Doug Brennan

April 2023 was a big month for the Brisbane techno scene, with the debut of local label Domino FX. Their first release is a compilation entitled Chapter One, featuring eight tracks from five Brisbane producers. Down Under Sound interviewed label founder and featured artist Tony Quinn, an alias by Doug Brennan.

Q. Hey Doug, how is it going man? You have had a very big year so far. Can you give your take on what you have been up to with the label and supporting Brisbane’s techno music producers?

A. Hey! First of all, thanks for featuring Domino FX as a part of Down Under Sound. It's been an incredible year for me, I first started sourcing artists and music for our debut compilation back in June last year so it's amazing to see the plan finally come to fruition. Since the album launched, I have had a lot of interest from other artists, especially those in Brisbane wanting to get their tracks signed to Domino FX. We're doing monthly EP releases and a compilation album annually, we've already got the next 3 EPs ready to go, we're just waiting on album art. It's been incredibly rewarding to help our artists get their music finished and published. I'm now at a point where if I like a track and want to feature it on the label I can offer free mix-down and mastering services because I believe in the potential of the track and its suitability for our desired sound.

Q. Did you ever imagine when you started producing that you would have such a focused output one day with such talented locals on board?

A. I first started writing beats in fruity loops when I was 14, this would have been back in 2005 roughly. I remember hearing the sound-design from movies like Star Wars and being blown away. My older brother and sister left me a stack of mixed CDs they curated before they left home which is why I became so infatuated with music, featuring artists like Basement Jaxx and The Chemical Brothers. A year or so later I discovered Trance and Happy Hardcore and knew straight away that I wanted to make it myself.

To answer your question... no, I definitely had no idea of the direction I would go in and was honestly a bit lost about how to achieve my goal. I definitely wouldn't have thought I'd be running a Techno label 18 years later. Even though it took what probably seems like forever to find my path, I wouldn't change anything about the journey.

I think if you want to write meaningful and rewarding music you've kinda gotta go through an appreciation phase. Go to events, travel, experience various scenes in far-away places, discover the history of the music you love, find out what the music and the scene means to people. Take note of how trends and scenes change. Like everything a certain genre or sound will fade away and emerge again.

We can learn so much from historical electronic music, I'm constantly finding myself listening to tracks from the lates 90s or early 2000s and thinking "far out! how did they make that sound". There are definitely techniques and sounds that get lost to time and lack of knowledge transfer. I'm so lucky to have like-minded artists involved with Domino FX, they're in love with creating auditory spaces designed to put the listener in touch with their imagination.

For me electronic music puts me in touch with my thoughts and has always helped me navigate and process what's going through my head, especially melancholic music. It's not designed to make you happy or sad, it's a way of helping you put a new perspective on experiences and the world around you.

Q. What do you hope to accomplish from here on out, now that the first compilation for Domino FX is available? What do you see as the future for the label?

A. We live in a time where people are judging art on how many likes or views it has which is just inherently wrong and just goes to show how much commercialism has taken over the world. We're not in it to appeal to the masses, we want our following to grow naturally, which takes time, but the yield and story we can create will be so worth it. Unfortunately, we weren't able to have our launch event on the same day the album released as initially planned. That being said we are currently looking at having our debut event in June this year, lining up the correct venue and finding a date that all our artists are available that doesn't clash with Brisbane nightlife's full calendar is proving to be a difficult exercise. Once we have grown a bit of a following, we'd ideally love to do some takeovers at nightclubs or stages at doofs. I believe this will become a reality once we've had a few of our monthly EPs released.

Q. Tell us some more about your history in international electronic music. You have a very impressive resume already for an underground artist, with what sounds like a heap of cool experiences. Do you have any stories to share?

A. I guess it all kicked off when I went to the UK to live for two years. My brother and sister had both done the same and as any younger sibling would I felt compelled to follow their lead. Little did I know that the Trance music scene over there was massive and beyond comparison to what's on offer back in Brizzy.

I remember the first week I was there I made it my mission to check out the legendary Ministry of Sound that Friday night. I fancied a beer before the show and quickly realised I was a part of the ritual of getting boozed up at the local Weatherspoons just down the road from the club. It was in that hour or so before the gig that I made friends with a group of people who were also going to Ministry, they were so welcoming and excited for the night to come. I had never felt so welcomed by a group of strangers before in my life. Little did I know that meeting this group of ravers would result in me playing Tech-Trance five times at the club and at other parties across the UK during my two-year stint. I wish I could live in a loop and have that experience over and over again.

Q. What would you recommend people do to keep the Aussie scene alive, people from all walks of life who are interested in techno and electronic music?

A. Firstly I think if you're an underground music lover in Brisbane then you're like me and have no respect for what's on our local radio stations, with exception to 4ZZZ, which on rare occasions actually plays some electronic music. Australian media is just so consumed by the need to be successful that they have no desire to provide any kind of musical obscurity. Whereas you go to the States, or the UK and electronic music is played by multiple stations every day.

Don't get me wrong, Australia hosts some of the best parties and festivals I have ever been to... but unless you are part of the underground movement then you're just never going to really be exposed to it. This push by the commercialistic corporations to provide nothing but dribble results in a culturally uneducated mass of people blindly following their agenda, which in my opinion is why today Queensland is still seen as the "Bogan State". But hey, maybe this is the reason we have such a thriving underground music scene in Australia today.

How to keep the electronic music scene alive in Australia: don't watch or listen to free-to-air television and radio. Go to smaller events to listen to the music and find local producers and DJ's and fall in love with their work, there are so many out there. Finally stop being a bunch of judgemental jerks. The number of times I hear that foreigners come over here and feel like they are not welcome is way too often. I will always hold the time I had abroad close to my heart because the locals wanted me to have a good time and invited me to join their crew. We are all connected and just want to have fun, so respect your fellow being and if they are new to the area make the effort to make them feel welcome.

Thank you, Doug.

Domino FX – Chapter One is available online, as of 21 April 2023.

Domino FX - Chapter One (Various Artists)

The label’s debut release is a collaboration of 5 artists hailing from Queensland, Australia. The label sets the tone for future releases with its unique take on Techno for the club environment, delivering powerful rhythms, twisted sound design and dominant basslines. The compilation features 8 tracks between 125 – 136 bpm.

In an industry dominated by oversaturation, Domino FX provides compositions described as “stripped-back” and “hypnotic powerful energy”. The label doesn’t care for “big drops” or “commercial value” when choosing its works. Here’s what label owner and featuring artist Tony Quinn had to say on the matter. “Domino FX delivers dark melancholic soundscapes, with the goal of putting the listener in touch with their imagination. We don’t want our audience overwhelmed by complexity, we want you to lose yourself in the music and let your mind create the atmosphere inspired by the music. Music is just way more fun when you let your imagination paint the picture.”