Menu Magazine

MENU meets: Sample Gee

MENU: You’ve been dj’ing for a long time now & are as busy as ever, what makes your sound & style so enduring?

GEE: Firstly, I know what a good record sounds like. Secondly, having come from a trance background I know how to build a set into a journey. My sets increase in energy level, they aren’t one dimensional. I also actually enjoy myself when I’m playing, I express that and it creates a real connection with the audience.

MENU: You’ve been a real influence in Aucklands dance scene since day one, which achievements do you hold as being most prominent?

GEE: Just being valid at my age is probably the greatest achievement. I’ve spent every weekend for the last 25 years in nightclubs. That’s longer than most clubbers have been alive, yet I still love it and live for it. I could rattle off a whole bunch of things I did before anyone else but the fact I’m still a professional DJ and a force in the game is my greatest achievement. I do what I love and that’s all you can ask for in life.

MENU: What was it like to be a kiwi dj’ing in Australia & how does it compare to NZ?

GEE: OZ has 5 times the population of NZ and many more times the land mass. You have to do the hard yards and travel a LOT to break into Australia and the locals won’t help you do it. To leave NZ in 2001 as the #1 DJ in the country to go and play Wednesday night warm up sets was very grounding. Ultimately it was worth it because 2 years later I was voted #5 DJ in Australia, the first Kiwi to even make the Top 20.

MENU: What production work have you been involved with lately?

GEE: I’ve recently been concentrating more on making my own club edits and remixes. 25% of my set is unique to me. I’m coming correct every time with something fresh that no one else can deliver. I spend about 20-30 hours a week remixing and building my sets for the weekend. That’s what a real DJ does, they don’t sit at an office job all week, then pack a few CD’s from the weekend before.

MENU: Party Rockin at Degree has become one of the busiest club nights in the Viaduct precinct, why has it become so successful?

GEE: Great music, great people and an electric atmosphere. It’s a commercial club night and no one in the country plays a better commercial club set than me. Challenges accepted :)