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“Those Purple Sneaker cats can really fucking mix, especially since they’re playing songs without the obligatory thirty-two bar intros and not just drop-mixing like other mashup-style crews do.”

How’s that for a glowing appraisal? Not that they really need any validation from inthemix OR Fasterlouder. Beginning at the Abercrombie Hotel in Sydney a little less than three years ago, the indie/dance crossover vibe for which the Purple Sneakers DJs are famous for has been showing its face right around the country. In addition to their upcoming national tour, in the past they’ve 12 months they’ve closed out the Falls Festival, presented stages at The Great Escape and Playground Weekender as well making a memorable appearance at Splendour in the Grass.

So where do their music influence come from? “Everything. Everything. I mean it! Party shit from every era ever known to humankind. Try everything from late 50s pop, 60s mod and British invasion stuff, to 80s hardcore punk and hip hop. Add some early 90s US indie-chick rock, some more British indie, a dash of Baile funk, some Baltimore, and anything else that’ll make the peeps dance all night. And I am most definitely influenced by music produced by local Australian acts right now humankind.”

So says PhDj, the main man behind the syper-stylin Purple Sneakers DJs. He is to indie what Ajax is to electro, or what Shamus is to house. Purple Sneakers founder (and yes he owns a purple pair of Chucks given to him by the owner of the Abercrombie) and one of FHM’s most influential people under the age of 30 he is someone you need to watch out for. Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys told him once that he was one of the best DJs he’d ever seen, and though he may have been drunk at the time, a lot of us might be inclined to agree. Whether or not there was alcohol in our system.

Then there is Vivieene Kingswood, the baile-Baltimore master who blows your mind every time with some Tegan & Sara or something equally unexpected, just when you think you’ve heard it all. Nick Findlay is fresh with his approach to music and is also the dude with the newest tunes while DJ Fle is the musical one that plays alongside K-von, and those two rock the graveyard shift. They have to be in the running for being the two best redheaded DJs in the world! Then there is Walkie Talkie. Studying in Sweden he spins to a sea of blonde girls over there. We all know how tough that would be, and we’re sure that spinning to a sea of mixed-colored hair in Oz would be way more fun.

Their job is to party, says PhDj, and they do just that alongside hundreds or thousands of people grooving to their tunes. Their favorite venue is of course, hands down The Abercrombie Hotel. It’s been their home for just under three years and attracts over 800 indie kids on a weekly basis who just want to get off to the best tracks around. The tunes they spin are more song-focused, based on a combination of melody, groove and lyrics, rather than being based solely on a big fat beats, and the crowd loves it. Combined with sweat, booze, random pashes and comfortable couches it makes Friday nights at the Abercrombie the place to be.

And To top off the wicked nights and national tours, these overachievers are also bringing out The Purple Sneakers Mixtape of Indie Joyavailable now on iTunes. But say someone was born in an igloo and had not really been given the opportunity to listen to much music? We asked PhDj how he would describe the CD to them. “The Purple Sneakers Mixtape of Indie Joy is the first class in a course called Australian Independent Music Studies 101. It is a seamlessly mixed selection of tracks by bands and artists that are all signed to independent Australian labels. Some of the tunes and bands on the mixtape are so fresh you wouldn’t have heard them before, but you will – and you will love them! You’ll find killer tracks from the likes of Gotye, Muscles, British India, Dappled Cities, Urthboy, Wons Phreely, Bluejuice, Soft Tigers, Cut Off Your Hands, Regurgitator to name a few… With LOADS more. Stay tuned next semester for Australian Independent Music Studies 102 -which will include a little lesson in Australian indie history, as well as more new stuff – out mid next year on double CD.”

So there you go, everyone from devout fans to igloo kids should know The Mixtape of Indie Joy will be a pocket-rocket of a compilation. What’s more, we can look forward to a New Years Eve massive party at Manning Bar with Purple Sneakers DJs headlining. PhDj reckons it will be like a lounge party on steroids, and we don’t doubt him one bit. There will be bands and DJs over two levels and six rooms of party activity; DJs in stairwells, bands in the basement, a TV room showing films all night long and there will even be a poolside bar serving sangria by the jug. Oh yeah, and not to mention that Dappled Cities, The Tongue, Young & Restless, Wons Phreely, S.Y.L.K., The Holidays and many more to be announced.