This week on The Bridge, I sat down with Arky Waters for a deep dive into the sweatier, grungier edges of Sydney’s electronic underground - the kind of music that feels a bit filthy, a bit sexy, and absolutely necessary.
We kicked off talking about Arky’s sound - which I lovingly described as “James Bond meets garage music” - equal parts sleek and unhinged. There’s something strangely intimate about it, like you’ve accidentally sat in someone else’s bathwater and decided to stay. It’s saltburn music. It’s weird. It works.
From there, Arky took the reins and shouted out a few artists he thinks deserve way more attention. Hot track by PJ, a Wollongong-based producer whose track “Thru Ya Atra” flew under the radar when it dropped a couple of years ago, but has since become one of Arky’s all-time favourites. PJ’s background in house and garage comes through in a way that feels effortless - cool, restrained, and criminally underrated.
Next was Streetflicker, whom Arky crowned the go-to DnB DJ in Sydney. A guaranteed good time, Streetflicker has built a reputation supporting major international acts while quietly shaping the local scene. Arky singled out “Like Me” as one of his favourite tracks — a less obvious pick from Street Flicker’s catalogue, but one that shows his range, especially through collaborations with artists like Toronto Is Broken, blending DnB with nu-metal energy.
We wrapped with Monster Machine, who Arky says is making huge waves in Sydney right now - an artist pushing brutal, gnarly club tracks that hit hard and don’t apologise for it.
Before letting Arky go, I asked him for some final words for the kid sitting in their bedroom, staring at a laptop, fresh off disbanding their emo band and wondering what comes next. His answer was simple and generous: Sydney music is better than it’s been in a long time - so get out there, get amongst it, and don’t sit it out.
It felt like a perfect reminder of what this city does best when it believes in itself: community, noise, and showing up for each other.