DJ TAB

30/07/1974

London

This DJ is willing to travel 15-20 miles from the above location

Electric, Ambient, Down tempo, Leftfield, Breaks, Hip-hop, House, Nu-skool-esque breaks, techno, drum n bass, the weird and the wonderful

n/a

Part of the HouseBreakin' collective and co-founder of StumbleWorthy

3 Years on London's underground party circuit including promotion, advertising, rig and decor setup, lighting, security

As Dj's go I'm relatively new to the party circuit, in the last year or so I've gone from bedroom Dj to a regular feature on the London Underground party scene. Things have moved really fast over recent months so I thought it would be good to document where I came from, and how I came to be there...

I remember my folks had a decent record collection, most of which was taped for listening to in the car. I grew up on a diet of The Carpenters, Queen, Sky, The Goon Show, Django Reinhardt, Mungo Jerry, and Terry Wogan on Radio Two. As a teenager I went through my charts days hunched over a cassette-player trying to record all my favourite tunes of the week whilst editing out the Dj and I was there daily for Steve Wright in the afternoon and Adrian Just on Saturdays. In hind-sight it's wierd to note that many of the tunes I really loved as a kid were all electronic - human league, soft cell, new order and depeche mode were all there.

Later in teenagerdom I hit punk, metal, goth and indie - bands I went to see included New Model Army, Birdland, Carter USM to name a few....many festivals were attended over summer holidays. I also got into reggae and dub when I was given a Peter Tosh album which led onto Lee Scratch Perry, King Tubby and Dub Syndicate.

The first dance tune I heard was e-zee posse, "everything starts with an e." I remember being excited at how new it sounded, completely different to what I was listening to at the time. I began collecting Dj tapes in an effort to hear more, the first two cassettes were from The Eclipse Club in Nottingham, many more followed..... Prodigy, The Orb, the KLF and N-joi were everyday chart items at the time as well as The Shamen, the world seemed to be going dance music crazy with the Dj at the helm...

Later that year a friend sold me his old belt-driven Technics. I then began to haunt record shops....buying mostly hardcore since that was the scene at the time, and I still enjoy a good dig through some decent OldSkool today. I then got bitten by the techno bug mainly thanks the TechnoDredd series of mixtapes, then I heard some Jeff Mills tunes and I was off in a new direction.

After I moved to London, I became a regular attendee of Club Dog and MegaDog events. Orbital, System7, Eat Static, The Higher Intelligence Agency, Speedy J and many other great acts became firm favourites. Through this I became interested in the Ambient scene as well and my collection of weird and obscure electronica began to take shape.

It was through a work colleague that I got asked to play some records for a staff party. He lent me an extra deck and his mixer so I could practise for a week to get an hour set together. On the night it really didn't go well, looking back it was evident my playlist was wrong for the crowd I was playing to. I was bitten though and a week later I was stood in Tottenham Court Road haggling over the price of a second deck, a Vestax mixer and a CDj500s...

As of then I was a bedroom Dj, the trainspotter in me was strong and the record collection began to increase at an alarming rate. Having a cdj also meant I could fiddle around with loops. If I had nothing to do, or the weather was inclement I would be found messing around with records, trying new things....

One year I was offered free tickets to the DMC World Scratch mixing finals. It wasn't strictly my bag so to speak but I wanted to go and see what was what! I wasn't sure what to expect, I remember spending most of the night sat where I had a good view of the Dj just being completely amazed by what they were managing to achieve. It wasn't just the technical prowess and showmanship on display, but the motley selection of records used to create new music to order.

Since then I've tried to incorporate more scratching, cutting and general-record-tomfoolery into my mixing style, I no longer believe that everything needs to be beat-matched from the start to the finish of a set. I've become more open to the concept of the turntable as a musical instrument as opposed to a means of playing records. I too now am building my very own collection of the bizarre, weird and wonderful records to amuse and entertain with.

Not long ago I met Parky, who then introduced me to tendril and a short while later I had a warm-up set for HouseBreakin' - a London party collective who organise parties reminiscent of the good old days... Much to my amazement they asked me back a month or so later, and since then I've had a regular slot at their parties and have become involved in the organisation side of things as well. The regular exposure has given me amazing opportunities to reach an audience, as well as learn the art of the Dj in a real environment. We've also made an amazing set of new friends which is growing rapidly!

I've since played for OneUpSystems, Sky High Soundsystem, The Courier Dj's, I've also played at The Rhythm Factory and The Platinum Bar in London and now have a regular Sunday show on Interface pirate-radio from 6pm until 8pm. I don't know what to expect next but I do know that I want to continue getting myself out there playing tunes for you lot -so I really hope you enjoy my web-pages, and that you'll come to a party soon.