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BORN
"I was born in Hastings sometime in Spring. I don't remember
too much about it really."
FAMILY
"I was the one that was really into music. The main reason
I got into clubs was a guy called Martin Wong. He worked for my
parents and was the flatmate of a local DJ, Terry Johns. He was
a dancer and would give me these mixes from events. So while all
my mates were listening to Madness I was listening to all these
mixes from UK clubs. That's how I got my influence. He also got
mixes from Kiss FM in New York featuring DJs like Francois Kevorkian,
and Shep Pettibone, playing loads of Prelude style tracks etc. I
was fascinated by the fact that you listened to Radio One and there
was a DJ talking between every record, and you heard these other
mixes and it was continuous music. At a very early age I was just
fascinated by this new music that you couldn't hear anywhere else,
and the way DJs joined all of it together."
MUSICAL ROOTS
"I was into Heaven 17, New Order, Talk Talk, Electro and Hip
Hop, and before that a little bit of radio chart stuff, but I was
never fanatical about anything. I just had a tape recorder and would
grab bits off the radio. The more I got into club music I started
buying Record Mirror and chasing down imports, finding someone that
was going into London to grab them for me. I always wanted to find
stuff that others didn't, stuff that was going to be big, and play
it months before others. Getting started, I bought a cheap Denon
turntable that didn't even have a pitch control, a second hand Technics
that did, and a little Realistic mixer. I used to work doing gardening
and odd jobs so that I could buy my records. I had to work out the
BPM's of every record, so that if one was faster I could still go
into the next. I used to work in clubs in Hastings. I was DJing
there when I was 16. They allowed me to do the early sets/warm ups,
so I used to do the first hour or two before the main DJ came on.
At that time DJs really played the whole night. You were there at
8pm checking the lights and soundsystem… almost everything
was your responsibility then. If you were the resident DJ at the
club then you were the only person that played there, and you were
there four nights a week. My beginnings were not as glamorous as
some might assume. The club in Hastings was called Saturdays, and
there was a DJ there called Barry Page. He was very influential
for me. He was mixing, and scratching, and throwing a capella's,
and it all just blew me away. He was one of these guys that would
mix in New Order or The Cult, and mix it with club stuff, and it
would make sense. Listening to someone for five hours a night, playing
such an eclectic set, made me think that you could tell a story
with your music. I didn't earn enough from just DJing, so I was
an assistant bar manager at the time, working in Hastings. I moved
to Brighton to work in a club called Savannah, which was owned by
the same group as Saturdays, then later in 1987, I managed a bar
in the East End of London. I used to go to Delirium at Heaven on
Thursdays, and Love at Wagg on a Tuesday night. I can still remember
going to see Frankie Knuckles at Heaven at his first UK gig. As
for raves, I'd go to, and play at, some of the parties in the countryside.
I can remember how excited everyone was as we drove down small country
lanes getting lost, and finally finding a crazy party in the middle
of nowhere completely going off."
FIRST PROJECTS
"The main reason for starting Bedrock was because I couldn't
get regular gigs, so I started my own night. I got Fabio, Grooverider,
Eddie Richards, Carl Cox… and I used the flyers with my name
on next to theirs to persuade promoters to book me. You have to
be actively pushing yourself, making things happen. I think it was
extra difficult for me as nothing really ever went on in Hastings.
Launching Bedrock was really tough to start with. When Carl Cox
first played not too many of the locals had heard of him. Yet he
was playing to 25, 000 people at the Sunrise party the week before.
Most of the crowd came from out of town for the first few events,
but as the word spread we gradually grew a strong local crowd."
LABELS & PRODUCTION
"Bedrock has been running for over five years now. It's great
to pick up tracks from producers and DJs from all over the world,
and then see their careers take off. I'm not into signing people
for seven albums, and locking them in. I just like to pick good
records, sign them, and try and give people a stepping-stone to
the next stage. The first track I made was 'For What You Dream Of'
in '92. I was DJing at Rage (Heaven), and I got introduced to Nick
Muir through a mutual friend. He suggested working on a project
together. That was the first track that came out, and we've worked
together ever since. I think the Bedrock clubnight is something
that I want to continue doing because the reputation is strong,
and it also helps create a platform for the newer DJs that I'm into,
which is really satisfying."
DJING
"I take each gig differently. In one week I could be playing
to ten thousand people in Bulgaria, and then the following week
it'll be five hundred people in Brighton. You can't just say 'this
is what I'm playing' regardless of all else. You have to think about
each circumstance. Bigger gigs sometimes need bigger records, but
it all depends on the soundsystem, the set-up, the lighting, what
time you're playing, who's on before you, how late or early it is…
There are so many things that you have to take into account. That's
why I take a lot of music with me, you have to be versatile instead
of going in there blinkered, and not caring what people have done
before or after you. I think long and hard about each gig and I'm
very professional. Attitude is very important to me. I want every
aspect to be right. The scene needs good gigs all the time. Every
time there's a duff party and people walk away from a gig in disappointment,
it not only reflects poorly on the promoter, but also the scene
in general. People lose confidence. You want them going to clubs
and parties week after week, thinking its fantastic. I've never
understood those DJs that say they'll play their two hours and that's
it. If the party's great, you've got the crowd in your hands, why
wouldn't you want to play more than two hours? Sometimes I have
to be pulled off the decks, I just don't want to handover. The first
time I went to The States to DJ was in 1989. I got off a plane and
went to the club, and Mark Farina and Derrick Carter were playing
before me. I walked into the DJ booth and Derrick Carter had three
records going on the turntables, all in the mix, and was looking
through his record box for another. Talk about in at the deep end!
I went three or four times after that and it wasn't until 1993,
when I did a big party in Orlando, that it kicked things off for
Sasha and I. The kids there were really into it, whereas you could
have gone to any other state and they wouldn't have got it. The
Twilo residency started in 1996, and it solidified our standing
in America. No one could wish for a better place to play, with a
better reputation."
THE FUTURE
"More studio production, and DJing all over the world. I've
been doing a lot of club gigs which has been great, going to new
places in Eastern Europe and China, etc. I have two radio shows,
one on KISS 100 (Sunday Mornings) and a syndicated show called Transitions,
which is being broadcast in America, South America, and all over
Europe. I'm very fortunate. I do what I love, travel around the
word, meet amazing people… I am very lucky."
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