Lounge Sounds #2 with Pjenné
Pjenné is Penny O'Brien, and for the better part of a decade, she's been an integral force in moving dancefloors across Australia. Whether she’s enchanting crowds at some of the best festivals and clubs in the country, weaving through a famous b2b session with fellow Melburnian Millú, or hosting her Passing Notes show on PBS, Pjenné has rapidly built a reputation as one of the most reliable and respected deejays on the underground circuit.
In keeping with the spirit of our first Lounge Sounds, we caught up with Pjenné to find out what she's been listening to at home over the last few months of lockdown. Her multitudinous picks, ranging from the perfect dinner playlist she put together for Pepe Pasta, to a rare ambient LP from K.Leimer, to a series of increasingly danceable mixes, speak to the many highs, lows and in-betweens we’ve all felt during this strange and surreal year. As well as providing a bunch of stellar selections, we also got some sage words from the Melbourne tastemaker about her picks, clubbing and the future of our scene here in Australia.
ALBUMS & COMPILATIONS
K. Leimer
Music for Land and Water
(Palace of Lights)
Originally released on an extremely hard to come by cassette, this highly sought after ambient/modern classical piece has seen a couple of reissues on more accessible formats in recent times.
Cactus Head
Delatite Odyssey
(OTIS Records)
Rory sent me a couple of tracks from this release so long ago and I have been waiting patiently for them to get the proper release they deserve! Shouts to OTIS for the cute as hell tape release — a true indication of Rory's diversity in sound and skill.
VA
The Searchers & Hobbies Galore Compilations
(The Searchers)
Good friends over at The Searchers record store and Hobbies galore, accompanied by a poster by Brain Dead's Ed Davis and profits going towards Children's Ground.
VA
Vector Fields Vol. 1
(The Music Company)
Stunning collection of tracks by Music Company with proceeds going towards Black Rainbow. Great follow up to the debut LP release from Grace Ferguson.
PLAYLIST
Dinner playlist I recently put together for Pepe Pasta.
MIXES
5 mostly local mixes I've loved — ranging in energy level on a scale from 1 - 5 with 1 being lounge and 5 being dancing in the lounge. Some slight bias toward the fabulous energy people put into mixes for Passing Notes.
Sicu & ab.s Guest Mix - Nice Setting on Skylab Radio
Upsammy - Pacing The Platform on NTS
Other Joe Guest Mix - Passing Notes
OK EG LIVE - Passing Notes
Marley Swain - Butter Mix
Firstly, how are you doing?
Good question! Life continues to be strange in Melbourne — each day seems to present a new set of obstacles, feelings, challenges or moods, each harder to describe than the last. You learn to adapt to new modes of living, however, there always seems to be a ‘not quite right’ feeling underneath it all. I think my biggest lockdown related challenge is losing motivation. As someone who still has a full workload, it can be difficult to keep things moving along and dealing with work stress. It’s a stark contrast to the challenges many others are experiencing in absence of a job though, so I count myself as lucky. I do feel a quiet sense of optimism though. Today, I must say I am feeling good! I’m feeling physically and mentally well and indulging in somewhat of a lull in my academic work this week. I’ll be enjoying these less and less as my PhD and day-job progresses so I’m taking a breath on the advice of my supervisor. One thing that the pandemic has afforded me is a very long and drawn out breath or break from gigs, which was needed. I am loving the weekend downtime — sometimes you need to take something away to fully understand how much you have on your plate. That said, I’m beginning to feel the itch.
How much have your listening habits changed in isolation and lockdown?
My lockdown listening habits have been rather steady over this period. I’ve always prioritised more downtempo listening for home listening — especially during the workday as I use it as tool to concentrate. Perhaps this has been amplified as I do think my tolerance for harder styles of dance music has become slightly lower. Despite my daytime listening, I am preparing for my radio show Passing Notes on a weekly basis and am privileged to still be broadcasting from the PBS studio. I feel so lucky to have this outlet as it means I still enjoy and share my fair share of dance! The radio community has really been thriving through all this and it’s lovely to be a part of.
What music have you been gravitating towards?
There is a sense that my tastes have shifted to even more ambient sounds on the weekdays, or things that are familiar to me. I’ve found myself re-listening to a lot of things over and over — perhaps this is a subconscious effort to regain some control or familiarity in life! On the weekends I have been enjoying more time spent listening to albums — remember those? I’m usually at my partner’s house and he’s building up a nice little collection of local cassettes releases which has been fun listening too.
How do you think club music and DJing will change after the pandemic & lockdown restrictions?
This is such a tough question and I’ve considered many directions that we could be heading in. The negative side of me sees our industry being highly regulated with drab consequences for a long while. On the other more favourable hand, I see a flourishing future whereby Melbourne responds with boundless creativity and energy as is often seen after a period of crisis. I think that creativity will manifest mostly in the way events are put together, with even more of a shift to interesting outdoor spots. Another more obvious change will be taking our attention away from international acts to our local artists. I welcome this shift, we have everything covered off right here, so am keen to seem some interesting local line ups in the future.
Anything else you'd like to mention?
Hang in there and I’ll see you on the other side! :~)
