Interviews. Updated 19/11/2011.

Ive got a number of potential interviews lined up - fingers crossed.


Leave comments for any suggestions of people you would like interviewed, or if you would like me to interview you.

Well here it is the first interview. Its been a funny business organising interviews for the blog. I have been contacting many dance scene related people. In doing so have come into contact with some really nice and helpful people. DJ Glenn Miller being one of the nicest.

Because Glenn gave such good answers and anecdotes (in fact loads of juicy stuff has been left out!). I am splitting his interview into three parts. The interview will be interspersed with pictures and links to mixes and videos.

I really hope you enjoy this new aspect to the blog.

Do not forget that all interviews will also be placed in full on the separate interviews page on the right as well as on the main page.

Enjoy.

DJ GLENN MILLER. INTERVIEW JANUARY 2011 PART 1.

Which Clubs did you play at in the 90s?

I played at many clubs in the 90's . I was lucky enough to have a few residencies. The first was Freaky at the George Robey in Finsbury Park it was a real hole but my £40 p/w wages paid for my tunes. Then there was Yum Yum in Bath, the promoter then went to Loco's in Bristol and called the night Infamous. At 4 am the club turned into Heresy which went on to 10am the night ran for years and was a great success. During this time the Trade and DTPM residencies came about. Just after came a short stint at Hard Muscle at the Fridge in Brixton. My last residency was Ripsnorter also in Bristol another great night.

How did the Trade residency come about?

My Trade residency came about in a surprising way. I had played Trade's test lounge a couple of times and was the only guest to be asked to play twice. It was Christmas day evening 1995 and Trade was on. I walked in to be met by Laurence Malice (Trade promoter) he asked if I had my records with me , I said no why?, so he told me if I go home and get them then the last set is mine. It was Christmas for me in many ways more than one, so I shot home picked up my box and returned in an excited and nervous state.

Once Steve Thomas had had enough he told me to get ready and off I went on. There was tape deck on top of the mixer so I popped in a tape to record the set. All was going very well when all of a sudden there was silence. What he had happened was a can of drink that I had put on the tape deck had moved because of the vibration of the bass and fallen on top of the deck that was playing, what a horrific thing to happen to me with a packed dance floor going for it, oops. I had to start the next record from the very beginning and it was just beats for a while, I nearly died. Then Laurence came rushing in to see what went wrong I thought that was gonna be the end of my short DJ life at trade, instead he said to me Glenn I did not know you could mix so well and do I want to play the last set in the leisure lounge on new years day , and that was how my trade residency started...

Who were your favourite DJs?

my fave DJ'S were obviously Tony de Vit, Dave Randell, Steve Thomas , Queen Maxine, there were many but these are the one's that i played with week in week out and knew what they were capable of.

Which DJs inspired you?

The DJs that inspired me were Daz sound and Trevor Rockcliffe, when I first went to Trade I knew nothing of mixing or DJing, it was Trevor who in the middle of his set showed me how to que up a record and scratch a beat, from then on that was what I had to learn to do, and I did.

What were your favourite clubs to play at?

I really loved playing at Trade and even though it was weekly I could never tire of the place. The sound at Turnmills was massive and very loud. DTPM was also fantastic I was asked to play there when it first moved to the END and it had only just opened. Both rooms had great sound systems and I was lucky enough to play the last slot, usually playing a more cheesey style of music. Plus I was sometimes put on in the other room, in which I could play much harder.

I also represented Trade in Brazil a couple of times which as you can imagine was fantastic. I went back another 6 times and ended up living there for a while because I was offered a residency in a brand new club that was being built , how could I turn that down.

My top 11 records are in no particular order.

Zero B , Lock Up

Marmion , Shoneberg

Number 3 , Rabbit City Records

Bush Babys, Belicious

The Shaker , Just Lick It

Baby Doc , Lover Man

Sourmash , Pilgrimage to Paradise

X-cabs , Neuro

Richard F , Cookie dough dynamo

XVX ,Illuminate

Praga khan , Injected with a poison

If not playing out now why did you stop?

Not playing at any clubs now , I stopped as it got harder to find new clubs to play plus my management were crap. I'd love to give it another go but I do not think it will happen.

What clubs do you visit now?

I do not really go clubbing that much anymore,

Longest set played?

The longest set I ever played was only a 4 hour one at Trade one August bank holiday, as most of the residence were doing some Trade thing in Scotland. And I had the honour not only to cover Tony's set but to do Steve Thomas's set as well. In my opinion these were the best times to play as the club would have been heaving. It was fun and time went so quick had a blast.

Have you ever played in Ibiza? if so when, where and what was it like?

Never played Ibiza,

Any regrets?

The only regret I have is not about my DJing its about not spending more time with Tony, the more huge Tony became the more I would give him space He was a true and great friend. Then one day in January he called me to tell me he was ill and why. I thought Tony being Tony he will be fine this wont get to him he's to important and special. He passed away the following July.

On the day of his funeral he was supposed to play in Taunton Sommerset. Tthe promoter phoned me after Tony died and before the funeral to ask me if I could play instead, it was a shock to be asked so I told Tonys brother Andrew and he said to me "what would Tony say to you now? he said he would say do the gig , just do a good job. So did it for my good friend in his honour.

Favourite Tony De Vit production?

My fave TDV production must be Are You All Ready. Because it was me that inspired him to make it. As I had played the record that the sample was taken from in a set I played at Trade in Tonys absence on the 2nd June 1996.

The old Doc Scott - NHS Surgery record was recorded on 33 but was very old and slow so I had the idea to play it on 45 so it would fit in the set, trouble is I had to play my set so fast to fit this track in but I did and it worked very well, and went down a storm and the roof came off.

Tony heard about it through the grapevine, then when he asked me onto his kiss show the next Wednesday night we chatted about the last Trade and how it went. He then played it at the right speed and I explained to him and the listeners what had gone on with the set last trade. Within 2 weeks he had bought the rights to the record sampled it and made Are you all Ready. As you can imagine I am very proud.

Favourite TDV remix.

Fave TDV remix has to be 99th floor elevators. - Hooked.

Any memorable TDV moments?

The best way to sum up Tony's as a friend is this. When Tony first got his studio going in the Custard Factory in Birmingham he invited me up to see it. When it was time to go I was asked by Tony to park my old escort van on his drive as Handsworth Wood in Birmingham is not a safe place to leave anything, even my beat up old van which had a huge hole in the exhaust and sounded like a plane.

We went to town and spent a few hours there looking at his pride and joy studio which was stunning, then went back to his. When I was leaving the next day I said my good-byes jumped in my van and started it up , there was something wrong with the van so I switched it off and wondered what was wrong. While this was going on Tony and his partner Steve were laughing at me from the doorway because I was confused at why my van sounded strange. The reason why it sounded strange was because while I was out with Tony , Steve had taken my van at Tonys request to get a new exhaust fitted and a service , Tony did this because the thought it was very funny and loved to look after the friends he cared about. I loved Tony dearly and still miss him to this day.

I also used buy records for Tony in London as he rarely got the chance to shop here and I was free all week. That was soon after he started his residency at Trade. Up until I started mine as it got a bit of a conflict of interests, as I was supplying most of his import stuff. His first compilation was for Trade Vol 1 it had I think 15 tracks , 7 were from me , so long before I was playing at Trade I was influencing the sound, which I was always proud of.

DJ Glenn Miller Part 3 - Final Part.

So how did your friendship with Tony de Vit come about?

I'll tell you of my first meet with Tony as its quite funny and sums Tony up,

I cant remember the fist time Tony played Trade as a guest or if he did at all, but i know for a fact ( quite sure anyway) that Tony's residency at Trade started on the 18th July (not sure which year 92 maybe) I know this as its my birthday .

I had a lot of friends that worked at the Marquee club that was on Charing Cross RD I actually did the door on the old Marquee when it was in Wardour St , so we would go to a club called Fusion there every Saturday night, the night was aimed at a young crowd and a bit cheesy . as I had already started to mix (not at all well) I knew enough to know a good DJ when I heard one.

Anyway on my birthday we all met at the Marquee as it was gonna be an excuse for a few more people than usual to go to Trade, on this night the music at Fusion was very good both mixing and music, I mentioned this to the promoter and told him the DJ was the best that's ever played for the night but he said no he was too hard.

A load of us went to Trade and as it was my b/day it was carnage.  I was in a heavenly stupor, the thing I can remember before it went blank was the DJ that had played at Fusion was gonna play at Trade, I perched myself by the DJ booth for a while as standing was gonna be a problem and this was in the days when the DJ booth was open, so I Lent over the side and just watched while I turned semi conscious just leaning and watching , the night was good I think. 

The next week the DJ from Fusion and the Trade slot who I never knew came over to me and said "happy birthday for last week Glenn" and introduced him self to me at the same time as giving me one of his mixed tapes , yep it was Tony. he told me how I was the week before and how he tried to say hello  and my mates had told him it was my birthday and my name , we became friends from that moment .

Tony was just one of the nicest people you could ever meet, the trouble was he liked to joke, a lot.  He gave me his home number and said to call anytime.  I was introduced to Steve his partner.   Me and Steve got on great and he even took me on his books for DJ Poole (Steve Poole's DJ agency) when I actually became a good enough DJ, as he had all the Trade DJ's. 

My fist gig for him was in Brum for £200 , which was way more than I had earned before.  Then after I was a Trade res my next gig was £400 , Tony said I was worth it and that was good enough for Steve.

Tell me a bit about your DJing at DTPM.

When I first played DTPM I did the last set in the slightly smaller room, with DJ's like Smoking Jo, Troy , Tasty Tim, Jeffry Hinton.  I played much more pure house than my Trade sets lots of Italian house and some much slower than usual even cheesy ( I used to play , White Lines by Grand Master Flash lol. it got hard to mix in there sometimes as Tim and Jeffry would have there hands all over me while I was mixing to try and wind me up.

They were always commenting about me making sure my mixes were long and accurate.  So I took it all as a compliment, I even had Mr C the End co owner come up to me at the end of the night and congratulate me as he was on the dance floor for the whole of my set and loved it.  Which was really nice of him.

in the other room I could play a bit tougher, not quite as mad as a Trade set but getting there.   Again it was always the last set

Coming later today a 2 part mix From Glenn live at Trade!

Many thanks to Glenn for doing this interview.  Lets hope that promoters start booking him again as he really is a talented DJ as well as a nice guy.

Fingers crossed if I do put on a night later this year he will play at it.

The mighty Graeme Park kindly agreed to be interview. Heres part one. Part two to follow later.

DJ Graeme Park Interview Part 1.

What clubs did you play at in the 90s?

Weekly at The Haçienda Manchester, The Kool Kat Nottingham, Ministry Of Sound London. Monthly at Cream Liverpool, Fever Aberdeen and regularly at Deja Vu Hull, Sub Club Glasgow, Miss Moneypenny's Birmingham, Mars New York. Plus loads of other clubs overseas on a regular basis.

What were your favourite clubs to play at

Easy. The Haçienda Manchester.

What were your favourite clubs to go for fun?

My work schedule in the 1990s meant that I rarely got the chance to visit clubs for fun, but when I was on tour I used to love checking out obscure underground venues. Especially in the US.

Who were your favourite DJs?

Frankie Knuckles, all day long.

Which DJs really inspired you?

Frankie Knuckles, Tony Humphries and Marley Marl.

Favourite remixes of the 90s (not own)?

Anything by David Morales and Frankie Knuckles or Masters At Work. And Todd Terry.

Favourite records labels?

Strictly Rhythm, Nu Groove, Hi-Bias, Cutting.

Favourite producer?

Frankie Knuckles

DJ Graeme Park Interview Part 2.

Favourite remixer?

Masters At Work

Favourite own remix?

I change my mind all the time, but right now it's "Come Fly With Me" DJ Pierre.

Favourite all time 90s club?

The Haçienda (until it sadly closed)

What clubs do you play at now?

I play all over the UK and beyond. Find out where by visiting http://thisisgraemepark.com

Longest set played?

I used to regularly do 6 hours every other month at Renaissance at The Cross in London but often played longer at obscure underground parties.  I've done 12 hours before.

Have you ever played in Ibiza? if so when, where and what was it like?

Regularly since 1989. An incredible place. It's changed a lot now though. It used to be about the club and the DJ but now it's more about the brand.

Many thanks Graeme for the interview. For more info, updates and mixes from him go to the following links:

http://thisisgraemepark.com

Logos: files.me.com/graemepark/mi5rh2

Biog: files.me.com/graemepark/7dvpyk

Rosco Interview Part 3.Dj Hell

Rosco Interview Part 3.

Did you do any producing or remixing yourself?

I’ve got a small studio set up at home and I’m devoting my summer to making tracks.

See post from a few weeks ago for a snippet of this tune. Or go out an buy it! Its very good.

Favourite producers?

Dave Clarke

Baby Doc

Todd Terry

Tony De Vit

Sharp Boys

Martin Hannett

99 Allstars

Fruitloop (Steve Thomas & Alan Thompson)

Marshall Jefferson

Vince Clarke

Nellee Hooper

Mike Dunn

DJ Randy

Shep Pettibone

Andrew Fletcher

Martin Gore

Blake Baxter

Giorgio Moroder

Kevin Saunderson

Paul King

Murk

Favorite Remixers?

Sharp Boys

Baby Doc

Tony De Vit

Dave Clarke

Frankie Knuckles

Todd Terry

Favorite DJs?

Steve Thomas

Malcolm Duffy

Dave Clarke

Smokin Jo

Pete Wardman

Ferno

Andy Farley

Tony De Vit (RIP)

Ron Hardy (RIP)

Larry Levan (RIP)

Favorite record labels?

Tripoli Trax

Trade

Edge Records

99 Degrees

Sharp

Underground Resistance

XL

Hooj

Phoenix Uprising

Warehouse

Jump Wax

DFC

Bonzai

Chug N Bump

Bush

Most Inspiring DJs?

Laurent Garnier

Steve Thomas

Malcolm Duffy

Dave Clarke

Tony De Vit

Larry Levan

Frankie Knuckles

Longest Set Played?

6 Hours at Trade LA New Years Party 2002

6 Hours at Club OD, Japan in May 2005

Any regrets?

None, you only live once.

TODD TERRY PROJECT - Put Your Hands Together -Cafe Americana Mix

Now here we have the correct mix that Rosco liked. This brings back loads of Trade and Chemistry memories.

Enjoy.

THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2011

Rosco @ Trade LA Halloween 2001.

Here we have a very rare recording of Rosco playing at Trade in LA for the Halloween party.  That must have been a real cool party to attend.  The Americans love Halloween so much more than us.

Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?kj1132fykmq91ov

Dj Randy - Deception

Another biggie with Rosco.

Enjoy.

APHROHEAD - In The Dark We Live (Dave Clarke 312 Remix) (1993)

Here we have one of Roscos favourite all time tunes. Also a big favourite with Tall Paul. Listen to Tall Paul playing it on his first Essential Mix.

DJ Rosco Interview Part 2.

Which were your favorite clubs to go for fun?

Trade, Gatecrasher, Sundissential and Rise & Trash at the Leadmill, Sheffield.

To tell the truth nothing has really compared to Trade. The intensity of the place, the masculinity and the energy of the Trade sound and the people made it the best dance floor I’ve ever experienced or played to.

In some ways Trade felt like the last party on earth. They way it would keep on going at full speed right into the afternoon and how everyone, including the DJ’s, gave it their all. I think people overlook this and have forgotten about the challenges that the early Trade babies went through to give us the hedonistic playground that we all enjoy. I guess this might be the reason why gay club land is so disposable these days as no one has had to work to earn it and no one really cares.

One theory I have is that the AIDS scenario in the late 80’s and early 90’s pressurized and distorted the gay scene’s creative output, which I feel had a part to play in how we got to the harder, powerful, darker sounds that hear in Trade. The whole atmosphere of the disease was dark and the boundaries that the public raised in fear of it created a shadow. The freedom that people felt when being able to mix together without worry in a club without prejudice was rare. Limits were being pushed as people wanted to go out with the biggest bang possible. They simply didn’t care about tomorrow, which was reflected in the music.

Everyone had a cumulative input in having the fiercest, hardest, fastest, most intense party on earth. If there was ever a time for living for the moment it was Trade and Trade will always stand for this in my eyes.

The people who go out on the gay scene now as they are getting severely short-changed in comparison. Have you been to Vauxhall recently? The corporations have severely taken over. The music is soulless and it sounds like a musical version of painting by numbers – zero tracks stand out.

The décor is cheap, the sound systems sound worse than ever and the vibe is so flat and mundane. Overall it’s all become a one-dimensional money making venture. Something needs to change.

Worst club ever played at?

I was on a tour in Japan with DJ Ziad (who also used to be a Trade resident) and went to an after hours club in Fukuoka after playing at Club OD as we were still up for a party after playing together for 6hrs.

We got in and we were the only Western people in there and the atmosphere was awful, the dance floor was empty and people were sitting around the sides of the room just watching this guy play terrible music!

It was 8am and almost everyone was in a separate room where the music wasn’t playing. After another 30 mins of very bad music on what sounded like a very high pitched ear bleeding system, Ziad and I took the initiative and took over the decks. The DJ before was off his nut and had the treble on full throughout the whole of his set! We quickly rectified this did a back to back set for a couple of hours and got people dancing! I guess this is what you could call a resurrection set!

How did you become a DJ? How did the Trade residency come about?

My first love of music came from my Dad’s records. He was resident DJ at the Playboy Club in London in the 70’s and I used to listen to his soul and disco albums from an early age. He had a very good collection!

Back in the 90’s you couldn’t get the records that you heard in clubs on any other format than vinyl, apart from on CD compilations (which only had a selection of what I wanted) so when I was 14 I saved up my pocket money, washed cars and then bought decks and purchased the vinyl.

After messing around for a couple of years I started making tapes for my friends, which went down very well. One of the got me a gig at Sundissential and several clubs up north. then I was a flyer boy for Trade in Ibiza when I was 18 and I gave a tape to the glorious Laurence Malice who gave me my first gig for Trade in Ireland. I tore the roof off the place and Laurence offered me the residency straight after.

Favorite tunes?

Here’s a few in no particular order…

Aphrohead – In The Dark We Live (All versions)

Fruit Loop – Show Me Love

Ramirez – Hablando

Outlander – Vamp

99 Allstars – Chemical Generation

T-Total – Dangerous

East Anglia - 'Unmanageable' (Sharp Remix)

Barabas & OD1 – Deeper

Vainqueur – Lyot

JX - You Belong To Me

Armando - 100% of dissin’ you

Depeche Mode - Behind The Wheel (Shep Pettibone Mix)

Liberty City – Some Lovin’

Dave Randall - South

NRG – Never Lost His Hardcore (Original & Baby Doc Mix)

Bizarre Inc. – I’m Gonna Get You (Tee’s Rave Mix)

Ralphi Rosario - 'You Used To Hold Me'

Todd Terry Project* - Put Your Hands Together

Elevatorman - Funk & Drive (Grinstetcher Dub)

DJ Randy - Deception

Moby – Go

Altern 8 - Activ-8

S.A.S. - Amber Groove

Mission Control - Outta Limits

Petra & Co - 'Just Let Go'

Jambo - Drumattack

808 State - 'Cubik'

Sourmash – Pilgrimage To Paradise

Mike Ink – Move Your Body

Age Of Love – Age Of Love (Jame & Spoon and TDV)

Human Resource – Dominator (Joey Beltram Mix)

D’Jamin – Give You

Kitty Lips - Keep Rockin'

Logan Circle 'Disco Life (Check Dis Out)' (Sharp Mix)

Vincent De Moor - Flowtation

Committee - Welcome (I said shut up)

Hellfire Club – Bitch

Trauma - 'Higher'

Tony De Vit - 'I Don't Care'

Must – Understood

Untidy DJ's - 'Funky Groove'

Playboy - 'In Da Jungle'

Moonchild - V.O.A.T

Mark NRG - House Music (In My Brain)

Aztec Mystic - 'Knights Of The Jaguar' (Jeff Mills Remix)

The Disciples – Underrave

DJ Hell – My Definition Of House Music

Triple J – Deep House (Original & Paul King Mix)

CZR – Groove To This

Silvio Ecomo – Uprising

Tribalism - Reach

WEDNESDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2011

DJ Rosco @ Trade 2001

Here I have a cracking mix for you.  Its Rosco live at Trade.  This mix is from Roscos 3rd or fourth time down Trade.

Rosco traditionally took the 2nd set.  The one after Malcolm Duffy and before Steve Thomas.

How about this for a track listing.

Enjoy.

> 1. Sil � Windows (Sharp Smash & Grab Mix)
> 2. Logan Circle � Disco Life (Check This Out) (Sharp Gigolo Mix)
> 3. Donna Giles � And I�m Telling You (Paul King Remix)
> 4. Gonzalo Vs F1 - Trade Trax Volume 1 (Get Over It)
> 5. UK Gold - Nuclear Shower (APA Remix)
> 6. E- Motion � I Stand Alone (Sharp Dub)
> 7. 99 Allstars � Soakin� Wet (Original D&D Remix)
> 8. Boom Jam � Let�s Shake (Dub Mix)
> 9. Sharp Boys � Sharp Tools Vol 2 B2
> 10. Kitty Lips � Keep Rockin�
> 11. Committee � Welcome
> 12. Dave Randall � South (Deep Mix)
> 13. SAS � Amber Groove (Tall Paul Remix)
> 14. Must - Understood (Dave Randall Mix)
> 15. Keith Mac pres. Funkydory � Good Times (Epic Mix)
> 16. DJ Supreme - Tha Wildstyle (Klubbheads Hardstyle Mix)
> 17. Untidy DJ's - Funky Groove

http://www.mediafire.com/?1xwyrw9sbjt0kar

Todd Terry - Put Your Hands Together

And another Rosco favourite.

Armando - 100% Disin You (Original)

And another Rosco favourite.

Enjoy.

Rosco Interview part 1.

This month Trade (The Mothership) celebrates being 21 years young. Therefore pretty much most of this month has been dedicated to all things Trade.

The highlight for me has been getting this amazing interview from Rosco. He has been a Trade resident for about ten years now.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the interview and the rest of this Trade month.

The videos being posted will be from Roscos favourite tunes list.

Rosco Blog Questions Part 1.

Which clubs did you play at?

I was resident at:

Trade London,

Trade Paris,

Trade Ibiza,

Trade LA,

Manumission,

Space.

And I played the following:

Trade Ireland,

The Gallery at Turnmills,

Sundissential,

Godskitchen,

Club OD Japan

…plus many others.

(I didn’t have a weekend off for over four years when I was in the thick of it!)

Do you still play out now? if so where?

Yes. Only at Trade.

What is the Trade sound to you?

The Trade sound has progressed from House, Techno and Belgian New Beat through Tribal, Trance and Hard House with a certain fierceness, masculinity and sexuality throughout.

Every DJ played their tracks with a spirit and soul that was unequalled. The musical progression of the night caused a blending of the genres as the BPM’s increased through their sets. The night always acclimatized to a peak, which was conquered elegantly by the next DJ. For me the Trade sound has a very no nonsense rhetoric which always had an attitude.

There has always been a techno influence as Trade originally started as a techno club, which I think is one of the clubs greatest traits as techno is a constantly progressive universal limitless genre, which can be adapted and mutated to fit any dance floor, as it was at Trade throughout the duration.

The immaculately put together line up by Laurence Malice made a very well thought out progression in the music from start to finish, which in turn caused a massive blending of the genres. I would never say that Trade was a hard house club as it’s not. Every night there were many styles being played, from house to techno and tribal to trance. All the Trade compilations reinforce this as there was always different styles of music on each one; Malcolm blending tough underground US house and tribal, Steve Thomas beautifully combining techno and hard house and Tony De Vit who took it to another level.

Tony did have a huge impact on the Trade sound, which we have to give serious credit to. I find some of his tracks had a classical music element to it, which I love. Examples of this are the highly touching ‘The Dawn’ and his gripping remix of ‘Age Of Love’ which in my mind seems parallel to Amadeus Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ as it was the last movement that Mozart composed before his life ended early than expected - just like Tony’s.

The earlier housier part of the Trade sound often get’s overlooked. The sets that Malcolm, The Sharp Boys and Smokin Jo played were seriously sexual and soulful yet pumping. I would like to put this side of the Trade sound back on the map as it deserves much more attention.

http://90sdancemusicblog.blogspot.com/

I would like to point out that the following interview with the late great Tony De vit is blatantly cut and pasted from the Fantazia website.

DJ Tony De Vit - Interview

In two years, Tony De Vit has come out of the gay underground to become the biggest DJ in Britain. And he’s done it with a sound that’s harder and faster then anyone else’s.

"A few months ago". Starts Tony De Vit. "I was playing at the Hippo club in Cardiff when this couple in their early twenties came up to the DJ box for a chat. They were both really embarrassed. The girl seemed particularly nervous, but eventually her boyfriend explained that their parents didn’t like them seeing each other, so the only time they could have sex was when they drove into the woods in his Beetle. It was fucking fantastic, he said. I nodded in approval, but wondered what on earth it had to do with me. She said she couldn’t reach orgasm until be stopped in mid-shag and put a Tony De Vit mix tape on. I couldn’t fucking believe it".

Few DJs do much more than play predictable records in a mechanical fashion. Few have any real fan base, or the musical ability to generate fresh compositions. Even fewer are articulate enough to utter error-free sentences on the radio. Most, surrounded by cheap chemicals, untaxed earnings and self-importance seem to think the world owes them a living. Most display pitifully one-dimensional personalities, and resort to slothful cliché when interviewed. Many, to be frank, are utter wankers.

Not Tony De Vit. He may not quite have the power to make everybody come in the back seat of a Volkswagen, but he’ll damn well try. This is the man, pushing forty now, who’s been playing three clubs a week for something like 20 years. The bloke who took the Belgian hoover sound and made it his own at Trade. And then Toned it down again and transported it across to an astounded straight mainstream, where his hard, chunky NRG house shattered the glass cheeseboard of British clubland. This is also the man who has found time along the way to run his own record label, produce a slew of NRG classics and, most recently, win a spot on London’s Kiss FM.

But, perhaps most importantly of all, this is the man who has always, always, taken time to be personable to his fans. De Vit (the name rhymes with pee, not git, by the way) respects them, and they worship him in return. This man is loved. Whether at his gay, underground Trade residency or the mainstream of Midland’s straight nighteries like Derby’s Progress or Coalville’s Passion, Tony is the people’s DJ by popular appointment. He’s their Queen of Hearts.

"Queen of Hearts, you can’t bloody call me that!"  laughs Tone, twirling coffee-spoons in his recording suite at Birmingham’s Custard Factory. "But I do take the point. The ‘Queen’ bit comes from 20 years work in gay clubs, the sort of places which, when I started out, would let me play Funkadelic rather than Rod Stewart. And the ‘Hearts’ bit, well let’s just say I actually really like working with the public. Even though I’m quite shy, I’ve always been able to take the time to talk to people, when I’m playing my set or afterwards. You know, DJs have been given this pop-star status, but I like to think I’ve kept my feet on the ground. I’m accessible, and people can always come up to me to talk. In that way I’m exactly the same as anyone else in the club. I’m a DJ of the people, from the people and for the people. Or does that sound too much like a super-hero?!".

Perhaps, but then the ability to swing out the window on a rope of twisted spider web can be useful at times, particularly for the people’s elected Technics representative. You see, people can get just a smidgen too close at times. Like the bloke in Birmingham, for example, who re-wallpapered his bedroom with every single published photograph of De Vit, every Jump Wax and TDV 12-inch sleeve and every De Vit record review that’s ever been printed. Rumour has it there’s an alter above his pillow with a De Vit doll on a cross.

Then there was the time when Tony went back to another fan’s house in mid-Wales for a coffee at 3am. After making him sign no less than 10 copies of his TDV debit 12-inch, "Burning Up", Tony’s guest then pointed to the recently painted bedroom wall and handed him a fat, black marker. After signing his name in foot-high letters, Tony sat back in embarrassment as the bloke leaned out of his bedroom window into the high street and screamed "Wake up your boring fuckers! I’ve got Tony De Vit in here!"

Then there’s a stream of women who’ve offered to have his babies. The fact he’s gay makes no difference. He’s lost count of the number of times girls have offered to "shag him straight again", even in front of their boyfriends. And his.

"Er, yeah, it’s all true", mumbles Tony in embarrassment. "Especially the girls bit. They just won’t leave me alone, especially if you’re nice to them. I tell them I’m gay, but that just seems to make it more of a challenge for them. I reckon it’s because they’d like an older man. I mean, it can’t be my looks, can it?"

But spend an evening with De Vit, and you’ll see that the appeal of age plays only a supporting role in the De Vit phenomenon. He is the Michael Barrymore of techno, the Dale Winton of banging house. He can disarm the most hardened cynic with the wink of a perma-tanned eyelid. He’s a smoothie, a people mover, a measured talker, and he’s got the innate ability to be disgustingly pleasant all the time. But there’s even more: because coupled to his pleasant demeanour is the De Vit secret weapon. Gratt. He has always been so hard-working that other DJs nicknamed him Tory Tony.

"I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of necessarily", says the teetotal, though perhaps not-quite puritanical, De Vit. "The work ethic is important to me. I’ve been working hard since I left school at 16 and I find that quite natural. Anyway, I’m old enough to remember the last Labour government in Downing Street, and what that was like. Ugh! Yes, I’ve always worked full-time and had weekend jobs. In the early days of DJing I collected glasses after playing a set for my 50 quid.

"For six years people have been telling me that I was going to be able to make a living as a full-time professional DJ, but I didn’t believe them until very recently. My Mum told me I would never make a living playing records, and, to be honest, I tended to agree with her. I’m Mr Safe, really. I’m a DJ who broke through onto the scene aged 35, and I only stopped working as a stock control manager in a factory making thermal insulation tiles for the Space Shuttle, three and a half years ago. I’d worked there for 17 years."

Now, Mr Safe charges up to a grand for a two hour set, depending on the size of the club and its ability to pay. Both are assessed by his agents before any invoice is raised. Most of the proceeds are pumped back into TDV Enterprises, which now employs four staff, although Tony has recently splashed out on a top-of-the range Volvo. It is, admits the self confessed - jeans and T-shirt man - who still lives in Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, his only luxury. And, not surprisingly, reliability is key in a motor for Mr Safe. Gone are the days when he had to piss in the water tank of a Renault estate with Ian M to get to Trade on time. Gone, too, are the five gigs in a night and another give in midweek schedules. A bout of Ibizan flu which crippled him from last summer to Christmas has put paid to that, and following Doctor’s orders, he’s cutting right back on DJ dates.

Less physically taxing interest than relentless gigging, though, are beginning to make their mark on the TDV balance sheet. Radio work is one which has seized the De Vit imagination most recently, because in true People’s DJ form, it enables him to communicate to hundreds of thousands of NRG acolytes rather than just a few hundred at a time. Though Tony is the kind of DJ who might have spun a little hospital radio out of good will in the past, it’s never something he’s paid much attention to. For years he didn’t even listen to UK radio, much preferring instead tapes of the New York - segue style - airwaves of Shep Pettibone and Tony Humphries on WBLS and the original Kiss FM: pioneering radio from the early Eighties where DJs actually mixed three or four dance tracks together, then explained briefly afterwards what they were. Give or take a few obligatory name-checks, this is the style he still prefers today.

"The radio experience has come out of nowhere to be one of the most important things I do no," he explains.  "I always hated radio in this country for being full of DJs who just couldn’t wait to talk shit all over records and if you cast your mind back just five years to the Radio One of Bruno Brookes and Gary Davies, you’ll see what I mean. One night I was playing down at Trade, though, and Simon Sadler from Kiss FM, a bit of a regular, came up to me to ask if I’d like to do the ‘Givin’ It Up’ slot, where they try new DJs out. There was a great response, so for 18 months I was given the midweek graveyard shift from one to 4am mid-week. I drove back to Birmingham after every show absolutely knackered, but I loved it. My big chance eventually came when (Carl) Cov and (Judge) Jules left for Radio One, and I was given the 11pm to 1m Saturday night slot."

True to form, Tony displays all of his customary niceness on air. Though understandably hesitant at first, he had developed into one of the warmest DJs at the station, and sacks of letters prove the point in their own, physical way. So successful has he been at this that he has fast developed a new urban fan base outside of his traditional Midlands and gay underground strongholds, one which will only serve him well should the next stage of his ambition be realised.

"My ultimate ambition, probably like most people on Kiss, is to one day make it to Radio One," he grins. "Imagine playing music to all those people across the country in one go. Fantastic." Tong and Jules, consider yourselves warned.

Things aren’t exactly sitting still on the production side of TDB enterprises, either. It’s now three and a half years since a producer called Simon Parkes dropped De Vit a cassette off at Trade. They both went back to his flat for a session and knocked out tracks like "Feel My Love", and, eventually, "Burning Up." When Tony played an acetate down at Trade it was signed on the spot by PWL. It charted at 25 and gave Mr Safe the extra confidence to embark on his blooming career outside the world of ceramic hobs.

Tony’s first label, Jump Wax, was successful in terms of releases issued and product shifted, but not, it appears, on a personal level. He has now split from his original manager and formed a new imprint, TDV, based in Birmingham. And while TDV is performing well, there’s another flavour to the De Vit/Parkes production output: the pop remix.

"Just like with DJing, there are two distinct sides to my production work," explains Tony. "There’s the chunky, hard stuff and there’s the remix work. The pop remix stuff is brilliant because it means we get to work with really big names like Louise, E17, Michelle Gayle and, hopefully, one day Boy

George, Erasure and The Pet Shop Boys. Those are my idols!"

If there’s one idol out among the crowds at Derby’s Progress and Coalville’s Passion tonight, it’s the man on the decks. To prove this hypothesis, we randomly select a slew of clubbers for a vox pop, and out of 20 people asked, not one failed to point out that the one-time Kidderminster Kid, the king of three flashing lights and the Blondie remix, Mr Tony De Vit, was playing. And what did people think of him? The worst answer we got back was "fucking blinding!"

It’s easy to see why he has this effect. The crowd is half his age and open to new sounds. They’re here to dance and wave their glitter-sprinkled arses, not to pose. They don’t necessarily recognise the latest Tripoli Trax cut or Prolekult release. Half of them wouldn’t know a gay club if someone pulled them into a backroom on a dog-chain. That’s not the point. The point is, the Tony De Vit sound is here tonight, and these people are lapping it up.

As the night sweats to a toilet-flooded close at Passion and De Vit drops his last mix to a huge collective gurning whoop, we find him, true to form, leaning over the box making conversation to a wild-eyed youth in a fake Armani T-shirt and too much CK One. What, if anything, could give him more pleasure than this?

"Easy," Tony fires back. "Playing cool music to the people is what I do for a living, but for fun, I’d love to get spaced out in a completely different way. Let’s just say if Jean-Luc Picard came down from the Enterprise and asked me to be his first mate, I’m afraid I’d have to say yes, I’m a huge fan. I’ve got the CD Rom, a book on Klingon, everything!."

In the name of the music lovers of Planet Earth, don’t beam him up, Scotty!

Tony De Vit - the years in a life

1972: Teenage Tony get five O’levels, including music and woodwork. His parents are very proud.

1973: Tony takes his first job as a trainee surveyor and is immediately assigned to a local sewerage farm. Forced to climb over industrial septic tanks, his best suit and shoes get covered in shit. Tony quits within a week.

1974 : He moves to Wigan, where he builds bikes for speedway and grass-track racing. He races them himself at weekends, until, a year later, the business folds.

1975: Tony goes down to the local Job Centre, where he gets a general interview with Ceramspeed, a local company making thermal insulation units for cookers. He’s offered a job as a cleaner and walks out of the interview in disgust. The next day, the company call him back and offer him a position as trainee manager. Tony works there full-time for 17 years until 1995.

1976: He starts mixing on the local gay DJ circuit.

1986: He takes a weekend job demonstrating Panasonic audio equipment in a Birmingham department store.

1990: Tony becomes the resident DJ at Trade.

1993: At last, Tony becomes a full-time professional DJ

Tonys all Time Top 10

• Gat Décor "Passion"
• Marmion "Schoeneberg"
• Doc Scott "The Surgery EP"
• Tony De Vit "Burning Up"
• E-Trax "Let’s Rock"
• Felix "Don’t You Want Me"
• Die Witness "Observing the Earth"
• Commander Tom "Are Am Eye"
• Age of Love "Age of Love"
• DJ Misjah & Tim "Access"

Tony De Vit’s upfront 10

• Sandy B "Make the World Go Round"  Tony: The TDV sound meets Sandy’s vocal for a classic mix
• Barabas "Deeper" - "eep, hard house with a Todd Terry sample. Tuff
• Tony De Vit "Don’t Ever Stop/Bring The Beat Back"  - Two comments often shouted at me when playing.
• All Nighters "Black is Black" - Check out the 1998 mixes from Ian M
• SJ "I Feel Divine" - Fierce remixes from Baby Doc, Kitty Lips and Steve ‘Janet’ Thomas
• F1 "Cuz I’m Rockin" - Are we talking Trade classic here, or what?
• 99 All Stars "Soakin’ Wet"  - A stomping remix to a classic Trade anthem
• Untidy Dubs "Volume Two" - New mixes with a much more underground feel
• Perpetual Motion "Keep On Dancing" - Limited coloured vinyl with banging mixes and classic samples. Superb!
• Mark NRG "Brain Is The Weapon"  - Something for everyone