As rain poured and overcast shadows hovered over the city of Jakarta,it was a completely different world inside the 56^th floor of the BCA tower last Friday night. The warm,rich bamboointerior coupled the anticipation of the patrons within. Crowded,you could taste the anticipation as party goers, expats and models waited. The fashion show by ARTURRO was stimulating,as patrons mirrored the stylish collection proving that the night was more than justabout music. As the sky begun to clear and the city’s skyline w came into view, Daley Padley, better known as Hot Since 82, begun his set. Talented, charismatic and insightful,I had a chat with the British artist on how he became a DJ, his thoughts on Jakarta and the biggest downfall we humans possess.

What’s your name?

Hot Since 82

How long have you been performing for?

Fifteen years

If you were to describe your music to an alien, assuming that you could speak their language, what would you say?

If you were to give it to a bloody alien? I would say that at times it can be repetitive but it’s a way to take peoples mind somewhere else. It’s a release, I try make people relax.

Why become a DJ though?

I was shit at everything else, this was the only thing I could do. When I was younger my older brother had a set of turntables but he never used to let me play them so when he went out I would use it, and that’s how I learnt.

So your success is due to your brother?

No, he’s an idiot (laughs).

So, how do you like Jakarta?

It’s my first time here to be honest. It’s hard for me though because it’s the same in every place, you never get a chance to see anything. You land, go to the hotel, eat, perform and the next day you’re straight out of there.

But from what you’ve seen?

The foods really good so is the hotel… a lot of nice women as well.

And what do you see in the future for yourself?

I don’t know,I want to be somewhere nice. I mean in this game you’re hot one minute and you’re not the next so you have to enjoy it while it lasts. You have to work hard, same as any other career, and that’s what I do.

Do you think Indonesian people are ready for the type of music you’re producing?

You see in the UK we’re really blessed because electronic music is kind of a religion. You walk into any club or bar and its dance orientated music, I can play at underground clubs for up to eight hours. But sometimes when I play short and sweet gigs like tonight, I just smash out the records and make people dance.

And how did you feel the performance went?

Ultimately electronic music is supposed to play on a really loud, good system. When it’s too quiet or not proper you don’t get to hear the amazing elements that the producer puts in. The weird, tiny little frequencies that you hear and go ‘what the fuck is this record’, that’s what you want. I also want to rock out to it, but on that note, yeah it was good.

Would you put your music under EDM?

EDM is really just fucking noisy horn shit… wait I shouldn’t say that (laughs). It’s really whatever you like. It’s more dance music played in underground scenes, you’re not going to hear it anywhere else.

Often House DJ’s are grouped into one mold with a negative stereotype associated to them, do you feel that’s the case with you?

Yeah, but that’s life isn’t it. People like to group and pigeon hole things because it’s fucking easy. I hate pigeon holes. It is what it is, enjoy it. Don’t try categorizing things. That’s what I hate about critics because people talk too much bullshit when there are so many different styles.

And what do you think influences this mindset?

That’s just human nature, people like to bitch on each other- it’s our downfall as humans.

Hot Since 82 is currently on his Knee Deep in Asian Tour, where he will later travel to Europe. For more information check out his website (http://www.hotsince82.com/) or Sound cloud (https://soundcloud.com/hotsince-82)  (Text : Mariam Kosby)

Photos : Indoclubbing.com

It was a joy to know that we’re going to spend our Sunday night by seeing Au Revoir Simone’s live show (and it was even an intimate show). As we went to the highest floor of Grand Indonesia’s BCA Tower, We were hyped when we saw @IsmayaLive’s tweet mentioning that the show would start at 6PM, we expected having a sunset as the trio’s background whilst catching their performance. However, the schedule got stretched a bit, and the band didn’t start performing on time, so most of the crowd ended up catching the sun set with their drinks.

After half an hour of waiting, Au Revoir Simone walked on stage gracefully, setting up their gear and ready to outshine the stars with their synth-pop music. ‘More Than’ from their latest album ‘Move in Spectrum’ got to be the first song to perform. The synth that stimulates their music clearly stole the night and wound up the crowd’s dancing key. The calmness of their song and also the dramatic sound from their keyboards couldn’t say better of how lovely the night was. Songs like ‘Gravitron’,’Tell Me’, ‘We Both Know’ and ‘Crazy’ were performed beautifully. Since we are also a fan of Kraftwek, seeing Au Revoir Simone reminded us to Kraftwerk (it’s just that the Brooklyn’s ladies are much edgier and more chic than the electronic Germans). With a small number of crowd which made the night to be very exclusive (and definitely posh, as the show took place at SKYE 56), we enjoyed every second when Au Revoir Simone hit up the tunes and swung the atmosphere. The girls did it in a very humble way as they also asked to crowd to dance along with their music, they also complimented their dreamy pop with a very beautiful vocal harmonies which made it into an ethereal set.

It was easy to say that Erika Forster, Annie Hart, and Heather D’Angelo did a wonderful job to make the Jakartans’s Sunday night to a lovely way to welcome the hectic Monday. The show wasn’t packed with hundreds of crowd, everyone had their own space to move along, they could just sit on the bench or they could go straight in front of the stage to get a closer look of the trio. With a shower of stars and Jakarta’s expensive skyline, it was hard to forget how fun and memorable the show was. We did feel a bit bummed that the band didn’t start their show earlier (because we had this splendid imagination of seeing their illuminatic show and Jakarta’s acid pink sunset), but as we went throughout the show, we were still satisfied with every single thing that happened that night. If we could, we would be happy to have another round of ‘Sounds of the Skye with Au Revoir Simone’.