Teriyaki Anarki Saki (Club)
Teriyaki's continuing ethic has been to push new musical perimeters in this thing called techno, along the way injecting a healthy sense of humour and a no-frills attitude that purports to place the music and the vibe above all other considerations. Thus we've seen internationals like Freddie Fresh, Charlie Hall, Khan Oral (aka Bizz OD) and Robert Leiner performing alongside regular DJ's Dee Dee, Syme Slieker and Slack, as well as guest spots by fellow locals Steve Robbins, Willie Tell, Dexta, Kilroy and Richie Rich; Sydney DJ's including Zeitgeist, Manson, Biz E, Lush Puppy and 8-Bit have all played at the club at one time or another. Then there are the live performances. Voiteck, Honeysmack, Frontside, Calix Blac, Steve Robbins and Organism have all played in recent months.
The principle movers and shakers behind Teriyaki Anarki Saki are Telford, Dee Dee and Jason (alias DJ Slack), and throughout its life Teriyaki has remained not so much a venue but an idea that can move around and morph itself according to this triad's own rather vivid imagination.
"We always try to keep it moving," says Jason. "One trend that has consistently held sway is that we've essentially had three residents throughout, but we always leave the main set of the night to whoever's passing through or whoever's running hot."
Teriyaki's nomadic inclinations can be tracked as it's moved from its place of place of origin at Sadies Bar over a year ago, through a short hiatus at their warehouse space in Brunswick Street, and on to the current location at the Red Room in Thornbury. Surprisingly the club's crowd - along with its notoriety - has grown each time, and the organisers themselves are more than happy with this situation.
"What can I say- - the vibe at Teriyaki has been consistently good," assesses Dee Dee.
"It's been ace!" adds Jason. "It's been busy and we've maintained a solid vibe. We've been throwing a few more unusual events just to shake it up a bit - we did a launch for the new Prodigy album, which was pretty bizarre, and there was the first birthday a couple of months back . . that was outrageous! Apart from that we've been mixing up the sets a fair bit and we've had a lot of live acts come in and play - all those nights have been really pumping!" He shrugs. "It's also been important for us to diversify a bit. Teriyaki's started to branch out into other events such as this one-off party, and we're putting together a studio as well. So we're certainly a lot more full-time about things."
The music Teriyaki plays is as diverse as it is eclectic and inspiring - moving as it does from tireless underground acid to phunked-up house and on into minimalist techno. "When we first started out as a club the main focus was funky acid," Jason infers, "and that was when Dee Dee was the major driving influence. When Simon [Slieker] entered into it he brought with him more of a house sound. Then there was a stage where we were playing hard acid trance. What is the main focus now . . .- Well . . ."
". . . ummm . . .," Dee Dee interjects. Then they both laugh out loud.
"Yeah, well, we've been tripping out on it a lot!" Jason declares. "As artists we've all been getting into the mix quite a bit - it's quite a mix-intensive club and quite focused upon what's coming out of the speakers. I think we've been taking DJing a bit more seriously these days, but hopefully we remain light-hearted as well!"
"We're not very serious people,