Haven Presents: dameeeela, Mikalah Watego, Phil Smart, Jai Piccone & Dingo Balearico

HAVEN is proud to present dameeeela, Mikalah Watego, Phil Smart, & Jai Piccone

Dameeeela and Mikalah Watego deliver the perfect balance of groove and cutting-edge cuts, making waves as two of Australia's most impressive selectors. In addition, we have longtime Australian staple and legend in the DJ scene Phil Smart as well as local resident and curator Jai Piccone. Our evening starts on the terrace at 4pm for afternoon drinks and vinyl selection from Dingo Balerico on the public address system.

Haven positions itself as a high-quality temporary venue where people can celebrate music and connect with their community before the building is inevitably redeveloped. The entire space is built entirely with salvaged materials; a nod to the space's transient nature. The impermanence of the space becomes part of its power, building urgency and turning each night of unique programming into a rarity.

The venues story is also shaped by the history of the building. An old Woolworths site now being transformed into a venue for culture. By doing this we are turning the commercial into the cultural and embodying our grassroots communal spirit. Pairing one of Australia's most ambitious venue fit outs by Buckworth & Co, with an incredible Danley Sound Labs system; setup with upmost care by Hugo at Sound is Everything, light design by Tony Funicello and an incredible array of artists we cannot wait to share our vision with you all.

dameeeela:

Introducing multi-hyphenate DJ, producer, radio host and Yuggera woman, dameeeela.

Raised in Tulmur/Ipswich and now based in Meanjin/Brisbane, dameeeela has steadily amassed a following and reputation as one of the city's most in-demand selectors. An ability to cater to any genre, audience and energy from hip hop to acid to the classics and back again is what brings listeners back time and again to dameeeela; mixes bursting with electric passion and rife with experimentation, combined with ongoing reminders of club music’s origins in Black culture.

dameeeela boasts a live resume that includes warming up stages for iconic artists from Skepta and Tyler, the Creator to Charli XCX, Anderson .Paak, Genesis Owusu, Wiki and Skin On Skin amongst others, including appearances at Splendour In The Grass, Falls Festival, Listen Out, Laneway, Pitch Music & Arts, Groovin The Moo, BIGSOUND and more. Offstage, dameeeela recently launched her own Track IDs playlist on Spotify. Stay tuned for more from dameeeela coming soon.

SC: https://soundcloud.com/dameeeela

IG: https://www.instagram.com/dameeeela/

Mikalah Watego:

Mikalah Watego is a DJ from Yugambeh Country (Gold Coast) known for her powerful sets that fuse club, techno, breaks, and percussive rhythms. In just three years, she’s built a reputation for high-energy performances combining bass-heavy grooves, sharp electro, and experimental sounds for late-night, open-minded dance floors.

A proud Yugambeh woman, Mikalah roots every set in rhythm and flow. She’s played major festivals including Pitch, Strawberry Fields, Splendour in the Grass, Lost Sundays, and Ability Festival, and has supported artists like KETTAMA, salute, Moktar, and Stüm.

Recently, she opened for KI/KI’s 5 Hours tour in Narrm and performed at Moniker, NEED2FREAK, and Overtone Festival, solidifying her presence in Australia’s club scene.

SC: https://soundcloud.com/mikalah-watego

IG: https://www.instagram.com/mikalahwatego.music/

Phil Smart:

Phil has played lots of records to lots of people in lots of clubs, bars, warehouses, fields, basements, carparks and bunkers for the last twenty years. He’s renowned for playing the newest sounds and forward thinking electronic music.

Voted Australian DJ Of The Year at the National Dance Music Awards in 2000. Twice voted into DJ Magazine's prestigious list of the worlds Top 100 DJs.

Played at the premier events around Australia including Love, Sabotage, Tweekin, Mad Racket, Chinese Laundry, Home [Sydney], Honkytonks, Revolver, 161, [Melbourne], Empire (Brisbane], Ambar [Perth], Halo [Hobart], Garage [Adelaide], and national festivals such as Good Vibrations, Vibes On A Summers Day, Field Day, Big Day Out, Falls Festival, Global Carnival and Splendour In The Grass.

Infamous long-standing residency at Tweekin, the Sydney clubbing institution voted Best Club Night at the 2000 Dance Music Awards and described by DJ Magazine in the UK as "coming under the very short list of proper clubs around the world".

As an indication of musical versatility, Phil has been chosen to play alongside visiting DJs as diverse as Michael Mayer, M.A.N.D.Y., Adam Freeland, Sven Vath, Derrick Carter, Sasha, John Digweed and Jose Padilla.

International DJ experience includes PS1 [NY], Funky Teknotribe [SF, Dallas, Austin, Portland, NY], Spundaes, Basics, Sunset and Green Gorilla [SF], Shambhala [BC], Burning Man [NV], Various places in LA, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Vancouver, Toronto and Mexico City; Bedrock and Club UK [London], E-Werk [Berlin], Underground [Prague], Rubies [Phnom Penh], Bed [Bangkok], Sandwiches [Wellington], Inc/Coherent [Auckland].

Promoter or co-promoter of some of Sydney's most legendary parties and club nights, including Sabotage, The Project, NY2K, Jus Right and Organic.

Co-founder of record labels Think and Thunk, which was responsible for early releases by Infusion and Pocket..

Released original material and remixes under various guises, including Headland, Earthlink, Altitude and Sprocket.

For the past couple of years has been working with the Junkbeats collective in Byron Bay, producing and releasing more new music, including the critically acclaimed Lighthouse mix compilation. Recently relocated to Newcastle.

Currently playing and making various styles including deep house, techouse, minimal and warm techno, head music and eclectic bar room beats.

SC: https://soundcloud.com/philsmart

IG: https://www.instagram.com/dj_philsmart/

Jai PIccone:

Jai Piccone is an Australian born, Barcelona and Byron Bay based producer and songwriter. Known best for his work with Australian 4 piece Tora, Jai more recently has stepped into his own with a collection of diverse house tracks.

As a member of the globally-renowned band Tora, Jai’s opportunities to explore his love of faster, more club-orientated music have been fleeting. However, over the last few months, the Australian artist (via Berlin, Amsterdam and now Barcelona) has experienced his most productive writing window in memory, culminating in a bundle of tasteful dance.

Diving into his psyche on “Make Me Understand”, Jai plucks whimsical imagery from his mind’s eye taking listeners on a prancing synth-laden trip. Vocally, he shines bright telling of strange interactions with fire and water, the words piercing through swift production. Jai doesn’t shy away from the fact that the pandemic left him feeling jaded and uninspired. In his own words, this new batch of records are “an unloading and digestion of the last three years of my life.”

Interestingly, it took him re-engaging with piano and leaning into the beauty of chord progressions to rediscover his love of songwriting. “Without the time spent learning these amazing classical pieces and appreciating the instruments themselves, I don’t think this new music would’ve ever got made.”

This is the beginning of a new era for Jai–backed by the influence of European dancefloors, a reignited passion for composition and a desire to interpret the madness of some rather strange years.

SC: https://soundcloud.com/jai-piccone

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jaipiccone/