Ready For Battle

Spearheading the Melbourne bounce takeover of the world's festivals and clubs, DJ/producer Will Sparks has recently made a fan of Robin Thicke, remixing the soulster's mega-hit Blurred Lines with T.I. and Pharrell Williams and has just wrapped up a two-month North American tour that saw him play a decadent Night Swim pool party at XS Nightclub in Las Vegas – and now he's preparing to conquer Europe. “I think I've got, like, 38 hours in Melbourne.” Sparks has so many dates booked in the US next year that he may relocate to LA, joining an 'Aussie invasion' led by Tommy Trash. Still, he will be DJing at Stereosonic 2013 and, in March, Future Music Festival 2014. There's a downside to success. Sparks is too busy for love. “It's hard, man – when you're always on the road,” he sighs. “I mean, you want a girlfriend, but it's so hard being distant. It just doesn't work.”

The 20-something struggled to get any gigs until late last year. He'd originally been into heavy metal, playing guitar, then discovered dance music as an underage clubber, catching local DJ Joel Fletcher (who, incidentally, compiled the recent This Is… Melbourne Bangers for Ministry Of Sound). He began to produce, sharing his efforts online. Sparks' viral break-out, Ah Yeah, was championed by the likes of David Guetta. In 2013 he debuted at second place in the inthemix50 DJ poll after the Stafford Brothers.

Sparks owes this astonishing ascendance to his association with ravey Melbourne electro – which the vet Mobin Master has described as a bouncier version of '90s hard house. “In a way, it's got similar things within the sound that's like hardstyle. It's got that trancey feel, but it's slower and it's bouncy – like a minimal bassline.”

Sparks showcases Melbourne bounce on a new OneLove compilation, Sound Machine 2013, the DJ's mix opening with his banger The Viking. As with Sparks' live DJ sets, most of the tracks are his own productions (such as Chemical Energy, featuring Flea) or remixes (the Staffords' Hello with Lil Wayne and Christina Milan). Indeed, the copious Sparks reveals that he has six months' of material yet to be released. “I think I've got an album coming up – because I've got so much music that is just sitting there doing nothing,” he says. “So I'm getting into deals and we're trying to work something out, and then we'll probably bring out a Will Sparks album!”