Words: Lara Pacillo // Main photo: Samuel Graves
Motez is one of Australia’s most recognised electronic producers and DJs, taking his sound to stages around the world for more than a decade. Yet one skill he’s still working on is the art of packing.
“I think I’m almost there,” he says, unconvincingly.
“I’ve done it too many times to still be forgetting things…”
It is the eve of a trip to New Caledonia, where the Adelaide-based Iraqi-Australian artist is performing a live show off the back of his headline set at Adelaide boutique music festival Housing Boom and the release of his latest single, “Confess”.
It is also just a few weeks before Supersonic, Illuminate Adelaide’s one-night electronic music party, which Motez has been brought on to curate.
Now in its second year, Supersonic has added a new dimension to Illuminate Adelaide’s music program. For Motez, it fills a space that always made sense within a festival built around light, sound and immersive experience.
“Illuminate sits in this spot of cutting edge between art and music, but there was something missing around the house and techno realm,” Motez says.
“On paper, it should marry to it really, really well because a lot of house and techno, especially the way we’re doing Supersonic, is future-facing, cutting edge music that visually is very enticing.
“House and techno is obviously there with things like Unsound and even the Unsound after parties, but having a dedicated event to that sound was missing.”
Taking over Hindley Street Music Hall on Saturday 18 July, this year’s Supersonic lineup is led by South Sudanese-Australian artist Skin On Skin, alongside Sydney-based Moktar, whose Middle Eastern sound Motez is keen to have represented in the club space.
The bill also features Melbourne’s Soju Gang and Stev Zar, as well as Adelaide’s KHUEVO, who Motez says is one to watch.
Pulling together this lineup in peak winter was no small feat.
“The thing to note about this time of year in Australia is that it’s really, really hard to find artists because everyone is in Europe, and even Australian artists are in Europe,” Motez says.
“It was a bit hard to find not only the right people, but the right people who were available and fit what we’re trying to do.
“All the artists on the lineup have been painstakingly picked. I’m excited for all of them.”
Across the night, Motez imagines the energy shifting gradually, becoming more charged without losing its shape.
“It will evolve from something tangible to more ethereal as the night progresses, but still have an industrial edge to it throughout.”
That transformation will unfold visually too where Motez says he is “genuinely chuffed” to have Matthew Adey of House of Vnholy on board as stage and lighting designer.
“I’ve admired his work for a long time, and I honestly think he’s one of the best visual designers in the country,” Motez says.
“His approach adds another dimension to what we’re building, complementing the sound with an evolving visual experience that transforms Hindley Street Music Hall over the course of the night.
“One of the things that makes Supersonic special is taking a familiar venue and making it feel and sound different, and House of Vnholy is the perfect person to help bring that vision to life.”
Last year, Supersonic debuted as a multi-venue intersection of music, art and film, with Motez appearing on the program himself. This year, it has been reshaped so the sound and the visuals built around it take centre stage.
“We wanted it to be a little bit more focused, rather than having a large overlap between other activities that go on around Illuminate anyway,” Motez says.
“This time around, it’ll be a bit more about the sound that we’re trying to achieve.
“The team have done incredible massive artists in the past, like Gorillaz and The Avalanches, but this sort of world of house and techno, dance music parties, that’s not something they have delved into heaps.
“I’m really proud of the dedication and trust that they’ve put into this project. I’d like people to take away a lot of pride in that, that there are people here making things happen.”
Since moving from Iraq to Adelaide in 2006 as a refugee, Motez’s career has grown from the city’s club scene to international festival stages, with a sound shaped by classical piano, 90s influences, electronic production and his own sense of place.
He has earned an ARIA Platinum single, six Hype Machine number ones and official remix credits for artists including Disclosure, Flume and Ellie Goulding, while also expanding into film, composition and audio-visual work.
Among it all, Motez remains deeply tied to the city that shaped him.
“I’ve been reflecting a lot on why I’ve stayed here recently, because a week or two ago I celebrated 20 years in Adelaide, or in Australia,” he says.
“Apart from the mundane of family and all that kind of stuff – which usually shouldn’t keep someone somewhere – I think it’s the sense of we do music for the community. We do music to connect with people, and I think no one exemplifies that more than Adelaide, especially at this time.”
For Motez, Adelaide’s scale is part of what gives the city’s music culture its intimacy.
“I’ve always been big on trying to make sure that we champion communities, and we champion parties and events and groups,” he says.
“In small cities, a lot of people are our friends, so I think it makes it even nicer and sweeter when you go into a party.”
That feeling was particularly clear to him at Housing Boom.
“I realised playing there for the first time, it highlighted that even more. It’s just a bunch of friends putting a party together that’s gone a little bit out of hand,” he says.
“We have our sense of community because geographically we’re small, everyone’s connected. It makes it even better.”
He sees that same energy moving through Adelaide’s dance music scene more broadly.
“I think it’s a really, really good time now to be in Adelaide,” he says.
“All over the world, events started happening on more of a grassroots, organic level. If you go back to what Adelaide is, it’s a small city with smaller communities, so this style of event started thriving in Adelaide.
“It just goes to show that people trust smaller brands, smaller parties right now more than ever, because we want to go back to why we loved this kind of music to begin with.”
Supersonic: Saturday 18 July // Hindley Street Music Hall, 149 Hindley Street, Adelaide 5000
