In recent times, the underground electronic scene in Melbourne has seldom faltered. Selectors, producers and labels have kept the heart beating with vivacity, and hungry fans haven’t stopped eating it up.
It’s an area we only dip our toes into at the best of times, yet remain acutely aware of. Thanks to the announcement of an intoxicating new techno den opening in Melbourne, we’re diving a little deeper.
Sleep D are a pair of beat slingers who have successfully wormed their way through to the guts of their scene’s consciousness. Thanks to a monthly party they ran back in 2015, most of Melbourne’s underbelly should have heard them play at this point.
Yet their fanbase hasn’t stopped growing.
Label-heads, beat makers and party starters, Sleep D wear the weight of Melbourne’s ragged techno bedrock on their capable shoulders.
The majority of their releases filter through Butter Sessions, an imprint they founded a few years back and continue to run.
Some form of techno, their tunes are ruled by percussion, yet never dominated by it. Synthesised ambience and twisted, shadowy basslines explore their mixes as creeping, omnipresent tendrils, rearing back often but never fully disappearing.
For full disclosure, Sydney is where I call my home, so I often find a certain jealousy in exploring Melbourne’s darkest den dwellers. While there is undoubtedly a mirror scene here, it would be nice to witness it without going to an illegal party for once (or at least a night which doesn’t feel illegal).
Bastions of harder techno, more wretched house and experimental electronic music, the likes of Butter Sessions or Analogue Attic are something which Melbourne simply simply has a greater audience for. And they waste no time in celebrating it.
While Sleep D don’t boast the highest output as producers, their live chops are what earned them their current position. Plus as the old adage goes, quality over quantity.
Ripping apart audiences is the name of the game for Sleep D, and behind the booth at some of Melbourne’s most enthusiastic, ratchet and open-minded dance floors, that’s exactly what they’ll continue to do.
Sleep D will be playing as part of the first month ticket at XE54, a brand-new bunker club opening in South Bank, Melbourne. Check out the full lineup below:
12.08: Introduction
19.08: Sleep D
26.08: Jensen Interceptor
02.09: International TBA & Mike Callander
Head here to grab all the details.
