Meet our 2023 FBi Radio Dance Class trainees!

May 3rd 2023

Photo by: Ravyna Jassani

Well here they are – Sydney’s future tastemakers.

We’re beyond excited to introduce you to the first Dance Class cohort we’ve had in a minute. These are our 2023 trainees AKA  the hands that are about to shape this city’s dance and electronic music space.

For the past three months these trainees have been busy attending masterclasses as part of our female, trans and non-binary, dance music mentorship program FBi Radio Dance Class. They’ve been trained by industry heavyweights including Andy Garvey and Jemma Cole of Nectar, Adi Toohey, Merph, Atro and FBi Radio program director Darren Lesaguis.

The trainees have learnt everything from mixing skills on CDJ’s and vinyl, to running their own events, to hosting live radio. We also paired them with mentors at the station for a month-long radio residency, which will culminate with a live featured mix on air.

The program wraps up May 26 with a graduation showcase at Club 77. More to come on that, but people are calling it the hottest club night in Sydney. 

Our six trainees join an impressive alumni, many of whom have gone on to have international DJ careers, play major festivals, host national radio, and become leading figures in the local dance music community, with their own events series, club nights and radio shows. 

Meet your new favourite local DJs: 

 

Alilia

No stranger to Eora’s dance floors, Alilia is ready to take the leap from in front of the decks to behind them, driven by her desire to give back to the community that has afforded her, like many others, a safe space to dance, connect and move. Through blending sounds of techno, breakbeat, dancehall and RnB, Alilia exhibits a deep appreciation for global sounds that fuse nostalgic tones with upbeat dance anthems to inspire movement and connection. 

Taklimakan

Born and raised in Eastern Turkistan, Taklimakan ’s Uyghur cultural heritage has inspired a deep appreciation for music and empowerment through shared joy of dance. Fuelled by ancestral Turkic influences of longing vocals and folk instruments, Ammar blends elements of electro, drum and bass to bring the spirit of community to the dance floor. They aim to create an immersive soundscape of queer resilience and diasporic solidarity.

Cons0le 

Coming from a background in animation and the arts, Cons0le has a deep interest in the study of movement and is ready to transform his knowledge of this field from theory to practice. Cons0le is invested in our DIY communities by contributing to joyful resistance and building safe and welcoming spaces for all through our collective love of dance music on Gadigal land. Cons0le is ready to make the decks his second studio, honoring music genres from the nodes of the rhizomes across the web, fresh from the underground and forever still becoming.

FineDining

After heavy involvement in Copenhagen’s thriving trance and techno scene over the past few years, FineDining recently moved back to Sydney, diving headfirst into studying music management and exploring the local music scene. Drawn towards bubbly trance and hard techno, you can expect punchy, fast-paced and immersive sets from this techno queen.

Grac

Roots deep in Sydney’s dance community, Grac loves this city with a passion that sometimes defies logic. Their sets weave together menacing bass flavours, eclectic polyrhythms and saucy little breakdowns, carefully selected to create transcendent dance floor experiences.

KETJKI 

Growing up on the move, KETJKI explored the far corners of the internet, absorbing influences from every genre of media and music from around the globe. This wide selection of influences has informed her genre-bending style, mixing ethereal, booty popping music, jersey, dance-hall, UKG, D&B, hyperpop and R&B. Her music taste represents a variety of cultural influences and internet subcultures as she channels her voice within the South Asian diaspora.

Contributor

Read more from FBi Radio