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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."
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In
a nutshell...
- Catch
Jay Wearden's new monthly residency at Po Na Na.
Sun 20 Jun is the next date.
What
do you want to do now?
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