This Sunday we welcome a very special interstate friend to the DUST Den.
A creature of the night and a main player in the exciting House Music Renaissance happening down in Melbourne right now. The one called - THE TORTOISE
Torquhil Anderson, the man behind this land-dwelling reptile, is well versed in the party end of deep house, where soft Rhodesy chords and well worn vocal clichés meet irresistible elements of funk and boogie. Already making his own heavy claims, with releases on imprints like Berlin's Dirt Crew and Undertones from Detroit.
We Caught up with this Melbourne Reptile ahead of his Gig at DUST this Sunday:
So firstly, the name.. how did The Tortoise come about?
Started as a semi joke between myself and a couple of friends, after having an argument about how to get to a venue one night. After disagreeing on the best way to get there, we went in different directions. To my mates disbelief, I managed to get there first, despite taking the ‘apparent slowest option’. This provoked a response that somehow stuck – “Tortoise, you’ve done it again – slow and steady wins the race!”. A few years on, I starting making some more down tempo house, and thought to myself, what would be an appropriate pseudonym for this slow yet steady sound?? THE TORTOISE!
How would you describe your sound?
Like two whales having sex – deep and wet.
You have been releasing music just a few short years and already have topped the Juno charts. You've had success with some highly reputable, international record labels; 3rd Strike, Dirt Crew, Kolour and now your latest release on Melbourne Deepcast. Is there a process behind what label you choose to release with?
It’s definitely been one of the aspects I’ve enjoyed about the journey so far. As far as choosing labels, it’s basically been a process of getting in touch with the labels I’ve been really into, and sending them my music. It was a thrill getting my first few EP’s out on labels like London’s 3rd Strike records, which have been a home to artists which I genuinely consider to be making some of the most innovative music at the moment, including Vakula, Erdbeerschnitzel, Hunee and Iron Curtis.
Have you done much travel, gigging across the globe?
I was lucky enough to play a few gigs in Europe last year, of which the highlight would have been playing at Zur Wilden Renate as part of a Dirt Crew residency there.
Sydney vs Melbourne, would you say that one scene is more superficial than the other?
I’ve never had anything but an awesome time when up in Sydney, so cant really say one city is more superficial than the other. I think both cities have superficial elements, and plenty of places which attract the ‘superficial.’ Having said, there are many great places once you scratch the surface, which support quality music of all kinds. The biggest positive that comes to mind when I think about the Sydney club scene, is the new wave of ballsy promoters who have had the courage to bring out so many great internationals to Australia. We certainly wouldn’t be lucky enough to have the volume of quality artists down to Melbourne without the Sydney collectives taking the risk and investing in tours. This has been a really healthy thing for the underground scene across the country, as many people are now being exposed to music that you would have to of traveled over to Europe or the US to hear just a few years back.
Anything exciting you have coming up that we should know about?
Really excited about the record on Melbourne Deepcast dropping on wax just this week. It’s a VA featuring tracks from fellow Melbournian Andy Hart, Max Greaf, M5K and myself. It’s a little more stripped back than some of my previous releases, and focuses a little more on vocal ideas:
http://soundcloud.com/the-tortoise/the-tortoise-the-real-thing
http://www.juno.co.uk/products/484134-01.html
I have a few new projects in the works, both solo and working with others. I’m looking forward to these surfacing in the not too distant future.
What have you got in store for us this Sunday at Dust?
Bringing a bunch of new and favorite records up there, and just vibing with everyone on the night. Will be cool to see how the Sydney crowd reacts and parties on a Sunday night.
Catch THE TORTOISE headlining our weekly shindig this Sunday. Supported by your Resident DUST BUSTERS:
Gerrit Oliver
Hannah Gibbs
James Taylor
For any guest list enquiries email - info@dustnights.net
Full event details can be found HERE.
