The faggots who ate surfing
For better or worse, the days of hearing Pennywise and their punk brethren on surf soundtracks are numbered. The influence of electro and club-culture over surfing is significant. What began as a maligned slither of the boardriding population, popularly known as “faggottttts,” is now the dominant trend. Soundtracks are filled with d-floor thumpers, groms regularly turn out in p-leather jackets and unisex pants, while surfing recently churned out is first A-class music masher.
Twenty-two-year-old Gold Coast pro Adam Bennetts has supported DJ Falcon (Daft Punk DJs), Metronomy (UK) and Ajax (Sydney) in his brief career. He just finished a four-month stint in the twisted Indonesian clubbing scene. Here, he regales us with some of the bizarrest shit he saw, gives us the 411 on Bali’s prevailing party drug and tells us what to make of the bug-eyed mincers traversing contest sites around the world.
Tell us about your gig in Bali.
One of my mates Peter Hopkins (brother of Wollongong pro surfer Michael) was DJing at Sky Garden. One night he was behind the decks and I talked to him for a bit about DJing and he was like, “I’m leaving on Monday, why don’t you finish off my set on Sunday night?” I came in on the Sunday, then he just disappeared and I had to finish off for him. I played my stuff and everyone had a hell time. The manager told the owners and it snowballed from there. I mainly played Sky Garden where I had a Friday night residency. I also did Home café in Seminyak and Club Icon next to Embargo on the strip.
Surf all day, gig all night, huh?
I didn’t want to DJ too much because you finish at four in the morning and miss out on the early sesh. I’d do one or two nights a week. Tell us your story.I’ve always loved music. A good mate’s brother was a DJ back home and I went to watch him gig at the big festivals like Summer Field Day. Afterwards I picked his brain. I bought my own CD decks when I was about 18 and for the past year and a half I’ve been playing in clubs. I played with (Sydney DJ) Ajax on the Goldy. I played with Metronomy (UK band) in Brisbane and Strip Steve (Boyz Noize records). Now I’m doing a collaboration for (my sponsor) Otis. It’s an hour-long mix with like 26 tracks on it. They’re gonna do 500 copies and send it out to all the stores.
When did Bali begin to develop the more tasteful aspects of the western nightlife?
The club culture has definitely improved. It’s very European influenced there, especially Sky Garden. All their resident DJs were from Germany or Austria or Sweden and would play techno and trance music. That’s why the owners loved me. I got thrown in there and was playing Aussie-influenced indie electro stuff like Cut Copy, stuff from the Bang Gang DJs and Van She. People would say, “this is the best night I’ve had in Bali.” If you go to Embargo or the Bounty you will hear a three-year-old top-forty mix CD. An hour in there and you’ll probably hear the same song two or three times. It’s outrageous.
Bali’s nightlife can be a strange scene. What was some of the weirdest shit you saw?
You can almost get away with murder. My brother Chris got up on the bar where I was playing, nude and started fruit-bowling (where the male sticks his appendage back between his thighs creating the affect of a male vagina) the whole crowd. He still didn’t get kicked out. One time this guy was spinning around wildly like you do with a broomstick, while skolling a beer. He came out of the spin and ran straight into a big glass wall. He head butted it and smashed the whole thing. His head and hands were cut, there was blood all through the toilet and he just put his shirt around his hand and rocked on. Another mate, Steve Grimmin and I would go out before I did my gig every night for two weeks. I saw him every night hang upside down, naked in one of those cages at The Bounty.
(Here's a ten minute teaser from the Otis mix to be released in stores soon.)What’s the dominant drug in the club scene?
Probably coke. You can get most stuff here; pingers or whatever. I don’t know where it comes from. It’s not a big drug scene, people only get on it for a special event. You can get away with it but it’s not worth the risk. You’re better off just going mad on the binnies and cocktails.
Who’s the loosest pro you’ve seen over there?
Mitch Coleborn was fucked the other night. It was the last night I played and it was a huge party at Sky Garden. He was falling over and pretty sloppy. He kept coming up to me and going “blah, blah blah,” speaking shit. The next day everyone was like “what about Coleborn last night.” He was sloppy but all-time hilarious.
You get many pissed pros hassling you for requests?
I’d get that cheesy Riverside song, you know “Riverside mothafucka,” requested a lot. It’s pretty annoying but if there are a few crew that want to hear it I will play it to keep them happy.
Is it tiresome doing gigs for surfers?
Nah, there are different groups. The boys from Sydney really appreciate my music, guys like Luke Cheadle and Michael Spencer. I love having music chats with Drew McPherson from Newcastle. Then there are the Goldy guys like Dion (Agius). I taught him how to DJ. Sedley and Fisher are doing gigs, I helped them a bit. I enjoy doing stuff for that sort of scene.
What do you make of surfing’s move towards electro and club culture?
It’s gone from the surfie dude who rocks up with his board and hoodie, to trendy dudes who kick around in skinny jeans and listen to good music. It’s more versatile and diverse, which is a good thing. You have to look at the Modern Collective era and the influence of Kai Neville over the music side of surfing. Stranger than Fiction had Cut Copy, Van She, Justice and some sick indie bands. The kids looked at the credits to find the songs, and it’s since become cool. There is an obvious shift in surfing and you gotta give thanks to the Modern Collective crew.
It seems like everyone is a DJ today. Is there a downside to that?
I don’t think so. It’s a revolution, you know. I don’t know if surfers are pushing that side of their image or if they do it for fun, but it throws in another avenue for surfers. I hit up brands that I think I could complement with my music. The sponsor gets a package. You might be an amazing surfer but companies want the package, and it’s an advantage that I have this other side. – Jed Smith
Want more from Mr Bennetts? Visit adambennetts.tv/
Adam Bennetts Indo 2009 from Adam Bennetts on Vimeo.
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Reply #58 on : Sun October 04, 2009, 22:41:16