I follow the smoke and lasers to a room down the back, with lights, lasers and giant inflatable korus that ripple with the bass vibrations.
Hard dance pumps, the heavy beats create a hypnotic effect, as everyone dances in their own world, mesmerised by the music.
I am lurking in the world of hard house, trace and laser lights to meet two Dunedin DJs, Simon McKenzie-Nickson (25) and Ali Romanos (21).
They have travelled 400 kilometres to play a set at 2.30am this Saturday - the passion they have for their craft is impressive.
Dressed well in fitted t-shirt and jeans, the guys look sharp but relaxed and unpretentious.
For a duo playing a set in the prime spot after Australian DJ Jody 6, they seem calm and confident. But underneath this laid back exterior lies determination and passion.
For Simon, aka DJ Ataxic, his "this is it moment" came at New Year's Eve gig, Destinations 06, in his hometown of Wellington.
He describes how the dream line up was playing, including UK DJ Phil Reynolds and High Dosage.
"It was a mind-boggling good set. Just the way he could control the crowd with the music ... Once the party was over and I would function again properly, I bought my first DJ rig, and taught myself how to DJ.
"I got this book called How to DJ Properly and just basically went from there," he says, laughing at the memory.
About six months later, Simon was playing his first gig at the Dunedin bar formerly known as The Vatican.
"I was given a shot, 2am until 4am. There were estimated to be 400 people there. I ended up playing for four hours instead of two."
By New Year's 2007, Simon had impressed organisers and he ended up playing at Destinations 07, the very gig that inspired him to begin, playing to a crowd of thousands.
"It's scary. You look down and there are all these peoples faces looking up at you wondering what you will do next.
Once you get the nerves down and you understand what the crowd wants to hear it is just an awesome experience."
For Ali, aka DJ Alley, his passion for DJing began at the end of secondary school.
Following a a gap year, he went to Otago University to study law and bought his first set.
"Initially, I was playing a couple of nights at Gardies, but it left me wanting to play in the Octagon."
After securing regular sets at Ra Bar and Velvet Underground, Ali has progressed to more up-market bars in the Octagon, such as Pop Bar, Di Lusso and recently Urban Factory.
Like Simon, he played a New Year's Eve gig - Crank in 2007 - and has made several trips to Christchurch.
After a brief meeting in Wellington through mutual friends the pair got together when Ali turned up to study in Otago.
"I was playing at an event for the university, the Fahrenheit International Dance Party," Simon recalls.
"I saw Ali in the Union Foyer. It had been a couple of years, and it turned out he was studying in Otago now so it was all kind of random."
Ali adds: "We are both self-taught, and had both been to the same gigs that inspired us to DJ, so we got together and helped each other out with the learning curve and learnt different genres and mixing styles together."
2.30am: DJ Ataxic and DJ Alley take the stage to play a back-to-back set for the next hour and a half, fists in the air, controlling the crowd with every change of the beat and pound of the bass.
The lounge-sized room has managed to squeeze more people in and the heat is getting intense.
I feel the strain in my neck and the sweat dripping off me, but the energy of Simon and Ali keeps me going upfront and centre along with their loyal supporters.
Ali's shirt comes off, and he is no longer behind the decks but out in front, amping up the crowd within arms reach of the frantic dancing taking place on the floor.
Simon builds up the beat, to explode the song into violent bass.
Vibrations from the bass surge through the crowd as we all jump around, hands in the air, minds following the sound of the beat, with Simon and Ali doing the same.
Something of the same determination and energy has led the pair to developing their own label, Onetrackminds.
When Ali and Simon were first interested in DJing, Dunedin was home to Convergence, gigs held two or three times a year bringing all DJs in the area under one roof - literally a convergence of styles, genres and DJs.
For Ali and Simon, Onetrackminds is a way to reinvent the dance scene that Dunedin lacks.
Simon: "We had been talking about it and no one runs the gigs anymore now that organiser Bevan Blackie has gone to Australia. We want to bring that scene back to Dunedin.
"Onetrackminds is what it says; we want to bring everyone together rather than compete against each other, creating more of a community feel of anyone that loves Hard Dance as much as we do."
Ali says that Onetrackminds is all about eliminating the politics so often found in the DJ scene.
They want it to be about the music.
"We have a real first-person view of the scene. We aren't looking to change the world but fill the vacuum that has been in this scene for a while."
Adds Simon: "In Wellington, if you play with one group of DJs over another, that sort of stuff can make or break friendships, I've seen and had it happen."
While Hard Trance and Hard House are the boys' speciality, Simon says as Onetrackminds they are always looking to experiment with new styles and DJs, from dub-step to hip-hop.
"We want to give other DJs like us the opportunity to work with us, under the label of Onetrackminds."
"So much work has been put into this, but a lot of young DJs put a lot of work in and don't get the respect they deserve," adds Ali.
They have both worked hard to get their project off the ground.
Simon is in the process of completing an MSc and Ali a double degree with Law and a Bachelor of Arts.
Both are pouring their own blood, sweat and money into the project. Their hard work has paid off.
What began as a crazy idea has led to the development of their own website and Revolution, a gig designed to launch
Onetrackminds and bring back the same experience that Convergence offered to Hard Dance enthusiasts.
Thanks to their determination and not taking no for an answer, the duo have managed to secure big name sponsors such as Strawberry Sound, Elusiv clothing, Dunedin shop Funk That, entertainment website Biggie and Demon Energy.
Simon says enthusiastically that if Revolution successful, the goal is to try and make it a regular event as Convergence once was.
"There isn't a true clubbing culture here, no real dedicated music scene," Simon says. "While a lot of the Octagon bars play house, we really want to raise the profile of Trance and Hard House, and when promoted in the right way, I think it can be done."
"We are just two normal guys, working hard to genuinely stimulate some energy into the scene," says Ali.
4am: My back, neck, legs, arms and basically every muscle in my body aches even though my mind is being held captive by the sounds of Onetrackminds.
Upfront and centre, Ali and Simon are commanding the crowd with such energy and force.
They sign off for the night, met with wild cheers and screams from the crowd.
"It is the music that gets us through the night, the energy," Simon says. "Keeping the crowd going keeps us going and half the time we are dancing harder than the crowd."
They definitely gave as good as they got this morning.- Contributed by Laura Weaser
• "Revolution" will be held at Bath Street, on July 23. Tickets are available from Funk That for $10 + bf.
| DEFINITIONS Trance: Very melodic with emotional chord progressions around the 138-145 BPM mark with an emphasis on building up throughout the tune. |
