‘Freek Funk’s sixteen tracks focused on organic drum sounds, courtesy of ‘the delicious talents’ of Hulal. Four years on Slater remains a prominent tastemaker with a cheeky attitude to playing tunes. He’s even brought four decks for our listening pleasure.

Mesmerized by the soundtrack to Kubrick’s ‘2001 – A Space Odyssey’, Slater quickly found a passion to innovate not imitate. From experimental noodlings on his dad’s 1957 Garrard Hi-Fi and a battered Roland 808, Slater has built a formidable studio and followed up with ‘Wireless’ and now the mix double-opus ‘Fear and Loathing..’ His grass-roots approach to production has bewildered and inspired dance aficionados, and finally he is back in the country to take a big role in the Summer Sound System extravaganza.

Sucking back on a fat rollie, Slater is an affable interview subject, chatting about acapellas, airports and arm dislocation. Don’t dare miss his set at Gatecrasher this weekend – he may just usurp Green Velvet.

A massive deal has been made out of your ‘Melbourne is techno city’ quote from the late nineties, do still regard it this way?
“Yeah, whether it’s techno, house or whatever..it’s the music and party centre of Australia. I pick up a vibe off cities and if I was gonna live in Australia I would live in Melbourne. I loved skating around St Kilda last time..i’m always having falls (chuckles) I’ve dislocated my right arm six times now. I’m always coming off my bike too, smashing myself up. I’m gonna bring my skates again. I’m a wheels man”

You’ll get mobbed on Marine Parade! Is it true that you are bringing four decks to Gatecrasher as well as four wheels?
“I’m really going for the four-deck thing now. I’m gonna keep it just to decks. I want four these days because really a lot of what I do now involves the two outer decks – I get them pitched up so I can use some breaks a lot faster. As well as acapellas and stuff, to get them over the record. It seems to be working well so that’s what I’m planning.”

How did you convince React to use ‘Fear and Loating’ after their initial reaction was ‘You can't call it something dark and 'orrible like that?
“I said ‘Look man, You’re seeing the wrong end of the stick.’ It’s an excitement thing. If you take the words as they are it could be taken negatively, but the whole thing is positive, it’s about excitement and the edginess of life. I had to explain it to them a bit better..i just didn’t want to call it ‘Luke Slater mix on the ones and twos’. I had come to a time when I really feared and loathed the airport. I like to get a bit of a story going on what I’m doing. It’s a bit worrying too, cos when I did the pictures for the album we did it in the Customs section of Heathrow. There’s a little sign just above me that says Tel Aviv. It was just before everything happened in the ‘States. There’s a lot of fear and loathing but that’s just a better reason to party”

Your blending of Felix da Housecat (Silver Screen – Shower Scene) and Tipper (Tug of War) is exceptional. What are the standout moments for you on the double CD? How did the white label selections effect the preparation?
“It was good to get tracks like Tipper, DHS and DJ Shufflemaster. Tipper I’m really rooting for – he’s the sweep-on from getting the techno influences and the break side of it rather than going the more drum ‘n’ bass side. I really like his stuff. There was a few tracks they wouldn’t licence, just being silly. I’ve got so many records it took ages (sighs). The mix took a day, but trying to decide which records to put on took three weeks. I had to find out about all the white labels which took ages.”

When you dropped ‘Freek Funk’, you manage to inspire the next generation of electro-tinged breaks and nu-skool techno – did you have any idea how hot the album would become?
“It was a great feeling to be honest. I was trying to push the barriers of the techno thing. I was surprised.”

How do you devote your time these days – do you find it difficult leading a normal life because you’ve become so well known?
“Yeah, well I’m either doing gigs or in the studio or do a bit of rollerskating. I haven’t had time to do anything else. I don’t rollerblade – I skate. The blades don’t look quite as cool.”

Do you write tunes while you’re on tour or prefer to work solely from your studio?
“The last thing I bought was a Titanium powerbook – I actually got it for the flight to Australia. I do a lot of stuff on software so I can fiddle around on the plane for hours and come up with some weird stuff. I have a love for computers, for Macs.”

Are the air-hostesses an inspiration?
“I try to but most of them are like Nazis anyway. ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ (faux German accent) WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO CONTACT?’(laughs) I’m looking forward to writing new tunes on the way To Australia.�