American DJ AC Slater refuses to take a break from his tour of the globe’s biggest party spots and is bringing his signature panache to Australia soon.
It all began back when he was 14 rifling through his Dad's vinyl collection. “My Dad had a huge closet of vinyls from the '50s onwards. If the vinyl art looked cool I would pull it out and listen. I really liked The Beatles, and he had tonnes of weird electro '70s jazz stuff, like Weather Report.”
Inspiration struck at the age of 16, while Slater was at a Chemical Brothers gig, and he decided to make music for life. He's remained a huge fan ever since. “I haven't had a chance to meet them yet, but I'm kind of afraid to. They say you shouldn't meet your heroes. Hopefully I'll meet them on the tour, but if I don't it won't bother me too much. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing their DJ set [at Summadayze].”
Having once wanted to be a comedy writer, AC incorporates his sense of humour into his lyrics. “The music that we make is party music and is around to help people have fun and enjoy themselves. Injecting humour into it feels natural with that vibe. You're going to laugh and be light-hearted.”
Best friend and collaborator, Dell Harris, has become a big part of Slater's career. “He introduced himself in Atlanta when I was going to play a remix of his song, so he suggested we do it together. After the show we went and had waffles and talked. I was working on the radio and I remixed this Susan Boyle song, but the MC didn't come through, so I called Dell and asked him to be on the track. It was really good so we did a whole mix tape and it took off from there. We've done three albums together now.”
Due to hit Australian shores for the New Year, he plans to remain extremely busy until then. “It's pretty crazy. I just put out my EP last week, 'Party Animals', and I've been promoting that. I start a two month long tour tomorrow with Flinch and Harvard Bass, ending at the end of December. Then I get a couple of days and come down and see you guys!”
AC Slater Australian Dates
Tue Jan 01 — Field Day @ The Domain (Sydney)Tue Jan 01 — Summadayze @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne)
Fri Jan 04 — One Five One (Wollongong)
Sat Jan 05 — Summafieldayze @ Doug Jennings Park (Gold Coast)
Sun Jan 06 — Summadayze @ Patersons Stadium (Perth)
