Michael Black

Growing up in South London, Wandsworth to be precise, I can narrow down my musical influences to two sources. The first is my older sister Chris, who introduced me to disco/soul/jazz-funk music and the second was Mr Johnson, who encouraged me to play the drum kit. A music teacher at my old secondary school Spencer Park, Mr Johnson was super cool! He was the first person I knew to own a Moog synthesizer, he would play the theme tune to "Starsky & Hutch" on tape while taking the register and he would let me jam away on the drums to the bassline of "Warrior Charge" with my classmate Reginald Jack on the melodica!

Fast forwarding to the late 80's, that's when my proper clubbing experiences starting taking place (excluding Jamaican Blues parties that I used to attend with mates from school) and what eventually made me take up DJ'ing and record collecting big style. Early clubs and DJ's that I used to follow included Jazzie B and the Soul II Soul parties at the Africa Centre, "RAW" at the YMCA in Tottenham Court Rd with Dave Dorrell and Ben & Andy of the Boilerhouse Crew, "Pyramid" at Heaven with Colin Favor, "The Warehouse" at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town and later the Fridge in Brixton with the enigmatic Jay Strongman, the KISS FM parties at the Borderline with Trevor "Madhatter" Nelson, Bobby & Steve at Munkberry's, "Special Branch" at the Royal Oak with Nicky Holloway, "Delirium" at Heaven with the Watson brothers, whoever the crew was that were responsible for the savage "Westworld" parties across London, Judge Jules and Norman Jay's warehouse parties (in particular the time they brought over Bobby Byrd & Vicky Anderson to the Town & Country Club, what a night!), Patrick Forge & Gilles Peterson's "Talking Loud" at Dingwalls and of course the Ministry.

My DJ'ing really took off in the late 80's. Inspired by all the above I was involved in two nights in London. The first was at the Middlesex Polytechnic Ponders End bar (sounds glamarous, doesn't it!) with a mate from Sheffield called Scyld Bowring and the second was at a small bar in Clapham Junction with two South London mates Jimmy Findiklis and Eric McMahon.

Our night in the Student Union bar was by no means ground breaking, all we did was string together, dodgily, our fave tunes of the moment. Mixing hip-hop, funk and Chicago house. The night I did with Jim and Eric called "Hot Fudge", was really a local affair with the same music policy as the SU bar but we incorporated live percussion too, played by our mate Olli Saville (who then went on to play for Patrick Forge's bands "Batu" & "Da Lata"). BTW a regular to that night was also Basil who used to host his own night in the same bar with his band "Black II Basic", he is now the principal percussionist for the Bacardi B-Bar.

It was through dabbling in percussion at "Hot Fudge" that I ended up getting more interested in it and started a conga course in Dalston. My teacher was a man called Alan Hayman who was one of the original founders of the London School of Samba. His passion for samba rubbed off on all of us on the course and through much pestering we persuaded him to set up another samba school, which was called "Academicos De Madureira" in the early 90's. That was how I started getting involved with the Brazilian community and samba scene in London and it has led to me playing samba with schools in Brazil, England and across Europe and has allowed me to perform in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Millennium Dome, the Jazz Café and countless Notting Hill Carnivals with great, influential and lovely people who became good friends, like Bosco D'Oliveira, the legendary Robin Jones and the late Steve Kitson and Pato Fuentes.

Now resident in Dublin, I'm in the process of making a name for myself on the DJ circuit as well as being an integral member of the Irish House music collective, Bodytonic www.bodytonicmusic.com, www.myspace.com/bodytonic. In addition I also produce and present the Delicious Mix Sessions (www.myspace.com/deliciousradio) programme with fellow DJ Stephen Egri (every Tuesday 18:00 20:00 GMT) and am also an anchorman for the Bodytonic Radio Show (every Friday 20:00 22:00 GMT) both on the citys premier Internet station, Power FM www.powerfm.org.

Originally on the Dublin pirate stations Jazz FM and Nova FM, "Delicious" has been on the air since 2001 and has a steady and growing listenership. Every week see's either a CD or ticket giveaway as well as guest mixes and artist interviews. Designed to keep Dublin clubbers informed on all things deep, funky and soulful the show blends Disco and 80s Boogie classics with modern House cuts, in an attempt to imitate the atmosphere of the clubs that influenced me. For the Bodytonic Radio Show that I co-host with fellow Bodytonic members Ronan Flynn, Conor L and Thomas Beary, a similar mix of fine music is supplied, again with interviews and competitions on regular basis for our dedicated listeners.

As a DJ on the Irish circuit, I've played in all the major venues in Dublin including Traffic, the POD and the Temple Bar Music Centre and have guested as far afield as Limerick for Shane & Marc @ Vinyl and the Cookie Dough crew in Liverpool. Currently, I am one of the rotating residents for Bodytonic's successful weekly Friday night House club at Rogue, Stereotonic. With my DJing partner Stephen Egri we also host GLOBAL: A World of Beats, an eclectic mix of world music for club kids, once a month also in Rogue. Through Bodytonic I have had the opportunity to support international and Irish DJs including Gilles Peterson, Ben Watt, Spiritcatcher, Ralph Lawson, Jimpster, Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson.

My style takes in all my influences and can be described as percussive, soulful and classic. I'm a firm believer in working closely and communicating with promoters, finding out what makes their night tick and then incorporating it into my prep. Also a healthy respect for the clubber makes originality and diversity in my programming important, keeping things fresh and familiar at the same time.

With roots firmly planted in Ireland I'm delighted to be a part of the Irish dance community and I hope the radio shows and club sets will keep them dancing till the small hours!