"I was playing old disco and funk and someone put me onto Juno, said that I should start playing the edits because they're easier to mixed. Then I found Late Nite Tuff Guy, who's also from Australia and that was it for me."
Inspired by the work of high profile, fellow Australia resident Late Nite Tuff Guy, Dr Packer has entered the international disco consciousness thanks to his own finely crafted reworks. Based in Perth and formerly a drum n' bass producer, Greg Packer has been DJing since before that genre was even invented. He's a man now returning to his roots.
"I started off playing soul, funk, hip hop and house then moved into drum n' bass," says the slim, dark haired DJ, who it's difficult to believe is in his 40s. “It's not like I've just got into it, more like I've gone full circle and gone back to it.”
Much more than simple re-edits, Dr Packer uses all the skills he learned producing completely original music to rework disco, soul and funk from the extensive catalogue he's built up as a vinyl collector. “I'm originally from Northampton,” he says, not that you could tell from the west Australian accent he's acquired. “I tend to buy big when I go back there, especially in London. I'd buy a truck load of records then ship them all back.”
So far his nuanced reworking skills have been called upon by the likes of ourselves, Joey Negro's Z Records and lauded by DJs as diverse as Glenn Underground, Tony Humphries, Moodymanc, CJ Mackintosh, ATFC, Julius Papp and Kiko Navarro to name but a few.
Replaying basslines and chords, adding drums and percussion that fill the spectrum covered by contemporary soundsystems, he has sprinkled his magic on countless vintage classics and lesser known gems, with the Dr. Packer name taking him much further afield as a DJ than his efforts in drum n' bass ever did.
Catch him this year at the inaugural Defected Croatia Festival
