Interview – Roller
For several years, every Friday morning, a mysterious plague has been affecting Perth Drum n Bass fans. With symptoms including headaches, nausea, twitching, partial deafness and rictus smiles stretching across faces, the plague has been non-stop in its assault – and we can blame this virulent epidemic on the enthusiastic and salubrious minds behind ROLLER.
Its been a long ride for all the boys of Roller, who over the past six years have not only won the Best Regular Weeknight category in PDMA awards for the past three times running, but also carry the reputation of now being one of the longest running drum and bass nights in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I don’t really think of all the shit we’ve done in the past six years, you don’t really reflect on it. We’re just so used to it, we never get bored of it”, says Devo, remarking on the success of the night. “We try to give people, whether they’re young or old somewhere to come where its relaxed, and to provide somewhere that’s not fucking hardline – and lets face it, dnb can sometimes be a bit intimidating.”
A phone call at 2am one morning sealed the lads Thursday night calendars for the next six years. After hearing them playing on their regular Radio Show, Rhythm Tripping, they were contacted by the Wembley Hotel with an offer to do a regular night based on dnb. After a short time, they began to gather a loyal following of both dj’s and punters. “I think I was told one time that Roller wouldn’t succeed because we put it on the same night as Dawsons Creek.” Dart laughs, reminiscing.
Yet after a year of being residents at the Wembley, they were forced to move locations – which as luck would turn out, would probably prove to be the biggest twist of great “bad” luck in Roller history, as after a month and a half, the lads secured a deal with the Rosemount Hotel for Thursday nights.
“It was in the side bar for about a year or so,” says Dart. “Then the renovations to the main bar were completed, and we were getting such large crowds that they moved us to the main room. Roller (Wembley) had been more of a drinking session, after the Rosemount move and our 2nd Birthday we decided to treat the night more seriously and promote more.”
With the current line-up of Dart, Devo, Blend and Kent running the show, Roller has the celebrity status of having played host to virtually every dnb personality in Perth (as well as a large contingent of inter-state and overseas performers), and, being a regular date on most every electronic music fans Thursday, there seems to be no one secret to the success – unless that is, an honest, friendly and enthusiastic approach to what they do can be counted a secret.
“One reason I think we’ve done quite well is that we’ve promoted everyone and haven’t been in any competition” says Devo. “We also get people coming from all over. Gingin, Parkerville, everywhere – that’s the cool thing for us, someone gets in a car and drives an hour to come to our gig, and they do it every week. I guess it shows we’re doing something right.”
Neither do they know where the end of the road will come, and after six years, the holy grail of decade-dom may not even seem so far off.
“We’d like to keep going with it as long as people keep coming and as long as its still fun”, Dart remarks, as he considers the years they have spent in creating an icon of Western Australian music. “It’s given me an awful lot of fun, great music, and I’ve met lots of cool people. It’s good to feel a part of something. If it wasn’t for Roller, I would have wasted my Thursday nights – probably watching Kath and Kim.”
Tags: blend, dart, devo, drum'n'bass, kent, perth, rhythm tripping