Goodbye London: Hello Sydney: Jason Bye's Australian Exodus

"I love London at the weekends but I can't handle it in the winter. I love it when the sun's shining but in the middle of winter when everyone's depressed about going to work, it's too much. Sydney has a better climate for me and my name is also bigger here than it is in England."

As the new main room resident DJ at Australia's biggest superclub Home, British DJ Jason Bye has come a long way since he first started his club land career collecting glasses in an Ibiza bar in 1992. From his first proper residency at Cafe Mambo (in 1994) he's held down stints at Manumission, Amnesia and daytime superclub Space as well as what's turned out to be his most significant gig to date, opening Home's Sydney operation in 1999.

3 years on, he's returned to Home again and also set up his own DJ business linking Australia with Europe.

"There's lots of talent here, especially in music production and I'm hoping to create a kind of San Francisco vibe of getting all the young producers together around a Sydney based label," says Jason. "I also want to build my DJ name up in Asia more. I love Sydney too, it's a great place."


Skrufff: Relocating from London to Sydney is quite an unusual move for a DJ, why have you done it-

Jason Bye: "I'd been resident at Cafe Mambo and Manumission then Cream in 1995 which lead to so much work coming in the following winter that for the last 6 years I've been living out of hotels. Last year, that lifestyle intensified even more because I was having to play at Space in Ibiza every Sunday, whilst completing an 8 city US tour and other gigs in Canada and the UK. Then I came down to Australia in November to do the Home birthday party.

I've always wanted to start my own record label and music marketing company and I hooked up with a company here who are experts in that as well as surfing and fashion. We've started a music division of their company which means I can control my own label, tours, and we're also a DJ agency for Australian DJs."

Skrufff: So the DJ agency side is more about promoting Australian DJs-

Jason Bye: "Yeah, though I also want to continue bringing international DJs here too, to find them the best venues and the best promoters. There are quite a few promoters out here who say they're the big deal but when you arrive here, they're not. You might get a night that calls itself Manumission which has no connection with them whatsoever and by me being here and knowing all the people personally, I can avoid those pitfalls."

Skrufff: how does Sydney's club scene compare to London-

Jason Bye: "London is a very difficult place for clubs, what can be great one month can be terrible the month after and people in London find it very easy to move on from what's hip and what ain't (hip). Clubs in Sydney develop a more loyal following and the clubs seem to offer more of a personal touch to their clients. There are less great venues here than in England and Ibiza so you need to keep evolving as a club to keep people loyal."

Skrufff: Sydney is a much smaller city in population terms than London, how did all the local DJs react when you turned up-

Jason Bye: "There were no clubs even half as big as Home when I first came down and nobody had ever heard of me in Australia so me arriving suddenly as the main resident of this new 2,000 capacity superclub in Sydney was a little strange. I'm aware that people were thinking, 'What's he doing, who is he-' but I went out there and embraced the DJs in the city and their styles. Instead of saying "This is my music from Ibiza or from London which I'm bringing to you", I instead went out and listened to what the other DJs were playing and incorporated what I learnt into my style. These days, lots of people think I'm Australian. I didn't have my head stuck up my own arse, rather I made the effort to become part of the scene."

Skrufff: Looking at your DJ career, it appears that you fell into it by chance was it really accidental-

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