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Whatever happened to Jay Wearden?
updated 28/05/04
Jay Wearden Back in the 90s, a quiet revolution was taking place in the wild depths of north Manchester. If you were serious about raving then there was only one real venue, Thunderdome, and Jay Wearden was Mr Thunderdome. Les Croasdaile tracked him down.
Jay Wearden

What got you started?
"Hip Hop was what made me get into DJing, I had always been really into music but with Hip Hop something just clicked with me. I couldn't break, pop or rap, so DJing was the logical choice. I first got a pair of Citronic Performers (belt driven monsters) from Basement DJ supplies under a musical instrument shop on Deansgate to scratch with and provide beats for a hip hop group, it was a must of May 1988 as I used them at my 18th Birthday.
My first residency was at Precinct 13 on South King Street (which is now South), the night was called Utopia and it was a Wednesday night."

You've been successful at every club you've been at, which one holds the fondest memory?
"The fondest memories have to be The Thunderdome, it was more than just a club to the people who went to it. Maybe it was just that period, going out was a way of life, that's all you talked about, cared about. The amount of people that dropped out, didn't have a job… it was all about clubbing... your whole existence revolved around the scene.. you really felt like you were part of a Cultural Revolution."

Your favourite gig must be the infamous Ice Rink in Ayr (playing with Sasha), can you elaborate?
"Yes, the Ice Rink in Ayr was the B******s. They had covered the ice with boards to make a dance floor. I have never been to a place that has rocked so much. It was electric better than anything I had experience before or since, better than The Thunderdome or Blackburn. Me and Sasha played back to back, one record after another. I felt like crying at the end of the night. It was that good."

Biggest DJ influence would be and why?
"Steve Williams, no question. He's a fine DJ technically and with his music selection, simple as that. I wouldn't be the DJ I am without his influence. He was a class act."

RunDMC or Beastie Boys?
"What a great question! In the 80s, it would of undoubtedly been Run DMC. I just didn't get what the Beastie Boys were about, it was all noise to me and I didn't take it seriously. Today my outlook has totally changed. Music is not the be all and end all of everything and the Beasties have gone on to create some of my favourite tunes."

It's a good 10 years year since you gave up full time DJing because of family commitments, why do you now feel it's a good time to start up again?
"I had been thinking about it for about a year, I hadn't really missed it up until then. I starting thinking a lot about what sort of music I would like to play not knowing if it was really out there… I was totally out of scene. I used to spend up 6hrs a day, 6 days a week looking and listening. I got the opportunity to do Babushka playing the sort of stuff I want to play now and though it didn't work out, I really enjoyed it and I'm hooked again."

You're playing a new sound to the one that people would associate with you normally, what's your groove now?
"I've always been into hip-hop and rare groove stuff. My earliest outings playing I played that sort of stuff. I go to play what I consider good music, from funk to breakbeat, whatever the mood/crowd takes me to play. It's wrong to pigeonhole yourself. In my eyes, music is music. Either it's good or bad. It doesn't matter what genre that is."

In a nutshell...

  • Catch Jay Wearden's new monthly residency at Po Na Na. Sun 20 Jun is the next date.

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