Every so often a DJ seemingly appears from nowhere to make their mark on the local club scene, and this is an apt description on the impact Jimmy Vegas has had in Brisbane (or Bris Vegas as Jimmy most probably knows it) over the past 18 months.

Well, he didn’t just materialize out of thin air – he’d actually been quietly plugging away at clubs and bars around Brisbane for some time before he was plucked from obscurity to play the 2006 Splendour In The Grass festival in Byron Bay. From there the story moves pretty quickly, so quickly in fact that in 2007 he came in at #19 in Queensland in the In The Mix 50 DJ Poll and number #83 Australia-wide.

Vegas has made his name behind the decks as a resident at lush West End club Uber’s flagship night Whatever Wednesday, helping to regularly break the venue’s attendance records alongside fellow resident Habebe (Family). He’s also followed Habebe across town to the GPO Code Bar, with his weekly residency there seeing him rack up an impressive list of national and international supports.

His support list is littered with some of the hottest names to drop (if you’re that way inclined) in Australian dance music at the moment – The Potbelleez, Ajax, The Stafford Brothers, Riot in Belgium, John Course, Bag Raiders and Hook ‘n’ Sling are genuine crown jewel holders in the national clubbing hierarchy, and supporting such a broad array of international stars as  Andy Ward (Soul Central), Ian Carey, The Outlaws, Dave Seaman, Smash N Grab and John Carter on top of that, has given Vegas to chance his arm musically where others may not have dared so early in their careers.

It is perhaps his willingness to play across a multitude of styles which has helped Vegas to grow such a massive fanbase so quickly – when he’s in the zone he’ll happily drop funky big room house anthems alongside driving electro basslines mixed into breakbeat bombs.

Regardless of style though, Vegas’ objective remains the same – the emphasis is always on rocking the party. If he’s spinning at one of his residencies or one of his regular guest spots (The Velvet Underground in Cairns or Byron’s La La Land, just two venues to receive the Vegas touch), you can be guaranteed you’ll be moving to the music and enraptured by his infectious energy and personality behind the decks.

Like the city he shares his name with, Jimmy Vegas is a shining beacon who only seems to get brighter as time goes on.