Blak Wax (Australia)

Date: Friday, 5th December, 2014
Venue: IndiEarth Stage
Time: 11:15pm

In a world first, DJ Astro Black and new media artist KISSmyBLAKarts dig in the crates of the Indegenous music collection and cultural archive to create a DJ + VJ set like nothing before. Teemed with guest MCs, this project opens the Pandora's Box on the cannon of tracks, including; Indegenous anthems, community favourites and obscure recordings while unleashing the treasure trove of archival footage and images to be re-appreciated by the next generation.

Los Angeles born Astro Black is a DJ and Producer, with a long history in the music industry. Astro played his first professional gig at the age of 15, touring as a support DJ. He has played alongside some of the industry’s biggest names . Astro’s high energy sets have secured him a solid reputation worldwide, as a party rocking, crowd pleasing act. His sets are a blend of up-beat dance, funky electro and soulful nu disco floor fillers. Sets that leaves you sweat-drenched, heart pounding and in dance floor ecstasy are what’s guaranteed. Astro has entertained crowds in USA, Europe, UK, Australia, India and Morocco. Touring regularly and frequently, Astro is committed to the dance floor and is at home sharing his broad knowledge of music. Astro has also been known to produce for other artists on original tracks and remixed tracks. He has played at numerous clubs and festivals worldwide, as well as held down international radio shows. Astro has also been affiliated with record labels in Australia, Europe and India. Astro recently toured India (2014) for the third time and Europe (2013) Astro has also been doing regular shows in Australia.

KISSmyBLAKarts is the pseudonym of multi-artform practitioner Sam Cook. Hailing from the Nyikina people, a distinct Aboriginal Nation in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia, Sam received her B/A of Visual Arts in 1992 with a minor in computer animation (circa Amiga 500) before a move into desktop publishing and graphic arts. An early adopter of the WWW, she is part of a handful of Indigenous people who were deeply entrenched in the social and cultural movements of the internet in the early 1990s to the present day. Part of various arts based guerilla movements KISSmyBLAKarts has been a steady contributor to the .jpg wars, a loose collection of Indigenous and social movements that form a collective response to current affair issues. KISSmyBLAKarts has consciously not been involved in the visual arts scene in the same way as many of her colleagues, having opted for a new art approach, focusing on the streets, walls and web as her galleries.