Steamy grooves and pumping basement vibes from Butter Sessions honchos Sleep D.
Today, we warmly welcome two absolute dons of the Aussie underground, Sleep D. The Melbourne-based production duo have been transmitting their penchant for driving rhythms, hypnotic bass and the hazy bliss of morning after-hours, to international acclaim.. although their sonic footprint doesn’t stay stationary for long. Next to releasing some pretty killer music over the years, the two have been deeply invested in community building, pushing forward-thinking acts and local talent into the limelight. Adding to the legacy, Maryos and Corey recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their Butter Sessions label with a stellar release, capturing the past, present and future of their local circuit.
We’ve been pretty excited to present this one since putting the gears in motion, and we can tell you, they delivered on the mix. Expect fast-paced eclecticism of the highest caliber, covering steamy grooves, pumping basement vibes, and everything in between. We also asked them some questions about the development of Naarm’s scene over the years and 10 years of Butter Sessions, among other things.
Welcome guys! We believe congratulations are in order – 10 years of Butter Sessions.. that’s quite something. But before diving into that milestone, how have these last couple of months been on the personal spectrum and what’s been keeping you busy over in Melbourne?
Thank you! Last few months have been up and down. We’ve worked on a few live sets including one that we were going to play with the Ad Lib Collective ensemble that got canned in the last minute due to covid, the plus side is we’ve had more time to work on our next album and also were lucky to squeeze in a few parties to celebrate 10 years of the label!
With Australia’s underground scene going from strength-to-strength over previous years, with a large number of thriving communities, artists and initiatives, can you tell us how things compare to 10 years ago, when you started Butter Sessions. And what would you say are some of the key factors that have influenced the development of today’s flourishing landscape?
It’s almost not comparable to 10 years ago. There’s simply so much more going on (although maybe not right now ha). From the rise in producers and DJs, record labels, world class festivals etc to the expanded interstate networks of parties and open minded people that back these alternative music scenes. It’s hard to say what the key factors have been, but maybe a combination of certain artists putting Australia on the map, more internationals touring here and spreading the good word and people here developing their own sounds and taste have something to do with it.
It seems you’ve been celebrating the milestone moment in appropriate fashion, with a couple warehouse parties and the release of a great three-part compilation series. Firstly, how have the parties gone down so far? Playing after such a long absence of events, we can imagine it was quite a special moment, especially sharing it with a big group of friends…
The parties were so good! The artists and party people definitely got nostalgic which kind of caught us off guard. It was hard to know what to expect after the Melbourne lockdowns but we found the time away really accentuated the milestone and made it more special for both us and the crowd.
On the celebratory release front, you’ve selected over 20 tracks from the Butter Sessions family. Also including a booklet and merch, designed by Lloyd MST, James Vinciguerra, Maryos Syawish and Romina Malta, tell us about the process of compiling the release and what it represents for you personally?
Personally, we’ve collected a lot of other zines and books documenting scenes and music and art cultures around the world. It felt important to us to have a physical thing you could hold that archived our time and experience, something that someone can hold in 20 years and get a feel for the vibe. 10 years felt like a perfect milestone to look back from. For the three records, we wanted to celebrate the artists and sounds from the past, present and future of the label as well as representing the diverse and sometimes chaotic selections that have become the sound of BSR.
You also recently released a collaborative album with mixed chamber ensemble Ad Lib Collective, titled ‘Flashed Glass’. Featuring an incredible 6-track listening experience, what can you tell us about the LP and working together with the Ad Lib Collective?
Working with Ad Lib and Play On was a very special and educational process for us… being such talented players and classically trained they come from a completely different background. We initially spent two days recording in person at Head Gap studios in Preston and had to learn a new way of communicating and collaborating musically, then we went into lockdown and we had to switch to collaboration over phone and email which completely changed the dynamic again. We’re really proud of the end result. It’s something new for us and it’s something we would never have created on our own, these experiences are important for us to stay excited and out of our comfort zone. We definitely see ourselves exploring more with Ad Lib and similar ensembles in the future.
What kind of energy are you bringing us with this mix today? Any favourite and upcoming bits from you, tucked away in there?
We had a lot of fun with this mix! We haven’t had a chance to DJ since April so we got together a bunch of current favourite records and a couple of old favourites for good measure.
Finally, what else is on the horizon for this year? Any new releases or projects we should be on the lookout for?
We’ve been making a new live set for a New Zealand tour this weekend that just got canceled due to lockdowns…so we’re looking forward to being able to play live later in the year at some festivals hopefully. We’ve got a new Sleep D release coming out on Cocktail D’amore which has been in the pipeline for a number of years and there’s four Butter Sessions releases to come out by the year’s end!
Credit photo 2: Amelia Stanwix
Credit photo 3: Natalie Jurrjens
