Sydney Duo Milly Gattegno and Suhana Lye — aka The Faders — have played some impressive events in recent times, but Suhana believes one stands well above the rest.
“It was at the end of the Olympics and everyone had worked so hard, not drinking, being fit, being super on it for the lead-up, so after they've finished their sports, they're ready to let loose. There were two massive rooms with over a thousand people, everyone was going wild. At the end of the night they were telling us to shut the music off and athletes were taking their shirts off, going crazy.
“We played our last song, which was Rack City, and all of a sudden the venue shut the music off, but then the whole crowd was just screaming 'Rack City, bitch!' It was so good, there were athletes with medals and we were in London and that's probably the most crazy audience we've played to.”
The girls played their first gig at an album launch for Snob Scrilla and were an instant hit with the crowds, winning them over with their impressive stage presence and ability to get amongst the party from the decks. “We're lucky because it's the two of us,” Suhana says. “We still have our own presence, but we really feed off each other. When we DJ we don't really plan our sets, so we go back to back. I'll play a song and then Milly will play a song and we don’t always know whats coming next. So we feed off that, like, I'll play a song and she'll play a song and give each other a high-five. We're literally partying to each other's music while we're DJing, which is what I think creates the vibe. We're just best friends and we're having fun. We're living the life, traveling the world playing the music we love with our best friend. I don’t know how much better it can get than that. It's two best friends having a hell time.”
The girls use Rdio to discover new music and share their favourite tracks with their fans. Interactivity is the key for them — Suhana has no time for DJs that don't interact with the crowd. “I think there's nothing worse than going to a show and seeing a DJ with their head down. You want to interact with the people there, they came to see you and have fun. Our whole vibe is that we don’t want to be on this pedestal where you're looking up at us thinking, 'Oh, they're up there, are they up there, what are they doing?' We're all about people joining our party. Be a part of us. Jump behind the decks and jump around with us and we're there to party. We don’t take it too seriously, we play the hits that you've liked over the last 10 years, and we just wanna have a party.”
The pair have big plans for the remainder of 2014, working on their own music and preparing for the release of another album and a tour to accompany it. “At the moment we're working on our next compilation that'll come out in the second half of the year... We've been working with some producers we've worked with in the past, creating a bit more of a live experience and giving back to the audience. We often go places like Mackay or the Gold Coast or Brisbane, or Adelaide which we're going to soon. We go to these places and we want to bring the crowd into what we're doing and give them a show. Give them that little bit more than a DJ set. And also confetti, because that's our favourite.”
