Artists like Sade, Duran Duran, Ultravox and Foreigner were huge favorites and both the vinyl and tape cassettes were played again and again, usually resulting in the tape running out and the regular creation of new copies.

When you’re surrounded by so much music it’s almost inevitable that you’ll have a huge interest in music, or get involved in some way. As well as my dad’s vinyl and tape collection I would listen to music on the radio, the chart shows in particular. This proved a great way to hear new songs and broaden my tastes. Soon I was able to name almost every song in the charts after hearing just a few bars. I was only young, but music was quickly becoming a key part of my life.

I started making my own mixtapes with a friend, featuring lots of early-90s rave anthems. I enjoyed that style of music and would try and grab as many tracks as possible. I loved the samples they used and remember one track weirdly featuring a sample from ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark’, a classic story that had been turned into an audio book and then sampled by a rave act!

Aged 11 I took my first step on the DJ ladder. A family friend had started DJing at the local youth club. We got to know each other and it wasn’t long before he asked me to get involved in his mobile disco. Initially I helped unload the gear, set up, and break down. The buzz of seeing the dancefloor jumping around to what he played was infectious and I knew I wanted to be the guy playing the songs, not just standing at the side watching someone else do it.

But I had to be patient. I was young and I needed to gain experience. So, for six years, until I was 17 years old, I shadowed my DJ friend, learning my trade, continuing to help load and unload, as well as operating lighting effects. I worked at all kinds of events including weddings, birthdays, and general party nights, including a memorable event at Addenbrookes Hospital that always ended up being absolute bedlam. (When doctors and nurses are at a party you better believe it’s going off – those guys really know how to enjoy themselves.)

As much as I wanted to push my friend out the way and take over the decks, I look back on that time and appreciate the knowledge I gained. It would serve me well in later years! But first, I had to knuckle down with my education. A levels were fast approaching and I took some time away from the DJ world to concentrate on my exams. Although, I still found time for music in a different form: I started to learn how to play the bass guitar. Which I did – badly. Turning 18 opened up a whole new world: nightclubs! I would regularly attend clubs in Cambridge including The Fez Club, which introduced me to two incredible DJs – Dan Smith and Conan Manchester (AKA Liquid People), who were the resident DJs. I became good friends with both and we still speak regularly to this day. I loved my clubbing days and became totally wrapped up in the music, especially in the late 90s with the resurgence of house music.

I remember seeing the legendary DJ Norman Jay at a club when he played ‘Red Alert’ by Basement Jaxx. I was blown away by that track and ran up to the booth to find out what it was. I’m sure the sight of me running across the club with an over-eager expression on my face is one that still gives Mr Jay nightmares. I also saw many other established DJs perform at clubs in my area, including the legendary Dave Lee. I thought I was being clever by calling him Joey. I was young, I didn’t know better.

Frequenting the local hot spots eventually inspired me to buy some decks of my own. I purchased a pair of Soundlab direct-drive turntables and a DSM15 mixer and set about learning to mix. After a couple of months, I was getting the hang of things and had mastered the art of beat-matching two songs together. Granted, they were the same song, but we all have to start somewhere. This led to me creating my own mixes, including a rather dodgy house mix featuring ‘Low Rider’ by War and ‘Shaft’ by Isaac Hayes. They were a bit rough around the edges, but I was getting there and wanted to develop my skills further. I did so whilst studying at Bradford University for a BSc in Electronic Imaging and Media Communication. (It may sound quite flash but really it just meant that I got to play around with lots of expensive studio equipment all day.)

Whilst at university I secured a few DJ slots at local venues and soon found myself DJing extensively. I also started promoting my own nights, which resulted in my needing to increase my music collection. I did so by spending far too much time and money in my local record shop, called The Disc. I made sure I was in the shop every Friday afternoon, as I didn’t want to miss out on the record plugger dropping the latest imports. I look back on my time in Bradford with great fondness. I had some amazing times and made some great memories. I met loads of inspirational DJs, advanced my own DJ career, launched my remix career… Oh, and I also met my wife there. We’ve been together 23 years and counting!

I eventually returned to Cambridge for a year and continued to pick up a DJ spot here and there, but it was music production that I really wanted to develop. I dabbled with production software including Sonic Foundry Acid Pro. I wasn’t very good, but at least I was producing – and I had to get better, right?

We moved from Bradford to Lincoln where I worked as an IT technician whilst trying to break into the local DJ scene. Around this time I became involved with the production team Inland Knights, who scored a huge club anthem with their track ‘Sound System’. I also secured a residency where I was the warm up DJ for the popular Choobe night. I learned so much from those guys; the energy and passion they exuded was something else.

Things started to move quickly for me. I was learning new skills including how to use effects on a Pioneer mixer, unveiling a whole new world, and I started producing bootlegs. My first was a rework of ‘I Wish’ by Skee-Lo, which I named ‘Short Person Syndrome’. I stuck it on Myspace to see what would happen and it gained a huge amount of interest. I was both surprised and elated at the same time. This success prompted me to start my own digital label called Llama Farm Recordings. Llama Farm was the result of a comment overheard by a friend in a train ticket queue in America. He thought it would make a good name and it stuck.

Throughout 2007 and 2008 I continued to create and release tracks including a range of four-track EPs that featured productions like ‘Room Of Strangers’. I’d decided to build my own computer – the laptop equivalent of a driftwood lean-to – but it did the job and allowed me to arrange the project before releasing the finished track. ‘Room Of Strangers’ absolutely exploded and is probably my most popular track ever. It found its way onto compilations alongside such names as Dave Lee (Lovestation – ‘Teardrops’), LCD Soundsystem and Corinne Bailey-Rae. It was a surreal time.

A few years later I finally got the track mastered, something I had neglected to do when it was originally released. I was new to all this and had no idea I needed to master my music! I’m pleased to say I quickly added a mastering process to my work.

Llama Farm continued to grow and went from strength to strength over the next few years. Whilst I really wanted to put most of my time into music, I was also re-training as a primary school teacher, so had to balance things carefully. I was training during the week and producing music and performing DJ sets at the weekend. For a while this worked, until we re-located to York, and I started a new role as a full-time primary school teacher as well as the small matter of getting married.

My new job was great, but eventually work started to impact on my health and I struggled with anxiety.
It made me realise how much I needed my DJ life to escape the pressures of everyday life.

So, after 18 months in my new job I switched to being a supply teacher. This meant I could DJ more and this new balance was a much better fit. I was offered a residency at a venue called Kennedy’s Bar in York, but their open format left me feeling somewhat unfulfilled and I left after a short stint. A few months later I finally found a venue that I felt comfortable with. The bar was called Missoula and they wanted me to play a mix of soul, funk and disco. I took to it like a duck to water.

By this time, I had switched from vinyl to CDs to Traktor and was making the most of the software’s ability to help me navigate between genres. My DJ career was going well. I’d got the balance right for my teaching. Now I needed to address music production. I was still producing house remixes, but I was getting disillusioned by the end results.

Around this time, I discovered the wonder of edits and started to create my own. I began with some jackin’ house tracks – and I was away. I used to sample the funk but now I was working with them at their natural tempo and feel.

The feedback on the early productions was very positive. I got to know a few more established names on the scene and launched Alpaca Edits to further the reach of my work.
Early releases on the label were a variety of my own monikers (Alfa Flite) and more well-known producers, including the now world-famous Dr Packer.

Since the launch, the brand had achieved 80 releases including two charity compilations that I’m really proud of, raising money for the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge and Macmillan Cancer. Both releases were championed by Craig Charles on his BBC 6 Music shows and he’s been very supportive of my work ever since.

I’ve found a way of producing that works for me and makes the process straight forward and fast, without compromise! My early edits were created by filtering out the bottom end and replacing the bass, drums and percussion before rearranging the whole thing to create the finished track.

As I’ve progressed, so my production skills have changed. I began collecting the multi-tracks of original studio sessions and using software like Logic Pro to arrange and process my edits. I also use Hit ‘n’ Mix Deep Remix to create my own stems, which is extremely useful when they don’t already exist. (I came across this process after watching a Twitch stream by Francois Kevorkian during lockdown.)

The inspiration for my productions comes from numerous sources. Often it’s from my followers or other DJs requesting remixes of classic tracks, but I also like ‘YouTube mining’ to see what’s out there and find a gap in the market to create something unique.

I always test drive my work to ensure it’s right. If it doesn’t work for me, then it probably isn’t going to work for other DJs and vice-versa. I use my residency at a venue called Sotano in York to trial my new edits (I’ve worked here for seven years and love the venue). It’s not a huge place so the intimate space allows me to be very close to the audience.
I can see their facial expressions, head nods, toe taps and even hear some of the comments on what's playing. A standard set is around six hours and I like to start with lower BPM tracks and steadily increase the tempo throughout the night.

I love a warm-up set; it’s always been the slot I’m drawn to. There’s something about going from an empty room to one that’s packed with punters bouncing off the walls. The buzz of handing over the room that’s about to explode to the next DJ, with a sense of “now it’s over to you…don’t mess it up,” has always amused me.

Like many DJs I know, my career was on the verge of taking off until the pandemic changed things. Before COVID-19, I was playing at some incredible events alongside some big-name DJs, including performing sets at Beat-herder Festival and warming up for Michael Gray at Downtown Disco. (The promoter of Downtown Disco is an excellent DJ called Ian Ossia and he’s a bit of a legend, to say the least. He was the warm-up DJ for Sasha, as well as being a brilliant producer – I’m sure some of you will have his work in your music library.) Furthermore, my remixes, called ‘Refreqs’, were getting loads of support, including on national radio with BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2. Things were moving in the right direction and my world literally stopped!

I’d just turned 40 when the pandemic kicked in and my last gig was my birthday party at Sotano with a DJ friend called Derek Kaye. We all know what happened when the pandemic hit. It took me a few weeks to work out what I was going to do.

Firstly, I knew I needed to keep busy. So I created ‘Dancing In Your Kitchen’ and started hosting my DJ sets on Twitch. It’s weird to think that I turned my kitchen into a nightclub, but since talking to other DJs it appears this was a thing that many others did too. (I trust, like me, they all had understanding partners as well!) It may not have been a live DJ set, but it kept me busy, kept my mind active and gave me a focus each week. I also took advantage of having time to ramp up my production work and I haven’t stopped since.

At last, things are returning to normal for the hospitality industry and that means DJs are working again. I’ve seen my diary fill up and recently performed a warm-up set for Mighty Mouse at a venue in Newcastle called The Lofts. And I’ll be heading back there in August to warm up for Dr Packer. As my DJ diary fills, so does my production calendar. I recently spoke with Richard Lee at Mastermix and I’m delighted to now be showcasing some of my work on their DJ music service.

This has been a tough time for our industry, but the good times are returning and I’m genuinely excited about the future.