I say this because he passed away from lung cancer when I was nearly five and we still have the device and tapes, boxed, with my intent to get our voices transferred to digital at some point. (How many of you proud parents have focussed solely on your children in the videos you make? Looking back, I would say that it is best not only to record them, but to show yourself and capture your relationship – that is what will be cherished in the future.)

When I was younger, my mother knew I wanted a radio, but, she being a widow and on a low income, we didn’t have the money to spare. She told me to save up for it instead. Aged nine, I had stashed away my pocket and gift money until I had enough, and my mum paid the shortfall for my little Bush radio. I was so happy! I listened to Radio 1 during the daytime. ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ was on frequently at that time and I especially associate it with my lying ill in bed with a nasty stomach bug.
But my little Bush radio was just the start of my journey into audio equipment. At one point, my mum bought me a cassette recorder and I used it to record her sleep-talking, the cat purring, and all kinds of other nonsense! My next step came thanks to a friend of my mum’s, who found an old Dansette portable record player and kindly gave it to me.

It wasn’t too long before I discovered stereo sound. I took my 45s to church every Friday night and, after the formal youth activities finished, would play my records on their stereo player. I then had a hire purchase agreement to buy a second-hand hi-fidelity stereo and I still have the evidence of the damage this player caused to some of my vinyl records! Years later, after we’d been married about six years, my husband took great delight in buying me a decent hi-fi stacking system for Christmas.

My first brush with DJing was dry hiring speakers and decks for my 18th birthday party. I played some music, my friends’ band played a while, and another friend called barn dancing for us. In reality, my journey to becoming a DJ actually began through my son Sam, who was profiled in Pro Mobile back in 2009 [Issue 37].

Sam had started DJing at 15 and, having got himself a residency in a bar, could no longer fulfil all of his mobile work. Instead, he passed on bookings to another DJ or to friends he had trained. One night he ran out of colleagues to ask, so he came to me: “Mum, would you be able to help me out tonight? It’s for Cardiff University, and they only want 70s and 80s music – you’ll be okay.” I mumbled objections and concerns, but was secretly chuffed. Sam told me that he’d help set up and start the event, but he needed to leave at 9pm and I would have to pack down and return the equipment myself (I have never found packing down fun!). As we played background music he showed me how to line up the next song, cross fade and watch the time remaining – simple things. I loved seeing people respond to the tunes I selected and the following morning, when Sam asked how it had gone, I told him I’d had a lot of fun. “Can I do it again?” I asked. To which he replied, “I don’t know about that!” I counter-argued that if I was good enough for one, then why not more?

Throughout his university years Sam relied on me to fill in here and there, and he picked up more mobile gigs when the bar at which he had his residency closed. As he set out on a new business venture after graduating from university, he asked me to run the DJ business. There was little incentive to do the admin, as I wasn’t doing many of the paid gigs, and of course wasn’t being paid for the admin I was doing! So we developed a commission system for any bookings I made. This new role coincided with my having more time on my hands. We had previously been fostering full time, so when we stopped I was able to take on a bigger role in the business, and it wasn’t long before I began to operate the business like it was partly mine.

After getting quite comfortable with the Numark deck I was using, Sam decided on an upgrade. It was time to get familiar with CDJs! Sam bought some to use himself and hire out to clubs. Although I was very reluctant to try something new and felt intimidated by so many options, Sam suggested I learn. I am so glad I embraced them in the end. It was much easier to beat match with them than the old Numarks, and these days I use Pioneer CDJ 2000 Nexus and a mix of CDs and data.

Sam had soon expanded his equipment hire business and started a second business called Total Students, so I often found myself collecting equipment from a steamy, drink-strewn club at 3am. He then divided the equipment hire and DJ businesses into separate companies – SG Discos and Impact Effects – to avoid VAT problems. Sam worked the three businesses symbiotically. We were able to supply both DJs for store promotions and DJ trucks to the student lock-ins through Total Students, and I was pleased to DJ from the truck sometimes.

Alongside his other businesses, Sam still took on special gigs or for repeat customers who loved him. He got to DJ some landmark events, such as playing to Admiral Staff in the Millennium Stadium after Olly Murs in 2014 and acting as DJ for Amy Pond’s wedding on Dr Who.

“Sam moved at 100 miles an hour” – this is a quote from my husband’s talk at Sam’s funeral. Sadly, he passed away of bowel cancer in 2017. After deciding to pursue a career in politics, he had actually left Total Students and Impact Effects in the hands of employees, with me in charge of SG Discos/SGDJ. Sam fell ill after some intense years playing a key role in the Brexit campaign in Wales. I just thought he was overdoing it as usual, but by the time I came back from a South American holiday with my husband, he was complaining of abdominal pain and other symptoms. I told him I could buy the DJ business and pay him to work the occasional gig when he was better, to which he heartily agreed. It was three months from seeking medical help to his passing – and I find grief hits me at random times. On Facebook you can see news articles, his awareness video for Bowel Cancer UK, and a blog of his last weeks – just search ‘Sam Gould politician’.