Wednesday 8pm - 10pm bi-weekly
multi genre
It's crystal clear in my memory. My Dad brought home an 80s album on compact disc when I was a young boy and I heard Blue Monday by New Order for the first time. I remember dancing and running around the house having the best time of my life and wondering how it was even possible to make a song sound like that. Blue Monday came out the year that I was born and it will hold a special place in my heart until the day I die. Then when I was a teenager I bought 'In the Mix Ibiza' and I listened to the anonymous DJ blend together 'Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You' into 'Tamperor featuring Maya - Feel It' I could not understand how they made two tracks sound like one and I was hooked ever since. The next decade was spent at club nights like Gatecrasher, Insomniacz, Urban Gorilla, Godskitchen, Fabric, Sundissential, Space, Amnesia, Manumission and various festivals where I listened to some of the best DJs in the world across different genres.
I love sharing music that I have a passion for with like minded people. I am addicted to taking the listener on a journey through sound covering as many genres as possible without a noticeable change. My sets may include an Aphex Twin track, something by Kylie Minogue and a bit of Roman Flugel. There are no rules to art so I express myself through the sounds I have collected over the last four decades. I want my sets to sound like you have been invited to a personal party at my house and I am only playing the music that I love. I don't care about the genre, if it's weird or popular.... as long as I love it, I play it.
I really love Claude Von Stroke - Who's Afraid of Detroit - deep, dark tech house. It sets a great tone for what is to come when it drops.
When I was a student in Sheffield I used to work part time in a record store looking after the electronic music section. I was invited to DJ at their Christmas party in a nightclub called Po Na Na where I had seen the likes of Nicky Blackmarket and Jeff Mills grace the decks. I had some decks at my student house that I messed about on but they were a horrendous and cheap set of early imitation CDJs and a belt driver record player. I had only played at home to friends before this. This was my first gig playing out and I was playing with Pioneer CDJs in a club. I remember dropping Prodigy - Breathe to start my set and someone coming up to me half way through the track saying 'great tune mate - but it would sound even better with the bass on' an EQ mistake but I really enjoyed the experience and seeing people dance was incredible. I even played one of my own productions - which was a terrible cross between techno and sea shanty which I made on Ejay.
I really like playing trip hop and its various spin off genres such as lo-fi hip hop. I find that the diversity of sound in this genre provides me with excellent connective tissue to move between different genres. I am always drawn to music that doesn't fit neatly into a specific genre category. That is where the magic happens for me.
At the moment DJ Koze or Acid Pauli would be up there in terms of production. If I was to do a back to back DJ set I would like to play with Sasha, Laurent Garnier or Diplo.
I love Major Lazer - Pon De Floor. It's unique, fun, versatile and people love to dance to it.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. To get good at something you need to practise. Sure there will be some car crash mixes along the way, but who cares. At least people will know it's a live performance. Give it a go and keep going until you master it! If I hadn't of put out my first few mixes on Mixcloud even though they were not perfect, I would not have a radio show now. Go for it!