Meet Mitchell Medcalf (DJ Galleon), Australia’s first blind DJ, a lawyer, and a valued member of ASAPD’s Independent Tribunal Group. Mitch is bringing his signature house and disco sound to one of the biggest sporting stages in the world.
After earning a law degree from QUT, Mitch built a career in advocacy and policy and now works with the newly formed LGBTQIA+ Alliance. Long before law, though, he had already fallen in love with dance music. Mitch recalls, “I heard a radio show called Party Hard on b105 late one Saturday night on the way home in the car, probably in 1997 or early 1998, and it opened me up to this whole new world of dance music – how the songs were mixed together and all these songs I’d never heard before. Since then, I collected music and learned how to mix at age 11.”
For audiences who’ve never caught him live, Mitch’s craft is as technical as it is intuitive. His way of navigating the decks is equally methodical and instinctive. “I got thrown into my first residency with a week’s notice in 2014 and I didn’t have an easy way of navigating a music collection; I didn’t even properly have an organised collection at that time.” From there, he built a system organised by genre, then alphabetically by artist, adding a genre tag to the start of each track title so that “the process of finding them on the fly” is workable without sight. He updates that library most Fridays across the styles he plays, then notes new tracks in a file on his phone so he can always make an effort to play something fresh. Mitch commits tracks to memory, relying on his ears in headphones to find what he needs. Over more than a decade behind the decks, he’s fine‑tuned a collection of tracks on a 120GB USB. “I love music that has a big, fun, carnival energy,” he says. “Something that gives you a housy hug.”
This month, Mitch will bring his sound to the AO Live Stage in Melbourne, marking a career‑defining moment. Mitch states that this opportunity still feels surreal for him, and performing at the Australian Open marks a clear level up from his much-loved Brisbane gigs. The opportunity came through connections made by ASAPD’s Ross Ashcroft, and Mitch says he still can’t quite believe it. “I’m honestly honoured and excited to come down and play,” he shares. “I have big dreams for the future, and this is a huge step in that direction and the biggest thing I’ve done so far!”
Preparation for the AO has not all smooth sailing, though. Mitch is open about his ongoing fear of flying, describing how turbulence triggers a very real spiral of worry that he manages with some of the steady support of his close friend and support person, Wayne, who helps him navigate airports, arrivals and the logistics of big gigs. Once he’s on the ground and in the venue, the nerves give way to calm focus, as years of practice with familiar Pioneer gear kick in and it becomes all about the crowd and the music. For the Australian Open, he is preparing a set packed with unreleased and unheard Galleon edits of popular tunes, professionally mastered by Paul Goodyear in San Francisco, plus a handful of funky tracks he has been road‑testing in recent months to lift the AO atmosphere.
When Mitch isn’t behind the decks, he’s putting his law degree to work in roles that sit on the edges of traditional legal practice, focusing on policy, advocacy and the intersection of disability and LGBTQIA+ communities. He says the two worlds “usually work pretty well together,” with four days a week as a Policy Officer at the LGBTQIA+ Alliance balanced by two to four DJ sets most weekends. While music is his big passion, he values being able to contribute his skills and lived experience in spaces where inclusion, community and culture all meet.
Reactions to Mitch’s work are often filled with awe and admiration, but he is quick to frame his achievements as the natural result of what was encouraged in his family growing up. Born blind, he learned early that disability did not have to be a barrier and has carried a firm belief that “if you want something badly, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
Mitch’s commitment to inclusion also runs through his connection to sport. As a member of ASAPD’s Independent Tribunal Group, he draws on both his legal background and his lived experience as a blind athlete, having competed nationally in Swish (blind table tennis). “We have the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, and with that will come Paralympics and we need to put on a hell of a show! That goes across the board from the sports themselves, to accessibility and so many other things,” he says. “So anybody who can give any form of lived experience in that context should give it their best shot!”.
Whether he’s on the AO Live Stage, in the policy space, or contributing his voice to ASAPD’s Independent Tribunal Group, Mitch is setting the tempo for inclusion and living unapologetically. If you’re heading to Melbourne Park, make sure you catch his set at the Australian Open and experience Mitch’s “housy hug” of a sound for yourself.