DJ Biography

The Beginning

Born 26th March 1988, I come from a musical family. My Aunt performs in pantomines and my Mum used to be a singer. I have always been interested in music but was not until I turned 12/13 that I started to do something with the musical side of my life. I can play the trumpet and the keyboard to an extent but it wasn't until I experimented with drugs in my late teens that I really hit a chord (no pun intended). Dance Music was my passion and I realized at that moment that I wanted to be a DJ and mix the records I was hearing. The first trance I heard was off Gatecrasher Classics and from that moment on I was hooked on dance music.

My tastes in music soon grew as I started college, branching off into enjoying happy hardcore, clubland and drum n bass to name a few. After stopping drugs I saved up money for my first pair of DJ turntables. After successfully purchasing a set of Numark bottom-of-the-range twin CD decks and a Behringer mixer, I began messing around with different music types, self-teaching myself to mix.

At the same time, I began work at the new club in Eastbourne town, Funktion Rooms. The club offered a wide range of different music and I was introduced to cutting-edge house and electro music for the first time. This is where my DJ journey began.

Development

Learning to mix was no easy task. I had no idea what I was doing so I purchased one of the most helpful and best books I've ever read: 'How to DJ...Properly'. It took me another year to really come to grips with beat matching at which point I had my first gig. The first place I ever played was at my cousin's birthday. Throughout the night I slowly came to realize that my mixing meant nothing and it was about the tunes I was playing. At which point, it made me more and more determined to achieve my goal of being a DJ well-known for crowd interaction and playing exactly what the crowd want to hear.

As I started to establish myself at Funktion Rooms, I was offered a chance to play with one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life called Kevin. I was offered a slot at the Winter Gardens to warm up for a Red Hot Chilli Peppers tribute band. The venue was large, one of the biggest venues in Eastbourne and was one of the best places I've ever played to date. Without 'DJ DK' (Kevin) I wouldn't be where I am today so if you're reading this, thank you very much Kev for having faith in me!

After this gig I was more determined than ever to push on with my DJing and I began mixing in hourly sections every other night, recording my efforts and playing them back to myself to indicate where I need to improve including mixing, tune selection and mix progression. I learnt to mix house and electro music and dished out around a grand worth for new equipment, giving me an extra edge to add to already being able to mix trance music. From here came my big club-breakthrough.

I was offered a slot playing for the under 18s college party at Funktion Rooms. After a rocky start and working out the best sound levels, I really dived into my record collection and played the best in everything I had ranging from hip hop to trance classics to even a touch of happy hardcore. The crowd were one of the best I've ever played to and I've never felt such passion and euphoria towards the crowd as I have done on that night. Once again, this fuelled my passion even more and lo-and-behold, 2 months later I was offered another college party slot-this time playing to the over 18s.

This gig was one of the most difficult and mentally challenging gigs of my life. With a maximum of 20 over 18s in a room that holds 200 people, not only would it be difficult to get people on the dancefloor, I would also have to play the right tunes all night to keep people there. The majority of the people stayed in the room as I played hip hop, cheese and rnb almost all night. By the end of the night I was exhausted from the amount of crowd reading I'd been doing. Looking at people's faces and analysing the way they were all dancing etc. wasn't easy but I'm confident that I did a good job on the night.

Another gig that sticks out in my memory is a party for my mate, playing for his Mum's 60th birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed the night and even arranged for an impromptu karaoke session to go down. I loved diving into my trecord box and pulling out golden oldies including Bon Jovi, Mo-town and the original to 'Last Night a DJ Saved my Life'. Truly a memorable gig!

Now

After changing my career to the club next door Kings, I have recently been working on composing a new mixtape to showcase my talents. I have also been spending most of my time pushing my music in new directions; mixing drum n bass and hip hop to near seamlessness to add yet another direction to my DJing. I've been trying to make myself as diverse as humanly possible with my music.

I've also been working on getting this website up and running and developing new mixes. I've been working my way through a long list of different music types, trying to work out which ones would work on a dancefloor and which ones are solely for personal listening. I've been spending a lot of time 'tune-hunting'. Expect more and more mixes to be added to this section as soon as they've been recorded to give you a wide range of different music types to choose from! Thank-you for reading and if you have any questions or queries, do not hesitate to contact me using the 'contact me' tab on the left!

 

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