Technicolour Dreams

One of the finalists of last year's triple j Unearthed competition, Jordan Hankins, aka Tyler Touché, has rapidly gone from classrooms to nightclubs and music festivals since exploding onto the j-waves with debut single, Baguette. It's a balance he's understandably still coming to terms with. “Yeah it's been interesting, a bit of a juggle I guess,” Jenkins reckons, still coming to grips with the idea people want to call up and talk to him about his work as a young dance music producer.

“It's interesting just seeing people at school's reactions to all this stuff. I don't usually gloat about it or tell everyone who I am in this second life kind of thing. [I've] just finished a musical rehearsal at my school actually – I play saxophone, so I'm in the band for it.”

When looking at his pedigree it's not hard to see how Hankins found himself mixed up in this crazy world we journalist-types dissect for days on end trying to make a buck. His parents met while a part of a touring cover band, and his father (a sound engineer for over 20 years) nurtured his growing interest in production. “[Having dad there] has been super helpful, learning the production side of things and having it at home, a built-in studio almost, which he lets me use, which is awesome.

“On the road with him he's been super helpful. He's been in the industry and done his bit touring with bands and that kind of thing.”

Hankins even sampled his mum's vocals in the abovementioned breakout disco-banger. The track features on his just-released second EP, Technicolour Symphony, a groovy five-tracker featuring four originals plus a remix of Baguette by new friend Sterling Silver, whose vocals also feature on the title track. “Sterling I've gotten to know over the past few months, and he's totally cool. He's into all the same music I'm into, which is great; all the '80s funk stuff and things like that.”

Given Hankins has already been rocking nightclubs for months, he has a confidence some can take years to gain. “I think the first time was a little triple j Unearthed show. There wasn't heaps of people there but I was super nervous and now, just playing Splendour was the last show I played and the biggest crowd I've played to, probably a few thousand people, that was just so much fun. I was pretty relaxed up there…”

It all puts him in good stead for the upcoming triple j House Party tour, the 2013 edition featuring fellow disco enthusiasts Flight Facilities and Cassian. And once that tour is over, school will almost be done and Hankins gets the chance to get back to doing what he does well. “After I finish school I'll get stuck into writing a bunch more music, which I'm keen to do 'cause I haven't had a lot of time this year to write new tunes.”