In the nineties he was Stress-ed out; these days he’s in Therapy. As Dave Seaman prepares to launch his record label Audiotherapy, it’s good news for Australia’s producers.

“At the moment, Australia has the biggest untapped hotbed of talent in the world,” declares Dave Seaman, reeling off producers like Infusion, Phil K, Sean Quinn, Kasey Taylor, Digby and Olivier and Nubreed. “However, because the media infrastructure isn’t as strong as in England unfortunately these and other Australian artists haven’t received the recognition they deserve.”

It’s no revelation that Australia's electronic music producers have suffered from a lack of domestic media support; mainstream radio and television showing little interest in dance music culture beyond that of Madison Avenue. Australian artists may finally get the break they deserve in the near future, salvation coming in the form of Dave Seaman's new label Audiotherapy. Its inaugural sampler is slated to feature no less than three tracks from Australian (and in particular, Melbourne-based) talent .

Talk about the label first began circulating with the release of Dave Seaman’s Cape Town Global Underground. Two years on, a few false starts and the label is finally going to see the day of light. “We’ve had Highland’s ‘No Way Out’ and Polaroid’s ‘So Damn Beautiful’ signed for quite a while,” he explains “but I didn’t want to launch the label until I had assembled the right team.”

That team includes Nick Gordon Brown, Sara Riley and Brothers in Rhythm cohorts Alan Bremner and Steve Anderson. The same team who pioneered the Stress imprint in the nineties, delivering such classics as Bedrock’s ‘For What You Dream Of’ and anthem’s like Freefall’s ‘Skydive’.

Since the demise of Stress, other labels like Hooj, Junior, Bedrock and Yoshitoshi have picked up where it left off, creating their own niche markets. It’s this market that Seaman has his sights firmly set on. “Certainly those are four templates of labels we hope to emulate with Audiotherapy. We did it with Stress years ago and we’ll do it again. Obviously you move with the times but the general brand values, ideology and spirit of it is the same.”

One aspect that will separate the label from its counterparts is in the signing and development of particular artists - Australia’s Infusion the first to benefit when they release their new album.

We can all get a taste of things to come when the Audiotherapy sampler is released shortly featuring unreleased Gloat (Seaman and Brothers In Rhythm member Steve Anderson) tracks, the original and Junkie XL mixes of Infusion’s Legacy, new mixes of Highland’s ‘No Way Out’, and a Charlie May remix of Ashland’s ‘Clear’ among others.

Not content with simply the label Seaman’s umbrella company Therapy also includes a DJ management agency of the same name. Current DJs on the roster include Anthony Pappa, Max Graham, Nigel Dawson, Timo Maas and Remy. Unlike the Balance Promote Group, whose roster reads like the Top 100 DJ magazine poll, Seaman plans to keep a small exclusive roster allowing the agency to give each of the individual artists the attention and commitment they deserve.

“First and foremost, they’re people who are talented at what they do. Secondly, people who still have their feet on the ground and who are very real and honest about what they do. Also, what they do comes from the heart,” says Seaman about those on the roster.

The agency is currently showcasing the roster at its weekly party Four::Four at Club El Divino in Ibiza. Featuring Seaman as the resident DJ, it will also play host to non-Therapy guest DJs including Australia’s Anthony Pappa, Ben Korbel and Kasey Taylor. If successful, the agency plans to take Four::Four further abroad.

dave seaman, photo by tami + don

The launch of the label and Seaman’s Global Underground and Ibiza commitments has meant production on the long-awaited Brothers In Rhythm album has been stalled. In addition, Steve Anderson’s commitments as musical producer for the Kylie tour and Alan Bremner’s artist album as Loafer on Hope Recordings haven’t helped proceedings either.

Despite all of the above, the brothers have still managed to complete eight of the ten planned tracks, which will each feature a different vocalist. Those who loved the vocals of Placebo’s Brian Molko on the Brothers In Rhythm mix of ‘Passive Aggressive’ can look forward to another track featuring his vocals.

Trainspotters in Ibiza take heed. When we caught up with Seaman a week before flying to Ibiza he told us, “We’re very close to finishing one single which I plan to take with me. Infusion is also mixing a demo of another one so there should be two things floating around on a white label or CD across the summer “.

Citing his favourite album of last year, Depeche Mode’s Exciter, as a general indication of what to expect, Seaman says, “It’s got really contemporary and electronica-based production”. Featuring both up-tempo and down-tempo tracks he’s quick to point out it won’t simply be another album of 4/4 tracks. “All the tracks are song-based. There’s even one really slow almost ballad-like number but a song is a very versatile thing. Double it up, put a house tempo behind it and suddenly you have something which is adaptable to the dance floor”. The album is expected to drop around April 2003.

It seems the album will steer well clear of the anti dark-and-tribal sentiment associated with the current progressive scene. "Things have splintered up and people have become very specialized in different areas” he admits. “Certainly that sound is the one that transcends language barriers and is accepted and embraced around the world more so than anything else. But any kind of music for three of four hours becomes a little monotonous.”

It’s easy to become obsessed with a certain sound but don’t be misled by the magazines, he warns. “A lot of DJs are trying to mix it up at the moment and there are still a lot of great records out there.” Infusion, Phil K, Flash Brothers, James Holden and Yunus are a few producers he mentions.

“You can’t just generalize and say one genre of music is good or bad. You’ve just got to take the best of what’s out there and make it fit coherently as a collage which essentially is what we as DJs do”.

dave seaman, photo by tami + don

These days it’s not solely the music, which has resulted in people turning their backs on clubland. Cream’s recent announcement to close down its Liverpool operations while it reassesses its future, exemplifies the current state of clubbing in the UK. “England is having a little bit of a dip,” says Seaman. “Clubs that once had a 1000-3000 weekly attendance have gone monthly and are really starting to struggle. People seem to be going to the big festival events although the smaller clubs, which are attracting the older crowd, are doing well.” Perhaps it’s a sign that things are heading back underground.

In the U.S, drug-usage is the issue instead; the R.A.V.E (Reduce America’s Vulnerability to Ecstasy) bill a major threat to clubs. “In America sometimes I wonder if the drugs come first before the music, “ he comments. “I just played in Singapore and that was like the Hacienda in 1989. It was unbelievable even though it was entirely alcohol-fuelled.”

Still the link between music and drugs cannot be easily denied. “Ecstasy is a club drug just like all musical genres have been linked to a certain drug of their time. Music, the spirituality of music, increasing your awareness and opening your mind have always been linked dating back to the Red Indians, way back before Christ, since the beginning of mankind. Anytime where people have tried to expand their mind and seek spiritual enlightenment by taking hallucinogens and celebrating life to a primitive rhythm. Unfortunately these days, a lot of drug-taking has become anti-social.”

Of course the scene will always continue to evolve, bringing new DJs and new producers to the fore. The rapid ascension of James Zabiela and the choice of producer-turned-DJ James Lavelle for the next installment of Global Underground suggest we could be witnessing a changing of the guard within the industry. How does he feel about this next generation of DJs? “It’s still people who are not making music by numbers and it’s still based on the dance floor and fits within the same kind of spirit. Routines are generally the beginning of the end”.

Seaman certainly can’t be accused of relying on formula as he continues to push boundaries. It’s probably only a matter of time before Dave Seaman and the word Audiotherapy are interchangeable. Whether Seaman can pull it off to the extent that John Digweed has with Bedrock, remains to be seen.

One thing is certain though. The future does look promising for budding and Australian producers. “Already sixty percent of our label is from Melbourne-based artists so in the future it may make sense to run the label from down there.�