Guy X

GUY CROSS – a devotee to underground house, a believer in the music and sometimes wonders whether one day, everyone will feel what he and the rest of the underground core of house music followers feel. But it ain’t the end of the world if they don’t. In fact, he likes the fact that there’s no commercial pressures and that the Daily Star don’t picture DJ Heather looking rough without her make-up on….
Citing his main influences as DJ Sneak, Joey Youngman, DJ Heather, Jake Childs, Inland Knights, Jason Hodges & Mark Farina (Mushroom Jazz), however, it was the sounds of De La Soul, Arrested Development, Naughty By Nature, Soul To Soul, and Dee-Lite to name a few that first inspired him.
In 1985, at the age of just 8 years old, Guy started a collection of 7” vinyl and tapes which built up into the hundreds. He would play them every day on his parents’ hi-fi downstairs until they finally gave up and let him take the hi-fi up to his room!
“I drove my parents mad! When most kids were either out on their bikes or playing on their Atari or Nintendo I would be playing the tracks I’d just bought with my pocket money. That was my thing, even at that age.”
So when he reached the age of 14 his passion for music was huge and he’d cottoned on to a certain style of music….House Music. This is when he wanted “hands on gear”…decks! So he used all his money to buy 1 deck, a cheap mixer and had to use an old stereo turntable to compromise for not being able to afford two decks. From this point on he built up a massive record collection and started playing at various parties, to which he started seeing people’s reactions, friends or otherwise, by something he’d crafted, which inspired him to develop his passion further.
So Guy wanted more. He wanted to experience and be a part of the atmosphere of the music he was becoming to grow passionate about. So out he went and became a regular at clubs like Sankeys (Manchester), Circus (Liverpool), Cream (Liverpool) with their ‘Full On’ house nights where he saw artists from Cassius to Armand Van Helden, from Carl Cox to Yousef, and he realised that he had serious potential to introduce the music he loved to Wales.
Landing a spot at Club Zinc in Rhyl he did something that made the crowd sit up and take notice, and more to the point, dance! Here was a sound they’d only heard on the radio before now or at big name clubs in the cities. Guy had what he wanted – a chance to play to people that solely came for the music and the atmosphere. What followed was a successful 2-year residency.
The last 2 years has seen Guy play alongside Lottie and K-Klass amongst others with his jackin’ house sounds and 2007 is gearing up to be another big one. He’s currently holed up in his studio but he will be venturing out this year so keep your beady eye out…
Using live traditional instruments is also something Guy likes the idea of experiment with.
“House music takes me to a place where no other genre can. I want to continually push the boundaries and keep my style unique…”