Local artist profile: Steve ‘Tonky’ Tonkin

THIS week we speak with man about town, Bendigo DJ Steve Tonkin.

How did you first get into Djing?

I have always had a strong interest in music and started leaning towards the more electronic side into my teenage years. In 2017 I met my friend Jayden in maths class and we started sharing an iPod together. He noticed that I liked a lot of dance music and he invited me over to have a crack at DJing on his decks. From then I started tagging along to Jayden’s gigs to learn the ropes and eventually got a few gigs of my own around Bendigo.

What do you think is more important in Djing – technical ability or track selection?

Track selection will always be important; if you play something and the crowd isn’t vibing it, then you aren’t going to have a good gig. But having the technical ability to turn a song that everyone knows into something extra special is a talent that I feel only the best of the best DJs have.

Can you describe your style?

My DJ style has evolved over the years and has kind of reflected the type of music that I have been playing. From being more of an open format DJ for a large amount of my 15-year DJ career I learnt many tricks and fast cuts to keep the crowd interested and dancing. I used to use a Native Instruments ‘Maschine’ with my DJ sets, with which I could play live melodies and samples while DJing, which gave that live element to my sets. My style now is more disco/house/tech inspired, so I like a lot of live scratching and sampling. This isn’t very common in these kind of DJ sets, so I feel it sets me apart and makes my sets unique.

Which electronic artists inspire you?

I have always had a soft spot for Daft Punk; they are just kings of the electronic genre.

Claude VonStroke is another favourite of mine. Making and playing music that is not mainstream but memorable has always clicked with me.

What’s one particular highlight you have from your career so far?

A decade ago, I won a DJ competition called The Search. The prize was a trip to Ibiza to check out all the clubs and meet and greet a lot of the DJs. Seeing this only sparked me to continue on my DJ journey. The sheer amazement of seeing these massive clubs with festival sized line-ups of amazingly talented DJs and producers was jaw dropping. I met DJs such as Fedde Le Grand, Mark Knight, Judge Jules, Kissy Sell Out and Laidback Luke.

Have you discovered any awesome new producers lately?

There are so many amazing Australian producers at the moment and it makes me really proud that the world looks upon Australia for dance music because we have such a strong product. The likes of Dom Dolla, Torren Foot, Needs No Sleep and BoogieKnights are all killing it right now.

Do you have any gigs on the horizon?

I have Groovin The Moo coming up at the end of April, which is exciting, a bunch more gigs at Poof Doof in Melbourne and may have a sneaky launch party for my new single, alongside Galleon and Josh Creek, called On Your Way, which is coming out very soon on Crookwell Records.