Purple Sneakers 4th Birthday

Fri 8th May, 2009 in Features

For four years now the Indie kids of Sydney have swarmed to The Abercrombie Hotel on a Friday night to dance, party and pash in the toilets.On the eve of Purple Sneakers 4th Birthday we sit down with party starter Martin Novosel aka PHDJ to talk about all things Sneaker.

Congratulations on making it to your 4th Birthday – did you ever think you would make it this far?

When you start a club you really only do it for one reason, and that’s to party with the type of people and the type of music you really want to. It’s a place where you essentially get to say “welcome to this place, it isn’t actually my building but for this one night of the week my friends and I get to program the tunes, and you get to have fun, drink, party and dance. A lot!”

The one thought that definitely doesn’t go through your head when you start a club is – œwill we still be partying here in 4 years??’. But it’s totally awesome that we are and the people coming and the music being played is as fun, new and challenging as it was that very first day.

What do you remember most about the very first Purple Sneakers?

I remember being amazed that people actually turned up. For a house party (not – œthat’ sort of house party) in a shitty old pub we got heaps of people. And that there was a line up outside. There has been a line outside ever since. It’s funny but lots of people who came that first night are now in high profile bands and doing stuff in movies and TV and stuff.

What was the most popular song you spun on the night you first launched and what will it be this Friday?

Woah!!! Not sure if I can answer that properly. But I can say that over the years the Purple Sneakers resident DJs and I have done everything we can to maintain a combination of playing tracks that get people party on as well as a very healthy dose of brand brand new indie party stuff. You know, some music for the brain, and some music for the feet. We like to do our part to break new music. The way we figure it is that if we drop stuff on people’s ears that educates them today, tomorrow they will be partying to that same tune!!

In fact, if I could be so bold to… The same way we played acts like Friendly Fires, Santogold, The Teenagers and MGMT before they had Australian releases we are now doing our part to break new acts like Honey Claws, Delphic, and Ponytail. Not to mention all the Australian acts that we’ve played, had DJ and had play live over the hundreds of parties we’ve done.

What is the most unexpected thing you have witnessed at a Purple Sneakers in the last four years ?

Still gotta be the day that Cut Off Your Hands lead singer Nick climbed the stage and the roof at one of the parties we did. Man, that’s a high roof and he had some skill to do that with a microphone in his hand!

You recently gave birth to Purple Sneakers Canberra – are you playing favourites or do you love them both equally?

Purple Sneakers Canberra is a party and a half!! The Transit Bar is a great venue and it PACKS OUT!! Canberra people are really up for it. We started Sneakers in Canberra cos we found out that each week there was people driving up all the way from Canberra to come to Sneakers in Sydney. We figured to repay the appreciation and decided to come to them.

Do any of the same people who started going four years ago still occasionally turn up? If so, do you consider this to be creepy or cool?

Oh it’s definitely ace! We still get people coming who came in the first year. If I’m allowed to name names I would like to give special mention to a guy we call Sir Dance A Lot. He is probably the most radical dancer ever. He defies gravity man!!! He even made it to the So You Think You Can Dance thing.

What has been the single best moment for you since you started?

Crowd surfing at last years Purple Sneakers New Years Eve House! That party was the biggest and best party Boundary Sounds (the people behind Purple Sneakers) have ever done. The crowd was awesome, the music was awesome. 2,500 people over three levels partying their heads off to great new local and international bands and DJs. Playing the Big Day Out, Parklife, Field Day, Spendour in The Grass, Good Vibrations and Falls Festival all come an equal second!!!

Who is the secret act playing this Friday – pppppplease tell us?

Can’t tell. But I can tell you that they are one out of a few new Australian acts that will have debut albums in critic’s year-end best album lists.