East Meets West on DJ PGZ & Yikes’ ‘Come Round’

Lately, everyone's been programming b2bs. Sometimes, they really don’t land - mixing and selections can feel too out of sync; it can feel like a gimmick. Cynically, it's as though promoters have just thought, “how do we pull from two different crowds and sell the most tickets while paying artists less money?” Sometimes though, it can feel like alchemy. In ecology, two different ecosystems coming together is called ecotone, and they are some of the most ecologically biodiverse places in the world. The right sort of b2b or collaboration can feel like this kind of sonic ecotone. DJ PGZ and Yikes have collaborated on a seven track EP Come Round that feels just like that. East meets West.

It seems inevitable now the two would produce music together. DJ PGZ had been doing hip hop DJing since 2015 and made the leap over to more techno and bassier terrain at a DIY warehouse rave in 2018. Meanwhile over in Boorloo, Yikes hit the decks in 2019. He describes playing his first set, “I played techno and breaks when it definitely was not the vibe and some middle aged white lady came up, asked me to play something with lyrics.” It wasn't until playing Outerbody in January 2020 where Yikes played his first, “fuck yeah gig.” Later that year he records two Triple J Mix Ups, incidentally DJ PGZ also records his first Mix Up in September 2020.

It's one of Yikes’ Mix Ups that captures DJ PGZ’s attention. It’s not until May 2022 they first meet when DJ PGZ booked Yikes for Sub Clubs birthday in between lockdowns. DJ PGZ’s ears pricked up when Yikes dropped an Erykah Badu edit in his set. It seems bizarre that this was Yikes’ first east coast booking, since then Yikes’ has been busy. With a set at Inner Varnika in early 2023 (that DJ PGZ describes as his favourite of Yikes' still) that saw him get offered representation at WAT Artists and a Sub Club all nighter soon after.

In this time DJ PGZ gets serious about producing music, with his first EP out with Butter Sessions in July 2022, programming Melbourne Town Hall’s organ for Yirramboi Festival in 2023, dropping tracks with Haai’s DJ Kicks release in 2023, and Black Artist Database in 2024.

First properly bonding at Inner Varnika’s 2023 swan song (Yikes was performing) over their love of hip hop and Black Rave Culture, the idea got floated - perhaps they could do a blackfulla AceMoma type project? Butter Sessions’ Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos were excited to be part of it, telling me they’d “been closely following Paul and Kevin for a minute now. We just love their style and the energy they bring.” They hit their respective studios in Boorloo and Naarm. The outcome is two solo songs, remixes of one of each other's songs and direct team-up on the track Ouss Ouss. Cross continent production produces its own challenges, meanwhile DJ PGZ uses LogicPro and Yikes uses Ableton, Ouss Ouss is made over fileshare.

The result is a stunning EP. It is clear that DJ PGZ is going deeper into his sound; pulsing, four to the floor with clever and catchy vocal chops at just the right time. It is music begging to be heard on a big soundsystem at 3 am in the morning. These are songs you want to sit in and dance to, and are rewarded for; the end of Solidarity System is a treat. Yikes transports us from a grimy dancefloor to wiping the dust from our eyes, dancing outside on his remix of DJ PGZ's Energy Monstera. Their disparate styles are showcased not only here, but in remixes on RONA’s Burn It (Rework EP) which dropped today. On this RONA says she,” wanted to work with DJ PGZ and Yikes because they both bring such a powerful and unique perspective to sound that is deeply connected to their own experiences, places and the ways they move through the world. This rework isn’t just about flipping a track—it’s about building a sonic world that reflects the depth and diversity of First Nations storytelling in electronic music.”

Yikes’ style is already a self-assured blend of springy prog and techno. His productions are hypnotic, spacious with a groove holding a strong grip.

Perhaps it is here I announce my relationality with the subjects of this writing. I am DJ PGZ’s oldest sibling and I have known Yikes for three years now. And while this might increase subjectivity, decrease my objectivity, what it should also announce is that I was there. I have danced through Yikes’ sets with DJ PGZ. I have stood in awe and been overcome with emotion with Yikes during DJ PGZ's Strawberry Field set in 2023. I was there when Yikes dropped that Badu edit in 2022. I saw their b2bs at Dekmantel Narrm and Butter Sessions on the last day of 2024. So I know this to be true; this EP is not only sonically exciting, but culturally.

While we are living at a time of a new wave of Aboriginal electronic producers such as RONA., dameeeela, SOVBLKPSSY, E Fishpool and DJ PGZ himself, this was not always the case. In dance music, historically it has been white producers from down south ‘discovering’ or ‘finding’ music from the Northern Territory. I don't intend on interrogating the politics of that right now, because what I do want to do is celebrate this EP and celebrate this collaboration and honour its place in our electronic music history. It is beautiful to watch two Aboriginal men spend their time bringing the mob with them, building collectives in their respective cities with Lubly Dae (comprised of Yikes and 2Lubly) and Ecstatic Mob from DJ PGZ in Melbourne. It is beautiful to watch two Aboriginal men make something beautiful and fun together.

This EP feels like an ode to the mob. This EP cements not only DJ PGZ and Yikes as serious producers in their own right, but is part of a growing catalogue of black electronic producers in Australia. Regardless of its political and cultural meanings, which are important; crucially, it goes hard. Ouss Ouss.

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Nayuka Gorrie is an essayist, screenwriter and DJ, find them on Instagram.