ARIA DJ Of The Week: James Tobin

Get to know the Sydney DJ/producer.

Now at the peak of a decade-long career, Sydney based DJ/Producer James Tobin has shared the stage with a roll call of Electronic Music icons including Freemasons, Ultra Nate, Yinon Yahel, Luciana, Tracy Young, Zoe Badwi, Deborah Cox, Offer Nissim, Mark Picchioti, Wayne G, K-Klass, Eric Kupper, Peyton, The Oxford Hustlers, Bimbo Jones and more.

Determined to remain free of genre-labelling, James earned his stripes across a variety of cliques and club scenes after making his debut at The Oxford Hotel in 2007, and is known for mixing anything from Tropical House to Circuit, RnB to Electro, Disco to Progressive, NuFunk or Soul, Funky House and other sub-genres of house music.

Having held a huge list of club residencies throughout Sydney, he now performs weekly at ARQ Sydney (2008 – current), plus is a regular to Stonewall Hotel (2010 – current), and The Shift Club (2008 – current). These venues are each part of a list James has called home, including The Oxford Hotel (2007 – 2010), Colombian Hotel (2010 – 2017), e11even, The Burdekin, The Gaff and The Imperial Hotel. He has appeared as a guest DJ at iconic clubs like HOME Nightclub, Trademark, Goldfish, Tunnel, SlyFox and more, travelled interstate and overseas with his music, been broadcast on radio through Thailand, France and UK, and appeared regularly as a guest on Sydney radio station, OX Live.

James released his debut single with Carlotta Chadwick 'Keep It Coming' through Stereo Missile Recordings in July 2013. It peaked at #17 on Triple J's "UNEARTHED" Electronic Chart, and allowed James the opportunity to flex his production muscles a little harder. Attracting remix privileges for the debut single from Australia’s Got Talent runner-up Greg Gould in 2016, he then went on to produce two official remixes for the singer in 2017 - 'Euphoria' and 'Don’t Let Go', the latter debuting at #5 on the iTunes Dance Charts.

He also carries a portfolio of graphic design work, event production and campaign management, a lot of which is still prominent throughout Sydney nightclubs today. In 2015 James announced his appointment to the role of Marketing, Events & PR Manager of Sydney’s iconic LGBTQI venue ARQ Sydney. In 2016, James announced his resignation from the club, and began to focus on producing unique events at a variety of venues.

DJ, Producer, Songwriter, PR Manager, Marketing Guru, Event Producer & Graphic Designer – James’ influence on Sydney’s nightclub scene has been across it all, and looks no sign of slowing down any time soon.

James’ Top 10 tracks this week: