Merph talks Boiler Room TEN and Imposter Syndrome
Boiler Room is celebrating its tenth birthday with a series of shows across the world, including one in Sydney. Amongst the line-up of both international and local artists is Sydney’s own Merph. This student DJ is the least experienced of the bunch, but provides a unique sound that has earnt her a place at Boiler Room TEN. Backyard Opera was able to talk to Merph about Boiler Room and what she brings to the table.
“It still seems a bit too big to be true,” replied Merph when asked about what it means to be playing at such an event.
Merph is a relatively new DJ, with her career only beginning in early 2017. Before this, she listened to heavy metal, or “screamo” as she described, and never connected to house and dance music. Her only exposure to the scene was bad nights clubbing, at venues like the Ivy, where a lack of safety in those places drove her away. However, after attending the New Psycle festival in 2016, it was the artistry of the music, the creativity of the organisers and the kindness of the community that changed her perception of the scene. From there, her friends acted as guides, introducing her to new sounds and genres.
“I was trying to think about what my early influences were,” explained Merph, “and my honest answer is I don’t really know. At that point in time I was so new to everything and so everything was exciting.”
Studying perception within psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the time, Merph became interested in the correlation between sound and the mind, leading her to begin experimenting with turntables. Still not knowing how CDJs worked, she played her first shows at venues like Toyko Sing Song, Cake Wines and Harpoon Harry's. Though she still holds a deep affiliation for records, the inaccessibility of vinyl culture and personal intrigue around exploring sound using CDJs has seen her recent sets move to the digital sphere. Now playing at parties around Sydney, the later set times and varied venues diversified Merph's sound, moving it away from the house/jazz of her turntable days and towards break beats, jungle music and experimental genres. Although her music is always changing, that academic relationship between sound and the mind is forever at the heart of Merph's music.
“There’s little incremental intricacies or changes in a song that I find really en’s music.
“There’s little incremental intricacies or changes in a song that I find really engaging,” said Merph. “My music is grounded in breaks because it’s functional in a way. It’s pattern recognition. I think if you’re really good with pattern recognition you can be a really good DJ because you can have an expectation of what’s coming next.”
Now Merph's intelligent fusion of jungle, house and experimental has landed her a spot at Boiler Room TEN. Star struck herself, Merph is excited to see all the artists playing, from Ex-Terrestrial and their “interesting drum lines” and “insane” production, to Nazira, who Merph described as “one of the most inspiring artists out there.” She’s especially excited to see the other Sydney local, Ayebatonye, whose wild and varied style has “blown (her) mind” every time she’s seen her. As a relatively new DJ, with a style that is sure to shift and evolve through the years, she admitted to having imposter syndrome when seeing herself on the same bill as such internationally renowned artists. However, she is looking at the opportunity with excitement.
“It’s been a difficult one trying to weigh up my place on the line-up,” said Merph, “but I’m very very honoured and I will work as hard as I can to ensure that I do a good job. I hope to put together an hour that’s interesting. Something that’s emotionally alluring, using the (CDJ) machine itself as a tool or an instrument to play with sound.”
Boiler Room TEN is coming to iconic cities such as London, Paris and Berlin, giving local artists the monumental opportunity of performing on an internationally recognised stage. Merph is representing Sydney, a city that remains internationally iconic but with a struggling electronic scene when compared to other capitals like Brisbane and Melbourne. Merph believes that despite this, Sydney was still the right choice to host Boiler Room in Australia.
“I think it’s really indicative of Sydney and this music scene as a particularly exciting, interesting and forward thinking place,” explained Merph. “The community within this city is particularly beautiful and particularly supportive. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am now without the support of everyone within the community. I’ll use the trigger term but I think the lockout laws, as negative as they were to Sydney nightlife, allowed for the community to band together and I think that there’s a strength and a unity that has come out from it that is exceptionally beautiful.”
Boiler Room TEN makes its way down under on the 21st March, running from 6pm – 2am at the Roundhouse in Kensington. The line-up not only includes Merph, but also Ayebatonye, Bambounou, DJ Boring, Ex-Terrestrial and Nazira. Final release tickets are available here: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=BOILERRO20
