Sydney will usher in 2024 with an iconic line-up for NYD ‘Day One’ Reverence at The Greenwood Hotel & Bar Four Hundred. In a mini-festival celebration, we come one for ‘Day One.’ Rodd Richards Presents, TMRW Events & Ministry of Sound Australia present an intimate affair, headlined by Electronic pioneers Faithless, legendary duo Basement Jaxx, artists LTJ Bukem, Dillinja and breakbeat co-creators Plump DJ’s.

It had been a few years since we last caught up with Sister Bliss from Faithless. With an astonishing career spanning since 1995, we were fevering to speak again with the revered DJ of the ambiguous NYD ‘Day One’ Reverence tour, memories of the late great Maxi Jazz, the hope for world peace in 2024, and a tease for new music along the way.

Last time we spoke was in 2021 following the release of All Blessed and at the height of the pandemic. What is it like to be back on the road touring again?

It’s been really life - affirming and super important that touring became viable again for all those who work in our industry, who had been in a very dark place. We’ve lost a lot of talent through the disaster of Covid - so many crew who’d spent a lifetime honing their specialist skills were suddenly out of work and forced to move into different employment, not to mention the terrible physical and mental health issues left in its wake. So I am very grateful to be able to gig again as a DJ, and as someone cleverer than me once said : “ You only know what freedom is once it has been taken away” !

What does it mean to finally bring ‘All Blessed’ down under?

Well I’m not touring with the band on this occasion, but it is lovely to be able to play newer Faithless songs from our “ All Blessed” album alongside the much - loved Faithless classics. It was a very strange experience to release an album during lock down, and for us not to go through the usual touring cycle with it, but it felt necessary to put new music out as so much of the album was about finding healing, and common ground in tough circumstances. It was the first album really that we had released with only reliance on the streaming platforms which was pretty scary! It wasn’t like previous releases where our club- focussed tunes got that chance to connect with an audience in the way they were intended, as everything suddenly got shut down - no festivals, no club gigs, not even hairdressers or bars - which we had never experienced before.

Your radio show ‘Sister Bliss in Session’ is broadcast weekly to over 40 countries across the globe. Can listeners catch some of the new up and coming artists on this channel?

Yes its a really upfront show - I love introducing listeners to music I’m really feeling - often from debut artists, and also really encouraging when they keep releasing music and it gets better and better! Its a nice feeling to be there supporting new artists making their mark on the world. There is so much strong dance music coming out at a the moment - its hard to give it all the space it deserves ! And interestingly quite a few more artists experimenting with spoken word - which I feel has a direct lineage to what Faithless do. I’m really feeling a new spoken word artist called Anthony Smierek at the moment - a wise soul!

It’s been nearly 12 months since the tragic passing of vocalist Maxi Jazz. What memories are insighted now when playing tracks that you once shared?

The memories are pretty constant every day - not just when I’m playing our music - we spent over half of my life together which is quite incredible when you think about it. And so much of that was on the road - so my tour memories obviously stretch back to the mid 90’s - some of which is a bit misty! It is unusual in that quite a lot of our work together was captured and is up on YouTube to access at the touch of a button , so he’s been immortalised at his most brilliant & charismatic in a way that most people aren’t. So I have lots of incredible memories of the places we visited, of the crazy stuff that went on, of the highs and the lows!

And of course i feel a lot of emotions when I hear music that isn’t ours, but that we both loved or played on the tourbus incessantly - we were both very passionate & nerdy about music - Maxi would make the most incredible DJ mixes for the endless journeys we went on. I feel Maxi’s absence very keenly when I hear these tunes on the radio, or a playlist. I reach for my phone to text him and he’s not there. That’s the nature of grief, the stark realisation that he isn’t on the end of my phone, or a short drive across London, or next to me on stage. It’s such an immense loss it’s just unquantifiable.

“I have been hugely moved by the response from our fans all round the world, and how much Maxi meant to them. He would have been blown away by all the love. So thats why I keep making music, and trying to make something meaningful in both recording and performance, to honour him and everything he gave me and our fans.”

— Sister Bliss

In 2021 you aspired for an Australian tour and now audiences are blessed with a New Years Day 2024, Faithless DJ set at ‘Day One’ Reverence in Sydney. What kind of a setlist can the New Years punters expect?

It’ll definitely be a celebration! A real mix of music old and new- the Faithless classics of course, alongside our more recent tracks, and some of the music that has really excited me over the last year or so. I love to go all over the place musically during my sets - house, tech house, vocals and progressive with a bit of old school breakbeat thrown in if thats the vibe I’m feeling! And maybe dropping the odd techno bomb if I get to play long enough! There are some very exciting & thunderous tracks out there at the moment for sure!

Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions? And is a new album one of them?

Ha well funny you should ask! Aside from a really powerful plea for world peace - which really needs to happen as soon as possible - there may well be new music on the way. Watch this space ! :).

NYD 2024 ‘DAY ONE’ REVERENCE

Jan 1, 2024

Greenwood Hotel & Bar Four Hundred, Sydney

36 Blue Street, North Sydney

1pm-11pm

BASEMENT JAXX (DJ SET)

FAITHLESS (DJ SET)

LTJ BUKEM / PLUMP DJs / DILLINJA

with Kid Kenobi, Mixed Methods, Tassone, Darkhorse, Smalltits, Analog DJs and many many more

Tickets on Sale NOW for NYD ‘Day One’- Reverence here.

Interview by Pieta Clarke

2020 Interview ‘Blessed to be Faithless’