Music Bio

I’ve had a lifelong love of music.

As a kid growing up in Brentwood, Essex, my parents introduced me to The Beatles and The Doors and I developed an early fascination with the guitar and the classic 60s guitar heroes: Clapton, Hendrix, Page etc. Digging deeper into what influenced them, I discovered the Blues of Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy and through them, eventually, Jazz, in particular the so-called “Acid Jazz” of Mother Earth, Corduroy and Galliano. Sometime in the (very) early 90s, someone suggested I should check out a DJ called Gilles Peterson who had a show on London’s Kiss FM [“100% original… pirate style… Kiss 100”] and suddenly my mind was blown wide open to jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, house, techno, drum ‘n’ bass… I tuned in to Kiss before Gilles’ show to hear Joey Jay, Patrick Forge and then Dr. Bob Jones, each with their own distinctive sound.

At the same time, my A-Level music mates and I were sharing our diverse music tastes and creating mixtapes to play in between lessons, showing off our latest discoveries. It was only a short hop to buying a set of turntables and diving into DJ culture, especially as I was now playing more and more electronic and sample-based music. I learned to beatmatch and work a mixer: a new DJ was born! I was lucky enough to be schooled at some seminal London club nights, such as rubbing shoulders with Björk and Goldie at ‘That’s How It Is’ at Bar Rumba with GP, James Lavelle and Ben Wilcox on the decks, or passing the Galliano crew on the stairs at the incredible Blue Note in Hoxton Square.

When I moved to Liverpool in 1994, I brought my decks with me and eventually found some like-minded individuals and open-minded venues. Good times and lots of gigs followed: I got to support some of my biggest inspirations, like Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay and Roy Ayers as a resident at the much-missed Magnet on Hardman Street and spin at some of Liverpool’s best nights like Chibuku Shake Shake. I was luck enough to pack up my tunes and play at a couple of continental club nights – alongside Filewile in Bern, Switzerland and at the incredible ‘Mona’ night in Paris. I set up my regular ‘2types’ radio show on the excellent Japanese station Samurai FM and used it to feature artists I rated, enjoying the chance to meet and interview exceptional musicians and producers like Mark de Clive Lowe, Domu, Waajeed, Zed Bias and The Heritage Orchestra. 

Increasingly, I was dusting off my Cubase skills, originally honed on the school’s Atari ST, and producing my own tunes. I never achieved my dream of appearing on Top of the Pops, but I did get some great feedback on my music from people I admire like Laurent Garnier (“Great soul music… You can be sure that I will playlist them on the radio. Brilliant. Mille mercis. Full support from me”) and Ashley Beedle (“Very forward music and right up my street… great production”). I have been grateful for DJ and radio support for my tunes over the years from Mr Scruff, Benji B, Kevin Beadle, Simon Harrison and Phat Phil Cooper to name just a few.

After the Samurai FM stint came to an end, I set up an occasional mixtape series called ‘No Holds Barred‘ – some of which you can still hear on this very site (via Mixcloud).

More recently, family life and full time work (the music industry wasn’t paying the mortgage, surprise surprise!) have occupied most of my time. I might have swapped the Technics for Traktor and Cubase for an MPC Live II but I have never lost my love of music and I still play the odd DJ gig and make a beat or two…

My philosophy remains the same as always. Duke Ellington said “There are only two types of music: good and bad”. I’d soften that a bit by saying: there are only two types of music: stuff you like and stuff you don’t. I’ll keep bringing you stuff I like.