After more than a decade on the Australian scene, playing between some of the most respected clubs in the game and the biggest festival stages in the country, it was time for a change of scenery in 2016. DisCrow, aka Ryan Crowe made the move to Bali and wasted no time, bouncing on the scene with residencies at some of the biggest clubs on the well renowned party island in Indonesia. After a crazy first 18 months playing gigs between the biggest spots in Bali, including Singlefin, The Lawn, Da Maria and Mrs Sippy, he was offered the roll of Music Director at Mrs Sippy a fulltime position in charge of the music in the largest pool club in Bali. Now managing 8 daily resident DJs and booking weekly international guests, with the likes of Pete Tong, Duke Dumont, Claptone, Bag Raiders, Yolanda Be Cool, Touch Sensitive, Dr Packer & Late Nite Tough Guy to name a few. Warming up stages for the biggest acts in the business is what he does best, by knowing how to engage, tease and entertain the crowd, without pushing the boundaries too hard before the main act. From festival main stages, playing to 25,000 people to small intimate clubs and everything between,
with a record collection of 12 years DJing from vinyl to CD’s to MP3’s whilst moving with the evolution of DJing and no sign of slowing down.
What year did you shift to Bali full time working as one of the island’s most legendary DJs?
I moved over to Bali full-time in 2016, prior to that I was back and forth a lot for guest slots and I couldn’t resist any longer so I made the move and have never looked back!
Some of your regular slots and residencies include Mrs Sippy and Single Fin. What are some of the key differences you find when looking for new music between the two venues?
Both venues are super different in a sense, but musically I try to keep everything in line so that its fun, funky and keeps people moving. They are my 2 favourite venues on the island so I update my tunes every week to keep me on my toes and the energy in the venues consistent.
It’s a crazy time we find ourselves in right now and especially Bali in particular which is mostly built around the tourism industry and its movements.
What positive things do you think will come out of our downtime once everything comes back to normal both in the beach clubs and in the tourism industry?
Absolutely such crazy weird times atm, Bali has taken a major hit across the board as no-one can travel basically worldwide.
I think the expats that have stayed, are the real solid crew here that call Bali home. Everyone has united together to help in different ways and that’s cool to see and be apart of. Business aside, I think its great for the island as it really was getting a little crazy here and the energy wasn’t great so I hope this is a bit of a much needed reset and when this blows over everyone comes out stronger.
Your the music director at one of the island’s favorite Poolside venues – Mrs Sippy. What are some of your day to day chores outside of doing DJ schedules that take up a lot of your time?
I spend a lot of time day to day in venue making sure the music is on point and the place is vibing.
We have about 15 DJ’s that I look after so they keep me busy with rosters and making sure they are all sorted when they are in to play. I do all of my international bookings pretty far in advance also so lots of emails to agents and managers trying to lock in the right acts for the venue and then all of the logistics in getting the artists to get here and perform then most importantly making sure their riders are stacked 😉
Tell us more about the team behind Mrs Sippy’s success story? When did the venue open and what are your trading hours?
We opened 3 years ago, on Easter weekend 2017! It would have been our 3rd Birthday over Easter weekend just gone with Bag Raiders on Saturday & Basement Jaxx on Sunday, but we obviously couldn’t go ahead with that because the venue is closed due to COVID19. We are open daily from 10am-9pm and trade later on special events.
What have been some of the major changes in a positive way the venue has improved since it opened?
There has been so many changes since we opened and its been amazing to be apart of and watch to grow and expand. We like to keep the energy throughout the venue so we have moved the DJ booth 5 times since we opened 3 years ago. We have added a new beach, 3 new bars, a massive VIP section behind the stage on special events, a tonne of extra lighting to bring the venue alive at night, and obviously lots of constant extra decor in keeping the place look so fresh and alive.
What’s been the best show at the venue to date and why?
Thats a hard one, as there has been so many! For me it would have to be DEFECTED BALI 2019 with Amine Edge & Dance, Sam Divine & David Penn – that was such a vibe and huge success for both us and DEFECTED.
If we didn’t get amongst this current crisis and economic downturn where would Mrs Sippy be this weekend in the terms of music bookings and entertainment?
We had a huge weekend planned for Easter, which happens to fall on our birthday every year.
Saturday April 11th BAG RAIDERS
Sunday April 12 – BASEMENT JAXX
What are you guys up to in the background that you can share with us for when things pick up again hopefully before our summer finished in 2020?
We had a huge year locked in with 2 major residencies meant to happen over high season.
BAG RAIDERS – Every Saturday April/May/June.
SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM – Every Saturday July/August/September.
Unfortunately they have post been postponed until this COVID19 stuff all blows over and hopefully we can get back open soon and make the most of the rest of the year with a few extra big names.
Back on the subject of you as a DJ how have you seen the Bali industry change personally in the last few years?
I have seen a massive influx of “DJs” to Bali over the last couple of years especially. There seem to be a lot of people who come on holidays, and think that they can pick up a few gigs here and there and manage to stay long term but they don’t usually last long in the industry or in Bali. There is a core crew that have been here long enough to know how it all works and they know and respect that, and I think that they are the ones doing all the right gigs at the right venues and events.
I don’t blame people for trying at all though – this place is heaven on earth and living and working here is something that I am grateful for every day (but i worked my ass off to get here before moving over full time)
DISCROW’s current top 5 poolside tunes are?
1, Yuksek – Into The Light
2, Mandrill – Ape’s Back In Town (The Reflex Funky Monkey Dub)
3. Da Lata, Diabel Cissokho – This Is Not Your Job (Art Of Tones Afrobeat Remix)
4. Thatmanmonkz, A Brother Is – Easy, Still
5. Moodena – The Rattlesnake & The Ant
Your last tune you played at Mrs Sippy was?
Ron Carroll – The Spirit of House
You first tune you’re going to play at Mrs Sippy when it opens again is?
Purple Disco Machine ft. Sophie and the Giants – Hypnotized
Outside of the music world what else do you do in Bali in your downtime?
Surf as much as possible, Studio time working on music & exploring Bali.
If Discrow aka Ryan Crowe wasn’t DJing fulltime at one of the island’s best venues looking back in his childhood what did you want to do for a career and where did you think you would end up?
I always wanted to be an actor, so probably in Hollywood on the hustle ha! Stoked I am here!
A message to everyone out there to get thru the hard times but link up the good times ahead from yours truly
Stay strong, be healthy & enjoy the time to yourself – I am going live on facebook every Friday and uploading the mixes to soundcloud and mixcloud every week to lift your spirits and keep you positive through these strange times!