SIX FOR ONE: Donald's House
📸 by Duncographic
Self-isolate yourself inside Donald’s House…
Six tracks. Two brothers. One concept. That sounds way more dramatic than intended but we are in self-isolation and need something to break up the day. We all know Melbourne is filled with an incredible wealth of musical talent, but not many are showing more promise than the sibling production duo of Donald’s House AKA Peter and James Isaacs. Think early house music featured in an 80’s music video with yachts, sunshine, big shoulder pads, keytars and an excitable Jaco Pastorius (RIP) playing bass. It’s music that makes you feels like everything, after all, is going to be all right.
Their addition to a new three-track EP on Filament Records, ‘3AM’, takes that concept into the clurbs. Use it to warm up the dancefloor, or employ it as a precursor to take your set to the next level. As the now admittedly very dated saying goes, it’s a track for all seasons. We caught up with the brothers and asked them to forward six tracks that has brought them to this point in time.
Pete: DJ Shadow - Organ Donor
This track was so far ahead of its time. I remember the first time I heard it (maybe 99/00) being like "there is nothing that sounds like this". The whole album (Endtroducing.....) is phenomenal. If somehow you've never heard it, I suggest you give it a listen. If you have listened to it, then I highly recommend taking a trip down memory lane and giving it another listen.
James: Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place
When I was about 12 or 13, my older brother (Pete) bought me the Amnesiac album for my birthday. I will admit, I was maybe a bit young to be able to grasp it, however, when I came back to this album a few years later, this track sparked my fascination with electronic music. I became so intrigued by the sounds and how they were made. The backwards sample-y vocal, the keys and the modular percussive elements blew my mind. At the time I had been listening to lot’s of jazz and improvised music and studying it. I noticed that although this tune I was obsessed with harmonically was much more basic in comparison to a Pat Metheny tune, I realised the intellectual qualities of both these styles were on par, from Pat Metheny’s harmonic genius to Radiohead’s programming expertise. This really opened my horizons.
Pete: Sasha - Wavy Gravy
I think this was one of the first dance music records I bought. From memory, it was from DMC records in Prahran while I was doing a 'learning to DJ course' when I was about 14 or so. I think Ivan Gough took that course from memory. Anyway, this is still a beautiful track. Lovely, proggy atmospherics. Being a hip-hop kid, I don't think I'd heard anything like this at the time, and I remember being blown away with the sounds.
James: Harmonic 313 - Cyclotron
The first-ever rave I went to was again, through my older brother. It was at a club in Melbourne called the Mercat. The headliners were Harmonic 313 and Ramadanman AKA Pearson Sound. By this time my intrigue with electronic music was strong, but it wasn’t until this party that the game truly changed for me. I had never seen or heard electronic music being enjoyed in such a way. I had listened to the album this tune was on before that party and didn’t really bat an eyelid - but hearing it in a club on a big Funktion One system blew my mind! I think this is when I decided I needed to start learning how to make dance music.
Pete: Skream - Midnight Request Line
I was heavily into dubstep from about 2006 - 2010. At first, I didn't quite get it. But I think it was this track that really flipped a switch for me. Much like ‘Organ Donor’, I don't think I'd heard anything like this track before and it really just blew my mind.
It's interesting (well maybe not), but it's through dubstep that I actually got into house, disco etc. I remember listening to Skream do all disco shows in maybe 2007 and thinking wow, this stuff is actually alright. But it was probably Loefah's Swamp 81 label that pushed me down the house route. I think after I got the itch, I wanted to hear what happened before and I slowly just worked my way back into disco.
James: Soundstream - Just Around
This track is one of my all-time favs. It was this tune that sent me down the path of 4/4 dance music. Through trying to find more music like I discovered the rich musical and cultural history dance music has - which lead me back to my roots as an instrumentalist in my own productions. At the same time, it also gave me a much deeper appreciation for a more groove-based approach to making music and DJing. This is a timeless jam and helped me shape what I do in a big way. It will probably always be in the crate for me.