Australia, practice your curtsey: we have a new king of dance music to welcome. Brisbane's DJ tyDi was recently crowned number one in the Sony inthemix Top 50 DJ Poll, edging out two-time winner Ajax, and other big players like Dirty South and TV Rock in the country's most closely watched DJ poll.

TyDi has been staging a quiet assault on the Queensland and Australian dance scene over the last few years. Building a reputation for himself in the house and trance scenes, he’s been steadily moving up through the ranks of Australia’s best and brightest. After debuting at number 12 in 2006, and climbing to number four last year, tyDi was still surprised when he got the top spot in 2008.
“I was never planning it or expecting it, it’s such a surprise! It just shows that Australia’s really supported me. I wasn’t expecting that kind of support and I’m really thankful for it. Hopefully it means a lot more touring, and that wherever you are in Australia you’ll get to see me playing in the next few months!”

He’ll even be making time to call in to the home of the silver balls.

“I’ll be in Adelaide very soon, in October for A Day At The Park! I love Adelaide; it’s one of my favourite places in Australia to play. The crowds go crazy! The first time I played there was at the Paul Van Dyk Beach Party, and the support that I got was a lot like Brisbane. Adelaide’s one of those cities where people don’t seem snobby or pretentious or arrogant, everyone’s just out to have a good time!
“Everyone just parties and makes lots of noise, there’s lots of hands in the air, it’s definitely one of my favourite cities to visit.”

Not just an avid poll climber, tyDi’s also an active and highly successful producer, with his track Meet Me In Tokyo being signed to Armin van Buuren’s record label. He’s also toured nationally a number of times and has an album in the pipeline.

“I’ve been chipping away at the album for the last few years. A lot of the songs on it have already come out, but there are a few more surprises on there. It’s very melodic, very progressive. There’s some weird arty kind of stuff too; I’ve tried to write some stuff that isn’t dance, stuff you could listen to in your car or chilling out at home. I’ve also tried to incorporate little pieces in the album that you wouldn’t notice until the third or fourth time you listen to it. It’s a bit of a journey, it showcases what I’m about, what I’ve been into for the last two years.”

TyDi is not just talented, he’s qualified. He is in the final stages of what will be the first ever Bachelor Of Music, majoring in Technology, awarded by the Queensland Conservatorium. TyDi counts among his uni mates and collaborators on the album pianists, classically trained singers, violinists and Missy Higgins’ cellist.

“I’m really lucky because going to uni I’m working with musicians that would never usually work with dance artists, and it’s really changing the music I’m making. I’m working with this amazing musician, she’s a cello player, and she tours with Missy Higgins. She’s been playing all the strings for my tracks, and it just sounds incredible! Going to this uni, it’s really opened my eyes up to so many different kinds of music.

“I’m very open-minded with music now, I listen to everything. My biggest advice to anyone that’s writing music, or to any musician, is to not be closed minded. So many people fall into the trap of being so devoted to their one genre, they won’t listen to anything else. I think the artists that really excel are the ones who can see what people enjoy in all different genres and incorporate that into what they write.”

Having conquered the Australian dance music scene, reinvented tertiary musical education and with a promising first album on the way, what’s next for our new number one? Surely the decks of Europe beckon?
“I’ll be doing an international tour soon, but we’ve delayed that because I need to get out there and thank Australia for voting for me! I’m going to be touring Australia until January, repaying everybody with some big shows. When things quieten down next year I’ll head overseas to do a short tour. But I’ve got no intention of leaving Australia! I love Australia too much and the support I get here is amazing - I don’t think it would be worth leaving for any reason!”
Hannah Pick