in the second quarter of 2025 – the heaters are on, the temperatures are dropping, but as always you fine folk are bringing the heat to dance floors around the Territory – and I’m here to stoke the flames.
Haven’t we been blessed lately? Dissolve was an absolutely legendary night.
Big, beautiful crowd, an unreal rig, and killer sets from everyone on that line-up (special shout-outs to Kazuki, Lucidity, and Burley Bassweight who brought some unforgettable tunes to the tunnel).
Earlier this month, we saw Opiuo and The Sponges at Symonston, which ended with one of the best drum and bass sets I’ve raged to, thanks to the B2B dynamic duo Nurocosmic and Kaliopi.
And the day after (when some of us were still trying to duct-tape our fragile selves together), we had the first Royal Rollers at the brand spanking new Beatsuite Boutique and hooooooo BOY… that venue is shaping up to be something special. Headz are Rolling are \ going to be throwing down these free drum and bass parties at Beatsuite on the first Saturday of every month so make sure you mark your calendars accordingly!
While we’re on the subject of gigs, here’s a little gander at what’s on the horizon.
First up on the agenda, the fourth Ethereal Dimensions event kicked off at Beatsuite on the 25th.
Like the last few, there was independent markets alongside music that ran throughout the day and into the night. Entry was free, but if you felt like donating to keep these events running, that was also an option.
Wayout Events are taking over Shadows Nightclub (formerly Sideways) on the 30th to shine a spotlight on the talented women in the scene with All Femme Line Up.
CBR Base Babes are putting salvajoe, Suga, and Lucidity behind the decks, supported by Vinuki and Boggas. Tix start at $10(sold out), so how could you not come out for a night of givin’ and supporting the women in our community? Final release tix are still available for $20 via Humanitix!
Looking to bring back vibes from the heydays of Canberra’s rave scene? Then you’ll want to hit up Back 2 Rave at Shadows Nightclub on Saturday, 31 May.
A night of ‘90s rave, acid house, trance, techno, UK breakbeat & more awaits! Legendary DJs Chris Fraser and Jon Wicks will be headlining, with able support by Raydar and Emagica. Tix are $25 through Humanitix.
Looking ahead to June’s end, RPG Events is hosting the first of two doofs under the name Forest Life from the 20th to the 22nd. And what better way to celebrate the Winter Solstice than 48 hours of camping, music, dancing, performance, workshops, and good grub?
In terms of music, the line-up so far includes:
- Shepz (SYD)
- Fractialias/Nazca (South Coast)
- Deejhammer
- Lucidity
- salvajoe
- Sub:Internal
- Gabba Yokka
- Forest Cult (aka Gammacell of Burley Bassweight Crew)
- Tama Yaga
- Pann
And that’s only the 1st round of announcements! There will also performances by Asteria Entertainment and Laurel Lithe to look forward.
Further to the musical talent, there will be a new stage built by the RPG crew, an art gallery, a trippy interactive exhibit, markets and clothing stalls, proper kitchen facilities, and even a heated indoor chill-out/temple area run by CBR Bass Babes.
Forest Life is a smaller, more intimate and exclusive kind of doof. Tix are strictly limited to 100-150, and the first release (including a combined ticket for the second doof in the series) are on sale now through Humanitix.
A few more words – RPG, recognising that the festival landscape has significantly changed, is adapting to the new era by hosting a doof that focuses on nurturing the community and providing a platform for local and interstate artists to perform.
If you’ve been keeping up with the news (and what I mentioned in my last column), you’ll know just how damned important a move like this is. I, for one, am incredibly appreciative of the level of innovation, initiative, and hard work being put into this event.
So if you want to be a part of that too, you better pencil Forest Life Ep1 into your calendars, get out there, and support the artists and crews that keep our community thriving!
My release radar is looking unusually light this time around, so I’m once again putting the call out to any and all local producers to shoot me your masters before release so I can put your creations in the ears of my readers – hit me up at aegipan101@gmail.com
The only release for this column is the third Unusual States of Matter V/A from Soliq Records. If you’ve been keeping up with this unique compilation series, you’ll remember that each volume showcases diverse and distinctive sounds and styles from a handful of talented artists whose tracks are curated and compiled to create an epic, enthralling sonic journey.
I’m going to come right out and state that I believe this volume, featuring tracks from Nostavalgia, Drop Bear, Xenobaba, Severed, and KliNiK, to be the best in the series so far.
Why? Because on Volume 3, the aforementioned sonic journey tells its story in contrasts – hypnotic and energetic, light and dark, organic and synthetic. The upbeat and soulful electro on Nostavalgia’s Someday, the unnatural soundscapes on xenobaba’s Incognition, and the pulsating, darkly cinematic Profundum by Severed stand out as pivotal moments in this odyssey of duality.
And to the legends at Soliq – you keep releasing ‘em, and I’ll keep writing about ‘em!
If you read these columns regularly, you know I like to drop a recommendation for an artist or album outside of the electronic music sphere, and I’ve got a killer one for you this time. You might have read an earlier recommendation to check out a hardcore band out of Fresno, California named Farooq – well, these cats have finally released their stellar new album The Kickout to the public and I cannot get enough of it.
The metallic edge is even sharper than it was on Heat, the riffs and drumming are furious yet groovy and focused, and the vocals explode through each and every line of the lyrics.
The stand-out track for me is This Won’t, I Can’t, which clocks in at just over one minute but is, from start to finish, a raging anthem of stubborn persistence – believe it or not, I use that song as my alarm clock so that I’m hyped to face the day.
That’s it from me this time around!
Remember, if you’ve got gigs, festivals, new releases, or even a bit of hot gossip that you want to see in future columns, get in touch with me at aegipan101@gmail.com. I don’t bite…hard.