I've been doin the turntable vinyl mixing thing since 1989. I was originally drawn in, inspired and encouraged by my cousin and DJ - Shack - one of the main players in and around Blackburn and E. Lancashire during the late 80's and early 90's.
It was late '89, during the halcyon days of Acid House, when I discovered the joy and art of mixing, and I quickly took to it like the preverbial duck to water. Thru local contacts etc it wasn't long until I started securing sets at various local bars and clubs in and around Blackburn, playing anything from house to techno to hip hop. My biggest residency was between the latter end of 1992 and early 1994 at a club called Carlos II, in Colne, Lancashire. There I was playing mainly progressive, dubby trance house - Guerilla Records, Limbo, Hard Hands, Cleveland City, Cowboy Records.
Not long after this my interest in the dance music genres spread to more breakbeat and experimental orientated styles. I was particularly into the Trip Hop/Big Beat scene and having already been into the sounds of Shut Up And Dance, Jumpin and Pumpin etc this type of music appealed greatly as it fused elements of Hip Hop, techno, dub, jazz. Artists I was into included Dust Brothers (soon to become Chemical Brothers), Depth Charge, Future Sound Of London, David Holmes.
It was during this time that I started to hear bits and bats of Jungle/Drum and Bass. I was already aware of the Hardcore/Jungle Techno scene of the early 90's and had picked up the odd 12" here and there (Nebula II), albeit unaware of how it would develop. Soon after hearing Goldie's Timeless album I was starting to pick up the more 12"s, getting into other stuff by the likes of LTJ Bukem, Peshay, PFM, Hidden Agenda.
By late 1996 I was devoting most of my attention, and student loan, to Drum and Bass.
It wan't until 2000 through a friend of mine that I was introduced to a bunch of like minded people in neighbouring Accrington who shared a passion for this genre of music. After a quick blast on the 1210's to demonstrate my mixing capabilities I was invited and welcomed into the NumberNine Kru alongside Dugy B, 2 Party, Dr. Mirza, Leesi, Gez, Spacebwoy and Little Matt.
As well as a few local appearances and our private parties we continue to enjoy the DnB scene. Although over recent years the active number of DJ's has narrowed down to myself and Dugy B, the NumberNine Kru still lives .. success on Manchester's 106 FM, we can be found performing every Sunday 6-8pm on Unity Radio (we're still on it after all these years!!) and continue to submit studio mixes to locally based web sites such as NWDNB (North West Drum And Bass) and ICHI.
I myself have been fortunate enough to have DJ'd alongside the likes of Grooverider and Nicky Blackmarket during a short spell of DnB nights at Preston University, and more recently I played over in Blackpool at Higher Forms.
Currently I'm into the hard hitting stuff - Metalheadz, Freak, Obscene, Outbreak, Renegade Hardware, Barcode etc - but am partial to some dubby reggae tinged flavours and a bit of liquid as well.
I'm not an in yer face sort of person and am fairly laid back and chilled, but be warned I do have my moments.
Check www.unityradio.co.uk (6-8pm GMT Sundays)
www.nwdnb.co.uk AND
www.numbernine...
Oh yeah, I'm also a Cameraman by trade. Since 1998 I've been filming Football (Premiership, League, Cup, European), other sports based events, Music Concerts and some corporate video work, but I'm always looking to get involved in other interesting projects.
Hit me up on AIM or MSN - djrich31
I created my own profile using nUCLEArcENTURy.COM and you should too!
