SEAN MILLER at Boa-Redux (270 Spadina), Saturday (June 11). 416-977-1111, www.boa-redux.com. Rating: NNNNN
Nine hours is a long time to do anything non-stop, let alone entertain over 1,000 partiers.
Few young DJs get the chance to play marathons. It’s a format reserved pretty much for the old guard who grew up with clubs where the single resident was in charge from the moment the doors opened until well after sunrise.
Sean Miller understands that he’s lucky to be in the position he is – a young up-and-coming DJ with a high-profile residency at hot after-hours club Boa-Redux, a production career that’s just about to blow up and the opportunity to play true marathon sets.
“This is my third time doing the extended set. They wanted to make it more of a regular thing, but I wanted to do it when I was ready – nine hours is a really long time. I’m not used to it,” Miller explains as we sip lemonade in the hot sun.
Like many DJs of his generation, he got his start in the rave scene. At the peak of that scene he had considerable success and was playing at parties across Canada. As rave died, though, he had to reinvent his sound and learn how to adjust to playing at clubs.
His tribal and progressive-influenced house sound had a certain edge to it, but it needed a venue, which is where Boa-Redux came in. An anomaly in the club scene, Boa has no liquor licence but does have the best-sounding dance-club room in the city, and it stays open late.
“My sound has evolved and has become more mature. You can’t help but be influenced by new things as you grow up. Back in the rave days, I was playing more trance, uplifting stuff. I usually got booked to play the morning sets. I was looking through my old records the other day and found stuff I couldn’t believe I used to play – and they used to be my favourite records. Then again, I’ll probably be saying the same thing in five years about what I’m playing now.”
His residency at Boa has helped him build relationships with some of the top international DJs and producers. The past year has seen him playing gigs all over the world, and his productions have started making their way into the record bins.
After this party, he’s going on a mini-tour opening up for Steve Lawler across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Not bad for a guy most people hadn’t heard of two years ago.
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com
