The Joy of The Party: Celebrating Ten Years with A Love Supreme

Born out of need as much as desire, A Love Supreme is a name which has defined Meanjin/Brisbane’s quickly-evolving cultural fabric over the last decade since it first formed back in 2012. From a barbecue held in a carpark one afternoon to a record store; laneway and warehouse parties to 800-pax venue takeovers and international headliners; A Love Supreme is synonymous with good times and great music in Meanjin/Brisbane. Founded by Ben Chiu, Paul Marinos and Alex Intas, with Chiu and Marinos still at the wheel, A Love Supreme is a community-minded party crew with a whole lot of soul.

Their wrap sheet speaks for itself, with the crew becoming a mainstay in Brisbane’s underground thanks to their committed vision for bringing something different to their hometown in a time when no one else was doing it. They’ve played host to Gilles Petersen, Floating Points, Oddisee and more over the years, and fit just as comfortably at an established and traditional venue as they do in an open-air suburban park or industrial warehouse. They’ve remained committed to their city and their home which has given them so much, and have remained in favour of adding to it or, in their case, building something from scratch as opposed to leaving for something already established. And while their city around them has changed a lot, their ethos and passion of community building and of delivering worthwhile experiences to those who come along hasn’t.

At the time of our interview, Chiu and Marinos were in the thick of what they do best: they’d just wrapped up a DIY open-air park party just three days earlier; they were getting ready to bring two international headliners to Meanjin’s Warehouse 25 and in the throws of promoting their double-header birthday extravaganza. Perhaps understandably then, they had had little time to reflect on the milestone in front of them. However, they’d certainly already done their share of soul-searching in The Great Pause of 2020.

Chiu reflected on that time, reflecting on this period by saying it provided a much-needed “check in”, as well as a reminder of why they do what they do. Marinos echoed his partner, saying, “Everything was so out of our control and we were waiting for the moment where it felt right, and when we were allowed to,” acknowledging these are sometimes two different things. A Love Supreme has always put community over cash, and were cautious with their return to physical spaces despite many other promoters rushing back to shows as soon as they got their green light because it was at odds with the principles of doing right by those they’re connected with.

When reflecting on their ten years so far, the pair express their pride not in their own venture but for the city around them: one which has been overlooked countless times, one which developed its identity on the backs of a politically-motivated rock scene and one which has been slow but ambitious in its drive to stand on its own. It’s this that they are proud of, knowing their home is still that, but there is much more room for many more people. The joy they derive from their venture is palpable and contagious as they joke and reminisce during our chat, and their mutual passion of bringing people together combined with their shared core belief that we’re all stronger for it is what has steeled them against the same fates many others have met over the years.

Fittingly, then, they’re going bigger than they ever have before with a double-header bookending the final week in March. The event, titled “10 Laps Around The Sun”, is an exemplar of the fusion they’ve sought to bring to their community for the last decade and sees a bill spanning jazz, hip hop, house, techno, and much more across two very special nights. The first night will see Brazilian jazz masters Azymuth and Marcos Valle take to the newly opened Princess Theatre stage — a booking which has both Chiu and Marinos pinching themselves. The genre-definers will be supported by Middle Name Dance Band, The Jazz House and DJ Paprika, delivering a Sunday night not to be missed. Things are then taken to the other end of the ALS spectrum, with Floating Points headlining The Tivoli. Ruby Savage, DJ JNETT, Mike Who, Sophie McAlister, Lori and Respect Guy will also be on the decks, making sure the dance side of things is well and truly taken care of.

A decade defined by genuine intention and authenticity, A Love Supreme’s longevity and maintained relevance is a testament not only to how careful Chiu and Marinos are with the trust they’ve earned from their community, but also to their own ambitious beliefs in the city that surrounds them. Buoyed by their perhaps-at-the-time blind belief that they couldn’t be the only ones that wanted something different, they didn’t have to look very far before they struck cultural gold in the underground and they’ve never looked back. Their tireless commitment to putting their city on the map, as well as their humility now as they reflect on the many new crews who have them to thank, has played an integral part in revolutionising the way Brisbane is perceived and perceives itself. They know everyone is stronger when they’re united, and that same desire to bring like-minded people together is what has seen them through. Here, we dive a little deeper into this very ethos, their love of their city, their thoughts on things to come and what on earth keeps bringing them back after all these years:

Okay well first of all, congratulations! What are your vibes/feelings/thoughts as you near your tenth anniversary?

Paulie Marinos: Pretty good! Pretty good in general. It’s been ten years of enjoyment really. Even the ones that haven’t necessarily been our best parties, we’ve still walked away from it being like, “Well you know, it’s still worth doing!” The sense of accomplishment or achievement hasn’t really set in yet.

Does it feel like ten years? 

Ben Chiu: Not really…

Marinos: I remember five years felt like five years. 

I think that shows that you’re having a good time, right?

Chiu: People come up to us like, “Woah it’s been ten years, that’s crazy!” But we’re like, “yeah I guess it actually is right?” 

It’s also a bit of a case of no rest for the wicked – you just wrapped up a party last weekend and you’ve got another this weekend. It’s so exciting though because I guess each of these four events really sum up the ALS brand despite being all quite distinct. It’s a bit of an unintentional victory lap almost. Is that how it feels to you, or are you very much stuck in the zone right now?

Chiu: Definitely with the artists we’ve got over the next bit from Paula Tape to Marcos for the birthday, we wanted to represent that sound we’ve been trying to share over the years. A lot of the 10 years stuff at the Princess and The Tivoli are a lot of the crew that have played at a Bless party a few years ago or some of our bigger parties over the years. It’s a big reunion type thing of these buddies of ours. 

Marinos: We’re pulling in those who are closest to us for our biggest events!

Chiu: Azymuth and Marcos Valle are the ultimate joining the dots moment for us with jazz fusion stuff and dance. It’s the perfect thing to represent us. Obviously there are so many more crews around now, but we feel like we still have that particular identity of what we’re trying to represent which still does come from jazz and soul. Even though we dip into the electronic scene with house and techno, it still stems from that.

What keeps you committed? What keeps you coming back?

Chiu: We just love hanging out! *grabs Paulie*

Marinos: I think it’s the joy still. There’s a particular feeling watching a room full of people dance to music and feeling a tiny bit responsible for it. 

Chiu: And it’s to music that we love. It’s to stuff we want to represent, which is stuff that a lot of parties aren’t necessarily representing and we love that other people enjoy it as much as we do. 

Marinos: Selfishly, at the same time we just really want to see this person so if we wanna see these shows we’ll throw it ourselves!

The joy of the party is still there after all this time then? 

Chiu: Sometimes it’s not there until afterwards. There’s always stress leading up to it, there’s always stress during it. Almost every party we’ll be there going, “Why do we do this to ourselves?!” But then you see people are having such a good time and enjoying themselves and we’re like, “Oh yeah, okay — that’s why.” It gives us energy back.

On the flipside of that, A Love Supreme has maintained a consistent and devoted community around it. Have you ever thought about what it is that keeps people coming back?

Marinos: It’s the artists, right? We’re just joining the dots and putting the pieces together for this artist. I guess part of it might be people trust that by now, a party that we put on, they’re gonna enjoy the music perhaps? But also, we put the gear out and it’s up to the artists to control the room and they always do. 

Chiu: There’s definitely a level of trust which we love. We do bring out artists that a lot of people have never heard of. The fact that there's some trust there that people can be like, “I don't know who they are, but it’s an A Love Supreme party,” and they come to it and have a good time… It's really nice that we can do that. We can share some more underground artists in that way as well, rather than always trying to get big names. And that's a lot of what we’ve been trying to push: artists that weren't making it to Brisbane normally, because they didn't have enough pull to do their own show or something like that. The point of BLESS when we did that was to highlight Australian artists.

Marinos: It stemmed from the idea of wanting to push the names that were playing everywhere else and bringing them to Brisbane to showcase that new wave in Australia.

Do you ever feel a responsibility with that trust that you’ve now got from your community?

Marinos: I don’t know if it’s a feeling of responsibility necessarily. 

Chiu: I guess we want to try and present something that is worthwhile for the punters and the artists.

Marinos: You want to cover all the bases.

Chiu: In a way that is sort of being responsible I guess. 

Marinos: It’s also partly to do with opportunity. We’re lucky enough that the music we like to listen to and play at the parties we’re throwing, other people also like and they trust us that way. 

Chiu: It’s always been about the love of it. It’s always been more of a passion project for us. We have other jobs and other work so we’re in it for the love of it. We’ve never oversaturated it and we’ve never asked too much of people as well and that trust that is there. If we do something, it’ll be solid. 

Marinos: We’re conscious of the experience as well. We want the artist to enjoy the show and everything that revolves around the show, whether that’s to take them to explore the city or whatever. And then the punters as well: you want to make it a comfortable space and make them feel warm. Not that you can always avoid it, but there are sometimes unsavoury characters that might come, so it’s about trying to make a space where everyone can feel comfortable and safe and it’s warm and inclusive.

Chiu: We’ve been fortunate enough that it’s been organic through that ten year process. We’ve never heavily pushed into that middle market promoter thing where we’re trying to sell out or whatever. We’ve been able to stick to our values of who we want to bring and who we want to represent and doing things because it’s quality music and not because it’s “cool” or the “in” thing.

Looking at the evolution of the brand, it’s been such a journey. From the laneway parties way back when to the Bless club nights in the glory days of the Foundry, the brick and mortar of the storefront obviously, DIY parties in parks and warehouses, touring international artists - everything! There is something to be said for allowing yourself to try out new things instead of being like "this is what we do and that is it" - was it a case of trial and error or did you always have that eye on something bigger?

Chiu: I can’t say we ever looked that far ahead *laughs*

Marinos: We never really did *laughs* It’s like these ideas happen or the opportunity presents itself and you either say yes or no, and most of the time we said yes.

Chiu: The growth was so organic. We’ve been lucky enough to work really tightly with a few touring agents in Australia like Crown Ruler who have been super supportive of us over the years. They’ve been touring the artists in Australia and we’ve been their go to for a lot of things here for a while, and they’ve always floated stuff by us and we’ve just had to think whether or not we can take it on. 

Marinos: Anyone we’ve ever worked with has always been ultra supportive of any decision we’ve made-

Chiu: And understanding of the Brisbane climate too. They understand it’s a tougher market and it was a growing thing at the start, definitely. 

Is it a difficult decision to make when you know it’s not the right fit or when it’s not going to work? 

Chiu: When it has been something that we don’t think is going to work, we’re pretty good at being like, “Ahhh, nah! I don’t think we can do that!”

Marinos: You don’t feel great about it but you’re better off being honest so you’re not spinning any stories. It’s just like, “this is how it is.”

Everything about this is rooted in that ethos of bringing people together, whether it’s in a figurative sense or a physical sense in a space. You were even throwing barbecues for the crew back in the day if I’m not mistaken! Where did that ethos or that desire to bring people together come from for you both?

Chiu: I guess it’s just, we wanted to create a space for people to get together and thankfully  like-minded people came to that and just had an enjoyable space to share. One of the beautiful things that brings people together no matter what your profession or walk of life or anything, is music.

Marinos: And food!

Chiu: Food and music! Ahhh, barbecue with music? Done!

You touched on that forced reflection back when the pandemic started and not being able to do what you wanted to do, which is exactly this. What was a challenge in that time of wanting to do something in a practical sense, and did you have to rethink what it is that you’re going to be bringing into this new way of doing this? 

Chiu: For me, I just felt like, okay we’re taking a break!

Marinos: It just felt like our hands were tied and this was just something that everyone has to go through, and as much as we would’ve loved to be throwing parties it would’ve just felt super weird. It would’ve been uncomfortable and wrong. When things opened up in the first time, we had our Better Days party and it just felt right. There was joy and energy in the air. 

Was that party a reminder for you both? 

Marinos: Yeah! Because there were moments, at least for me, where it was like, “Is anything going to ever be able to happen again?” When it was able to all come together, it felt like everyone was back and everybody there was so full of positive energy and so happy to be back and dancing. 

And now just two years later, you’re looking at your biggest shows ever for your tenth birthday!

Chiu: These are our two biggest ventures so far and it’s off the back of COVID-

Marinos: There’s a moment when we were like, “Well if it’s been ten years we might as well!” Let’s bite off a little more. And again, we got kind of lucky with some grail artists who we’ve looked up to and admired for years. All of a sudden they’re on the radar at the same time that we’re planning this. Artists like Floating Points who we’ve had before…

Chiu: It was initially just going to be Floating Points 

Which would’ve been a great party!

Chiu: Yeah! And we were going to build around that, but then Azymuth and Marcos got in front of us and it was kind of like, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Not just for us but for them to be in Brisbane. Azymuth has never been to Australia, and they’ll probably never come back. Marcos has been here once before, and they’ll probably never be back together. For us, it would be great to bring them to Brisbane. 

Marinos: It was crazy because we just knew that we had to do it. 

Chiu: It’s so worth it. For us to bring these grail artists, but also for Brisbane to bring these landmark type artists here.

You both share in this desire to actually contribute or build or create something here. Why have you opted for that over leaving to join something else already established? 

Marinos: Nothing like your own city! Nothing like the city you grew up in. People leave for opportunities, but there was a point where it was like, “Well someone’s gotta be doing something here!”

“If not us, then who?”

Chiu: That’s where it stems from originally. There weren’t people in Brisbane bringing these kinds of artists here. Originally, it was like well someone’s gotta try to bring these artists here and it just started like that. And then that feeling developed within us too. I guess it comes back to that feeling of wanting to do it for us and for others as well.

Marinos: The community here is incredible. Artists from all over the world come here and say the community and the energy here, the way we treat people, the people who come to the parties-

Chiu: I think that’s what you get in the smaller cities that you don’t normally get in the bigger cities. They expect to have a lot of choice and it’s a little more entitled in a way because there is so much choice.

The luxury of choice?

Marinos: But here, there’s a certain appreciation.  

Chiu: Right now, there’s quite a lot of choice here for parties that aren’t necessarily in the mainstream. There’s more techno parties, there’s more oddball house nights, but for a good while there wasn’t as much choice so people were so appreciative and responsive to what they were given in a way. They were able to see this is good music and they had open minds and open ears to be like, “Alright, this will be fun,” and even if it’s not the thing they listen to 100% of the time they can still get into it.

Brisbane is an entirely different place to how it once was in many ways, but still the same in a lot of others — it's been said a lot recently but it really is true that there is something very special happening in this city. You've seen your fair share of things through the years - what do you make of where Brisbane is at now and where it's potentially heading?

Marinos: The growth is wild. Watching these younger crews come up, and doing a great job of it too across the board… Every party that I attend, I’m always impressed with how people are putting it together. At this given point though, there is the potential for over-saturation. There’s now so many people so keen, and with things opening back up, this city and the communities that want to go to these parties is still relatively small.

Chiu: It’s relatively on the smaller side in terms of people who can and want to attend.

Marinos: It’s not like half the city is listening to this music or these artists.

Chiu: It’s not the mainstream. You go to a big city like London and all these big name DJs in our world are just playing all the time everywhere, so that’s what everybody over there is into. It’s not this big deal that Hunee is playing at this club, he’s at the club every second weekend there. I guess, it might feel like there is a bit of oversaturation at the moment but that might not be a bad thing.

Marinos: That term makes it sound negative. As long as the community grows, it’ll be fine. There’s just so much going on at the moment, and a lot of the people who are going to these parties are still going to uni, paying rent, and they can’t afford to go to two parties every weekend. Mentally, also that can be such a struggle too.

It’s interesting seeing parties pop up relatively at the same time as they all try to find their voices or their identities. It’ll be interesting to see what happens as those identities begin to crystallise because that can only ever happen over time.

Chiu: It’s all grown so much already over the ten years we’ve been here and there’s so many more people into more different types of genres and music. It worked in the build up to this point. When we started, everyone who was throwing parties knew what the vibe was like here in Brisbane and knew there was only a finite number of people. We all worked together to help each other’s parties and events grow. We’d be checking in and trying to make it work on different weekends or whatever, knowing what to consider for the community: fatigue, cash and things like that. We’d try to all consider that for each other as well so everyone’s events could be as strong as they could be.

Marinos: There’s always been a sense that we’re all in this together and everyone is working for the same goal which is enjoyment and everybody attending this from over the city, let’s take care of them.

Chiu: And there’s gonna be double ups. I remember once, I think it was a clash with a SHADE party and we were like, “Man we didn’t know!” and they were like “We didn’t know either!” And they were both that little bit weaker, and we were all just like, we should’ve joined them together.

It’s also remembering that not only are you throwing a party for the community, but you’re also a part of it as well. Maintaining that ethos goes far beyond just one party. 

Chiu: That’s it. We’re just as much a part of the community in terms of being a punter. We love it, that’s for sure! *laughs*

One thing I've always appreciated is how open you are to sharing the stage with others - you're on the ground at new parties, you're booking up and comers on your own bills. There’s no, “You have to be on a certain level to play at our party.” Would you say there has to be an element of openness to the very concept of new things in order to remain relevant and exciting yourselves?

Marinos: On a personal level, it’s not a conscious thought that would really cross my mind. I just want to be a part of it. I want to share that ethos that you were just saying. When someone else is throwing a party, I want to be there.

Chiu: For me, it’s about being open-minded. It’s not like we’re hunting down who’s coming up or whatever. It comes in front of us through the connections we keep making with the artists we’re bringing and friends in different parts of the world. There’s a trust we have as well with these people as well where we can all say, “You should check this person out” and then you go from there. They know what we’re trying to do, and that’s the beauty of it. Even some of the parties that are not huge, we’re making these lovely connections from people around the country or the world who are essentially trying to do the same thing in terms of sharing music and experiences and positive energy. I think that intent finds each other and supports each other. 

Marinos: I think that’s also on the local level as well. When someone comes across your radar when you’re attending these parties or watching these artists or just talking to people. They can say, “This is what I’m up to,” and we approach it with an open mind and if it’s the right fit, it can work. There should never be snobbery or things like, “You haven’t been doing this long enough.” If this is what you’re doing and it fits with us and you want to be on stage, by all means, here’s a platform for you.

From the early days through until now, A Love Supreme has existed outside of that standard and mainstream club space. It can fit in a club, but predominantly it exists outside of that. Was that always a conscious decision as well, knowing you’re providing an alternative so therefore needing an alternative space as well? 

Marinos: We’ve always been very aware that we’re left of field.

Chiu: Most glaringly, when we would throw nights at The Foundry a few years ago, and downstairs there’d be a line for [more mainstream Brisbane club] Prohibition alongside it with a completely different crew of people all lining up for that at the same. 

In a way then, the dance community has had no choice but to exist outside these “legitimate” venues. Would you agree that this lack of opportunity is what drives you to these unconventional spaces? 

Chiu: In this realm, for sure. Even now it’s still super hard. The venues that allow us and other crews to throw these kinds of events are still super limited. They either want to do the sound in a way that brings in a mainstream audience. At the end of the day, for most places, it’s capitalist focused. It’s about making money and the bottom line. So they have to think if this crowd is going to come in and spend heaps of money and buy lots of drinks and so they want to get as many people through the door as possible. The venues that have been happy to support us over this time have been super great because it’s helped us grow. The Foundry was a great support for us.

Marinos: That place was so special, every time you walked in it just felt really warm.

It was home to so many people.

Marinos: Yeah! And because it was so regular, our night was the night when everyone would come in and you’d develop friendships with people who existed in those spaces.

Chiu: That’s always a consideration for us. Does that venue fit our vibe? And we consider what their goal is as well. Are they there just to facilitate the punters having a good time? At the time of being at The Foundry, the manager, Nick [Broomham] - shout out Nick, shout out Patty [Balfe] - they just wanted to have good stuff there. They weren’t overly precious about needing to do x amount of dollars. It was nice that we could find places that cared like we did, and if we couldn’t find an actual place (which happened plenty of times), then we’d find an alternative. It’s like all these things, you develop trust and you need to have it within every part of what you’re trying to do. 

As we look to the next couple of shows, a year, ten years and more - what does A Love Supreme look like to you?

Chiu: To be honest, we’re just looking at getting through these ones first. There’s some loose chats happening though. If the right opportunity comes in front of us, and it fits!

Marinos: We never want to force anything. When it’s right, it’s right.

Chiu: We also want to always take into consideration what’s happening here too. One of the main reasons we did it in the first place was because we felt there was a need for something to happen here, but now there’s heaps of crews out here doing it we don’t necessarily feel as much of that urge. It’s no longer like there’s nothing on and we have to throw some things, there’s heaps of stuff! There’s heaps of young crews doing cool things.

Marinos: There might be a short moment after this where we sit down and reflect but I think the joy of the party and seeing people come is enough to get the itch to do it again fairly quickly. 

Chiu: It’s also exciting to see things grow in our hometown. Watching the community grow, whether it’s in the A Love Supreme little bubble or as a whole, we’re just excited that it’s happening and that more people are into this music that’s not triple j. We’re traditionally a rock city so the fact that it’s growing is what it’s all about.

“A Love Supreme: 10 Laps Around The Sun” is a two-day celebration held on Sunday March 20 at The Princess Theatre, and Friday March 25 at The Tivoli.March 20: Azymuth and Marcos Valle (Brazil), Middle Name Dance Band, The Jazz House, DJ Paprika

March 25: Floating Points (UK), Ruby Savage (UK), DJ Jnett, Mike Who, Sophie McAlister, Lori, Respect Guy

Tickets available through www.alovesupreme.co