You've been behind the decks at various venues around the South for 25 years now... how did you get started? Well, I used to be a complete pest in nightclubs! I used to go to the Magnum Club of all places and we used to pester the DJ because it was the only club that would let us in because we were the punk rockers of Southampton.
So we used to pester the DJ (who obviously was playing disco music) to play our stuff which was two tone and punk rock. He got so fed up with me, he got me a night in another club - so me and my mate Gary trolled on down to this club in St Mary's Street on a Tuesday night and that's how it all began. Can you remember that first night on the decks? We got all our mates down there, filled the place up and just got drunk! I was terrible - I must admit and it did take me a long time to get used to what I was doing. It must be a dream job.. did you always think you'd be a DJ? No, it was a hobby until 1988 and then it only went full time because I left my job. I was running a hire shop come builder's merchants in Totton and I absolutely hated it, it was horrible and I just had to get out. What was the music scene like in Southampton in the 80's? In 1980, the only nightclubs in town were really for lunatics, they were at the bottom of St Mary's Street, full of violence and fights, not the sort of place you'd want to go to and that's where I started [in the Rio Grande] and it was pretty heavy! It all spiraled from that club. I did quite a bit of work at The Joiners for £5 a night and then in 1981 I pestered my way into a job at a place called Manhattans, then I ended up at the Riverside and that was brilliant - that was the old floating bridge. Do you plan what you're going to play or is it a case of going with the mood of the audience? I take requests, but I'm not like a jukebox! I'll get as many of them out as I can - I arrange them into piles of different kinds of music. I like to use what they ask me for and then that gives me ideas and I slip in a couple of news ones, but I do work off what I get asked for. Do you get lots of weird requests? I do get asked for some very obscure stuff and I love finding them out and playing them, it gives me a real buzz. I love people coming up and asking me for something that I've had in that box for 10 years and haven't played, because nobody else will play that song and that's why I think people come to see me because they know they're going to get something that no-one else will play. Do you still get nervous before a gig? Oh I do panic! I don't have a lot of time to set up my stuff, I get there at 7.30 and have to start at 9pm. Of course you get to five to nine and everyone wants to talk to you and I haven't had a sound check, you put it all on and the speaker won't work and only half the stereos coming out and I panic - sweat pours out of me and I start running around! It's always something stupid like you haven't plugged the cable in.
I'm ok after about an hour when I've had a couple of drinks and I've calmed myself down and it's all coming together. I do spend all day the day before working on what I'm doing that night so everything is ready - the clothes are ironed, all the gears sorted out and ready, I make sure I've got everything I need. They'll always be something that goes wrong but I can't do anymore that that! How would your best friend describe you? Oh I don't know, but if I was to describe myself, I'm a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde, I'm very shy till I get to know people and then I'm over the top! I'm not one that goes seeking attention, if it comes to me great, but I don't like blowing my own trumpet. What's the best lesson life has taught you? Expect the unexpected! I know it's a cliche, but you never know what's round the corner so make the most of it while you can, you've got to - work hard, play hard! DJ Hammy, The Supersonicsoul Sessions, Apartment 26, (above the Lizzard Lounge) Friday 24th February.
Supersonic @ The Rhino, Southampton, Wednesdays 10pm - 2am, Supersonic II @ The Dorchester Arms, Southampton, Saturdays 9pm - 2am | 
