Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Steam Engine Blues

Sampling the Collection

Powerhouse Renewal

A transformative renewal program across four sites

We Rise

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse-1 Mission Launch to the ISS

An initiative of the Powerhouse: Future Space program

2024

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

Powerhouse Parramatta Topping Out

Major construction milestone achieved for the new museum

2023

Stories

Steam Engine Blues

Sampling the Collection

Ableton x Powerhouse Music with SOLLYY

To launch the Sounding the Collection sample pack from Powerhouse and Ableton, SOLLYY, Salamanda and Jonnine were commissioned to demonstrate how these sounds can be reimagined into music.

SOLLYY is an upcoming artist, producer and DJ based in Western Sydney. Having worked with some of Australia and New Zealand's most exciting acts such as Onefour, 1300 and Pania, and through his DJ sets, Sollyy has created an audience of people who aren't just fans, but a community.

‘I use so many different sounds that have been sampled so many previous times in Hip Hop. Those sounds have such a lineage to them you know, and using those sounds in my songs pays homage to the music I listened to growing up and to the beautiful world of Hip Hop. It was really interesting coming into ‘Sounding the Collection’ because it was the chance to do that from a completely different historical context, which I was now predisposed to learn about and use in the same manner.’

SOLLY

Interview

I was really drawn to the steam engine sample as a metaphor for how I perceive myself to continuously pursue my career. It inspired me to build the song around this motif of a steam engine constantly whirring. It's a really driving sound. That's all I was thinking about when I was making that song – what really drives me to keep going in spite of all these obstacles.

Large red wheel connected to pipes in the ground — Small steam engine used at a gold mine, 1860–1880
Object No. B2264

The industrial revolution was because of a steam engine. And I feel like we're going through a cultural revolution here in Sydney. The things we do now could be considered as the steam engine pushing everything forward. I was like, that'll be really cool to build the track around, because I think the steam engine itself signifies a lot of change: new developments, new ideas and new technology, which considering everything that's happening now in Sydney is becoming more relevant.