First day at disco school today. Not too bad!

The academy is amazing. It's a big old warehouse that's been done up and converted into an artspace, basically. There are installations and paintings and street art all over the joint, which essentially has four levels.

First level is the lecture theatre, with all the couches (inna Melbourne style, naturally - plush 70s monsters abound). This is where the great and the good will be talking to us. Next level has the social space, where there's a limitless supply of great food, beer (coopers red or green), soft drinks and of course Red Bull.

(on a side note, I have never seen so much Red Bull in my life. You can't walk more than 10 metres in the academy without reaching a fridge stocked with the stuff. There are fifteen cans sitting in my fridge here in the fuckpad at the moment, and should I drink them all I will get a fresh stock tomorrow morning. It's crazy.)

OK, the social level also contains the workspaces for the guys who run the academy, as well as a bunch of net-connected PCs, a radio studio (VERY exciting!), loads of cool art and more bloody red bull fridges.

Above that is the studio level. Incredible. 7 studios, each designed by a different artist - no two are alike, and every one has a distinct vibe to it courtesy of the fabulous art. Most of the studios have a fully decked out mac with midi keyboard, a pair of turntables and mixer (different rooms have different mixers - some have Ranes for the turntablists, one has a sweet Vestax PMC-250 with the big fat EQs) and sick monitors. There is a big fucken gear room in the middle of the floor where you can check out instruments to use in those studios. It was locked, but rumours are traded about the treasures that this stronghold contains. 202, 303, 808, 909, junos, moogs, monomachines, machinedrums, bla bla bla wank wank wank. I can't wait to get in there tomorrow.

There are also two fully macked out studios that have a live room attached to them. These have big external mixers and plenty of froth-worthy outboard processing, most of it analogue, all of it sexy.

And finally, on the roof is another social space; v.brave move considering melbourne's patchy weather - while Sydney burned today, we were treated to a soaking. The poor internationals came here expecting sun and surf and are all freezing their exotic asses off. The roof has a barbie and - total masterstroke - an astroturf lawn bowls pitch.

So that's the building. The people are great too. We met so many people that work at the academy, and they are all so excited and eager and keen and open and approachable. They have really cool jobs!

There are photographers and a video crew knocking around as well, documenting everything for the website. They're kinda there all the time, ninja style - you'll be talking to someone and then from nowhere you'll catch a lens out the corner of your eye, peeking at you. Really odd at the moment, but they're just part of the family too - which is another thing that's great. Everyone seems on the same level - us, the lecturers, the staff, the camera folk, the drivers (who are all members of the Melbourne Techno Collective) - everyone. It's just this wicked time and everybody's buzzing and getting along and having a laugh. Maybe it's the Red Bull doing it.

So anyway, we wandered around and had our minds blown and it was time for the first lecture. And Paul Kelly (yes, that Paul Kelly) took to the couch and took us through Oz music, from the 60s through to the present day, with assistance from his son Declan. We heard music from The Triffids, The Cruel Sea, The Necks, TZU, The Herd, Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, even John Paul Young got a look in. It was quite lovely to see this very gentle man play music he loved, managing to get across a sense of Australia at the same time, choosing songs that evoked the enormity of this nation, its youth, its issues (there were audible gasps amongst the visitors upon learning of the Stolen Generation), and its future. I always figured they'd get some Aussie guys in, and I was wondering who they might get. I never once considered Paul Kelly might be one of them, and he was absolutely perfect for the job.

And then we took off from the academy, but not before Ali and I managed to finally get a go on some turntables and played a few tunes. After that it was back to the hotel and then on to Honkytonks for their birthday party, where people were all dancing in the Ladies' toilets to a DJ, something which blew a few of the guys' minds. Now, they are all considering a move to Melbourne.

And so Day One finishes. I hope I can get some sleep cos I want to get down to the academy at 10 to have a couple of hours' fun on the decks before the first lecture, which is a bit of an introduction where we all get our own go at being interviewed on the famous couch for a few minutes. We also have some other great lectures lined up this week. Hip-Hop, Post Punk, Techno - in both Cologne and Detroit flavours, Nu Disco and 80s Soul are represented this week. And apparently a very special Aussie guest who is being kept secret from us for now.

Night night!