HOPE STREET RADIO MIX 2025 - WITH ACCOMPANYING TEXT

ACCOMPANYING TEXT

- Article by Luke Sevior. Published via lukecvr.com. 19/10/25

For the past three years, I have been very lucky to organise annually recurring performances at Collingwood’s more progressive thinking hospitality space, Hope Street Radio. Starting as a DJ radio show, the platform opened a permanent restaurant and wine bar in 2021. Since opening they have hosted a multitude of important cultural and artistic events like community festivals, book launches, live performances and more. Given the context and philosophy of the restaurant, I have always felt more confident to try something more experimental with my DJing there.

For my first DJ performance at HSR back in 2022, it dawned on me that I had never performed at a restaurant and consequentially, had never played music to people who were sitting down, eating. I thought long about how I typically enjoy my dinner at home and how I could translate that experience with the diners of Hope Street Radio. At that point in time, I lived in a share house with friends and usually enjoy my dinner sitting on a couch in front of a movie or television program. Consequentially for the initial 2022 mix, the music began with a snippet from one of my favourite sci-fi movies, Blade Runner. I then continued to follow that narrative tieing together organic and mechanic sounds to tell the love story of a robot and human intertwined. Still to this day, it is one of my favourite mixes I’ve ever created live.

The use of film samples continued in the successive years but decided to look more introspectively on what story I wanted to communicate. In 2023, I was having quite a difficult time financially and decided to document the wider financial predicament of not just myself, but also the global economy. In 2024, I analysed the trend of annual global travel used by artists each year which empties the creative and sonic landscapes of the city in winter. Each track selected for the mix in 2024 had a track information name that connected to or related to travel.

Each of these mixes on their own I think encapsulates the idea of the subject really well, and usually the message is embedded beneath the surface of the music to not overwhelm the restaurant guests with too many ideas and allow the music to continue to flow naturally. Probably the weakest component of these mixes in comparison to my first mix was the track selection, I probably didn’t allow myself enough time to collect music throughout the year in mind for the Hope Street Radio mix, which would rush and force the track selections to take place within a few weeks of the mix which probably weakened the mix overall.

This year, knowing I would request a return to mix at Hope Street Radio and I spent a great deal of time considering what subject I wanted to focus on, and work on curating a selection of music that would complement the idea.

Domestically here in my home country of Australia, major capital cities including Melbourne have recently been interrupted by anti-immigration rallies that were organised internally by fascist neo-Nazi groups. Similar events have also taken place in other parts of the world, such as the UK and the Netherlands. The media in usual fashion, broadcasted much of this fear and hate beyond the streets it took place in and left me and many of my close friends in deep distress. As an employee working in the CBD, communication amongst my colleagues in the hours leading up to these protests was of caution. We arranged meeting points so no one on our team working that day had to walk into the CBD alone. These sorts of measures in a developed society such as Melbourne is really devastating and made a profound emotional impact on me.

I was compelled to focus on this topic for the Hope Street Radio mix. It wasn’t necessarily just for me, but for the many friends and people I know who were either born overseas or have families and relatives who emigrated to Australia. It’s impossible for me to imagine how these friends of mine feel and I feel a sense of guilt that I won’t ever encounter such discrimination or feel isolated in my own country. I wanted to translate these emotions into the mix, yet as someone born in Australia, I don’t suffer this same isolation than other people I know. With that in mind I decided to invite three participants who were born outside of Australia to record responses answering three prompts. The prompts asked were as follows:

1) Without revealing your name or identity, please tell us about your upbringing in the country you were born and why you decided to move to Australia?

2) In what industry or profession do you work for here in Australia? Do you enjoy your profession?

3) What do you think about the recent wave of anti-immigration protests? How do they make you feel?

There was a predicament I was in a struggle with these spoken passages. The fact was that I was not submitting the mix to the internet for people to enjoy in their own space. I was going to be performing the mix in a restaurant/wine bar. People were to be finishing work, catching up with friends, enjoying a glass of wine or enjoying a meal. To interrupt this experience with something so political or emotionally charged seemed inappropriate to the venue. I decided to ask my participants to submit responses in the language from the country they were born. This gave way to some successful ideas. Diners could enjoy the beautiful foreign languages throughout the mix, unknown to what the words meant. I also viewed this as a metaphor for the marginalised voices of immigrants to be ignored or unintelligible to the mostly white European descended dining room.

These responses were beautifully answered, and I must thank the three participants for their involvement in the project. Their willingness to contribute their thoughts and stories were gorgeous and at times heartbreaking. Their honesty adds so much to the mix. As part of the conditions of their involvement, their identities will remain anonymous. I have translated their passages in English for you to read below.

TRANSLATIONS

Participant 1 (Spanish)
00:02:55

Hi, I'm a woman from the Basque Country in Spain, and I grew up in a Basque environment, speaking Basque. I lived in Austria for almost my entire life, for a few years until I decided to come here. I came with no specific motivation other than to change. I needed a change, to move to another country and start a new life.

Here in Australia, I work as an architect. I like what I do, although the architecture practiced here is very different from that in Europe, I've gotten used to it and enjoy it, but I had a hard time understanding architectural design or reasoning in this country.

The truth is that I don't understand the demonstrations that have taken place in the big cities of this country. Especially because they’re people who are not in daily contact with immigrants and I just have the feeling that you only hear news from sources that are not very accurate, but unfortunately that's what there is. It makes me sad, and they are people who make me sad because unfortunately they are very closed-minded and aren’t capable of enjoying and appreciating everything that immigration entails in this country

Participant 2 (Khmer/Cambodian)
00.41.27

My life before I came to Australia was very difficult because of poverty. At that time, we didn't have enough food to eat. And the organization killed people and sent them to the fields. When they finished planting, I worked hard every day without food. They gave me only one bowl of rice. It was 95% water and only about 20 grains of rice. And they separated the family from the husband, the wife, and all the children. Because of all these reasons, after the war ended, we decided to leave the country for a time, any country that could bring peace to my family. This is the reason why I came to your country.

Today, in Australia, my job is working at a financial agency. Due to my health, I haven't been following the news much for the past few months, but I have been very concerned about the news about the protests against immigration. It makes me scared and worried, because Australia always brings happiness to me.

It has been more than 40 years since I came to Australia and I have always felt happy and felt that this country is a great power that can provide But I feel that this country is a great power that can provide happiness to me and my family. Recently however, I have been asking myself what Australia has become. Do I have confidence in Australia going forward? I’m really scared and worried.

Participant 3 (Japanese)
01.24.00

I was born and raised in the countryside of Japan. I used to work in the medical field, but I’d always wanted to live abroad to broaden my perspective. Around 2020, during the Black Lives Matter movement, my favourite artist posted, “Silence is guilt,” and that really hit me. I’ve always loved jazz, funk, disco, soul, and 90s hip-hop, but I wanted to understand the stories and culture behind the music more deeply. Moving to Australia actually happened kind of randomly. I first visited in 2017 and just fell in love with the vibe, so I decided to move there to experience more diversity and learn English.

In Australia, I worked in aged care and at a Japanese restaurant. I really enjoyed, but at the same time, I knew I wanted to return to my original profession. So I started preparing in Japan, hoping that I can continue my career in Australia and to live with my favourite person!

I’ve seen a lot of news about those protests recently. not only in Australia but also in Japan. I think sometimes the media tends to highlight only the negative sides, focusing on a small number of people with extreme opinions. I’ve experienced racism a few times, but I know that doesn’t represent everyone. I’ve met so many kind and open-minded people in Australia through music, work, and daily life. and that’s what I want to remember. I think these issues exist everywhere, and what really matters is how we choose to treat each other. For me, the most important thing is mutual respect and trying to understand each other beyond differences. Of course, for me, it’s not always easy and there are probably many things happening behind the scenes that I don’t fully see or understand. but I still want to keep thinking this way

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For those who have listened to the mix already, I’m sure you would have perhaps made the connection with a recent mix by one of my long-time deep house and electro-acoustic inspiration’s, DJ Sprinkles / Terre Thaemlitz RA.1000 Mix. Releasing a little under a month before my Hope Street Radio slot, it is without a doubt one of the most impactful and beautifully devastating mixes I’ve ever listened to. The mix is a meditation into the genocide of Gaza, she utilises a collection of Israeli Media samples and Jewish critics that share stories and conversations about the despicable events in Palestine, and shine a light on the atrocities on both the military activities there and the Israeli propaganda that have blinded the oppressors.

Of course, I did not want to identically replicate the formula of Terre’s mix. I still played my usual house/deep house genres for the majority of the mix which does not appear in any of Terre’s tracklist. And the hyper-specific element the Melbourne topic is also different from Terre’s attention too. I think I did well enough to differentiate the project but the similarities are still close enough to require referencing.

A very interesting point was raised by a fourth participant who declined to participate in the project was that anti-immigration protests are a distraction to real issues. Whether it be achieving treaty for indigenous Australians, condemning the genocide in Gaza or others, these events are just a justification to allow opposing threats to speak. They have justified racism exists within this country. All of this is just a distraction, and its immigrants who bare the blow.

I hope that as you listen to this mix, you understand and concur that immigrants are the most important people in the country’s growth and prosperity. The contribute an important workforce and provide amazing diversity to this country. They deserve much more respect than they are given from these racist Australian’s marching against their presence.

Thanks for reading. I hope this justification text was enlightening and above all, I hope you enjoyed the mix. Please contact me if you have any further questions or want to discuss anything related to the HSR mix.

- Luke CVR

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Recorded live at Hope Street Radio. Thursday 9th of October 2025. 5-7pm.

Accompanied Food:

Focaccia with Whipped Butter
Scallop Crudo
Mefaldini Pasta with Kale, Kelp and Stracchitella

Accompanied Drink:

Hope Street Radio x Nikau - Rodeo (Chilled Red Blend - Sangiovese, Nero d'Avola, Greco, Schioppettino)

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Tracklist:

00.00 Sir Robert Menzies on the White Australia Policy
00.26 Garry Havrillay - Fragments of Memory (Luke CVR's Intro to Anarchy Edit)
01.40 Live for Friends - Green Is Where the Green Man Sits
02.55 Spanish - Participant 1
05.45 Nick Murphy - Airplane Mode
09.52 Rhythm & Sound – Outward
12.01 Stereociti – Downstream
18.45 Greie Gut Fraktion - Mischmaschine (Soulphiction - Late Dub)
23.18 Charles Webster - Your Life (Presence Dub)
28.25 Wiki - Stories (Original Mix)
36.18 Melchior Communications Ltd - Soon (Edward Remix)
40.45 Low Flung - All The Time
41.27 Khmer - Participant 2
45.20 Cousin - Lu's Dub
49.37 Charles Webster - I Wonder Why (feat Sipho Hotstix Mabuse
55.14 Seafoam - Skin Deep
01.00.12 Rishi K - Here & Now
01.09.12 Ariane Blank - Pictures Of You (Original Mix)
01.15.24 Ariane Blank - Jackpan (YokoO Got Lost On His Way Remix)
01.21.13 Anton Zap – Cold
01.23.12 Salz - Orange Whip (Original Mix)
01.24.00 Japanese - Participant 3
01.27.26 G-Day - Citriodora (Genning Remix)
01.29.16 Ferdy & Daniel van der Zwaag - Blijheid (Original Mix)
01.34.18 Dallomo - Floor 12 (Original Mix)
01.38.32 Tidy Daps - Memory
01.44.36 Terry Francis - Through My Veins (Original Mix)
01.51.06 Deepeaters - Amasotsha (Original Mix)
01.55.37 Bianca Bowers - Immigrant (Poetry Reading)