About Me

early beginnings

I picked up my first instrument when I was four. It was a tenor horn, and I soon found myself getting involved with local brass bands, where I was able to experiment with other brass instruments before finally settling on playing euphonium for solo work, and EEb Bass (Tuba) with bands. I thoroughly enjoyed the competitive nature of brass banding, as it allowed me to travel the region and meet other musicians, as well as providing a real sense of camaraderie and a strong focus on teamwork. Whilst I’m not currently signed to any band in particular, I still do the occasional event when regular players are ill, and I have been able to morph my classical music interests into other areas of my musical career through doing session work for various producers and composers.

I regularly use my euphonium in my own production processes too, whether the parts make the final cut is irrelevant, but the medium of creating melodies with brass instruments feels natural to me, and often these parts are transcribed and recorded with monophonic synths instead.

I have provided euphonium and trombone parts for two LPs and various singles released by Yarni, all of which have gone on to receive critical acclaim from BBC Radio 6 Music, The Guardian and Giles Peterson’s Worldwide FM.

first steps into electronic music

I’d always been a fan of dance music, right from sitting in bed in the early hours as a child with an old music player and frantically waving it around my room to try and pick up an FM signal to listen to radio 1’s electronic music programming whilst I should have been asleep! I bought my first set of old CDJs when I was 13, and was soon burning mountains of CD-Rs with my favourite house and 90s trance tunes on them to practice with. My ear for music and gift of having perfect pitch allowed me to quickly pick up beatmatching and mixing in key -having perfect pitch was very handy with the old CDJs as they didn’t tell you what key the tracks were in!

I soon started to put my early mixes up on mixcloud, and a chance conversation with Corey Lavender, the owner of an amazing record shop in Chesterfield gave me the confidence I needed to send some of my tunes and mixes out to people. I broadcast some early productions of mine on ‘Radio Free Matlock’, and put me in touch with some of their presenters who specialised in electronic music such as Rob Hardy, who supported me tirelessly by airing guestmixes of mine on the station and introducing me to other people. In 2019, Radio Free Matlock took over an abandoned nightclub in Derbyshire to host one last party, and I was given a 10-11pm set aged 14! I was nervous, and brought some last minute notes scribbled onto A4 paper into the booth with me, but all was well and the crowd enjoyed the set.

Due to my age, it was hard to find much in the way of club work, so my attention shifted towards radio and the occasional bit of bar work. I started a show at Gumbo FM, a long running underground radio station in the city, and continued this until recently when my other work began to pickup. Many shows were shared with another local DJ called JP, who shared the same passion for 90s progressive house and melodic dance music which I did at the time. I soon then began an online show on ‘Fantasy FM London’, a reboot of the infamous 90s pirate radio station which used to broadcast from secretive tower block apartment studios in the capital.

My show received listeners from all over the world, and I became the youngest Fantasy FM DJ in their 30 year history. My passion for radio eventually waned when more opportunities to play to physical crowds began to come to light. I was offered a residency at a new bar in Crookes called Berlin Calling, which would go on to be my weekly home for trying out new music and honing my DJing skills for the next few years. It was here where I expanded my interest and collection of techno, particularly the more dubby and ambient focused sectors of the genre.

The COVID pandemic then hit, and all my time went into production. I improved my skills in the studio very quickly thanks to the help of people such as Porter Brook, Yarni, Nickon Faith and many more talented people. I found myself listening to much more music generally, and there was a perceivable shift in popularity towards what I’d class as ‘listenable electronic music’. I soon began to produce more ambient and melodic works, which were not necessarily DJ orientated. I released my first tunes on Noctambulant Sound, a Glasgow based label. More releases then followed on other labels, and relationships with other musicians and label owners began to flourish.

Perhaps my best release so far has been ‘North’, which I released on a French Label called Citizens of Vice. The record dug heavily into my love for 90s downtempo music and trip hop, with artists such as William Orbit, Moby and Massive Attack being particular influences in the sound of ‘North’. The track was thrown together fairly quickly, with the floaty piano melody recorded on my phone from the family piano, and my sister providing the vocals for the track. It went on to reach number 3 in the Juno Download downtempo charts, and gained some fantastic feedback from artists including The Loft NYC’s Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, longstanding Sub Club resident Harri, Nick Warren, Ralph Lawson and many more…

the last few years

As the COVID Pandemic began to wind down, the excitement towards the return of clubs began to rise. Hope Works, a large warehouse club in Sheffield launched a mix competition which I entered. My mix came second, with over 10,000 streams, which gained me a set at the first club event at Hope Works after the pandemic. The atmosphere was incredible, and people were so happy to be out enjoying music with each other again. I soon began to pick up other gigs in the area, with appearances at venues such as Sidney & Matilda, The Harley, Picture House Social, Bellgrave Music Hall, and many bars in the city too. One of my most favourite sets in recent times was playing a 3am set in the little room at Hope Works on New Years Eve. The place was absolutely jam packed, and I went for the most energetic tunes I had on my USB at the time.

I was booked recently to warm up for Jaguar (of BBC Radio 1 fame) at a newly opened club in town called FØRGE, but unfortunately train strikes caused this event to be postponed for the foreseeable future. I’m still receiving some exciting bookings however, and I have also been able to enjoy running events of my own under my events brand ‘Techno and Resonance Association [TARA]’.

My first [TARA] event gained interest from Exposed Magazine, as well as another local media outlet who called me for an interview whilst I was on holiday in Berlin. One of my more recent events gained an RA Pick, which was a fantastic achievement to have.

My current focus remains on the DJing and production side of things, but I’m also picking up an increasing amount of event work ranging from technical production and sound engineering to event management and artist liaison work for venues. My current musical influences are very varied, but an overall theme of minimalism and emotion is evident throughout the music I produce and play, and I always try and get out and experience nightlife in whatever city I find myself in.

It’s a really exciting time for me and my musical endeavours right now, and I can’t wait to continue my journey into the electronic music scene. I’m always up for playing events, providing session musician work, or doing general event work (FOH tech, event production work, liaison, or even just promo/flyer rounds). Get in touch on my email or mobile number at the bottom of this page…