Industry Insiiide: Impulse… Music First, Transparency, and the Truth About Perth UKG
Bringing fresh international debuts to the city, Impulse director Santiago Ricaurte Toro is calling out the scene’s obsession with viral bookings and demanding a return to authentic community culture.
Santiago Ricaurte Toro has been active in the Perth scene for around six years. The brand “Impulse” originally began by throwing private events on Thursday nights. The name was chosen to encourage the crowd to make “impulse decisions” to go out during the workweek.
For the past three years, Impulse has shifted its focus to the club circuit, prioritizing new sounds and artists across House, Garage, Techno, and Trance.
We sat down with Santiago to discuss the operational friction of the local scene, why sweeping failed events under the rug is a massive mistake, and why he believes the local UK Garage scene has lost its way.
🛑 Culture Over Cash
For Impulse, the core philosophy driving their bookings is “music first”.
In a market where many local promoters are focused heavily on revenue, Santiago aims to book quality acts rather than just picking what is currently popular. “Honestly, we need more people focused on building communities and culture, rather than just milking money off acts that have gone viral or sell tickets,” he explains.
His advice to new promoters and DJs making their mark in the industry is to stay the course. “Don’t focus on pleasing the crowd, stay true to your music and what you are about and eventually the right people will come along in the journey,” he advises.
🇬🇧 The UKG Controversy
When asked for a controversial opinion on the local industry, Santiago didn’t hold back.
“The UK garage scene in Perth is dead,” he states clearly. He notes that while many local DJs label themselves as Garage selectors, they only seem to support massive, viral names. “Unless it’s Sammy Virji, MPH, or Notion, they don’t support it or get too excited,” he observes. “I think they’re more into what’s popular than the culture and roots of the sound itself!”
📉 The Importance of Transparency
Running an independent brand comes with major risks. Santiago notes that attempting a fortnightly event schedule was incredibly difficult, requiring immense work, the right location, and flawless consistency.
When things don’t go to plan, he believes honesty is the only viable digital strategy. “I think transparency is key when things go wrong,” he notes. “It’s easy to hide the negatives on social media, but people in the industry definitely notice. I’ve seen events get cancelled due to low ticket sales, and the promoters just delete everything without saying a word. It’s easy to lose trust after things like that”.
âš¡ Santiago Quickfire
| Category | Answer |
| Favourite Venue (Perth) | Port Beach |
| Favourite Local Events | Lunch Collective or Unbound |
| Dream Collab/Concept | Taking Impulse overseas |
| Favourite Artist to Book | James Pepper (“that guy knows how to party”) |
| Analog vs. Digital | Analog, because it sounds better |
| Biggest Vibe Killer | Security power-tripping or people starting fights |
| Most Memorable Crowd | Newtone (“everyone in the crowd was going feral”) |
🔌 Pass the Aux We ask every feature guest to answer a question left by the previous interviewee.
Incoming Question from Houseology: “What do you want to see happen in the Perth scene that you think could help our scene grow and just be better in general?”
Santiago: “Honestly, we need more people focused on building communities and culture, rather than just milking money off acts that have gone viral or sell tickets. If we can do that, there’s no reason it can’t keep growing.”
Outgoing Question for the Next Promoter: “What is the biggest operational lesson you’ve learned from an event that didn’t go to plan?”
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