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Pappa's new bag

Author: Khalil Hegarty
Friday, November 14, 2003
Anthony Pappa is about to turn 30, but unlike many people about to hit one of life's less remarkable signposts, he's not the least bit concerned.

"I'm not bothered about it," he says happily. "I still consider myself young for what I do. I'm pleased with what I've achieved so far in my career."

And he should be. Pappa has achieved what all aspiring young DJs dream of: he's made his name on the world stage. He has countless underground productions under his belt; he's part of the Renaissance roster of DJs; and his work takes him around the world roughly twice a month. Add to this the fact he was raised between Doncaster and Templestowe and you have a story that is quite remarkable.

While the state and quality of Australian progressive house is a hot topic both in Melbourne and around the world, in 1995, a young Anthony Pappa was one of Melbourne's first DJs and producers motivated enough to take his sound - and the sound of Melbourne - to the rest of the world.

He ditched his regular work in Melbourne and around the country and moved to London.

"For me, it was the first time I'd moved out of home," he says, chuckling down the phone from his home in Buckinghamshire, about 30 minutes drive north of London. "Not only that, I was moving to the other side of the world, away from my friends, away from my family, and I never knew at the time that it was all going to happen. It was difficult, especially when I'd made a name for myself in Melbourne and around Australia. It was like going back to the beginning again. But I just wanted to do it so badly."

Indeed, Anthony Pappa already had an impressive DJing career under his belt eight years ago, at a time when the local scene was small. He would play regular gigs around the country when interstate gigs were highly coveted, and his reputation as the country's foremost progressive-house DJ - when "progressive" was more of an adjective than a genre - was unchallenged.

"It was a small scene," he recalls. "International DJs were coming to Australia. The local scene was good, but it didn't seem to be what it is today. There was a lot of room to grow, and I think it was becoming the thing it is today."

Underground dance was still a relatively new phenomenon in 1995. Like many DJs of his generation (such as John Course and Sean Quinn), Pappa's DJing experience came from working as a mobile DJ.

"I used to do birthday parties for my schoolmates," he says. "I played a mixture of everything - hip-hop, dance, disco, chart stuff . . . just party music. People would hear you DJ, and they'd ask you to play at their birthday, and before you know it you're doing everybody's parties."

Within a couple of years, DJing had become more than a part-time job for Pappa; it had become an occupation. At 15 he entered the Australian DMC championships. Not only did it give him a chance to demonstrate his turntable skills, it got him his first work outside of the birthdays and wedding circuit.

"I finished the competition and one of the judges asked me to come and scratch during his set," he says.

"I was 15 at the time and I'd never even been to the Metro, let alone thought about playing there. I turned up and, sure enough, it was fantastic. Within six months they offered me a job there."

Pappa's easy-going, friendly manner make it sound like things have been easy for him, but his success in Australia - mirrored by his success overseas - has been the result of hard work.

"Some of the younger DJs don't appreciate what some of the more successful people have gone through to get there," he says. "There are some people who have luckier breaks than others. It's just the way it goes. But I would never say it's easy.

"I started DJing when I was 13. I've been here (in the UK) for eight years, but it only really seems like the last five years that I've started to make my mark on the scene. It did take a good year. Sometimes it was just one gig a month. But once you get the bal
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