As with all things learning how to DJ was not as easy as first expected. Especially as I wasn't having any lessons on how to DJ but just doing off my own thoughts of how it should be done, and those who know my brain will tell you that if there is a choice between the easiest and hardest ways I am more than likely to choose the hardest :)... So it probably took much longer to learn than it should've done.
To be honest at the beginning I sounded like a dogs dinner but I assumed everyone who's tried to DJ using vinyl had exactly the same thoughts when they first started... DJs learning today have it so much easier with software and that "SYNC" button :)
It took months and months of practising to sound half decent and I was so happy with how things were progressing, although I was spending what seemed like large sums of money on vinyl. Vinyl wasn't cheap in the early days especially as I just had a normal day job to support this extravagance (and clubbing at the weekends), but it was money well worth spent and gave me lots of enjoyment scouring record shops for unique songs and rare remixes of popular tracks.
Here are some of the best tracks I found:-
In the next blog I will continue with the journey and go into playing in clubs.....
Saturday 28 December 2013
Friday 27 December 2013
Where it all began!!!
How did this musical journey begin..... Let me take you back in history...
I've been into the dance music scene since the early nineties. Starting off predominantly listening to Happy Hardcore in 1992 then going to events at the Rhythm Station in Aldershot, Hampshire in 1993 till 1995. This was my introduction into the party scene and all the craziness that is contained within :)
Slowly I started to diversify my listening to other genre's of dance music, although more towards the high octane area such as techno, which at the time was much faster paced than the techno of today, and Goa trance... Goa trance seemed more attuned to my senses and made me feel more alive inside..
One of the first albums I remember buying was a Paul Oakenfold mix on Dragonfly records, then followed by listening live to the legendary Goa Mix on BBC Radio One by Paul Oakenfold... To be sure these two mixes made me a huge Oakie fan which culminated in visiting Ministry of Sound for the first time to hear him play one of his Goa trance sets. This set me on my way to listening to trance music 24/7 completely moving away from Happy Hardcore.
It was this music that made me plead with my parents to buy me a set of Technics 1210's for my 18th birthday. Thankfully they relented to my pleas and we travelled to London to pick up a set. Then it was just the task of finding record shops in my local area that sold this delightful music, fortunately one had only just opened in Camberley town centre which sold a good collection of Goa trance and trance, which eventually became more mainstream trance music for the masses.
The first record I brought was a tune remixed by Red Jerry but the name eludes me now, not surprising really since this was back in 1994 :) Whilst searching through the racks of records in the shops and having a listen to them I found I was being pulled to certain record labels which were producing top quality trance and Goa trance, these being Platipus, Hooj Choons, EVE Records and Reactivate... These tunes came with a driving baseline and psychedelic breaks. Some of these tunes are now recognised to be some of the greatest trance tunes of all time i.e. Cafe Del Mar by Energy 52 :)
In the next blog I'll go into my brief DJ-ing career and where my music has led to now........
I've been into the dance music scene since the early nineties. Starting off predominantly listening to Happy Hardcore in 1992 then going to events at the Rhythm Station in Aldershot, Hampshire in 1993 till 1995. This was my introduction into the party scene and all the craziness that is contained within :)
Slowly I started to diversify my listening to other genre's of dance music, although more towards the high octane area such as techno, which at the time was much faster paced than the techno of today, and Goa trance... Goa trance seemed more attuned to my senses and made me feel more alive inside..
One of the first albums I remember buying was a Paul Oakenfold mix on Dragonfly records, then followed by listening live to the legendary Goa Mix on BBC Radio One by Paul Oakenfold... To be sure these two mixes made me a huge Oakie fan which culminated in visiting Ministry of Sound for the first time to hear him play one of his Goa trance sets. This set me on my way to listening to trance music 24/7 completely moving away from Happy Hardcore.
It was this music that made me plead with my parents to buy me a set of Technics 1210's for my 18th birthday. Thankfully they relented to my pleas and we travelled to London to pick up a set. Then it was just the task of finding record shops in my local area that sold this delightful music, fortunately one had only just opened in Camberley town centre which sold a good collection of Goa trance and trance, which eventually became more mainstream trance music for the masses.
The first record I brought was a tune remixed by Red Jerry but the name eludes me now, not surprising really since this was back in 1994 :) Whilst searching through the racks of records in the shops and having a listen to them I found I was being pulled to certain record labels which were producing top quality trance and Goa trance, these being Platipus, Hooj Choons, EVE Records and Reactivate... These tunes came with a driving baseline and psychedelic breaks. Some of these tunes are now recognised to be some of the greatest trance tunes of all time i.e. Cafe Del Mar by Energy 52 :)
In the next blog I'll go into my brief DJ-ing career and where my music has led to now........
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