HEADS KNOW TAPE 030: Kuya Neil
An interview and DJ mix from the Melbourne-based musician, producer, and organizer.
Photo: Jeffrey Xu
HEADS KNOW TAPES is the mix and interview series curated to introduce you to the most interesting innovators, selectors, and artists from New York City and beyond.
Get it straight to your inbox by subscribing to Substack.
I hate to admit that sometimes the soulless Spotify algorithms are good for something. I don’t know which footwork release I was listening to, but it somehow brought me to a remix of “Mary Jane” by KHYA, and when I saw the artist’s name, I knew I had to learn more. “kuya” is an unmistakable pinoy term — which means older brother — so to find a Filipino footwork producer only felt like fate.
But Kuya Neil does more than make footwork tracks, he’s a musician and producer with a diverse catalog that spans all sounds. He’s an organizer who helps run content.net.au, an artist collective and platform, and Sound School, a weekly workshop series geared at helping artists improve their production and DJing skills.
Roll the tape to hear Kuya Neil’s 100% 160 BPM original production mix and keep reading to get to know the artist.
I never ask this question, but what’s it like where you grew up? I don’t know many people from Australia, actually.
I grew up in a small town called Hastings, which is about two hours south of Melbourne. It’s a predominantly white working class suburb that had a steel company where both of my parents worked. It was a quiet town; I lived around public housing and older people. It was a pretty dull and isolated place, surrounded by some more affluent and touristy suburbs with wineries and beaches. My family didn’t connect much with mainstream Australian culture, but thankfully I had the internet, a cool older sister, and a Filipino community about an hour’s drive from our town where many of our family friends lived. I moved out of home and relocated to the city (Narrm/Melbourne) after I finished high school.
Australia in general is what I imagine as a mixture of white American and British culture, with a bunch of random ethnic groups thrown in the mix. In Melbourne and Sydney especially, it’s very diverse, with many migrant communities. It is also a British settler colony, stolen land unceded Aboriginal land, so no one outside of the indigenous population has any real connection to the land. This genocidal history does play into the country's struggles with national identity and its own cultural production. Australia tends to follow the lead from the US and Europe so culture can move a lot slower than those parts, often adopting trends and ideas well after they’ve passed.
Having said that, the underground scenes are vibrant, strong, and there’s a lot of really talented people making great music, but opportunities can feel limited due to population and how far we are from other parts of the world. I think we’re finding our identity through this isolation and finding our own voice.
That’s all really insightful and gives a good perspective on hard it must be for artists there to find their footing. I read you didn’t get into electronic music production until your early 20s and actually started playing in bands, and later on making hip-hop even though you’ve always loved it. What was the final push that made you come to the electronic music side?
It allowed me to explore my taste and ideas without the constraints of organising multiple people, finding spaces to rehearse, carrying instruments etc. I was surrounded by guitar guys and rock music people growing up in my hometown, so that influenced me a lot when I was younger. When I moved, it was incredibly freeing to make electronic music, and I felt really inspired creatively by how much you could do on a laptop and a DAW. It was also a particularly exciting time in the early 2010s — the sounds people were making on computers felt really groundbreaking and the online music culture at the time was really exciting.
I am thankful to the early queer and POC-led raves and parties in Melbourne (Alterity Collective & Vapor Noir (R.I.P DJ Brigida) that gave me a space to DJ and play my early tracks in Melbourne. Being able to gig with a laptop or a USB was a huge bonus too. However, I am starting to move back to playing guitar and incorporating that into performing live.
That’s really exciting and I can’t wait to hear you incorporate all of that together. Was transitioning into electronic music from hip-hop pretty easy, considering your tastes in both have kind of a kindred spirit?
It's very similar — groove focused, lots of drums, and there can be a lot of similarities in sample choices. I was always drawn more to the club and dance-centric rap production as opposed to the more traditional sampled boom-bap stuff (though I did go through a period of listening to a lot of that), so I always saw them as the same thing. I think the main thing with making hip-hop is that you’re more in service to the vocalist, and personal relationships are a core part of the process. I feel like I’m there to adapt to that person and make them feel comfortable
I actually stumbled across you through your KHYA remix of “Mary Jane” and was so hyped to find a Filipino artist making footwork. How did you get into the genre?
Thank you and shout out to Khya. My older sister showed me juke music when I was around 18, but I didn’t become a fan until a few years later. It was stumbling across RP Boo’s “Speakers R-4” video on YouTube that got me hooked immediately. I loved how minimal, but sophisticated it was rhythmically, and how much energy they could create with so few sounds. I was so fascinated by the production and cadence — it felt so futuristic. I got into the Bangs & Works compilations and all the Planet Mu releases followed soon after. It quickly expanded from there.
You said that trying to emulate Chicago footwork was one of the things that led you to get more seriously into electronic music, too. Who were you listening to?
DJ Nate, DJ Yung Tellem, DJ Elmoe, Paisley Parks, DJ Rashad, RP Boo, DJ Diamond, and DJ Roc.
What’s the quintessential footwork track you show to someone who’s never heard it before (under the guise you’re trying to get them to actually like it)?
Hmm.. it depends on whether the person is already into dance music. The form is what I think many people struggle with on first listen, at least here in Australia. We don’t have the dance culture to really contextualise it.... Maybe “I Don’t Give a Fuck” by DJ Rashad or “02-53-02” by RP Boo. I’d probably also throw on some old Warzone or Walacam YouTube clips to show the actual dancing too.
Though he’s not a Chicago producer, I’ve found Cakedog’s Menace in the Phantom to be a good introduction for newcomers to the genre.
You make music and visual art. What came first? Does one inform the other?
Drawing came first. I would spend a lot of time drawing cartoons as a kid before I touched instruments. I actually studied to be a graphic designer after high school, but dropped out in the first month of university. They definitely inform each other. I see them both as very important in creating a mood and world for the songs to live in, and I often have an image or visual in my mind when making tracks. I like bouncing between the two, it stops me from getting bored, and I also have a similar process with making visuals as with music, throwing in influences from anywhere and seeing what works.
Being able to do it all probably helps with producing events and organizing workshops though, right?
Absolutely, I’ve become very self-sufficient. I can do a lot of the things on my own and can pump out projects a lot faster and efficiently. I can be a bit of a control freak and like to be across everything I work on. It can save me a lot of money, but the downside is I’m really tired all of the time.
What are your biggest challenges when trying to balance what to do, what to try to improve on, and what to learn next?
Biggest challenges are learning to be patient and managing high expectations of myself and in turn others. I struggle to manage my time and prioritise things, and am often juggling a lot of projects simultaneously. Overworking has affected my health and relationships a lot in the past. There’s definitely times I wish I asked people for more help, or slowed down and listened to my body. The culture places a lot of value on external outputs, and hustling as a badge of honour. It’s tricky to navigate at times, wanting to grow and achieve your goals, but not wanting to be singularly defined by those things. I’m also trying to cut down on my screen time.
Tell me more about content.net.au and Sound School.
content.net.au is an artist collective and online platform formed by a group of artist making music, DJing and organising across Melbourne (Narrm) and Sydney (Eora). We’re all friends and collaborators and are connected by a shared feeling of being stuck in Australia, and existing in-between a lot of spaces musically and culturally. Majority of us come from migrant backgrounds and share a similar aversion to the Australian music industry. We collaborate across our music and video projects and also run shows. Our aim is to have fun, maintain healthy relationships to the music and keep a collective and collaborative mindset.
Sound School is a community-run music collective formed in 2017 by musician Bridget Chappell (Hextape). It began as a volunteer-run electronic music workshop series run out of an abandoned squat building in the Inner West of Melbourne (R.I.P Hot Shots, Footscray).The focus has always been on teaching electronic music workshops led by women, queer people and folks of colour, with a strong DIY ethos underpinning everything. I was part of the first program, and myself and a small group of organisers ran a series of longer workshop programs and events across a bunch of DIY spaces, youth centres and some larger arts organisations. It’s had a rotating list of organisers over the years, with myself being present from the beginning. I love doing it and it has helped me stay connected to people and create purpose.
Photo: Jeffrey Xu
For me, recording history is what drives me. Is there a common thread that helps you keep going in this godforsaken industry?
I am similar to you in that sense. I want to be able to look back and tell a story of my friends and the music community we were part of. It’s really cool to see people grow and see their work evolve, so I see a big part of what I do as documenting history as well. Passing on knowledge and sharing important ideas to the next generation is another goal — something that is often lacking in the local scene here. Seeing young, passionate folks come up with more access and opportunities is rewarding.
But re: cursed industry, I think the corporate-driven ideas of success and visibility need to be rejected in favour of something more local and led by shared principles and celebration of culture and history, rather than some promise of money and the optics of success. This has always existed, but I think it’s more important to champion now than ever. I think we’re experiencing that now with the BDS movement and artists making decisions about participating in certain festivals and platforms tied with Zionism. I think this corporate and Zio art-washed sponsored route is so pervasive that many folks can no longer see outside of it. In Australia, it is very built into the arts infrastructure, especially in Melbourne with many of our larger arts organisations implicated in this.
A lot of work needs to be done to foster a thriving and viable alternative, and part of that work is trying to get people on board with your ideas in an inviting way, rather than shaming them into action. I am hopeful for new models and frameworks that more people can get on board with.
When I spoke to RamonPang last year, we chatted a bit about how Filipinos make the best DJs because they’re so willing to share and express their emotions. Do you agree with that?
Though Swagapinos are the master race, I’m not sure if I completely agree…but I can understand what you’re saying. I know there is a history of serenading in Filipino culture that could support that DJing comment. I think Filipinos are known to be very hospitable people, and DJing can sometimes feel a bit like an act of service.
How does your Filipino heritage play a role in your art, if at all?
I have projects which draw very directly from Filipino music, and I enjoy using Filipino music and visuals as a reference to build from. I think the influence of Filipino culture is also contextual to growing up in Australia. There’s a large focus on survival and just having your basic needs met. I think this is a large part of how I approach pursuing music and working in the arts. You have to accept that there’s a lot of struggle and sacrifice in pursuing it, and it is not glamorous. I think I try to celebrate those qualities in my work, the more raw or rough around the edges feel of creating from limitations. The intergenerational trauma helps too
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
“It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi.
Which artists, DJs, producers, labels, or collectives should heads know?
In Australia - CONTENT.NET.AU, stealthyn00b, Dutty. I’m also really enjoying username and nondi_. Anito Soul out of Canada is making some cool Filipino-club music and of course for those who are interested in Budots - DJ Love, DJ EricNem, DJ Danz. There’s a strong mixtape culture on Facebook which you can find through the pages of Power Beats Club and Mindanao Mix Club (to name few).
What can we expect from this mix?
A 160 BPM mix of original footwork tracks that I manically made in about 2 weeks hunched over my laptop on the couch. I’m trying to DJ only my own music now as choosing songs for mixes drives me insane. This mix is my interpretation of the darker, lo-fi juke and footwork sound I fell in love with when I first got into the genre. An homage to producers like DJ Nate, DJ Yung Tellem and DJ Solo. I’m sampling a lot of personal favourites, sentimental tunes as well as a lot of older Filipino rap, RnB and pop ballads. Raw, 128kbps YouTube-rip type music.
Is there anything I haven't asked you that you want to talk about? Anything you want to promote?
I’ve got a hip-hop record with UK based rapper Teether called YEARN IV which is out now via Chapter Music which is out on digital and vinyl which should be stocked in America. I’m also releasing a remastered version of my budots/footwork mixtape SWEETZ with a custom 3D printed pink cassette tape via my Bandcamp. That should be available in June (just waiting for them to come in the mail).
Cop them both if you’ve got the disposable income.
Free Palestine.
Support Kuya Neil on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Instagram, Twitter, and keep up with content.net.au and Sound School. Plus, see when he’ll be in your city next via Resident Advisor.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
TRACKLIST
Kuya Neil - mangkukulam
Kuya Neil - tanging hiling
Kuya Neil - mystery weed
Kuya Neil - acid tool
Kuya Neil - stars on 45
Kuya Neil - make it juke
Kuya Neil - FACEBOOK
Kuya Neil - brood
Kuya Neil - keep eating
Kuya Neil - dean blunt tool
Kuya Neil - kyla
Kuya Neil - polyester
Kuya Neil - luv dont stop
Kuya Neil - give it to me
Kuya Neil - bktherula juke
Kuya Neil - please dont go
Kuya Neil - narito ako
Kuya Neil - house music
Kuya Neil - manila ice
Kuya Neil - May Crush Ako S’Ayo
Kuya Neil & lil ket - Angel (RIP Cai)
Kuya Neil - Temple
