In October 1998 four diverse Sydney DJs, Jimmi James, Zootie, Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell, joined forces to create a night at which they and their friends could relax, have lots of fun and not be surrounded by the same old club environment. The first two Mad Rackets were held at a squash club in Bondi Junction, and were very well attended by an enthusiastic, sportily dressed crowd. Very near neighbours, a glass front to the building 10 feet from the speakers and size restrictions prompted a move to the even more character-laden Marrickville (lawn) Bowling Club, in Sydney’s inner industrial district.

With no noise problems and an increasingly passionate crowd, these parties grew into something of a phenomenon. 400-500 people would trek out of the city every month to hear not just the four founders, but also an increasing list of top quality international guests playing real music on a crystal clear soundsystem. Mmm… not like the clubs it seems…

First to tour was Herbert, and Mad Racket have since organized four further successful tours for him and his band around Australia and New Zealand. Mad Racket organized a number of shows for Herbert at The Basement, Sydney’s most prestigious jazz venue, and Sydney Festival 2002 and 2005.

Mad Racket have also toured or hosted Swag (Chris Duckenfield & Richard Brown) (Sheffield), Pantytec (Berlin), Tom Clark (Berlin), Darshan Jesrani (Metro Area, New York), Tom Middleton (Somerset), Jamie Liddel (Warp/Brighton/Berlin), Charles Webster (Nottingham), Captain Comatose (Berlin), Brooks (Nottingham), Steve Bug (Berlin), Martini Bros (Berlin), Recloose (Detroit/Wellington), Ectomorph (Detroit), Lil’ Mark (Bristol), Common Factor (Chicago), HMC and DJ Bundi (Adelaide).

The music policy is strictly no policy, up to the person playing, and anything goes. That said, one can expect to hear a mix of deep, exotic house and techno with some unexpected moments from the past and future. The list of our guests shows our tastes...

It all adds up to a fun, quality night out with a mixed bunch of friendly people.
Once you walk in the venue you will know… look up, the ceiling says it all!

Well Rolled, Well Bowled since 1998… with plenty more goodies to come…

Ken started his musical adventure in Canberra, promoting, DJing, establishing "contacts" with the larger cities, he co-promoted successful club nights Raw & Smile, and set up record shop 'UMM' and also did parties featuring Prodigy, Derrick Carter, Mark Farina.

Ken moved to Sydney in 1995, and within a year was the main buyer for Reachin Records, this put him in the middle of the Sydney 'scene'. He set about establishing himself as one of the class A DJ's in Sydney and played all the big parties of the time, Sabotage, Love, Vertigo, Big Day Out, Tweekin, Cream... and supported about a million internationals.

This all lead to more DJ'ing interstate, and he also moved onto the role of manager at Reachin. He held residences at club 'Tweekin', which won the 'Aussie Club of the Year', he accepted the award at the inaugural DMA's on behalf of the club.

Ken's first mix cd was DJ Excursions with Simon Caldwell, DJ excursions was critically acclaimed across Australia and was one of the first tech house CD's in Australia before the media labelled it 'tech house'.

He was voted 'most popular Aussie Dj' by his peers in a music industry poll in Juice magazine, and came 5th overall behind, Mills, Cox, Basement Jaxx & Fatboy slim.

Ken started doing promotions with Simon Caldwell and Zootie, first starting 'Phony' (deep techno & house), which feat. Luke Slater, Ian Pooley etc. Moved onto the 'Deep End', which became the most popular place to hear 'real' deep house music, more of an industry night, the long weekend parties are now part of Sydney folklore, they were the first parties to play the minimal house sound that is now so popular.

In the late 90's, Ken held residencies at Chinese laundry and Tweekin, probably Sydney's 2 most credible clubs of the time.

He started producing with flatmate, Brett Mitchell (ex Boxcar & Thunk main man), as 'Dillon St Rangers' and had his first vinyl 12" released; the 'Black & Fuzzy ep' on Thunk Records, distributed exclusively by Intergroove in the UK.

He went onto promote Mad Racket parties which have now been running for 7 years and are considered the premier underground house music party in Sydney. Over the years they've featured, Herbert, Tom Middleton, Steve Bug, Chris Duckenfield, Metro Area, Jamie Lidell, Martini Bros and many more. Mad Racket are a literal oasis in a Sydney scene overly dominated by more commercial styles of house music.

Ken has toured New Zealand twice, Czech Republic (where he played a '3' cities party representing Sydney in the Sydney, San Fran & London party) and has also played in the UK at Chris Duckenfields night in Sheffield 'Scuba'.

Over the last several years with the birth of his daughter, Ken has chosen to concentrate on 2 main elements to his career.

Mad Racket and Dj'ing at more select parties.
And on his production career with new studio partner Pocket. They have already won the Dance Music Awards Remix of the Year for their version of Green Velvets 'La La Land'. They have been signed to EMI/Ministry for an album that they are working on. And they are currently touring on the back of there first 12" single 'Our Break'. They have also remixed many artists over the last few years with over 25 releases.

Ducks are lucky
Don't you think?
When they want to
Take a drink,
All they do is
Duck their bill.
(Doesn't matter
If they spill.)
When they want to
Take a swim,
All they do is
Dive right in
And they never
Seem to Sink
Ducks are lucky,
Don't you think?

Simon Caldwell is one of a handful of DJ's whose name adds a certain integrity to an event. Throughout the 12 years he's been playing records to beer drinkers, bum shakers and radio listeners alike, he has managed to avoid the stifling 'style' classification so many other DJ's trap themselves into, keeping himself free to draw on his varied loves of deep, soulful house, techno, funk, jazz, electro, booty, hip hop and anything else which catches his ear.

Born and raised in Sydney, Simon began playing records in 1991 when he inherited the Funk Inc. show on 2-MBS FM from Paul Carroll, playing a mix of funk, jazz, soul, hip hop, house (and whatever) for over five years. During this time he also teamed up with Trevor Parkee for some small gigs, which soon led to a residency at the now legendary 'All Funked Up' night at The Bentley Bar alongside co-residents The Continental and Kid Dolphin. Over five or so years Simon held residencies on six out of the seven weeknights at the Bentley Bar. In this way he managed to showcase his diversity, switching from the retro flavours of 'All Funked Up' to the tribal/deep house sounds of Thursday's 'Cuba' with Seymour Butz and Nervous. Simon also began to play at the Funk Inc parties and various small events around town, always noted for bringing new flavours into the mix, dropping instrumental hip hop and future beats (before they came up that wonderful term Trip Hop) into 70s funk and Afro beats.

As Simon's notoriety slowly spread, club promoters started to take notice. On a club dancefloor Simon could finally indulge his other musical passion * soulful house and techno - and it didn't take long before he was being booked, not only at clubs, but at larger events too. At first in back rooms, then in main rooms, Simon acquired a reputation for playing "The Morning Set", and began to develop shocking sleeping patterns. To the present day Simon has rocked the dancefloor of practically every venue and clubnight in Sydney, with notable residencies at Home on Saturday nights and The Chinese Laundry. He is regularly booked to play peak sets at some of Sydney's biggest house events and has pitched his skills alongside dozens of internationals, including Derrick Carter, Jeff Mills, Derrick May, DJ Godfather, Richie Hawtin, Kelli Hand, Frankie Knuckles, Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, Ian Pooley, Luke Slater, Chris Duckenfield/Swag, Charles Webster, Metro Area, Steve Bug, Daft Punk, Recloose, Common Factor, Patrick Forge, Losoul, Stacey Pullen, Carl Craig, Rolando, Blake Baxter, Claude Young, Ectomorph, Dave Clarke, Russ Dewbury, Jamie Liddel and Ark.

Although Simon can hold his own in the big arena, his heart remains true to the intimate vibe of the underground house scene. He still presents the 'All Funked Up' radio show on 2SER-FM and also co-promotes 'Mad Racket', one of the freshest and friendliest underground parties in Sydney, held at a lawn bowls club, which has toured the likes of Herbert, Metro Area, Steve Bug, Swag, Charles Webster and Tom Middleton. Simon has also released two mixed CDs * the first with Ken Cloud * "DJ Excursions Vol.5" through MDS in 1998, the second with Mako * "Mixed Business" last year. He regularly plays interstate at the cream of Australia's underground clubs, from Melbourne's 'Honkytonks' to Perth's 'Maw Funk' parties to Adelaide's 'Cargo' and 'Minke'.

In 1998 he went further afield, playing in Berlin (at 'Tresor') and in Barcelona (at 'Nitsa') where he also attended the Sonar festival, having the privilege to witness Kraftwerk live. In 2001 he went to the Czech Republic to play three gigs with Ken Cloud.

As a DJ, Simon Caldwell continues to push new ideas and influences while still being able to draw on the history of his expansive and discriminating record collection. Whether he's playing deep house, techno, ambient, soul, hip hop, bangin' Chicago house, Detroit electro or jazz, you can expect to hear the old alongside the new, but in the hands of Simon Caldwell, music is timeless.

Jimmi James is the kind of DJ who’ll be playing a track two years before many of his contemporaries have even worked out where to source it. A founding member of Sydney’s Mad Racket collective, Jimmi brings an uncompromising DJ style and to an event. Playing big tracks to purely keep a crowd happy simply isn’t on his radar. Not limited to a particular style, Jimmi’s sets pick and choose from an eclectic mix of genres; anything from electro to house, techno, rare groove, drum n’ bass and grime depending on where the mood takes him.

Born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst in the 1970s, this Mediterranean boy grew up part of a Greek family where music was an important part of everyday life. Jimmi’s musical adventure began at the age of 14, as he witnessed and dancing through an era where DJs played without mixers, and synth pop wasn’t yet considered derivative. These days he’s regarded as one of the Sydney dance scene’s most influential tastemakers.

Jimmi has been collecting records since the age of ten and 25 years later a room packed full of vinyl is testament to his passion for a great track. Jimmi converted this passion into something more professional in 1995, going on to hold down residencies at a series of influential Sydney club nights like Suite at Mars, Dugday at The Burdekin, Chinese Laundry, Current Climate at Innc and more recently Brouhaha at Club 77 + Sunday shuffle. He also remembers DJ slots during the heyday of club nights like The Deep End and Lick with fondness.

During this period Jimmi discovered likeminded DJs in Simon Caldwell, Ken Cloud and Zootie. The foursome went on to launch an event called Mad Racket in 1998, which from the outset pushed musical boundaries. Mad Racket parties have provided Sydney with an outlet to hear some of the world’s most adventurous electronic producers. They’ve also given Jimmi James the opportunity to play alongside some of his musical heroes, establishing some close friendships along the way. From rudimentary beginnings the cult parties at the ‘bowlo’ have gone on to feature international performers like Swag, Tom Clarke, Steve Bug, Chris Duckenfield, Metro Area, Jamie Liddell and the Martini Bros - many of whom have also enjoyed Jimmi’s hospitality and legendary seafood barbecues after their appearances.

Jimmi forged an accidental friendship with enigmatic English artist Matthew Herbert. Having hosted several Herbert shows in Sydney, he went on the road with the man in 2001 as North American tour manager for a series of dates which took in Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, LA, New York, Portland and Vancouver. While in New York for Herbert’s second show, Jimmi actually found himself caught up in the mayhem that ensued after the September 11 attacks. It’s an experience that he’ll never forget.

Jimmi’s musical connections have also seen him playing at some of the world’s most forward thinking clubs, and vinyl shopping overseas with an enviable selection of international DJs and producers. He notes DJ slots at Berlin clubs Panorama Bar and Cookies, and an appearance on the city’s Stern Radio as career highlights.

In the year 2006 Jimmi continues to evade categorisation as a DJ, pushing a unique sound and playing sets with no set style or format. He plays an instrumental part in the continuing success of the Racket parties, and is a sought-after local DJ, regularly scoring sets at some of the city’s most exclusive parties and launches.