Counter Cultured

24 Dec 2016

Counter Cultured 2016 Royals

Each week, the home of your party vibes brings a DJ into the studio to rock a set and shower your auditory senses with an ever changing sonic landscape. In 2016 Counter Cultured was able to showcase a wonderful lineup of artists who specialized in diverse styles from Drum and Bass to Psytrance and experimental palates. Producers with new releases and exciting tours were continually celebrated on air throughout 2016 both new and studio favorites. There were so many artists that could have easily taken the crown, Australian national DJ competition winners and international touring Artists alike year in year out are all in the position to take Counter Cultured’s most prestigious title and this year it was MaRLo and Holly-J who were inducted into Counter Cultured’s Royal Gallery.

More about our 2016 Royalty

Holly-J;
Classically trained and powered by the love of music, Holly-J is the DJ equivalent of Diana Prince – fierce, empowering and entirely entertaining. While Holly-J, born Holly Jane Simpson, has spent the past 7 years making herself known as an icon in Melbourne nightlife she has always maintained that her career started on the other side of the decks following DJ duo Orkestrated around and supporting their craft. Anyone who has seen DJ Holly-J in action will know that she is a powerhouse of an act, who is able to fuse different genres together with surgeon-like precision. This is by no accident before Holly-J had even laid hands on a pair of turntables she was already an adept musician to which she credits her mother’s influence by making her learn as many instruments as humanly possible.

Holly-J and Dylan Adler after Holly’s set at Hidden Forrest

Born and bred in Wanganui, New Zealand, the formation of Holly’s musicality started with her learning to play piano at an early age as well as the violin and mandolin. It’s worth mentioning that Holly-J has said in the past that she looks to her piano training as an important asset to have when composing tracks and producing mixtapes while crediting her dad’s mandolin as the collateral need to pay for the move from Wanganui to Melbourne.

Holly-J has been a regular presence on Counter Cultured throughout 2016 and if you are unfamiliar with her majesty this set will establish why she is now known as the Queen of Counter Cultured.

MaRLo;
His presence on Counter Cultured has been confirmed since the program’s first season aired on Joy 94.9 delivering mixtape after single release time and time again. MaRLo has wowed festival goers for years and has even put the spotlight onto emerging artists that he himself has aided in their development as producers and touring DJ’s.

M a R L o

MaRLo has maintained that he doesn’t have a set formula or template that he uses when crafting a new record or remix however when you hear a track that has passed through our man of trance’s creative process, the listener is quickly able to identify that what they are hearing is, in fact, a MaRLo sound. The structure and composition styling is evocative and accessible to a broad spectrum of listeners and I think that that comes down to who MaRLo is as a person, if you look at his social media accounts across all platforms he consistently maintains a manner of inclusivism for all walks of life.

Listen to the King’s most recent interview on Counter Cultured and relive his Atlantis experience in Sydney as well