Liam Kiernan and Sharon Sharbi are the creative force behind Byron Bay Records. ‘We are both music oriented,’ says Liam. ‘We both like electronic music – in particular house, minimal, techno, but there are lots of different genres – we cover the whole scheme, from tech house, which involves trance music, to progressive trance.’
Launched last year, Byron Bay Records has built an impressive resource for DJs. ‘DJs can access the tracks Sharon has made; most DJs are DJing other people’s tracks. The idea of Byron Bay Records is to collaborate and remix other people’s tracks. We can add things to the track or we can give a compilation.
You can buy it as MP3 files, or we can make it onto vinyl, but these days it’s all electronic; the records are going by the wayside. These days you just need a computer and a track controller.’
After 12 months in operation Byron Bay Records are ready to put on a party. ‘It’s our first party,’ says Liam. ‘It’s at Durrumbul Hall on 2 April. It’s a showcase. We have seven DJs who are playing the same sort of music we are producing: Scott Freedman from Melbourne, and from Brisbane we have Rikki Newton and Sharon is Shazay; he will be playing as well and four or five local DJs.’
Byron Bay Records is enthusiastic about the future of what they are doing. ‘We are currently working with some international DJs who are willing to remix one of Sharon’s tunes, so Sharon makes the tune, and hypothetically Carl Cox adds a few things, then it is Sharon and Carl Cox. That’s how it is now; you can work with someone and you don’t even need to see that person. Everything is done by multimedia and they can edit it at their end. Not like the old band days where you had to go in and jam together. Sometimes I prefer that though, because it is tricky, especially if you are working collaboratively with someone in Berlin and you have to wait for them to wake up to see what you’ve done.
‘The Purim Party on 2 April is our first party. Byron Bay Records and Productions where Sharon can get up and have his first gig in this community to showcase himself and other artists who are playing tunes that he has produced.’
Tickets are on Eventbrite for $20 or they will be $25 on the door at Durrumbul Hall.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
