Page 57 - DemoZone Magazine Summer Issue 2020

How did you get into DJ'ing?
After experiencing the scene, as soon as I turned 18 I took a loan out to buy a pair of Technic 1210’s and a Vestax PMC17A Mixer, me and my friends at the time were spending so much money on Vinyl the record store owner used to let us buy the White Labels and fill in the reply sheets for him. Took around 3-6mths of solid practice to learn how to beatmatch and string a decent set together, back then you had to know your tracks off by heart.
I remember saying to my friends one Monday night, lets find somewhere to play, we gathered all our contacts 20-30 of us and I had my Record Box & Headphones and used to walk into local bars that had a decent sound system during weekdays, spoke to the owner and said, all my friends will stay and drink at your place as long as I DJ and that got me into so many bars to play!
Getting that first break?
I used to do the DJ Competition around the Local Area. A Record Store Owner (Tom) and Promoter (Dave), held a Competion in a Student Union Bar, I won on the night and from there they took me under their wing and I played lots of Underground nights in the North East of England and surrounding areas, took me as far as Glasgow and Leeds.
Producing wise, I think your first break is getting that first track Signed to a Label, I was being mentored by Craig Twist of Enertia-Sound and he put me on to Rob Walburg from Morning Glory Music and they signed a Track for their Various Artists Album “ Friends Connection - Dream Factory” with Dreams from the Gods under my previous Alias.
Tell us about the scene at the time.
The Scene in the late 90’s Early 00’s it was transitioning from House to Trance. DJ’s were
very accessible back then, I remember many a night meeting and shaking hands with the likes of Sasha, Erik
Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Paul Oakenfold etc, Sometimes used to sit on the stage with you at the end of the night and have a natter about the Set and Experience.
During the early 00’s as Trance was at its peek, the Prog House scene was coming through and that is where I found my home. The scene was all about people from every walk of life coming together and just letting go and having a good time. The Trance Scene when I look back gave birth to EDM and was becoming very commercialised.
Tell us about the scene now.
The Scene now is totally different, DJ’s are now Very Professional people as you can build a whole Career around it now. Music Lovers now are looking for the Experience, we seem to of lost the love for Local Regular Club Nights, the crowd now save the pennies and splash out on 2-3 Festivals instead, Social Media plays a big part in this, sad to see really. I think the tide is turning slowly again as people are looking for new Experiences and you have pockets of great Promoters doing some amazing nights 200-500 Capacity, around the UK and Beyond and really capturing that spirit & culture that made me fall in love with the scene many moons ago.
ESSENTIALDANCEMUSIC 57