BORN 1964, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK. 

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER OF BEING A DJ, WAS GETTING TWO SMALL TAPES DECKS, A PAIR OF HEADPHONES AND ATTEMPTED TO BLEND ONE TUNE INTO ANOTHER, ALL THIS AT THE TENDER AGE OF ABOUT 10.  THINGS IMPROVED SLIGHTLY WHEN MY PARENTS BOUGHT A NEW SYSTEM AND I AQUIRED THE OLD ONE.  NOW ARMED WITH QUITE A POWERFUL AMP AND A RATHER GOOD PAIR OF SPEAKERS, I ENDEAVOURED TO SHAKE THE HOUSE TO THE SOUNDS OF THE LIKES OF E.L.O.

AT THE AGE OF 14 I WAS BUNDLED OFF TO A PUBLIC SCHOOL CALLED ABBOTSHOLME WHERE WE WERE ENCOURAGED TO LISTEN TO MUSIC.  ON OCCASION WE ORGANISED DISCO'S, WE HAD TO BORROW A PAIR OF DECKS, A PAIR OF SPEAKERS AND AN AMP FROM THE SIXTH FORM COMMON ROOM WHICH NEVER PROVED TO BE AN EASY FEAT.

AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL, I BEGAN FREQUENTING A LOCAL NIGHTCLUB, "ROOTS", AT 17 YEARS OLD, I THOUGHT THIS PLACE MAGICAL IN A WAY, SOUNDS SAD BUT I BECAME A DIFFERENT PERSON IN A MATTER OF MONTHS DUE TO MY EXPERIENCES THERE.

IN 1983, I BEGAN WORKING  AT THE NEWLY NAMED "KISS"  AT THE WEEKENDS.  I BEFRIENDED THE DJ AND ASKED HIM FOR TIPS AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE, WHICH HE GLADLY PASSED ON.  HE BECAME ILL ONE CHRISTMAS, AND I WAS ASKED TO FILL IN FOR HIM, FIRST MAJOR EXPERIENCE OF DJING TO THE PUBLIC...WOW, TALK ABOUT NERVES, BUT I MANAGED TO GET THROUGH THE NIGHT WITHOUT A HITCH.  PROBLEMS ERUPTED WITH THE MANAGEMENT DUE TO ONE PROBLEM OR ANOTHER (NOTHING TO DO WITH ME MIND), AND I HAD TO SEEK ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT WITHIN THE TRADE. 

MY FIRST FULL-TIME JOB, AS A DJ, CAME NO FURTHER THAN ACROSS THE ROAD ATA CLUB CALLED "MOUNTBATTENS".  I WAS THROWN IN AT THE DEEP END WITH IT, AS THE DJ THERE AT THE TIME DECIDED HIS TIME THERE WAS OVER AND PROMPTLY LEFT.  I SPENT ALL THE MONEY I HAD TRYING TO PUT TOGETHER A RECORD COLLECTION, BY BUYING RECORDS THAT USED TO BE IN JUKEBOXES.  I REMAINED IN THE CLUB FOR AROUND 5 YEARS UNTIL THE CLUB WAS TAKEN OVER BY ANOTHER MANAGEMENT TEAM, WHO BROUGHT THEIR OWN DJ....NIGHTMARE!

SMALL JOBS AS A DJ KEPT POPPING UP, BUT NOTHING TO SCREAM ABOUT, UNTIL I BUMPED INTO A FRIEND WHO HAD JUST RETURNED FROM WORKING THE SUMMER SEASON IN SALOU- SPAIN.  HE APPROACHED ME AND ASKED IF I WOULD CONSIDER GOING OVER TO SPAIN THE FOLLOWING SEASON (1989).  NOTHING TO CONSIDER, I WAS THERE THE FOLLOWING APRIL.  WHAT A SUMMER, DON'T GET ME WRONG, THE HOURS WERE LONG AND HOT, BUT I ENJOYED EVERY SECOND OF IT.  I RETURNED TO THE UK IN THE OCTOBER ONLY TO FIND A VACANCY AS DJ AT "KISS", MY OLD HAUNT.  UNFORTUNATELY THE BUILDING ABOVE THE CLUB BECAME UNSAFE, AND WE WERE FORCED TO CLOSE THE CLUB DOWN  THE FOLLOWING APRIL.....MORE NIGHTMARES!

I STARTED TRAVELLING TO SURROUDING TOWNS WITH GREAT SUCESS.  ON MY RETURN FROM SPAIN, I HAD BEFRIENDED A GROUP OF LADS WHO RAN A P.A. SYSTEM.  THEY WERE ONLY A SMALL OPERATION AT THE TIME AND WERE MAINLY EMPLOYED BY NIGHTCLUBS AND SMALL EVENTS.  LIKE A FOOL, I WAS BANNED FROM DRIVING FOR A YEAR AND HAD TO GIVE UP THE JOBS OUT OF TOWN.  I MANAGED TO GET SMALL DJ JOBS AT HOLIDAY CAMPS, BUT THESE WERE ONLY FOR A MATTER OF MONTHS DUE TO THE SUMMER SEASON.  AFTER MY YEARS BAN WAS OVER, I STARTED DRIVING THE LORRY FOR "POWERSATGE", THE P.A. COMPANY I MENTIONED EARLIER. AT THAT TIME WE WERE DOING DANCE EVENTS, BANDS AT SHEFFIELD UNI. AND INDIAN FESTIVALS.  I WAS EVENTUALLY ASKED TO PLAY FIRST SET AT A HARDCORE NIGHT CALLED "DIZSTRUXSHON"....SEEMED TO GO OK, THIS LED ONTO OTHER EVENTS INCLUDING A COUPLE OF SETS AT "PHENOMENA" (THINK I SPELT IT RIGHT) AT BRIDLINGTON LEISURE WORLD, WHICH AT THE TIME WAS THE BIGGEST DANCE EVENT IN THE UK.  I PLAYED AT AN OFF-SHOOT EVENT FROM "DIZSTRUXSHON" WHICH WAS MORE OF A HARD TRANCE/ TECHNO NIGHT...I SEEM TO REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE NIGHT WAS "SKANDAL" DJ'S INCLUDING MYSELF, DJ NOYA AND E-SPY.  A COUPLE OF SMALL EVENTS IN SCARBOROUGH CAME AND WENT, A FEW SETS AT "UPRISING" IN RETFORD-NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, AND A FILL-IN JOB AT A NIGHT IN MIRFIELD, NEAR HALIFAX.  AFTER THAT THINGS DRIED UP ABIT FOR A WHILE, UNTIL I GOT THE JOB AS DJ, IN A CLUB IN SCARBOROUGH, ONCE AGAIN, WHERE I MET UP WITH A COUPLE OF GUYS WHO RAN A DJ AGENCY, THEY LIKED THE SOUND OF ME AND SIGNED ME UP.  JOBS CAME ALMOST STRAIGHT AWAY, THE FIRST ONE WAS "GOLD" IN WHITBY AND THEN A LARGER EVENT CALLED "LIGHTHOUSE" WHICH RAN NIGHTS IN BRIDLINGTON AND SHEFFIELD, WHERE WE PLAYED FROM HOUSE TO HARDHOUSE.  i THINK THE BIGGEST THING I DID FOR THEM WAS A TONY DEVIT TRIBUTE NIGHT AT A CLUB CALLED "UNDERGROUND", FORMALLY KNOWN AS "ARCHES" IN SHEFFIELD.  LOADS OF TOP UK DJ'S THERE!  IAN M, TIDY BOYS, FERGIE, THAT SORT OF CALLIBRE, AND I GOT THE PLEASURE OF DOING THE LAST SET OF THE NIGHT, WELL MORNING, IT WAS 4AM.  SINCE THEN I WAS RESIDENT DJ AT "INDUSTRIAL HEAVEN" ALONG SIDE HATTIE LOVEHEARTS, CHARLOTTE BIRCH, MIKE FRUITS AND MOST OF THE "SUNDISSENTIAL" CREW.  RECENTLY I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS AT "EVOLVE", WHICH IS A LOCALLY RUN NIGHT...ONE OF THOSE "RUN BY DJ'S FOR DJ'S" SORT OF NIGHTS.   THAT'S ABOUT IT REALLY, I HAVE PLAYED BACK DOWN NIGHTCLUBS SINCE, BUT NOTHING TOO EXCITING TO MENTION. 

IF I THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE, I'LL ADD IT TO THE PAGE.

PEACE!