A few weeks back, I was at The Lord Gladstone watching Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt beat the living shit out of each other at UFC 200.

With the action taking place on the big screen, it wasn’t long before the visuals started shaking profusely, and you could hear the rumble caused by jumping feet moving erratically upstairs. What the hell was going on? After all, it was a lazy Sunday afternoon – the perfect time for a few quiet beverages while watching cage fighting, and hardly the time for a dancefloor workout.

After the fight finished, I poked my head upstairs to see what the commotion was about. What I found was the pub’s inside room transformed into a rave den of sorts, with decorated walls and kids dressed in drapey future-goth garments. Eerie bass music was blasting from the speakers, making for an ominous contrast to the outside world. Later, I learned that this was the work of Strnxger.

An elusive seven-person collective of selectors, producers and creatives, Strxnger have thrown two parties in their young history but have already cultivated a distinct and dedicated fanbase. They’ve also performed at several venues around town and seem to be building momentum with swift confidence, so we decided to shoot some questions off to Strnxger to find out who they are and how they came to be:

So who exactly is Strxnger and how long have you guys been around?

Strxnger as a brand is fresh out from the starting line, but we’ve been running doing our own thing for years. Some of our members have known each other for eons and others have recently joined the rebellion. Strxnger is an idea that could’ve almost been around since the beginning of time, but that has only been in the public eye since early 2016.

What prompted Stranxger to form and what do you consider to be your mission statement?

It was time to legitimise, brand & collect under a name so the movement already bubbling now can be a conglomerate that has some sort of official flavour. I mean why not? We always are up to dope shit and it’s time to brand it and share it with the people. We started this movement from literally a few friends going to gigs, making music and art. We wanted to create something that mixed every interest and passion for music that we have. At first we weren’t sure what we wanted it to be – an online space, a free event or a warehouse party. But we realised we wanted to create an idea of expressing and sharing the sounds and passions we enjoy. We wanted to create a space, an event, an idea.

What type of music do you guys promote at your parties?

We promote music as it is, varied through genres. Among the members of Strxnger, our DJs and producers naturally resonate with a specific styles of music and delve into the subcategories of these styles too. At the end of the day, its just the love of music and the education through years of building personal libraries, attending gigs and music festivals as well as bouncing our own creations off each other.

Specifically we have some guys into their house, pure deep house that range from old school Chicago house to the newer school of lo-fi. Other members are jazz aficionados, and they love to venture into trap that has a strong influence of bass, synth and acoustics.

The new era of trap has dawned and we also have members taking care of this. It’s really avant-guarde in that it’s experimental and has ethereal sounds. So many people are jumping on this from Sydney to LA, Toronto and even Europe. Hip-hop and rap is on the come up just as much, especially that Southern sound – Travis Scott, Young Thug, Future, ASAP Rocky and Kanye West always sneak into Strxnger sets and is always well received by our audience. Music is meant to be enjoyed and there’s no better feeling than sharing that euphoria.

With our events, music will depend on the day, time and atmosphere. You can catch us playing some soft jazz on a sunny day or deep, dark and abrasive trap and house in a dungeon-esque club. We have producers who specialise in genres and others who breeze over many styles. We like a variety, we like many flavours in the one plate, many colours on the one palette – curated and administered to a beautifully well rounded effect, like a festival almost.

Which area of Sydney do you guys hail from and how do you think that has affected your hustle and vision?

We come from all over Sydney – Northern Beaches, North Shore, The Hills – and before that from all over the world. All of our parents have come from different places around the world but here we are, having somehow managed to all link up. I guess that’s where the whole concept of Strxnger emerged from, that we’re all outliers from the rest of what’s considered ‘society’ and that’s just what we’ve grown to know. So in a way, Strxnger is a collective full of people who are exactly the same in that we are all different – which is what we envision, in that we just want to hang out with like-minded people who are themselves. As all of us do hail from different parts of Sydney, the lockout laws and destruction of Sydney night life have affected each and every one of us personally. We’re also witness to the great artists and creatives who come from or decide to visit our city, thus both these factors have contributed to us wanting to push what we’ve got.

What do you believe that you are providing the Sydney party scene with that it’s otherwise lacking?

We come from such different backgrounds and beginnings that the things we create are so vastly dissimilar from other things we have seen and experienced in the party scene. That’s why we created Strxnger, to express our passions and contrasting tastes to a crowd that want to hear sounds that challenge what they are used to. The scene is evolving rapidly, as is Strxnger, we want bring everything we know to the people that want to hear, see and experience it. From our perspectives, it’s whatever sounds good. If the sound makes our head turn even in the slightest while listening to it then it’s something we’re definitely going to use.

You guys have already thrown two successful parties at The Lord Gladstone with a pretty distinct audience. How did you manage to grab such a fanbase in a relatively short time?

This fan base definitely didn’t come outta nowhere, that’s for sure. I mean there are many people who have rocked up to our recent parties who we had no idea about, which is amazing and ultimately our goals but we do have squad; they’re loyal people who’ve been supporting whatever we put out for years, some even since high school. They’ve been part of the rebellion for years. And since Sydney nightlife is desolate at the moment, we’ve easily managed to bond with similar brands and collectives chasing the same dream of making dope shit happen. It’s been growing because we are providing Sydney with what its been craving. Everyone has their forte so it’s all in finding that balance between ourselves and each other. Once we’ve got that balance, we’ve got everything we need – unlimited potential.

You also have a fashion label coming soon, what styles and figures are you influenced by aesthetically?

We want to move into a lot more colour and sort of transpire our sound visually through the colours we wear. Something that represents the music we listen to as well as the environment we surround ourselves with. The NUMB boys are very inspiring in their approach towards fashion, really keeping in mind quality & design and it really does help to see how others attack trends and work their own ideas around it. When it comes to clothes we aspire to be minimal, elegant but a strong visual statement. We can’t say too much right now but definitely something exciting to keep an eye out for!

What’s next on the cards for Strxnger?

A lot. We’ve got ideas ranging from music, design, clothing and film etc. That’s the beauty of current time and the Internet. We can achieve this with the ability to self-innovate and transform concepts into a physical state of creativity. Strxnger’s psyche isn’t about our own personal motivations. We are a product of a multifaceted environment. We would like to create a space for ourselves as well as like-minded individuals in a local and global landscape. This is just the start of the movement, the Gladstone is just us testing the waters with our toes. Wait until we dive right in.