Local artist profile: Deus Sax

THIS week we chat with double-threat innovator DJ/saxophonist Deus Sax, another local who’ll be appearing on The Plot stage at this year’s Groovin’ the Moo.

Can you tell us the story of how you came to combine DJing with the saxophone?

I started my sax career with Mary Had a Little Lamb back in year 7 – absolute banger might I add.

I finally moved on from my nursery rhyme phase, and started performing with many different bands in Bendigo, but I never quite felt like I was able to give my own flavour to the performance.

During the dark years of COVID I finally borrowed a DJ deck off XIREN – a local entertainment company – and started learning how to transition banger after banger. Sadly, Mary Had a Little Lamb was no longer in the setlist.

I was performing at a wedding with Jem Pryse at the start of 2022 and he was like, “you should totally just start playing the sax in the crowd, they will froth it”. Luckily, he was right!

From then on, I have been building a solid live performance based around the sax, DJing, and a whole lot of energy!

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

I personally find that energy and personality is way more important than both technical ability and track selection.

I have had a whole crowd vibing to a trash remix of My Heart Will Go On because I stood on a chair and had a guest posing in front of me as Rose from Titanic.

People can have fun with any type of music, we just need to feel comfortable and have a positive energy around us.

Can you describe your DJing style? Which genres do you like to feature?

I do love funk house, and the sax does fit that genre like a glove. But what I love even more, is the whole crowd singing or screaming the words to their favourite banger.

I usually stick around pop house more than any other genre to try and achieve that goal of whole crowd involvement.

As you might have guessed, I also add in a lot of tunes made for the sax – e.g.: Mr Saxobeat, Freaks, Hotel Room Service, etc.

Which electronic artists inspire you and why?

My favourite live show last year was Rüfüs Du Sol. I have always had a love for live house music and Rüfüs Du Sol has been the best band I have seen doing this.

In the same vein, Fred Again has definitely been changing the game for DJs around the world. If you’re heading to GTM you’ll hear Delilah with some added sax!

What’s one particular highlight or fond memory you have from your career?

Groovin’ The Moo 2022, main stage with Triple J Unearthed winner Jem Pryse.

I have performed in front of bigger crowds since then but this experience taught me two important things. One, I love being on the main stage and creating a super positive energy with the crowd, and two, every artist I met backstage was just a normal person who had a crack at creating music because they loved it. I’m pretty keen for that.

You’re performing at Groovin’ the Moo this year with a bunch of other awesome local DJs and producers. How pumped are you?

As pumped as an inflatable sax at Groovin’’! In fact, I just bought 20 of them. Let’ssssss gooooooo!