Written By Gene Convery

 

John Course could be one of the most recognisable names in the Australian electronic music scene with countless hit tracks and headline shows to his name. John Curtin, you might not know, but I bet you have been to one of his shows, cutting his teeth hosting under 18 events and moving onto the likes of Stereosonic he has worked with some of the biggest and best in the business. 

 

When the two join forces you know that something special will be created and in this case, it is Request Artists. I sat down with the boys to find out a little about them and this forward-thinking DJ booking platform. 

 

For the purpose of this article, I will call John Course “Course” and John Curtin “Curtin” 

 

Come with me as I step behind the decks with John Course and John Curtin 

 

Congratulations on a hugely successful Festival X. 

Curtin - Thank you so much, we could not be happier with how it all ran and I am so happy to tell you that we will be adding two more cities to next year's event.

 

Congratulations on yet another successful Ministry of Sound reunion tour

Course - Thank you so much, it was wild! It is always so good to see how many people turn out of the old club nights. 

 

How did you get your start in DJing and what was your first paid gig?

Course - I was watching a Hip Hop movie Beat Street. As I sat there watching the DJ work the Vinyl and scratch I was mesmerized. I started practising almost right away, my first paid gig was at a pub in Frankston where I got paid $25 for 3 hours hahaha. 

 

Most recently you have pulled off what we all here think to be the best festival in Australia possibly ever but how did you get your start? 

Curtin -  My family had a history in hospitality, my grandfather had a hospitality company and was very interested in events, people and music so separately I started organising underage events, I just loved the music and meeting new people. I then started working in the nightclub scene in Melbourne and I was also working on some bigger events like Two Tribes during this time. I decided to go to uni while still doing some work with One Love and other agencies; while I was at Uni Facebook came out and I saw an opportunity for marketing and events. I left Uni and kept working with One Love on Events like Stereosonic and more recently I opened my own consulting company where I work with everyone from startups to large companies. It’s a really exciting space and I have invested in a new social media/influencer agency called The Likes of You so everything works together as a business. I see such a great opportunity in working with functions, friends and corporates with Request Artists.

​

How did you two first meet? 

Course - We started working together at clubs like Room and other hotspots where One Love would host events. We always said we wanted to work together so when I had the idea for this platform I knew I had to bring it to John. 

 

“Let’s talk about why we are here and that your new project, Request Artists. I had a look around it today and I loved the layout. I even recognised some of the names” 

 

Does this mean I can book Baby Gee to play a set from the days of Monisaty & Family in Brisbane? 

Curtin - Absolutely, we can organise that for you hahaha and that is just what we want to hear from people. You remember seeing them play and now you want to see if they could play a wedding or corporate function. 

BTD - We will start saving haha

 

What was the process like taking this from an idea into what it is today? 

Course - I think the hardest part was creating something that stands out from other agencies. What can we do to bring this into the here and now and make Australia’s top DJs accessible to everyone? At present you need to find the artist, find his manager, email his manager and wait for a response and that if one ever comes. We have cut out all of that work and put everything in one location. We have integrated sharable playlist so everyone attending or booking the event can get an idea of the music and the atmosphere that will be provided. 

 

How important was integrating the latest technologies into the booking platform? 

Curtin -  It was very important as the end-user is often time-poor and may not be the person attending the event. We have mobile integration and have worked hard on the back end to ensure that we provide the highest level of service while offering the top quality artist that are not available anywhere else. I also wanted to make sure we support local companies like Xero and QWILR. 

Course - The ease of use is front and centre with the website, we wanted a fresh approach that utilised the latest technology however at some points during development the technology got in the way of the product so we had to rethink the approach for that segment. 

 

What further integrations could you see adding to the platform in the future? 

Course - Always going to be hard when dealing with DJs who are busy people, some are touring plus keeping up with their regular gigs is always going to be a problem. We would like to see the client talking directly with artists about the music, their needs and the event itself. We would also like to look at things like integrating calendars and some other emerging technologies. 

 

You really could fill a festival line up with the artists you have, is that something that would be an option? 

Course - If you were hosting a 3-day event and wanted a big headliner we could fill every day. We are connected with the Likes of MaRLo, Throttle and Nervo but most people don’t want to pay the fee it would take to secure an act like that for a backyard party. However, due to our industry connections, the sky is the limit. 

Curtin- I think the exciting part of Request Artists is the level of requests, cool parties, weddings, 50th Birthdays with live bands and also people who love music and we can deliver  

 

Request your next artist for your special event by clicking the logo.