February 21, 2019. We’re at the Don’t Kill Live Music rally in Hyde Park. Amidst the sporadic honking of vuvuzelas, Gordon Bradbery, Lord Mayor of Wollongong, is delivering a speech that’s equal parts furious and uplifting.

“You’re thinking alternate ways,” he tells a crowd of thousands. “You’re coming up with new ideas, on how to lead this world out of the bloody mess it’s in at the present time! Music will lead us on to opportunities! Music liberates us! Music stretches the mind and the soul! And all I can think of is this an attempt to shut us down and shut us up!”

Director Patrick Nation couldn’t have scripted an opening this explosive, this spine tingling, this sincere, for Real Scenes: Sydney, Resident Advisor’s new 50-minute documentary about the city’s nightlife and club scene.

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Resident Advisor was founded here in 2001 by two Australians, Paul Clement and Nick Sabine, who’ve since moved the publication to London and opened offices in Berlin, Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo. With more than 2.5 million monthly readers, RA is the world’s pre-eminent authority on underground house, techno and associated genres.

The publication’s Real Scenes series is renowned for its high production values, tight playlists and authoritative insight into the cities it covers. In addition to more obvious destinations such as Berlin, Detroit and London, the series has also covered Johannesburg and Mexico City.

Real Scenes: Sydney features interviews with more than 20 DJs, producers, promoters and venue owners, including Magda Bytnerowicz, DJ Sveta, FBi Radio’s Andy Garvey and Adi Toohey, David Abram of Freda’s, Keep Sydney Open’s Tyson Koh and The Bearded Tit’s Joy Ng. Watch below.