Australia’s Anthony Pappa is considered one of the nation’s biggest electronic music exports. From launching his illustrious career at the young age of 15 years old in his home town of Melbourne to rising to the top of the global DJ elites, Anthony’s journey has been a personal and infectious ride, a ‘love letter’ to his fans and the music he has devoted himself to for over 30 years.

In 1989, a youthful Anthony entered the prestigious Technic’s World DMC championships, the pinnacle of global DJ skills competition, the coveted event and a revered award. At only 15, he closed the gap between the old guard and new talent emerging out of the rising electronic music scene. Dropping his signature house music sound, for a traditional Hip Hop approach, he took home the accolade of winning the DMC Championship, until 2017, was the youngest winner of the award.

It wasn’t until mid-1994, after a successful Australian DJ career, that Anthony took the opportunity to enter the Mixmag & Ministry of Sound DJ competition, an off chance that would propel his career to a stratospheric trajectory. It boasted a prize of playing at the legendary London club from the submission of a DJ set. It was this competition that he won and went on to play at the club in October ’94. The experience of playing at the Ministry of Sound was to have such an inspiring impact

The move was not in vain as it wasn’t long before his talents were picked up by a core group of the UK’s most prominent DJs along with his close friendship with Dave Seaman, who together & forged a strong squad of players that would shape the sound of the emerging UK sound of Progressive House, with the likes of Sasha, John Digweed with Anthony fast becoming one of the scenes big contributors.

He soon became quite a prevalent name and important player within the UK whilst touring up and down the country at many of the major clubbing venues such as Renaissance, Cream and Ministry Of Sound. He also went on to work alongside Dave Seaman who was A&R at Stress Records (part of the Mixmag / DMC organisation) and became part of the team

The rise of the DJ mix albums had started to play an important factor in the UK and the international circuit, and once again Anthony was playing a role in its progression whilst contributing crafted mix compilation albums for series such as – Global Underground, Renaissance, Balance, Platipus Records, and DJ Magazine.

In 2000, a chance meeting with Andy from Global Underground, quickly culminated in a discussion of a new series to be released by the much-lauded and iconic label, Nubreed, with an invite to kick off the series, instantly took Anthony Pappa to new heights in his career and set the scene for the next 2 decades.

“Doing the first Nubreed album for Global Underground was massive for me. It certainly did help shift my career up another level for sure. I was already touring the world before this album but after the release, it got busier with more and more international gigs”. – “It was such an honour to do the first mix in the series and the exposure was massive. I remember driving through London and seeing a picture of me (the album cover) on a massive billboard and l almost crashed my car as I was gobsmacked.”

With a long and esteemed list of recording various iconic mix compilations with scene stalwarts such as Renaissance, Stress Records, Platipus, EQ Recordings, and Balance, Anthony also naturally gravitated to the recording studio early in his career, producing some of the most iconic singles in the last 20 years. With over 100 releases credited under various guises, selling over 500,000 records, singles and compilations, Anthony has consistently raised the bar in Progressive House and electronic music globally, earning his revered status amongst fans and DJs alike.

Following the success of his Global Underground album “Nubreed” transformed his career into the A list level of A-list level of international touring DJs along with prestigious residencies at some of the world’s most iconic clubs, including Renaissance (Nottingham UK), Twilo (New York USA) and Womb (Tokyo Japan). Whilst constantly headlining major festivals such as Glastonbury UK, Creamfields UK, ID&T Holland, Extrema Belgium, BPM Mexico, Tomorrowland Belgium, SAMC Argentina, Ultra Miami USA and Exit Serbia.

“DJing and music for me is my love, my passion and has been what l have dedicated most of my life to. It’s what l do, it’s who l am, it’s just me. I could not imagine or see myself doing anything else. I love what l do, it makes me happy and l love the fact that what l do gives so many people so much joy. This is what keeps me driving forward as a DJ.”

Anthony has once again begun his global touring schedule, fascinating old and new crowds alike, continually pushing boundaries of electronic music in a way that has garnered fans and industry for over 30 years, coupled with his renewed music production, Anthony is joined in the studio with iconic Progressive House stalwart, Jamie Stevens (also known as one half of live electronic act – Infusion) to bring a fresh approach to the sound they have championed over the last 2 decades. 

Together drawing on their years of experience and long friendship, passion for making music has led them to recently release on Dave Seaman & Steve Parry’s Selador label, whilst remixing an assortment of releases on Melbourne’s Recovery Collective, Flow Music, Mango Alley, Ugenius music and Re:Sound Music.

We caught up with the iconic Anthony Pappa (and all-around great guy) whilst we celebrate our 10 years of Decoded Magazine along with an exclusive mix.

Anthony, your journey began with an impressive win at the DMC Championships in Melbourne. Can you reflect on those early days and share how that victory influenced your career path and vision as a young DJ?

I was 15 years old when l competed in the DMC mixing championships. I bought my turntables at the age of 13, so to say that l was pretty keen on mastering the art of DJing and mixing from a very early age is an understatement. I knew from the get-go that this was what I wanted to do as my profession and career for life. 

The DMC competition certainly got me noticed by the judges who were at that time influential DJs, movers and shakers in the nightclub scene in Melbourne which helped me in years to come, secure residencies at the best venues and nights in Australia. 

Moving from Australia to London marked a significant turning point in your career. What were the most impactful experiences and challenges you encountered while working at DMC Records with industry veteran Dave Seaman?

The connection was very much through DMC and Dave Seaman. I met Dave in 1993 when he was on tour in Australia and l played alongside him on that tour. We have been friends since then and at that time Dave was working at DMC UK, Stress Records and Mixmag. So this influenced my move from Melbourne to the UK where l joined the team at DMC / Stress Records. 

It was a challenge for me at 21 years old, moving out of my home for the first time to go live on the other side of the world.  I left Australia with only a suitcase and box of records and had to start over again. A massive thing to do but my heart and focus were set to follow my dream to make it happen. 

I learnt a lot working at the DMC headquarters as it was a melting pot for so many things in the music business such as a record label, music magazine and in-house recording studios. This is where l started my music production career with studio partner Alan Bremner under the name of Freefall.

Touring can be both exhilarating and gruelling. Can you recount any particularly memorable or humorous stories from your early days on the road that have stayed with you over the years?

Touring in the 90’s / 00’s with 2 boxes of vinyl certainly had its disadvantages in today’s digital world. I don’t miss having to pay the airline extortionate excess baggage allowance fees. Then there was the fear of the airline losing your records or your records not making the flight connection. This happened a lot so l quickly learned to take 30 records onboard in my hand luggage so if the box went missing l still had a set of tunes to play. 

One crazy story that l will never forget was when l was in Egypt for a gig that l did at the pyramids and the next day l had to fly from Cairo, Egypt to Larnaca, Cyprus to connect to another flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. The flight from Cairo was delayed which meant l was going to miss my connecting flight from Cyprus to Tel Aviv. The Israeli promoter who had very strong and powerful connections managed to pay someone at the airport in Cyprus to hold the flight for me. I landed in Cyprus to be met by an authority when l came off the plane who took me to the baggage area inside the plane and said go in and find your luggage to which l did and then he escorted me across the tarmac and onto my next flight. No paperwork or immigration at all. It was all very bizarre.

The evolution of music technology has drastically transformed the industry. How have you adapted to these changes, and what are some of your favourite tools or technologies that you find indispensable in your creative process today?

Ableton Live is a great tool for me for doing edits of tracks, mix albums and music production. For DJing l perform using USBs, Pioneer CDJ 3000s, Pioneer V10 Mixer and a Pioneer RMX 1000. It’s amazing how creative l can be using this equipment when performing live. The technology has come a long way and l have certainly embraced it.

Your dedication to vinyl is well-known. Can you describe the significance of vinyl in your artistic journey, and how you manage and categorise your extensive record collection?

I love the feeling of playing on vinyl as well as the analogue sound of a record. I started my record collection in 1985 and l have a very eclectic selection. I own about 35,000 records and the way l manage and categorise my entire collection is by BPM and Key. 

For example, on my shelves, the start point is the slowest at 69 BPM (which will have chill-out, reggae, and downtempo) and as the BPM rise the genres change moving up to hip hop, garage, house,  progressive house, minimal, breakbeat, techno, trance and ending up around 175 BPM with drum n’ bass. I’ve always liked multiple genres of music and for me, a good tune is a good tune no matter what style it is.

The lockdown period saw a remarkable rise in your online presence. How did you navigate this transition, and what are the main challenges you now face balancing international tours with time spent away from your family?

Until Covid lockdowns started l had never done a live stream in my life. This was new territory for me and a massive learning curve. Melbourne had the longest lockdown in the world at 262 days. I was still receiving a lot of great music during this period with no gigs to play them at, the streams were the only outlet for me to play the music, and for people to connect through our social streaming events. 

I remember the first one l did l had my mobile phone connected to a broom handle hanging off a ladder to get the right camera angle. As time went on l invested in getting professional camera stands, web camera and also a 3×5 meter green screen. Some of my streams reached 1.6 million views, when you think about it is massive that l could reach an audience that large playing from my home. I don’t have any challenges touring and being away from family. 

My family is very supportive of what l do and l have a healthy balance of international/national tour dates and being in Australia.

Over the past decade, Decoded Magazine has strived to play an underground voice in the global electronic music community. Do you have a favourite moment, article, or feature from the magazine that resonates with you personally or professionally?

Decoded is an essential part of part of our music scene. You know your stuff and your expertise across the music business covering artists, labels, music, venues, events and equipment is integral to our scene. Decoded always has the inside scoop with the who’s who and the what’s happening with everything you need to know. I have been a big supporter of what you do and would like to thank Decoded for all the love and support that you have given me.

The music scene is constantly evolving with new talent. Is there an emerging artist you’re particularly excited about at the moment, and what qualities do you think make them stand out?

I’ve been hammering a bunch of new unsigned music from Argentinean producer David Calo. His sound is very raw and underground and more on the deeper tip. As a DJ when searching for music to play out l am always on the lookout for tracks that are a bit different from the generic prog sound and that stand out and have a certain spark to them and David ticks all the boxes here for me.

Your fans are always eager to hear about your latest projects. Are there any new releases, collaborations, or upcoming news you’d like to share with us?

I have a couple of new singles that l am currently working on. l recently mixed the Selador Showcase 19 compilation album with Steve Parry. I am also really looking forward to my upcoming tours in Europe, North America and South America in 2024 / 2025.

As we celebrate Decoded Magazine’s 10th anniversary, how do you perceive its influence on the electronic music landscape, and what role do you see it playing in the future of the industry?

Helping new artists break through into the scene by giving them the exposure that they need through your channels. It would be great to see more Decoded events around the world. Keep doing all the great work that you already do with the features, interviews and tech reviews. Much love Pappa.

Related