DJ Dr S Gachet

DrumNBass::New Skool Breaks::Jungle::Liquid Funk::

Synonymous with the UKs jungle music scene throughout the 1990s, right through to the present day Dr S Gachet is one of the most versatile deejays you will ever witness. As we rewind back to the late 80s, and the heady days of acid house, it was here that Gachet first found his dance music feet.

Though he had already picked up the art of deejaying through Londons reggae sound systems of the mid 80s, this new music form was taking a grip of the nation. Gachet found himself making the transition from sound systems to clubs in London. One night in 1990, after heading to Bentleys, in Bognor Regis, Gachet seized on the chance to step in for an absent DJ. Initialling blagging his way in as security, he certainly wasnt feeling too tough playing in front of 2,000 mad-for-it ravers for the first time.

This set the ball rolling for Gachets DJ career, between 1990 and 1994 his residencies and regular appearances included: Camden Palace - Lazerdome -The Rocket - Sterns - The Edge - Paradise Club - Universe - Helter Skelter - Dreamscape - Pure X - Dance Paradise and Living Dream, amongst others. 1995, however, signalled a pivotal moment for Gachet. The legendary jungle promoter AW(ay)O(f)L(ife) assigned Gachet permanent resident at the paradise club london & Ministry Of Sound, alongside Randall, Mickey Finn, Kenny Ken and Darren Jay. In the same year he became resident at World Dance.

These two achievements alone propelled Gachet to international deejay status. Since then he has been clocking passport stamps from: Belgium, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Ibiza, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Tasmania and Tenerife, with lengthy tours both in the US and Australia. During the late 90s he expanded his domestic appearances including that of the first Logical Progression nights, at Turnmills.

Aside from the deejay work Dr S Gachet is also a radio personality. He acted as guest host for Radio 1 One in the Jungle shows (1996/1997) when jungle was slowly being accepted by the mainstream. He worked with many stations in the capital exposing his talent for playing different styles of dance music and also had a stint on Mr C The Shamen / End Club fame) net radio station Gaia Live. Gachet has also taken to the natural progression of producing his own music and conceived a pair of record labels - Audio Maze to take care of drum and bass business and Johnny Biscuit with a house and garage mandate.

Audio Maze introduced such gems to the drum and bass scene as Remember The Roller and Forbidden Agenda, both played for time by every discerning deejay. The label is temporarily on hold but Gachet looks forward to hitting the studio again and bringing forward releases from Beau (from Intense, Good Looking and Blackmarket Records Ash-A-Tack. Watch this space. 2004 - Phantasy and Shodan have given their spin to the Audio Maze anthem Remember The Roller, which is currently a dub plate favourite of Hype and Andy C release details pending.

Dr. S. Gachet – The Vinocologist - Interview

Dr. S. Gachet has worked his way up over the years. He first used to be partners with PigBag – but then out shone him and moved onto better things. We caught up with the mystery main in his Audiomaize and we had to ask him;

How did you get your DJ name?
Well I wanted a name that once you hear it you never forget it. It is a French name, but a lot of people forget to put the accent over the E. Many people think that I got the name from the painting Dr Gachet that was sold for £82 million, I didn’t – Gachet means Trig of a Gun. Everyone kept saying to me I was too fast, so I thought Gachet fits. Basically everyone is calling themselves DJ that, DJ this & DJ whatever, it’s too boring so instead – DOCTOR!! I’m doctor of my field so I am Dr S Gachet the Vinocologist – I hit a different angle.

So what is your real name?
That’s confidential!!!

What did you do before becoming a DJ?
When I first left school I become a qualified carpenter, qualified electrician and qualified alarm engineer. Then I become involved in music by way of having my own sound system.

So how long have you been a DJ?
Well on the rave scene I’ve been DJing about 5 years. I got made redundant and then decided to take it up seriously 3 and a half years ago. I did also DJ things like Jazz/Funk. When I first started I also done my own MCing over chewns I spun.

When did you get your first big break?
Basically some guy said to me & PigBag that a club on Bognor pier needed some security. So we went down there and took some records as well. When there, we got hold of the promoter and said we where DJ’s from London blah, blah, blag. So we said to him give us like half an hour each on the deks – we can do it – and we kept hammering him. He gave us a go and we done the business. That was it – we had our first real break. Promoters today don’t care how good you are, it’s your name that counts to draw the crowd, so it is hard to get your break.

Do you ever know jobs now?
No, if I’ve got a booking with a promoter for a time – I’m always there.

Where’s the best place you’ve ever played?
A Swing rave over in Reading. There’s only about 2500 – 3000 people, but the atmosphere is like 15000. When you say show respect and all that business it nearly knocks you over. It’s the only place that I have ever played at that I shake.

How many records do you take with you when you’re going to do a set at a rave?
I take around 250 – 300 records. This is because I don’t want to play the same records as the DJ before me. So what I do, if I can I try to turn up an hour before to listen to what has been already played and then play different music so the ravers don’t get fed up with the same old records.

Can you see garage music, which is becoming more noticeably popular taking over totally?
I can’t see garage taking over, because garage is like hardcore dance music, but the B.P.M. are a lot slower. If you listen to garage they are taking some of the same samples away from hardcore trax but slowing it down. Instead of 140 B.P.M. it might only be 90. I would say it is still the same sort of music.

What do you think of it up North?
I like it, I prefer playing out of London. I think the London crowd is spoilt and they don’t appreciate the music or DJ’s as much.

How do you see the rave scene going?
People say that it’s drying, I personally don’t believe it’s drying, it’s getting bigger and better because the music is progressing. Before it was like acid and there was selective people in that, it was too heavy for most of the people. Now it’s turning into like hardcore dance music and Kiss FM, even though it is a commercial rave station, has helped the rave scene a hell of a lot because it’s introduced a lot of new blood on the scene.

What does the future hold for you?
Well I always want to carry on DJing. I also want to get into the record business, remixing peoples records and producing my own material. I want to DJ in America – I want to show them how it is done. Personally I don’t think the Americans can mix, I don’t rate them.