DJ Matt Vaughan

Is music is your DNA?
I've been a music freak from as far back as my memory goes. I used to play with my parents' old records in the bath as a child, was taping songs off the radio before I even started school, so I guess it was inevitable. I had a few false starts on the gay scene before I found my niche or it found me. I went in a few DJ comps - one of them was with a whole bunch of straight bedroom-banger types playing macho breaks-type stuff and I won it. I was very different to them and I guess that's what worked.

Which local artists, musicians and creatives inspire you?
I'm always inspired by the other DJs I play with like Steve Allkins, Jonny Seymour, Sveta, Avra, and the Ollo boys. It's great being around such switched-on music people and getting excited about new music and discovering forgotten stuff. Let's not forget the fabulous Dallas Dellaforce.

What sort of shape do you think Sydney's local queer scene is in?
Generally pretty good I think. There's a lot on offer, from club nights to performance events, film screenings and discussion sessions. It's pretty alive and evolving. I think that the new Dirty Queer magazine is a great and welcome addition, as it seems to be seeking out and representing the more left-field aspects of the gay scene that is great. It's nice to see the world you know reflected back to you and when you live aside from the mainstream that doesn't happen very often.

If Matt Vaughan was the mayor of Gay Town what would he change, shake up or challenge?
[I'd bring in] more integration of the different parts of the scene, less ‘this is a bears' event', ‘this is a girl's event', ‘this is a dress-up event', whatever. It's always more interesting when worlds collide.

Talk us through your baby, Loose Ends.
It started back in 2006. There seemed to be a real need at the time for something new and also I was desperate for a regular gig. I had a lot of inspiration I needed to get out. I was hoping to create a space for myself and other DJs to have a lot of freedom musically and a place that could be really welcoming but still cool. I wanted it to be a place where smart people could have trashy fun.

Loose Ends has a bent family feel to it without the ‘cliquey attitude'. How do you think it achieves that cool balance?
The Loose Ends crowd is not a ‘me, me, me' crowd. Other people are interesting, you know? I think the majority of people who come to the club are interested in catching up with people, meeting new people - not just being looked at. Although there are people who dress up and we love them for it - but again, it's more like that's their contribution to the night rather than just a self-promotion exercise.

There's a nice old-skool mix of gay guys and gals at Loose Ends. Do you think our girls get a raw deal in terms of places to do their thang?
Probably. I went to a night recently that Gemma and Avra Cybele put on and it was largely a girls' crowd and I don't think it was because it was promoted that way, it's just that the girls jumped on it because they get so few nights with cool DJs like that. But again, I'm not really into the segregation of guys and girls stuff - well at a sauna, sure, but I go out to socialise and I like boys and girls. I'm weird like that.

What's on your top-five spin list at the moment?
Hercules & Love Affair Blue Songs album. Anything by Azari & III. ‘Beam Me Up' by Midnight Magic. My 'Loose Ends re-edit' of 'Express Yourself' by Madonna. And I keep listening to Icehouse for some reason!

Which local artists are on your radar for 2011?
MC Gaff E is great. She's a local but spends a lot of time in the UK with the Hot Mess! tranny crew. She's a really fun DJ but does her own original tracks too. Kind of crazy. She's in town at the moment. Also, the boys from Garcon Garcon have been working really hard on their first EP, so it will be really great to hear stuff from that in the coming months.

Well we love those dirty hot Garcon Garcon boys, so snap!

Loose Ends Phoenix Bar, 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 2010.Sun 10pm

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