It's that time of year again when legendary DJs and music selectors Carl Cox and Eric Powell pack their vinyl and hit the road for Carl & Eric's Mobile Disco.
In an exciting first for the travelling party, this year Carl and Eric will also be bringing out a live band; 1970s acid-jazz ensemble Incognito as well as Melanie Williams, Joe Roberts and Eric Gooden to perform on stage. “We've never had a band play at the Mobile Disco,” Eric says.
“If we feel it's the right time to play a Whitney Houston track, then we'll play a Whitney Houston track.”
“We've had Alison Limerick and CC Rogers, and this time around it's a 12-piece band, so we've extended ourselves for sure.
“There'll be 12 members on the stage, there are 16 people travelling in the band and then we've got a couple singers over from the UK. So we've basically got 24 people travelling, which kind of snuck up on me to be honest; it's quite a commitment.”
The Mobile Disco has its origins on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula where Eric has been living for the past 18 years.
{youtube}CHorhdoxGO4{/youtube}
Both hailing from Caribbean ancestry and finding their professional feet at Manchester club Hacienda during the city's 'summer of love' (circa 1988-89), Carl and Eric operate the Mobile Disco as a personal, passion project. “The whole thing about the Mobile Disco is that it's the last thing anyone expected Carl and myself to do, especially coming from the techno genre,” Eric explains.
“Carl had a similar upbringing to mine; his parents are from Barbados in the West Indies and my dad is from Saint Kitts in the West Indies. We both grew up within the Caribbean community and music is a really important part, lots of house parties and sound systems.
“So even though we grew up in different parts of the country, we had a similar upbringing with similar types of music and to be able to do something for friends and family – that's how it started, with 200 people bouncing on a balcony.”
After heading to Adelaide for the first time last year, in 2017 the Mobile Disco returns to the City of Churches as well as parking in Brisbane, Wisemans Ferry (near Sydney) and its spiritual home on the Peninsula.
For Eric the Mobile Disco is a guilty pleasure, one that allows him and Carl the freedom to curate an ideal setlist of the tracks they want to play and take the audience on a guided tour through their record crates. “Some of the tracks we play are very unique to Carl's environment and then to my environment,” Eric says.
{youtube}pRguEi3wufQ{/youtube}
“Then we're not afraid to play stuff that has through time become very popular, like it's used in an advertisement or part of the track has been sampled for some big hit.
“We're not afraid. We go through everything and it's not taking ourselves too seriously; we're still very respectful of the music and respectful of the audience but without taking it too seriously. If we feel it's the right time to play a Whitney Houston track, then we'll play a Whitney Houston track.”
Carl & Eric's Mobile Disco 2018 shows
Sat 28 Oct - Brisbane Botanic GardensSun 29 Oct - Mornington Racecourse (Victoria)
Sat 4 Nov - Riverside Resort (Wisemans Ferry, sold out)
Sun 5 Nov - SC Pannell Wines (Adelaide, sold out)
