Jayar

Julian Rutt aka Jayar is one of those rare individuals you meet and think, “wow, what a sincerely nice guy”. Returning to Adelaide after being in the UK for a few years, where he developed his passion for dance music and vinyl addiction, Rutt turned his hand at promoting from a position of “pretty much seeing what can be achieved, getting inspired by these guys I knew doing similar, and noticing a few niches that weren’t already covered here”. Rutt is “impressed in fact with the amount of nights and visiting internationals coming to Adelaide”, but felt a need to fill in the gaps. This resulted in events such as Altitude (smooth drum & bass) & DeepFried! (Nu-school breaks) parties at Minke’s Skylab, and in a scene that’s known for it’s “if it’s not hard it’s not dance” attitude this was pretty gutsy for a relative new comer, but he has an enthusiasm and energy for the dance music industry that is infectious.

His latest event, PEACEBEATS, will showcase the best DJs and performers Adelaide has to offer in an attempt to show the claim that the ‘rave’ scene is apolitical, hedonistic and apathetic that many outside the scene level at it, is in fact untrue. Indeed, look at any of the dance music web sites such as inthemix.com.au, Adelaide Massive and System 6, and you’ll find heated debate on the causes and consequences of the (Iraq) war, where other forums have simply banned discussion of anything related to it. For Rutt, “this war is something I feel strongly opposed to, and instead of just getting angry or feeling completely powerless when our Government can so easily ignore what seems to be popular opinion, I decided to do what little I could to voice my (and others’) opposition”.

Instead of being dismissed as trivial or pointless, Rutt argues that “sometimes you have to focus on something positive to maintain the morale to deal with the scary reality”, and this is indeed the point of this party – to raise our awareness and to show opposition to the Governments position, whist having fun. “There are dance parties going on around the world all the time, most of them being pure escapism – which is fine. But this one is acknowledging what’s going on, and trying to contribute some positive energy to the situation, and at the same time, give real support to those groups who are working hard to change things for the better. I’m not putting this party on thinking that it will single handedly change government policy, its just one more peaceful, positive event for another section of the population,” he explains. “At the same time, this isn’t a propaganda push, it’s a dance party & fundraiser”.

With many approaching Rutt before he even asked, all performers are giving their time freely, and Rutt is promoting the event for free. “All of the money earned (after expenses for printing and sound hire) will be going to the not-for-profit groups NOWAR SA, Justice for Refugees SA, Urban Ecology Australia and Tall Storeez Productionz – the group who made the indie film ‘Holiday Camp’ about the Woomera detention centre riots and breakouts last year. As these groups have limited budgets for their campaigns (people may remember the inadequacy of the PA system hired for the 100,000 strong peace rally a month ago) and often rely on donations, the money raised will help future campaigns or in the case of Tall Storeez, help in distributing the film to a wider audience.”

The party has had “a good cross section of Adelaide’s top DJs respond and offer their services, which has been great, and my aim is being able to have representatives of some of Adelaide’s top club nights involved, getting a great line-up and covering a variety of styles.” On the night Rutt says “Minke and Skylab will crescendo, starting the night on a more cruisey tip, slowly building in tempo and intensity till its completely going off at the end! The Souk room is going to be a dedicated chill out room all night with couches and beanbags, while playing anything from experimental ambient to dub reggae to tripped out beats – a good landing pad for those not up for dancing but still want some good tunes.”