Issue 041

Can we start with your first musical
memories, have you always been
into music?
My first or should I say earliest musical memory has
to be all the time I spent with my dad and his vinyl
collection. I must have only been 10 years of age and my
dad had what me and my sisters called the sacred middle
cupboard in a large sideboard full of records. We would
spend hours just talking and playing records from the likes
of Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Eurhythmics, Diana Ross
even Bruce Springsteen and ZZ Top.
I guess you could say I’ve been surrounded by
music from an early age and there was always music been
played in the house whilst growing up at home. My older
sister would play mix tapes and use to attend raves around
the north east such as Galactica, Dreamscape, Lick and
frequently went to Back2Basics and The Orbit in Leeds and
Morley. She would always share details of her night out and
stories over breakfast, it just mesmerised me at a young
age.
What first got you into dance music?
What first got me into dance music was a friend DJing
in front of me at his house, we’d spend many weekends
hanging out and I was just fascinated with watching him DJ
and mix records together. I asked him to teach me a few
basics and actually didn’t own any records or turntables at
the time, so it was always his music and his decks where I
learnt how to DJ.
I very quickly got the bug and jumped at the
chance of buying his turntables when he offered to sell them
to me. So I learn beat matching on a par of KAM belt drive
turntables with a hand full of records. My go-to mix was Joe
Inferno – Tribal Church and Pan Position – Elephant Paw, oh
the memories.
What was your first DJ gig?
My first DJ gig was at the tender age of 17 and was
in Scarborough North Yorkshire in a nightclub called Toffs.
The club agreed to let me play as my sister’s boyfriend knew
the owner and managed to secure me a performance. I was
so nervous and made a few mistakes, but after playing
maybe a short forty five minute set I couldn’t wait for
another opportunity to play in front of a crowd and be back
in a club. I’ll never forget getting changed in a car park as
my sister was still at work, grabbed my records and headed
to the club. My sister did eventually join us and didn’t miss
my set. I have so much to thank her for.
Soul, Funk and Hip-Hop. This was the start of collecting a
vast array of music and opened my eyes to many different
genres and artists. I was moved to Leeds after a few years
to launch a brand new venue opening The Alchemist and
have been with The Alchemist for several years now. Whilst
being resident in Leeds I’ve had the pleasure of playing for
Tattu and The Ivy, I’ve also played rooftop parties had many
guest appearances and the opportunity to help with
promotions for Verve Clique, Moet, Smirnoff, Absolute,
Magners, Brew Dog.
Manchester is such a great scene and I’m honored
to have had five years down there playing across the city.
My favourite place to play was on the quayside of The
Alchemist Media City Salford Quays. It just such a musically
educated city and the crowd is very much open to new music
as well as the classics that came from the Hacienda days.
My all-time musical highlight was playing for
Defected in Croatia, such an amazing experience that I will
never forget. I travelled out there in 2019 and was one of a
select few who got given the opportunity to play the terrace.
Very daunting playing whilst some of my musical heroes are
listening. I vividly remember Masters At Work, Nightmares
On Wax, Luke Solomon all eating whilst I was playing. But a
firm handshake from Simon Dunmore at the end of my set is
a moment that will stay with me forever.
You have recently taken over as
resident DJ at Sotano’s in York. How
did that come about?
One name needs to mentioned here and that’s Marc
Harvey aka DJ Kodi Kooch, it was Marc that asked if myself
and close friend Alex Malam if we could cover a night in
Sotano’s. Obviously we agreed to help Marc out and went
down to play the basement. This was short notice so the
night didn’t even have a name and very little promotion had
been done as we had about two days to prepare.
After playing the night that was only meant to be a
cover gig, we were invited to a meeting with owner Andy
Kennedy who also owns the street level bar Kennedys where
Marc is resident. It was during this meeting with Andy that
he mentioned that the staff, and himself, had liked our style
of music, alongside our professional approach and attitude.
So this is where Juiced was born and a very quick decision
between me and Alex to name the night and set it up as a
brand. We did an official launch party back in December
2023 and have been running the night together on the last
Saturday of the month. Guest so far include, Atari Safari
(Manchester), HLN (Manchester), Al Bradley - 3AM
Recordings (Leeds), Darren Stewart – Soul Room Records
(Stirling), Sam Pratt & Seth Chohan – ABB (Leeds).
Any personal highlights?
I’ve been fortunate enough to have very good
residencies in Whitby, York, Leeds and Manchester. I started
playing in a café bar called Java in Whitby, a very low-key
intimate party just playing records to friends. This led to
guest appearances at club nights in my home town Whitby.
After moving to York to teach Music I was introduced to a
music agency that was looking for DJ’s. I joined the roster of
DJ’s in York and played regularly at the infamous The
Livingroom, I also had a residency at Vudu playing RnB,
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