Pure Ivy Radio Episode 9: Emoh Instead

Episode 9 of Pure Ivy Radio comes from up-and-coming Sydney talent Emoh Instead (formerly Elmo Is Dead), with the DJ/producer dropping an exclusive mix and chatting to Pulse's Anneliese Pomering ahead of his upcoming appearances at Sydney's famous Pure Ivy Saturdays.

Pulse: How and when did you get into DJing? Emoh Instead: A good friend up the road bought decks when we were 18. I played the drums for 10 years so picked it up pretty quick. I started playing in clubs and bought my own gear about six months later. Could only afford a DJM800 & one 1000's so I learned to mix in & out of a DVD player.

You’ve played almost every major festival in the country and supported the biggest names in dance music, what has been the pinnacle of your career so far? Definitely has to be mixing out of Mr. Oizo last year at Stereosonic. We were the closing act on the Outrage stage, in front of about 15,000 people.

What do you love most about playing in front of thousands at the country’s biggest festivals? It's such a thrill you just cant beat it. So much adrenaline, and large events like that only come around a few times a year, so you prep well to always be on your A game.

Fill us in on the Fake Bratpack? How did the collective come about? Fake Bratpack is a collective of all the head residents at Fakeclub. Jace, Rain, myself and occasionally Thomas 'Oh Glam' Granger on the mic. The idea was formed to command musical direction over the main part of the night at our venue. We're either on warmup for the headliner, or have a double length set over the better part of the night.

And your What So Not project with Flume is doing big things at the moment. How did you get the opportunity to remix such names as Van She and Major Lazer? Yeah things have really been kicking off lately. The Van She remix came about I think for 2 reasons. Firstly, Harley (other half of WSN) teaches an Ableton Live school and so does Mike from Van She, so they knew each other and always shared the music they were making. Secondly, Adrian (Ajax, our label boss) is good friends with Nicky, also from Van She. We'd just sent Adrian a remix we did for Airwolf and he was really blown away by it so he offered us the opportunity to do the Van She remix.

The Major Lazer remix started as a bootleg. It blew up on the blogosphere, was #2 on the Hypem charts, copped 50, 000 plays & 10,000 downloads in the first couple of weeks. Nina Las Vegas sent it to the Mad Decent crew and they loved it and their management got in contact with us saying they wanted to officially release it.

Have you been receiving any international attention as a result of these remixes? Possibly any overseas tours? Yeah we've been getting heaps of huge feedback from international acts & some pretty big remix offers from international artists. We have a small international venture which is almost confirmed and some big plans commencing for later in the year.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why? Flosstradamus would be dope, they're making some crazy futuristic Trap/Hip Hop stuff at the moment.

You spin every possible genre in your sets, what are your three songs guaranteed to get the crowd going every time? Pretty much every track I play is one of my own edit, to some extent. I love grabbing hooks from this, a vocal from that, a killer beat here and then slap it all together. A good example of this that always goes of is Mr. Spock Pulled 5 Girls (Emoh Instead Edit). Another track thats been doing wonders is our What So Not Remix for Van She's Idea of Happiness.

Something a little different; Flosstradamus' Rollup - a massive Trap/Hip Hop tune that sends people into a frenzy!

What are your thoughts on the number of DJs trying to make it in Sydney? Has the scene become overcrowded? I started in the promoter DJ generation, so for me it's all i've really known. It has positives and negatives attached. Yes, I think it's one of the main reasons music has become more mainstream, as younger DJs, naturally, tend to be less musically educated than DJs with years of experience, but i think it's also forced people to up their game, work harder and be more creative in order to succeed and stay at the top.

You’ve created a mix for Pure Ivy Radio, can you tell us about how you approached it and what you tried to create? The set I've put together is the type of set I'd play at ivy. Not as mashed up and tempo changing as usual, I've picked songs I really enjoy that are also suited to the venue & atmosphere; house & electro with lots of vocals and anthems.

What are your plans for the rest of the year? I'm all over the country at the moment for various projects and as above planning to head overseas before the end of the year. There should be a WSN EP dropping in a few months and I'm planning to upload a bootleg every month on my Emoh Instead Soundcloud page. I'm also competing for the state title in the Red Bull Thre3Styles Competition and hopefully I make it to the next round of that.

Lastly, what have you got in store for the ivy when you hit it up on both 23rd and 30th June? Working on a whole bunch of party edits, which i'll be dropping in my Ivy sets. Really looking forward to it!

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