All Sistyms GO!

Melbourne-based Sistym has been on our radar for more than a minute or two.

A fresh graduate of Overview & Dynamics mentorship last year, she popped into our inbox with early productions around the time we launched our label in late 2022 and we’ve kept tabs on her development ever since… Braced for the inevitable moment for her to melt our messages with pure fire, checking her multi-gene mixes on her soundcloud as we wait.

That moment happened a few weeks back when Eyes Open and Fever Dream crashed our systems. Following a cheeky bootleg of Creeds a few months back, it’s Ari Yeung’s official debut release and it smacks in two very clear directions… Eyes Open snaps and bounces with a venomous late night twist while Fever Dream takes through into a much eerier, pensive twilight.

Out now on Brisbane label 8 Ball Audio, it’s an accomplished debut that reflects two distinct sides to the Sistym sound Ari has been developing: uncompromising and heavyweight yet deep and understated. Cooked over time – marinated in imposter syndrome and sprinkled with large helpings of over-thinking – Sistym’s system is one based on long game code. She’s not rushed out any productions and has spent years developing her own lane as a DJ and, more recently as a promoter and the founder of Melbourne multi-genre event Midnight Request.

On our radar for more than a minute or two but neck deep in bass for more than a year or two, Eyes Open and Fever Dream are the sound of Sistym levelling up for a brand new chapter. This is the story so far…

Yes Sistym! How are you doing?

Great thanks. I’m playing a festival this weekend. Aura Festival. So I’m just getting prepared for that. It’s my first festival of the season here.

Dope! You’ve announced Northern Base too…

Yes! I’m doing that at the end of the year. I’ve not played in New Zealand before. No gigs or festivals. I’ve been on holiday before but nothing musically. Which is crazy as it’s only three hours from Melbourne.

I didn’t think anything was that close to anywhere in Australia!

Haha. Usually that’s the case. I used to live in Perth and that is hours away from anywhere so I’m still stuck in that mindset.

Ah Perth. Ekko & Sidetrack country. Pendulum country. Is that the backdrop to the start of your musical journey?

Yeah. I started listening to D&B when I went to high school. I was buying CDs from the local record shop. I didn’t know much about it, I just knew I liked it. I was buying albums from artists like High Contrast and Logistics. All the early Hospital and Shogun albums. I remember buying Alix Perez’s debut album and putting it on and not being sure about it! Obviously my tastes have changed over the years because that’s exactly the sound that inspires me.

A big turning point album!

It was! The problem was that I didn’t have any friends who were into D&B like me so I’d see all these line-ups for big festivals and think, ‘Wow, I really want to go!’ But I had no one to go with. Eventually I met people locally who were into it and started going to local things and learning how to mix. It was a gradual journey.

Was there a point where you stopped feeling like a D&B misfit and you found your local community?

Yeah definitely. It was a night called Beatmash. Every Wednesday night and I’d go without fail. I had my first job out of uni and every Thursday I would come to work feeling so hungover. I wouldn’t get anything done until at least lunch time! So it was then. Ekko & Sidetrack were there on the regular. Shockone was playing Shake Bar every Friday. The community around those weekly shows was so tight and I made a lot of friends through that. Now obviously a lot of those DJs are smashing it around the world!

Totally. Is Metro City still going? I remember Andy C showing me pictures of that place 20 years ago and it blowing my mind.

Oh yeah that’s still there. Crazy venue. It goes off. My first ever big D&B event was there. It was DJ Marky and the placed was packed. I can still remember where I was in the club. I was on the balcony watching him and he picked up the deck and scratched with it on his head. I was like ‘wow what the hell am I watching?!’

Goosebumps! These are the reasons you do what you do, right?

Totally. And it’s grown from there. I’ve made so many amazing friends around the world through this music.

Last time we spoke you were on the Dynamics and Overview mentorship and I did a class on that. How did the mentorship go?

I loved it. Through that I started my own promotions event to help me get over to the UK. I needed to raise some money and go over and play their Overview show at the end of the year. I’d spent the whole year getting up at 4am or 6am to attend each Zoom class, I was determined to do the whole mentorship and get over to the UK for that show. Now, as a result, my nights are still running! It had a snowball effect.

That’s Midnight Request, right? Tell me everything.

It was a bit of an accident in a way. I’d never felt compelled to put on my own events because I always felt someone would do a better job at it than me and I’d be happy to play for them. But it was good fun. The first few I booked for friends and a few artists passing through. The concept is mixed genre mostly but it leans more into the 140 and dubstep side. We’ve got some great acts booked for next year.

Exciting. Promoting is a scary and stressful role. One of the most thankless tasks in the game. There’s so much more to promoting than people think, right?

Yeah definitely. Although the good thing about Melbourne is the community is pretty tight. It’s not massive so we see each other at other events and a lot of the promoters often collaborate which is good to see. Pooling money together and lessening the risk a bit.

That’s a proper culture and community working together. QQQ Street is at the heart of that, right?

Yeah it’s such a sick club. He opened it last year. His wife runs a Japanese café during the day and the club is in the back space. Amazing sound. That’s the core of what it is, the space is made for people who are really into it.

Sounds awesome. What guests have you had down so far?

We’ve had Sepia down. Frenquency. Jabba. I’m excited for who we’ve got coming up but I can’t say just yet.

Tell us about your release instead. This is your debut!

Yeah! I’ve had some life things going on so it’s been harder to finish tunes but I got two together and it’s coming out on 8 Ball Audio. They’re a Brisbane label. I met them at Earth Frequency Festival in 2022. Awesome guys, doing really cool things to push the Australian bass scene.

Go on. I need to look into them. Tell us about your tracks. I listen to a lot of your sets and you play about 50/50 dubstep and d&b. So when you sent it to me I wondered if it might be a mixed genre release.

I guess I’ve been listening to D&B a lot longer. I do find 140 fun to write though and I’ve got a track coming out on another label called Nu Forms which is a Perth label. That’s a VA of local producers coming out soon.

Sick. How about these tracks?

So with Fever Dream I was applying a lot of what I leant in the mentorship. Putting sounds I like together and seeing what sticks. The concept came about through the synths sounding dreamy. You know those moments when you wake up and you’re not sure if it’s reality or not. You know?

They sound very familiar!

So much of our lives are spent online, right? We see so much stuff but not all of it can be proven to be real. Kinda like a metaphor for the versions of how people present themselves online. Like is this real or is this a fever dream? What’s going on? It’s more of a chilled tune compared to Eyes Open which is more of a clubby 2am banger. It’s more contemplative.

A lot of it came down to that pressure of social media. Looking at what’s popular and wondering if people are going to listen to the music or not. You can really overthink it. So I’ve tried to put those thoughts aside and just focused on what I wanted to hear in a track and write something for my taste. As tempting as it is to make a sound that pops off and gets noticed but it’s really important to be true to yourself.

Massively. You have to stay authentic to yourself don’t you. Have you learnt anything about yourself during the process?

I’ve learnt how much I procrastinate! It took me ages. I had to get over a lot of imposter syndrome and also wanting to sound much better than my current skillset or experience will allow. Like wanting to sound like Alix Perez but not because… well I’m not him!

Haha. You’ll find your sound over time and many release like he did

I hope I do. But I’d have these huge blocks, you know? I spent too long putting off things. But the mentorship was a major boost for me. It gave me a routine. I met people who shared similar experiences and thoughts and worries and realized it was normal. I became a lot easier to take the pressure of myself and when you do that the creativity flows out. You approach it in a different way and just naturally go through the process and see what fits. It’s a lot like slowly painting a picture.

I guess the picture is gradually coming into view. The blocks have gone now?

Yeah it’s easier now. I’ve leant some tips and tricks. Getting into a daily habit of opening Ableton. Once you start doing it it becomes part of your daily life and it’s not quite as a scary. It gets easier.

Yeah every day! You mentioned a dubstep track. Any more in the pipeline?

Nothing quite yet. Lots of ideas and I’m in talks with a label but we’ll see what happens.

How about Midnight Request. You mentioned some big acts!

Yeah we’ve got some sick bookings for next year. I’m collaborating with two other promoters so can’t say who we’ve booked but it’s very exciting.

This time of year seems to be a pilgrimage for UK and EU acts to come over your way for a cheeky tour.

Yeah quite a few people have hit me up and asked to play but we’ve got other plans. There are only so many venues and so many weekends and ravers. It’s close to saturation.

Relatable! How was your UK experience?

It was the best. I stayed at Enada Deana’s and we had a roadtrip down to Brighton with Klinical and Azotix. We got stuck in a lot of traffic! It was cool to experience Volks. It’s such a sick club. Being the UK during winter was an experience, too.

Rainy winter or cold winter?

Both! I was jet lagged for the whole two weeks and realized it was because I hadn’t seen the sun for the whole time. But I had so much fun and met all the girls form the mentorship as well. I loved it.

Any other plans for travelling?

I’m really bad at long term travel plans! Every time I’ve come to the UK it’s been super spontaneous. I wish I was better at planning, I’d save a lot of money. But sure, I’d love to come back over again if anyone wants to book me.

Only a matter of time! Let’s sign out with your favourite systems.

Oh wow, well soundsystem of course. The solar system is a great system. Telecommunication system? They’re pretty good too… Without that we wouldn’t be speaking right now!