Adelaide’s longest running indie night Transmission celebrates its 5th birthday on Friday August 7 at the Bull & Bear. FasterLouder tracked down the Transmission mastermind and resident DJ, Ross Osmon aka RossRossRoss to chew the fat.

Five years – it’s a long time for anything, particularly a regular entertainment night in Adelaide. Looking back Osmon is equally surprised that that the event has kicked on for half a decade.

“While we never expected it to go for so long, we always hoped it would and have run it in a fashion that has let it evolve, which has most likely helped in its longevity”.

There were however some trying times during the early days where the plug was almost pulled on the event.

“There was one night we did in the first year where we did actually question whether we would call it quits as the last few nights had been slow,” Osmon recalls. “We decided to do one more show and thankfully that next one turned out to be the biggest Transmission we had done at that stage. It was a clear turning point in the popularity of the night.”

Osmon’s own aspirations for DJing started out one drunken evening upstairs at (the old) Shotz in 2003.

“After hassling Chris Pike (Shotz resident DJ) for weeks he agreed to show me how to work the DJ equipment on the proviso that I could remember to come back the next night. I had had one to many dollar beers by this stage and Chris didn’t think I would remember the conversation. How wrong he was. After clearing many dancefloors at Shotz I realised what Adelaide really needed was somewhere to party where it was all indie tunes all night. That’s when I got together with some mates who also DJed but had nowhere to play and Transmission was born.”

Since starting out upstairs at the Duke of York in 2004, the event moved to its current home at the Bull & Bear in 2006 where it has gone from strength to strength and become an iconic part of the local music scene playing the hottest mix of indie tunes. And while there are always some perennial favourites that get punters up and dancing, Osmon has noticed a shift in musical tastes during his tenure behind the wheels of steel.

“Songs like Bloc Party – Helicopter, The Smiths – This Charming Man , Phoenix – Too Young, Modest Mouse – Float On and Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart never fail to be embraced on the dancefloor by the Transmission crowd,” he explains. “However in recent years electro-indie bands like The Presets, Van She and Cut Copy have also joined the list of crowd faves”.

The last two years have also seen the Transmission moniker diversify with some different style of nights including Transmission LIVE! (last Friday of every month at The Edinburgh Castle) which has proved to be a winner with the likes of Art vs Science, Dukes of Windsor, The Dirty Secrets and Young & Restless making the journey to Adelaide for the event. Osmon hopes to expand this roster in the future

“We want to continue to bring great bands to Adelaide and play to a room full of punters. By helping support the bigger acts that are relevent to what Transmission is all about may mean that Adelaide doesn’t have to miss out on future international tours – we’re looking right at you MGMT ”.

The 5th birthday bash is bound to be a massive night with not only Ross Ross Ross and Kraig Black on decks but also original Transmission resident DJ Travis (Pony Bar – Melbourne) joining them in creating the best mix of current, past and future indie hits to whip the dancefloor into hysterics. Happy hour gets going right as the doors swing open (10pm -11pm) with $2.50 schooners and $5 pints and then normal drink specials kick in for the rest of the evening – $6 Imperial Pints, $5 Vodka mixers and $4 bubbly.

Punters can keep up to date with all Transmission events by joining the Transmission Adelaide Facebook group.

Transmission celebrates its 5th birthday at the Bull & Bear on Friday August 7. Doors open at 10pm. Get there early as this one will be packed!