Paul Thornton

My intro to proper music
I fell in love with acid house and hip hop at the young age of 13, when a girl in the seniors at high school gave me a mixtape from a Blackburn Warehouse party. I have been collecting records since 1987 and have been playing them to people for fun since 1992. I went through countless genres before finding my own true style (which still has a little wobble from time to time, as I frequently get bored and want to hear something new).
I've been around...
I've DJ'd in every decent venue in Preston, and a few of the dodgy ones too! Resident DJ at The Departure Lounge since it started in 2000, one of the itch ring leaders since 2003, and a key player in the Slam The Breaks On parties in Lancaster. I have also played gigs in Manchester, Birmingham, London, Blackburn and Bradford over the last 10 years...
My favourite gig of 2002 was playing a 6 hour set at London's Off-Centre, going head to head with Fatcity's Beatphreak Jason Holmes, using 4 decks, 2 mixers and a laptop. We ripped it up, throwing all sorts of styles at the crowd and they kept coming back for more!
2007 was the year of the guesty - love to Circus Circus, Trauma, Plug, For No Reason, The Blackhorse and Trailer Trash.
The highlight of 07 had to be spending the weekend with the Trailer Trash crew and DJing for them at the Beat-herder Festival - lovely people, a great vibe and a top crowd!
2008 is already shaping up to be another great year. The first Trailer Trash got us into full flow in February at The Mill, Bradford. And occasional lends of the Blackhorse's right deck from fortnightly resident Chris Holt (Two Mellow) have given both us, and the Horse's faithfuls, some fun Friday nights out.
4th July - 6th July sees a return to the excellent Beat-Herder festival. You'll find my djing and generally hanging about in the Trailer Trash Country Club. Check www.beatherder.co.uk for the full festival line up...
Preston FM is on air throughout June 08, and the news that we've got a full time license starting before the end of the year is very exciting!
Check my calender below for details of forthcoming events...
Radio - dig deep!
I presented shows on Preston's first community radio station (Unity FM - RIP) and I now present the Dig Deep Radio Show on Preston FM – Thursday’s 21.00 - 23.00. Going alternate weeks with Chris Holt's (Two Mellow) ' Four Corners ' show.
[Click here to listen to the show]
Check the Radio page on the itch website for more info
itch club
Since it's launch in March 2003, itch (Preston's sporadic and nomadic hip hop funk soul jazz house and broken beat flavoured club night) has gone from strength to strength.
Over the last few years, the always up for it crowd, has seen sets from guest dj's and bands such as Domu (Co-Op), Diesler (Tru Thoughts), RSL (Players), Jon K (Eyes Down), Treva Whateva (Ninja Tune), Chris Holt / Two Mellow (Curli-que Records), Gordon & Boney (Twisted Nerve), Posh & Billy (Jazzin the park), Stan Lee (C'Mon Feet/Ginglik), Paul Cottam (Action Records) and Beatphreak (Fat City / Jack to phono).
Currently wandering between The Student Union's 53 Degrees, Hush, Adelphi and Blowing Wild, whilst trying to find a venue to call home. The search goes on...
With Volume 14 of the itch mix series under my belt it's safe to let the caper continue.
The itch mix series
itch 14 - funk - soul - hip hop New
itch 12 - latin funk - soul - post punk - deep house - balearic New
itch 11 - hip hop - nu soul - brazilian - funk - broken afrobeat
itch 10 - Latin, nu jazz, broken beat & deep house mix
itch 9 - jazz, funk hip hop, broken beat & deep house
itch 5 - broken beat & deep house mix
itch 4.5 - broken beat & deep house mix
afro jazz funk latin soul mix p1
afro jazz funk latin soul mix p2
the itchy bugle
The bugle started off as a webpage to put itch flyers on, but over the years it has grown into an online music magazine that covers Reviews , Event Listings , Charts and DJ mixes .
Stop by and post a comment or plug your event or new release on our Guestbook .
[enter the itchy bugle]