- A roaring hour from one of the most vital talents in Naarm.
- Paul Gorrie, AKA DJ PGZ, wears many hats. As well as a youth project worker, filmmaker, Triple R presenter and former drummer for two Australian First Nations artists—DRMNGNOW and Kee'ahn—the Gunai/Kurnai and Yorta Yorta artist is a fixture of forward-thinking dance music in Australia.
Outside of regular appearances on the club and festival circuit, you can find a number of PGZ productions releases via the likes of Butter Sessions, Phenomena Records and Pure Space, as well as K7! and Black Artist Database farther afield. An international breakout moment for the Naarm (Melbourne)-based talent feels inevitable.
There's much to be said about the lack of visibility and support for Indigenous artists within the global electronic ecosystem (we'll be publishing more on this soon), but at the root of all PGZ's disparate interests are community building and the advancement of marginalised peoples.
To that end, DJ PGZ's RA Podcast is notably laced with multiple cuts from Nene H's Gaza fundraising compilation. It's distinctly fresh—the oldest track you'll find is from 2022—as he gallops through Kalahari-style wigged-out prog and techno, through to harder drum syncopations. Consider this a firm tip from us: PGZ is the truth.
What have you been up to recently?
It's been winter here in Melbourne so I have been laying low, sharpening up my tools and gearing up for the rest of the year. Getting ready for shows in Vietnam and Singapore, as well as some solid home ground shows, too. I've been locked in the studio with my friend Yikes (Boorloo) working on a collaborative project coming out at the end of the year.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
I recorded this mix at my studio in Brunswick East where I share the space with local producer Kuya Neil. My studio has a bit of history to it as used to be the Skylab Radio studios too, so there have been heaps of people within the local scene and abroad who have shared music there. The concept behind this recording is to give those who haven't seen me DJ before, in either a club or festival setting, an idea of the kind of energy I am working on putting out there. I want it to be fun, fresh and unexpected.
I also wanted a nice mix of artists I am in community with this time while also playing other bits I am loving. In this mix, you'll hear music from HAAi, Reptant, Andy Garvey, WTCHCRFT and WVCHWY.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I am looking forward to a few things! I will be playing my first club sets in Hanoi, Vietnam (16th August) and Singapore (17th August). After that, I will be doing Now or Never on the 24th August, and that will be a big one. Playing support for Donato Dozzy, and François X in the Royal Exhibition Building. I am also playing a cool local party on the 31st August called Club Confide and going back-to-back with my older sibling, Naycab.
I am also looking forward to MODE Festival, Subsonic Festival, Strawberry Fields Festival and a bunch of other yet-to-be-announced shows in summer too.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
I think we can all pay attention to more than one social or political cause to be honest, everything in the world is connected, when you start to unpack, to read up and pay attention to what's happening in front of us.
I do think we need to see the parallels globally to attacks on First Nations sovereignty, desecration of land, colonialism, capitalism, deaths in custody and the intergenerational lasting effects of all these things and more. We are seeing it in real-time in Palestine.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
It’s two clubs for me: Hugs&Kisses (which no longer exists) and Subclub. Both have played a major role in my ambition to join the dance music space as an artist, but
also as a punter. I used to attend this forward-thinking techno and queer party, where I met so many friends, called Lefag, and that used to happen at both those
clubs.
TracklistSarv & Monixa - Ard Areek
Batu - Zeal
POB & DJ Patrick Reid - Ze Booth
Dual Monitor - Level Up
Nikki Nair & Addison Groove - Testify
BLUMITSU - The Formula
OCB - Clone Corp
Reptant - Lizard Eyes
WVCHWY - Run With Me
HAAi - SHiNE
Kareem El Morr - Safa'a
Tino Troster - Modular World
Mabel - Frantik Fairy
u.r.trax - xclusive nrg
Francois X - Forever Dazed
Assembler Code & Jensen Interceptor - Bioluminescence
WTCHCRFT - THE ENGINEER
Sister Zo & Sam Binga - Smells Like
Mohajer - BODO BODO
I. JORDAN - The Countdown ft. TAAHLIAH
Andy Garvey - Heavy
dan nicholls - Batikh
Amadeezy - Bump N Boom
Mikkel Rev - Journey to Oblivion