Trip Kicks set for a raving party

Tripkicks artists Daniel Webber and Brendan Deegan are happy to celebrate their third birthday.

Marc Stapelberg

Glowsticks, flared furry glow pants and a fluoro mesh top. Now you've got that picture in your head let it go.

The Trip Kicks third birthday rave party may be celebrating rave culture but it isn't about getting your freak on fluoro style. Let the Trip Kickers bring the rave for you.

Expect everything a rave brings in terms of music, lasers and dancing like you did at the first event.

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Big fish, little fish, cardboard box... (definitely an optional dance move).

Trip Kicks started out as a group of mates, with Daniel Webber and Brendan Deegan at the helm. Together they've been putting on parties since 2009; 17 parties and 15 sell-out shows later they're still going strong.

"We're really excited," Webber says about celebrating their third birthday. "We feel like we're getting younger, rather than older, just because we've got such a good mix of crew now."

The parties now involve people from as far south as Melbourne and up to Brisbane.

"The vibe of the parties is so much better now, that people are screaming for more at the end," Webber tells Pulse.

"People know what to expect from a Trip Kicks event so the vibe is always huge with everyone screaming and jumping. We've really stepped up the production over the years but the focus is still on local artists."

So what is the formula for a successful dance party?

"I think it's the combination of doing something different to the clubs," Webber says. "And going for the indoor festival, party vibe. To be at the point where it doesn't necessarily need a headline act is pretty good. It means we can expose a bunch of new acts on the line-up and still get a fair few crew for them anyway."

For the last event on New Year's Eve, they managed to run two events across the Northern Rivers. One in Ballina and one in Byron Bay.

They set up a competition on Facebook encouraging producers to make and enter a mix with the winner joining the line-up on NYE.

The winner, T-Rek, was outside of the Trip Kicks network and pulled off a pumping set.

"He told me after he played he'd never played a party before," Webber says. "That was the first time he'd played outside his bedroom.

"Our aim is to support local artists from Coffs to Brisbane - guys that are really coming up and are ready to take it to the next level. A lot of the acts who we've had play we've actually launched their careers."

As well as supporting local DJs, Trip Kicks have been using local artists such as Spectacle Art (Splendour in the Grass) and performers to create the festival atmosphere.

After selling out so many shows Webber is aware they have outgrown The Northern, adding that they have a few exciting announcements in the not too distant future.

The guys who make up Trip Kicks DJs (Webber, Deegs, Buzz and Captain Kaine) are always part of the party and not just at their own events. Whether together or solo it's hard to find a festival they didn't play last year.

"DJing has always been part of it for me," Webber says. "I look forward to festivals as much as anything and I still enjoy DJing at clubs week in, week out. The ultimate for me in terms of my career would be to do both together; that would be ideal."

Help Trip Kicks celebrate three years of good times on Saturday at The Northern, Byron Bay. Headlining the event is Perfect Cell from Coffs Harbour who is renowned for his upbeat electro house sets as well as Discrow, G-Funk and more. Tickets $25 presale.