Skiing through the ages
The premise for DJ Hot Dub Time Machine is pretty simple; play hits across the decades, starting in the 50s and coming all the way through to present day. The Aussie-based artist is headlining Coronet Peak’s Night Ski Party at the end of the month, bringing good tunes and good vibes.
Tom Lowndes is the man behind the moniker and he’s looking forward to performing once again in Queenstown, a place he’s grown quite the affinity with. He’s played here a couple of times for snow machine as well as back in the 2010s when he used to play shows at bars around town as well as for the Queenstown Winter Festival.
“It’s such a beautiful part of the world,” Lowndes says.
He was a part of the creation of Snow Machine, first helping create a festival called Hot Dub Wine Machine in Australia. It ran for a few years before Lowndes decided that running a festival was “a dreadful idea,” and one best left to the professionals, so he got out and now focuses on touring around the world.
He always constructs his sets before each show but when he’s up on stage he’ll often change things up based on what he thinks the crowd are feeling. He explains that while retro DJing can be considered daggy, when you’re playing some of these older artists alongside modern ones, it makes them all the more cooler by association.
“I kind of know which songs are the best and which songs people want.”
Starting out, Lowndes was DJing for about ten years in his bedroom, not making too much progress, when he came up with the idea of playing songs in chronological order. He focused his attention on Fringe Festivals – Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals are where he cut his teeth, before breaking into the mainstream and doing it fulltime.
“I was 35 when I started making a living from DJing, so it took a long time, but I love it.”
Now, he has a huge catalogue of songs and tailors his sets to where he is performing. For Kiwis he often chucks in some Crowded House, Th’ Dudes, Bic Runga, Margaret Urlich and Split Enz – he went to school in New Zealand, so has a good grasp of our music culture. In addition to great, tailored, tunes, Hot Dub Time Machine is known for high-energy and engaging sets, something a little different to what you might usually expect when going to see a DJ.
“I really think that if you’re performing and people are looking at you, it’s your job to make everyone happier and create a joy feedback loop where you’re having fun and they’re having fun, and then it just, kind of, feeds back on itself until everybody is having a great time. And I think that performing is about connecting – you should be connecting with the crowd.”
Tom, aka Hot Dub Time Machine will play at Coronet Peak’s Night Ski Party on Wednesday, 29 July. Entry is free, and everyone is welcome to join the festivities. If you’re looking to ski or ride you’ll need to have a ski pass.
Head to coronetpeak.co.nz/events for more info.
