SOUL OF SYDNEY FUNK FAMILY
DJ’s | MC’s | Dancers | Events

“Sydney’s Friendliest Dance Floor”

SOUL OF SYDNEY: are a grassroots collective bonded by a love of ‘FUNK’ & ‘SOUL’ based music in all it’s forms.  A creative family of DJ’s, Dancers, Artist working to support the music we love & the culture around it.

Initially launched as a blog in 2009 to share mixes & local funk scene information, it wasn’t long before we all took a chance on an afternoon in 2011 to throw a one-off invite-only Sunday afternoon picnic over 10+ years ago. Setting up turntables & a renegade sound system in a park in the inner west with a simple idea to bring FEEL-GOOD FUNK & SOUL music in a kid-friendly environment outside of the usual late-night bar & club space, & in an atmosphere where people had the freedom to express themselves, where dancers connected with DJ’s and where  DJ’s had the liberty to play anything they were feeling. 

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Drawing heavy musical inspiration from across Hip Hop, Disco & House scenes the crew always felt it was important to try & pay homage to the roots of those scenes with anything they put their names to, be it a DJ set, podcast, mixtape events.

Their sound still heavily influenced by seminal DJs & parties & clubs from the ’70s, 80’s such as; David Mancuso’s The Loft (NYC), Larry Levan’s and Paradise Garage, Kool Herc’s Block Parties, Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, &  inspired by a host of esteemed current music events around the world including the likes of; New York’s ‘Body and Soul’, LA’s ‘The Do Over’ and UK’s Southport Weekender just to name a few. 

Over 10+ Years years on, the Soul of Sydney’s distinctive focal characteristics of dance-floor expression, crowd participation, and an inclusive party environment has seen the events really take on their own feelings over the last decade. With positive party vibes encouraged, you can anticipate all kinds of dance floor fun including crowds that get down with classic Soul-Train lines, B-Boys, Breakers, Poppers and Lockers getting down, Roller Boogie Flash Mob dancers & even the odd limbo lines or group jump rope on the floor.

Drawing on their musical ROOTS and INSPIRATIONS, you will typically hear the sounds of James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, De La Soul, J Dilla, Stevie Wonder, Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles blaring through the speakers, along with a heavy dose of rare hidden gems intertwined for good measure too.

(Check out some of the videos below for an idea of how they get down HERE)

Always moving forward with a smile the last few years have defiantly been a blessed for Soul of Sydney since that first picnic back in 2011. They have been asked to bring their own unique brand of Funk party as part of a host of some of the largest well-established festivals in Sydney, including Sydney Festival (2015, 2016, 2017), Sydney Fringe Festival, Vivid (2015,2016,2017), Soulfest, The African Film Festival, just to name a few.

SOUL OF SYDNEY: Doing it strictly for the LOVE | Dancing in the KEY OF LIFE | Feel-Good Funk & Old School Party Jams | Sydney’s Friendliest Dance-floor