What made you decide to start DJ’ing then?
I look as myself as always being a DJ, I used to chat on the Mic as well, me and my friends grew up with records around us. I bought my first record when I was about 10.

A lot of people class you as a ‘Hardcore’ DJ, what would you say to that?
I am not a Hardcore DJ, I am a DJ, I have been there from the start of the scene in England as we know it, I’m the same now as I was then. I am not bracketing myself, I play Techno regularly at Knowledge, I play Garage, I get all kind of bookings.

Do you find it encouraging seeing new DJ’s on the scene?
Yeh, new DJ’s, new ideas, new talent. Keeps everyone on their toes, keeps people aware of what is going on at the smaller clubs, some have good fresh ideas.

Do you think a lot of DJ’s nowadays have got the wrong attitude?
Yes, some DJ’s have not experienced some of the things myself and other DJ’s have been through, in terms of playing at parties all night and not being paid, being chased by the police, doing it for the love of it, instead of doing it to be someone!

I did not start off to be someone but some today have the wrong ideas and motivations. You should never think you know it all, I travel a lot to Europe and abroad, meeting people and learning from them, I learn something new everyday.

When you play in Europe do you find the DJ sets you are given are longer?
Yeh, I played at a rave in Athens for 4 hours, in Paris for 3 hours - they’re minimum sets. It’s better to give the DJ’s longer, it brings out the whole character of the night, the character of the DJ, instead of keep breaking it up. That’s why Rage was so successful, having hardly any guest DJ’s.

I think when you listen to a long set you get more of an understanding of the person who’s playing the music, a lot more feeling in it?
That’s right, after the first hour and a half that is when you start to see the character of the DJ, he’s starting to go into himself now, that’s when he’s at his most relaxed, that’s when he is most into his set.

What is your ideal length of set?
It depends, if it was Italy or Greece I wouldn’t mind playing all night. They are such party people, they’re so much into it. They take a less amount of drugs, over here sometimes you find people all over the floor by 4 o’clock monging. In Europe the people have got more class, raving without the drugs. People here are too busy worrying about who’s on next.

Do you think people nowadays have got too much emphasis on the drugs rather than the music?
Some of the people that have got into it over the past three years yeh, but I don’t really mix with people like that, all my friends have been raving for years and go for the music.

People don’t seem to realise you can go out with out taking anything and have a good time!
Exactly, I was in Switzerland recently which went on for 3 days, people were on drugs but not out of their heads, you couldn’t look around and think ‘He’s out of it.’ People just dropping their own thing, people well groomed, it was a pleasure to be there. I felt privileged to play at a rave like that.

Is there anything that stands out in your mind as going wrong whilst you’ve been on the decks?
The famous one, picking up the wrong needle. I’ve never done it anywhere too large. Even though everywhere is an important as everywhere else I never done it in front of loads of people. That’s about it really.

You make vinyl, is there anything you’ve got ready to come out?
I’ve just done a remix of the track I did last year called ‘Pornography’ that’s coming out soon. I’ve just done a remix for Black Market, ‘Defenders Feel It’, that should be out in the new year on a Black Market and Lucky Spin EP. I’ve just done another track for Formation Records called ‘Basis’ or ‘Skool’, I haven’t made my mind up yet.

You are busy in the studio then?
I’m getting more into it now, before I wasn’t really interest in it.

How long have you actually been making records?
I’ve never been a consistent producer, in the studio constantly like Slipmatt and Bukem. I just go in, do my thing and come out, I’m not that dedicated to it even though I enjoy it.

How do you see the scene going in the future?
Some people think things have gone quiet but things have just gone normal again. The big extravaganza raves have stopped and it’s back into the clubs again, back to basics. You’ve got the Garage doing one thing, the Techno doing any other thing, its been split into lots of separate things. All the different stereotyping, it should be all under one thing. Lets hope one day it gets all back together again.

Are there any clubs or events that stand out in your mind?
There’s loads I’ve liked for different reasons but I can’t really pin point any. Trips abroad, New Years Eve parties, too many things have blown my mind. I love The Edge, it’s like my house. I always feel comfortable in there.

Can you tell us about your record label?
I started a record label called ‘V’ about 6 months ago with Brian Gee, we don’t do the typical type of tunes, we’ve got a Jazz kind of thing coming out. It’s more like my own musical fight. At the moment I want to see a Jazz element.

What’s your objective with the label?
To get some self respect for myself, the first thing we put out we made nothing, the second thing made up for it. The satisfaction is knowing I have put out a diverse tune, at first it was so diverse people didn’t want it but now we’ve got orders coming in.

So is it just the 2 you’ve put out on that label?
Yeh, we’ve got another track coming out next week called ‘Kiss’, not a Heavy Breakbeat at all, like a Basement record, strings and vocals over a Kick kind of thing.

What sort of things do you look for in a record?
Something that touches me. I was reading a interview with Andy Weatherall, he said that he had heard Punk record that to him is Soul, to him personally it was Sol and I could see where he was coming from, because it was touching him. Maybe the back ground that he came into the scene on made him feel like that, maybe people that were into Heavy Metal are into Techno now. Something has got to touch me somewhere, it’s a soulful feeling.

Do you still enjoy DJ’ing?
There is a lot of things I still enjoy but there is a lot of things I don’t enjoy anymore. People being out of it, having the wrong attitude, over rated ego’s, all kinds of different things. People don’t see me in the week anymore, it’s a different way of life to how it used to be.

What are your comments about the way the scene has split up into different sections?
Its just a biased thing, you’ve got people that are into Techno that are really stobby, the kind of Techno that they’re making is not the kind of thing I’m into.

You’ve got people like Dave Angel and Frankie Valentine, those two guys I respect to the bone  The commitment and sticking to what they believe even when things didn’t look good for them, there the ones I respect. I don’t respect those who slag off Jungle or something they don’t like, those people are narrow minded people. There are two categories of music - Good or Bad, Techno, Garage, Pop whatever - Good or Bad!

I think it’s jealously, some of the people playing Garage are not as committed as we are, we are into everything. If I wanted to be a Garage man I could do it if I wanted to you know, my agents, manager, the people who market me could make it possible, its not a problem. Because some of the Garage guys can’t cut it on our scene they are like lost sheep, they read Mix Mag and the magazines boasting up all those kind of funny things and they are like lost sheep. I’ve looked in someone’s chart for the Garage scene and seen one that’s Trance - these guys don’t even know the records they are playing.

Some people haven’t got more than 500 records to their name, I’ve got records all over the place, my family’s house - a vast collection of music - all the way through Jazz, everything. They will kill themselves, there is no need to slag off that guy there, all the sweatiness, whatever, there is no need for it! Believe!

MC’s, a question always raised, do you enjoy having them on with you?
No I don’t, all the lyrics they chat, a couple I like for their own particular thing - Five O & Moose - they are dealing with their own particular thing. I played at a rave in Geneva about a year and a half ago, a House set, with E-Mix, he was wicked and I’d have him with me anytime. The rest call all shut up as far as I’m concerned, get out of it!

Have you got any horror stories about trying to get to an event?
I was on the way to Milwalkes the other week and broke down, up to now he does not believe me, I always try to get to the events I’m booked for. Loads of things like that have happened over the years, I’ve been chased across the motorway by the police, chased by dogs, everything. It’s a way of life, you can’t just switch off. I’m lucky at the moment because the people I’m living with help me switch off in the week.

What kind of music do you listen to when your chilling out?
I listen to Rap, Soul, Garage House, Jazz, I’m listening to Heavy Metal Rock at the moment. I’m inspired by a lot of different things, I love everything.

There was a Rave called, ‘The Ark’ at Leeds a couple of months ago where you were down to play, how come you didn’t show up there?
I didn’t know anything about it, if me or my colleagues are booked we do everything we can to get there. Things like that look bad because people think it’s because we don’t care, that we think we are too good to go down there or whatever. On Saturday night I went to Hull in the snow, I go to my gigs. Promoters out there putting names on flyers make us seem like we’ve got an attitude. I’m not on no pedestal, I get in there with the ravers, when I go to Rezerection I’m in the crowd with the ravers, a lot of them are my mates.

Is there anyone you would like to thank?
There’s so many people you know, I’d like to thank Eddie Richards, Dy-na-mix, Sarah, all my colleagues for the inspiration and keeping me motivated, my friends for keeping my feet on the ground, Brian Gee and all the promoters that have supported me.

Is there anything else you want to say?
Yeh, I’m happy with the way the music has got, we in the UK as producers and DJ’s are getting our act together. 18 months ago things were a bit scrapp but now we could take on Europe and America. I’m happy the music has got more feeling again and all the dark thing is all over. After the dark come the light.

The people who pull the strings out there, the big boys, and we all know who we are talking about - the Progressive guys or whatever they want to call themselves, they are afraid to be near us. When we were playing the really mellow acid stuff they were slagging us off, not they are playing it, they say that is progression.

As I’ve said before it’s like regressive House!
At the end of the day we are all in the same business, people should pass things on to other people instead of keeping themselves to themselves. I don’t see Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson on any major House gigs, they lock certain people out - Sasha, Oakenfold, them people are in it, realise House is big a try to make it their own. It doesn’t look good for the music, I can talk like this, when I’ve been abroad and heard how those guys have talked about us thinking Frost, Rider and them will never reach out here. We’ve been there and heard what they have said about us. All I can say is maybe one day everyone will get back together - whether I’m here or in America I’ll still be DJ’ing, who say’s 4 years from now I’ll be here, I might be in the States, that’s the way I’m thinking at the moment.

Is that something you have considered doing then?
I’m 26 now, I’m not going to be 35 and living in England, no way! If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing now I would have already gone.

So what are your plans for the future?
To push my ideas forward, always to do what I’m doing but look at doing other things as well. I would like to get into films and acting, a different direction.

Jumping Jack Frost Interview 3b......