Well from an early age I have always had a healthy interest in music which is basically down to the fact that I was born into a very musical family. I grew up with Hip Hop culture, i.e Graffiti, Break dancing etc, of which DJ's formed an important part. I always wanted a set of decks so at the age of 14 I set out to make a start at leaning to mix, by which time the Hardcore Rave scene was in full effect so I started mixing Hardcore and early Drum & Bass.

After a few years I felt that the Rave scene had lost something due to the splits within the scene, so I started spinning House and Garage which at the time was heavily dominated by the American DJ's and Producers. Around the end of 96 beginning of 97 I started to pay more attention to what the UK had to offer. I was immediately hooked by the Bassline elements within the tracks which leant themselves more to the original Rave scene. After that the UK scene exploded and from then on I have been spinning predominantly UK material.

1a. Who were your heroes, or major influences that led you to now being a DJ/radio operator for the station called KLASS Fm?

They range from the Original Hip Hop masters, the like of Run DMC, Grand Master Flash etc.. to the Old Skool Rave boys, Top Buzz, Rat Pack, Slipmatt and so on. Nowadays Tuff Jam, Hermit, EZ, MJ Cole and all the London Underground crews provide the inspiration and the goods that keeps the scene alive.

2.You herald from a county within England known as Essex, that seems to be heavily into the music known as 2 Step or UK Underground Garage. Is this true though I have visited Colchester in Essex as of late and there seems to be a lot of clubbers and vinyl junkies that are people still heavily into the Us Soulful Garage and House sounds within this area

I wouldn't say Essex is dominated by one type of music at all, in fact Id say it leans more towards House and mainstream US/UK garage, which I think is down to the commercial nature of the clubs around Essex. There are very few specific nights as the clubs tend to try and cater for all, rather than concentrating on one specific type of music which reflects the fact that only the big tunes from any scene are known. If clubbers want a particular style they tend to travel into London where the choice of Music and level, ie Underground can be heard frequently at a number of venues.

3 The Radio station that you play on is obviously a pirate.What is it music policy of the station could you tell us? For those that are not in the know?

Yeah we are a Pirate operation which gives us total freedom when it comes to music policy. We are at the moment sticking to a formula of House, Garage and Old Skool, obviously reflecting each sub-genre within the scenes with Uk Garage, 2 step, banging House etc..

3a As a pirate you face the threat of being caught everytime you go on air. How do you cope with the pressure that you are only a set away from being arrested. Have you been caught before on the station on an any other...

Yeah obviously but essentially you do not think about it. All the DJ's on the station believe in their music and want to share it with the people out there, who if it weren't for Pirate Stations wouldn't necessarily get to hear some of the more underground stuff. I haven't been caught on the air myself, however we suffered an unfortunate studio raid by the Dti in June of this year which resulted in one of our DJ's facing a Court case and a fine.

4 Are there going to other facets of dance music featuring on the station in the future, or is it a case of playing it by ear?

Definitely a case of playing it by ear, however we try to reflect what is needed. Obviously we are always open to suggestions and will try to meet any requests where we can.

5 How did the station come about? What drove you and others on the station to create the station in the first place?

There was a long period since the Hardcore days when Essex were without a Pirate radio station that plays House & Garage. The founding members of Klass FM (DJ Miley, Technician) were from different stations and backgrounds. They got together and decided to combine forces to provide Essex with a House & Garage station, which is now recognized as the largest in our county.

6 Have you had any luck in getting any "Stars" on the station as yet?. For instance have you had people of the calibre like Grant Nelson on air,etc, etc

We have had various Guests on the station so far, not quite your Tuff Jams and Grant Nelsons, but we have had Guests from the London Pirates such as Fiaz, Redz and MC Stevie A, also Marc Gore of Clockwork Orange Ibiza fame. Watch out in the future as we do have a couple of Special guests lined up.

6a. Will the station apply in the future sometime for a legal license. Could you tell the people out there if possible what you have to do to qualify for a legal radio license in England

At the moment there are no plans to apply for a legal license, I myself do not know how you would go about applying and what criteria you need to meet in order to gain one.

7.The Radio Pirate stations within England, have not been destroyed as were thought by the Government of England when they bought out certain Laws in 1990..which meant hefty Jail sentences if caught. Why do you think this is so....

Basically because there will always be a need for Pirate station as they break new sounds, new tunes etc.. Tunes that are actually made by the DJ's themselves. The DJ's on the Pirate scene wouldn't get the chance to play their wares on commercial radio as they are too hard to get into and then the station cannot air the same sort of material, except on specialist and late night shows.

8.As Radio or Pirate radio stations goes..
apart from your own; which is your favourite and why?

Its really hard to say as they are all there week in week out representing the scene, well when possible, so really it's a case of respect to all pirates up and down the dial. If I had to say the ones that spring to mind would be Freek, Magic and London Underground

. 9 A previous Interview that I did with DJ Cosmo(USA) suggested that the Pirate set-up within London and the South East seemed to be geared towards being the most trendiest, instead of playing music that would be impossible to hear any where else.Do you think that she had a point? Is London and the South East Pirate Stations trend led?

To a certain extent because you have to provide a service that people will want to listen to, after all it's the public that dictate things like the styles played and the volume of play that each particular style warrants.

What I think is that a lot of the pirates set the trends themselves when it comes to promoting and exposing new material as a lot of the DJ's play in clubs, are on mailing lists and make their own tunes etc..

10.Some of the DJ's that you work with, or even yourself if the case maybe play at venues that are now impossible to get if you are not within the music establishment of some part. Promoters are getting so picky that they want to see some kind of present day music C.V, before they will let you lose at their clubs.

Yeah it is definitely becoming harder to get that illusive "foot in the door" I myself am just starting to get recognition and play a few venues as a result of the radio exposure. It is basically because every man and his dog is a DJ or trys to be. So many times I have been to clubs and its usually the unknowns that rock the show as they are hungry and want it more than the DJ's who are playing the same set five or six times a weekend. Club promoters should give more people a break, maybe offer the warm up to a different up and coming DJ each week, talent permitting of course. (I agree totally Klass Fm with you this point....Carl Brown, Carl's Garage Page!!!!)

10a. Has this caused for the rise of disillusioned DJ's to sought out the pirates in order to sustain club work ion the long run? This helps the pirate stations.. but forces these young and up and coming DJ's to face hefty fines, and now prison sentences if caught..What are your views on this!!!

Yeah because the radio gives you a good chance to promote yourself and gain recognition to a large number of people, which will ultimately enable you to pull in the crowds, which is what the promoters want. As for the fines etc.. People only play on the Radio if they want to, its their choice at the end of the day. Obviously the station managers will decide if you are good enough.

11.Coming from Essex as you do, my sources tell me that you aren't the only people rocking them in aisles within Essex...Dem 2 ( The UK Underground team), set the UK Underground community alight especially with their remix of the Blaze classic called "My Desire"...Have they featured on the station.? And secondly, what do you feel about their work as producers/remixers.. Do you like their work...?

Yeah Dem2 are also Essex boys although they haven't featured on Klass as of yet, of course it wouldn't be ruled out. As for their talents as remixers/producers they have provided a very positive impact indeed. I also hear through the grapevine that they have a few new bits and pieces to look forward to.

12 Garage City and the Loft ( both situated in London) are often mentioned over here as places to go if you want to here Soulful Type House... Have you visited places of the like such as "Bump Hustle -Bournemouth, England" and "Back to Basics - Leeds, England yet". Also other haunts in London such as "Space" or the "Soul Movement", also in London. What do you think of the music of Soulful House and Garage. In fact do you go out clubbing any more...If you not Djing???

I have never visited any of the places mentioned above but would like to go an explore other parts of the country to see how clubbing differs. I heard that its totally different, especially up North where they are more into their housey stuff. I do go clubbing from time to time, places I would visit would be Camden, Gass, Bagleys etc... As for Soulful Garage, Its where I started out on my progression to spinning Uk stuff, I still do pick up the occasional belter from MAW and the like.

13. Do you still do your stint of record shopping or hunting? Or do you leave it up to being supplied by promo's to keep you up to date. A lot of DJ survive by living of what given to them by Record labels of all shapes and sizes. What about you. Does this apply to you?

I am still very much a hunter as you cannot simply rely on mailing lists to send you everything, especially with the UK scene being very much underground in terms of white labels etc. you would miss too much. Also its hard at this level to be on all the mailing lists.

14.Being a DJ and music has the music of Garage UK Underground and Soulful House gotten better?. What I mean by this is...Well, over where you are based has Garage reached such a saturation point that it has become stale....??? Do you enjoy listening to other forms of Black dance music?

I wouldn't say its got stale, in fact at the moment you cant keep up with the amount of quality releases that seem to be flying out. The Garage scene will never get stale for any length of time, it always mutates and re-invents itself with different sounds/styles, just look at the way 2 Step has started to dominate the Underground. I listen to a variety of music and appreciate a musical talent regardless of the style. You couldn't possibly pigeon-hole yourself in to listening to one sound, one style all the time as then the music would seem to get boring for yourself.

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