PUBLICITY RELATIONSHIPS 09
A LEGEND OF HOUSE INTERVIEW
VM:: Growing up what was some of your favorite pastimes?? Sports, School, Books, Etc? How did you end up becoming a House Music legend?
My early years involved playing a lot of football, soccer for people in America. Like most kids we were crazy about playing football for hours on end after school. The school experience was a dull, tedious, painful time as I attended a rough South London comprehensive school. I really enjoyed drawing and painting in fact that was my only real achievement on leaving school; a good grade in Art .
My other love was of course music. I grew up with the radio on in the house daily and used to listen to the Luxembourg Pirate Station late after lights out. I used to imagine the great life those DJs had broadcasting from a ship out at sea and wanted to do the same. It very much inspired me greatly to become a radio DJ as I would spend all my money on records from a very young age.
I followed my dream to the London Pirate station KISS in the early 80s and progressing to BBC radio 1 for 7 years. I currently can be found on http://www.pushfm.com/ where I host a monthly show. I am a firm believer in whatever you want to become in life set the intention and stick with it to the destination.
VM:: The artwork/flyers for SHOOM have been called some of the greatest pieces in club history... Do you have a favorite artist or do you collect art?
I love art as it brings great pleasure to the world. Ibizan resident & Argentinean born artist, Grillo Demo is a favorite as we are friends and I collect much of his work. I also own a Miro piece which was a desire for many years.
My goal is to own a Graham Sutherland painting, a great classic British artist. Andy Warhol’s Moonwalk image is another piece I would like to obtain; the 60s was such a groundbreaking period of human triumph in space travel which absolutely fascinates me.
I also collect British artist Eric Gill and Romero Britto from Miami....I definitely need a larger house to have more wall space!
VM:: During your Days DJing for fashion shows what influenced your style of play on the runway? Who was some of your favorite designers you worked with??
It was a marvelous experience that was always a huge challenge but very rewarding creatively. I attended many shows in Paris and Milan with many good days hanging backstage whilst some of the worlds most beautiful women on and off the runway in a state of undress. I worked with Antonio Berardi, an Italian woman’s designer for 5 years. I provided Beradi with collages of sound that we would spend days editing down to 18 minutes.
Berardi is an under rated designer who trained with Jon Galliano and like many designers, Antonio was totally meticulous about what sound would work best. Often, after hours of work he’d change his mind and we would start all over again.
VM:: How has the overall feeling of the house scene progress from the 80s to current day?
The scene we helped pioneer & shape in the 80s was so raw, basic; it gave so many people the opportunity of a life time to live out our ambitions and dreams through music. That time was magical as we shifted a paradigm collectively through unity consciousness and the power of House music..
It changed so much for the better as it broke down racial, sexual & ageism barriers as well as reducing street violence & football hooliganism. It truly was a youth culture revolution, a movement formed which was as big as punk and the hippies.
House music transformed the mindset of Generation X to a great sense of optimism, peace, & compassion throughout the summers of love 88 89. It was a remarkable time that fills so many of us with gratitude to have lived through an outstanding cultural shift.
As a result of those days we now have a booming global club scene that brings much pleasure to clubbers in stylish venues with great sound systems and Djs week in and week out.
It is amazing how many people want to be and are DJs now that the craft has become so appealing and revered.
VM:: What has been your most treasured production?
My favorite production is Stobelight-Danny Rampling and MYNC. It is a pumping acid track with vocal samples from Chicago street poet Reggie Gibson. Yoshi Toshi signed the track when it came out which I was thrilled with and Sharam did a great re edit version.
VM:: You are def. More than a DJ Artist, what made you get into other fields such as restaurants, consulting, & stock trading? You recently retired in 2005 but have recently decided to un-retire. What caused this shift?
My personal life underwent a huge change and I decided to make an exit to explore other avenues such as consulting, stock trading, and owning a restaurant. I had a son and it put my life into perspective and thought I needed to step away from the music scene & late nights.
I am glad I made that decision as it gave me an opportunity to create & learn about new businesses and also work on myself. Personal development is a passion that has greatly benefited my life through feeding the mind, positive empowering information daily Over the past couple of years I have been fortunate enough to attend a number of Anthony Robbins courses and took action to change the course of my life ......knowledge is power but without action is nothing.
I also became a member of a USA company called, “Success University,” which is giving thousands of people worldwide the tools and information to lead spectacular lives and create a business for themselves.
The more the world embraces this teaching the better society will become, as so much negative information is pumped into peoples minds daily thru mass media bombardment which numbs productive ideas ,thoughts, & education.The movie, “The Secret,” has opened many peoples minds to the power of the laws of attraction & positive thinking.
I love the quote from Leading coach Les Brown who was married to Gladys knight...
“You don’t have to be great to get started but you have to get started to become great!”
Coming back to returning to what is my greatest love, DJing, I was on a business course with Keith Cunningham. He is a leading USA business coach and for 8 days he shared his wisdom with us.
“A tree needs to grow where its planted and your roots are deep in the music so get back there; what are you doing to yourself by retiring,” Keith said.
It greatly inspired me to return, as he reminded me what my core competence is and why that is the path to follow and therefore get back on track. It was ever so humbling the conversation we shared in that classroom.
Having returned with a burning passion and boundless youthful energy & ambition and I am much more thankful for what I do as I lost that for a while a few years ago.
Many of us can do at times but gratitude is the core driver to success.
VM:: You have written a book about How to DJ? Tell me what made you come up with this idea and how did you approach writing on such a wide subject?
Again through personal development at an Internet marketing seminar I became inspired to produce the Ebook, http://www.learnhowtobeadj.com/
We all have a passion, interest, skill to share with others. My 20 years of experience from the “School of Hard Knocks,” will be a benefit to anyone who is hungry to succeed.
We are here for a short space of time in this lifetime so its important to my values to be productive and fulfill all ambitions an achieve a spectacular life and pass on knowledgeable experience to people. The book took me over 6 months to complete, which covers a wide range of subject matter from starting out to professional DJing with a second section based on successful mindset information. I am also taking it a step further and passing it on helping others fast track their skills by becoming a coach for a DJ course offered by the Ministry of Sound in the near future.
VM:: With over 20 yrs. In House Music..Where do you see the next 20 yrs going??
Personally to continue with music enjoying the business of coaching others. The DJ industry has become a lucrative business to be part of and the advances with music technology will continue to take the craft of the DJ to new heights.
Using Ableton/ Traktor CDs and other related technology these tools are transforming the way the DJ plays with much greater scope for creativity. This is a very exciting time to be DJ in the digital age.
VM:: Coming from a legend, who are some of your favorite producers & djs currently?
I really enjoy the work that Paolo Mojo, Christian Smith, Deadmau5, Sasha, Mr. V, Quinten Harris, Alan T., Peter Rahoufer, Dirty South, Dubfire, Sharam, Cevin Fisher, and Lars Berenroth have been putting out.
VM:: What are your plans for 2009?
I plan to sign with a US DJ agent and tour the USA, as well as having a compilation released Stateside, play the infamous Burning Man festival, publish a hardcopy book about the scene & my history, and release a hit track. I will continue to coach new DJs and strive to become another year closer to financial freedom!
