You are one of the most talked about djs on the circuit, what do you most attribute to your success?

Am I? in what way? I really don't think so. Talked about in a good or badway? I know people gossip a lot because of my exes and stuff but the talking doesn't translate into monetary 'success' at all. I've never heard that one before to be honest. Although I do have some modest popularity with Ibiza workers because I specifically do free parties for them and stuff. I try to be approachable, I don't consider myself any different from the people on the dancefloor. Also I'm amazingly modest and good looking and my shit has a rich nutty texture and overtones of rose petals.

For those not yet familiar with your DJing, how would you describe your style?

Different. I've always tried to have stuff no one else has. Now I have a label I have a record box that's almost entirely exclusive. I've made quite a few tunes over the years and not released them so a lot of the stuff you'll hear is my own. I used to be embarrassed to play my own stuff but I got over it slowly when other DJs said they were good.

Have you always been musically influenced?

Always. I'm from Ireland originally and it's a big part of our culture. There was a lot folk music in the house as well as a lot of Elvis and Classical. I started aged 4 with the Violin. Then French Horn, Double Bass and settled on the Drums as the thing I really enjoyed and was good at. I was classically trained but it was kind of learning by rote so while a lot of music went 'into' me not much came out. Until the Drums. Then I taught myself Guitar and stuff and started playing in bands and that. I can knock out a tune on quite a few instruments but to be honest with computers I've not properly played anything for a while. Until recently actually... I started playing on all my new productions. Piano and vocals mainly. Kind of come full circle it would seem. I have a loose plan to play live by next year.

What was your first big breakthrough as a DJ?

As a DJ that would be debatable. The Utah Saints gave me my first break as in playing records in
front of crowds in the 80's. Nobody really took it that seriously for a while in my opinion. Quite a
lot of musicians would DJ for a laugh but it wasn't until the 90s that everyone else started taking it so seriously. I can almost remember when people stopped dancing with each other and kind of
swiveled to face the DJ. It was a bit weird! I suppose part of me still thinks it's a bit weird. I
became a DJ very, very slowly over a 20 odd year period. I guess it was cheaper to book one guy than bands... then one day I was a DJ. I never saw it as something 'difficult' or a career or something I took 100% seriously until fairly recently. Maybe the last 7 years I made a proper effort and saw it was something worthwhile. It makes people happy and provides a release for people. Life can be quite shitty and dancing it all away is important I think now. I do my best now. Best I can, in my own way.

What is your most memorable performance? Where and When?

It's kind of cheesy but The Love Parade in Leeds was really something. The biggest crowd for a dance event in the UK. My home town. Live on Radio One. My family in the crowd. You know... kind of made me a bit emotional. We played live too (Dope Smugglaz) and were the only live act. We played a live breakbeat version of 'Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise' with 'All
You Need Is Love' merged into it and it was quite a moment.... Top Of The Pops is pretty special too, even if it's not cool to say so. My generation were brought up on it and it was like the ONLY
music programme on telly in my youth. A childhood dream coming true is pretty amazing innit.

Do you plan out your sets or do you play to the crowd’s reaction?

Never plan no. I have a lot of stuff with me and I try not to be elitist. You know... I play at very
cool places but also quite provincial places. Sorry, can't think of a better word than 'provincial',
bit wanky. I'm 'provincial' myself. What I mean is I'll play anywhere! I don't see why some people
in East London should get great music and not people in other places. So I have to be ready to ease people into darker territory with more accessible stuff. Sometimes I can go straight into my deepest stuff. You'd be surprised though. I can roll up to Middlesborough and expect it to be quite 'uneducated' and find myself in a basement of a pub with amazing residents playing incredibly well.... and it really go off. The closest gig I ever got in the UK to an 'Ibiza vibe' was in Norwich! yeah Norwich. So it's always different and you have to be ready. Personally it's boring
for me if I'm not on my toes. I like to be slightly 'unprepared' in a way so I'm ready for anything.
I guess that's a misnomer! I know a lot of DJs only have a set 'set' and when this doesn't fit they are stuck. To be honest maybe some people can't hear the difference! all my stuff is pretty
leftfield and me being 'accessible' and me being 'dark' might not sound that different. Depends on the listener. I think a professional DJ has to be ready to tread the line of making people happy and be interesting and different. I'm not so up my arse I force music on people they don't want to hear. But luckily it seems these days people want to hear what I like. But it takes time to get to that point of trust. I used to be a Jukebox. It's a period every DJ has to go through. It's nice to come out the other side and if you persevere you will. I think it's important that there is a definite element that things can 'go wrong' too. It's not live otherwise. There are a lot of cheaters out there. I know, I've been stood next to them while they mime.

With all the media that is involved in the industry now, do you think image has become as important as the music a DJ plays?

Sadly yes. For some it is everything. Many DJs only play the latest trend and only play a handful or
circuit of 'cool' clubs. Being 'cool' is far more important than the music or The People... which is
a sad reflection of modern society. Of course a lot of 'cool' stuff is great! but it doesn't mean
that other stuff and places isn't. Know what I mean? Elitism is killing the unity of what I imagined
'Acid House' to be, elitism is literally there to exclude some from others.

I don't like that one bit. Being essentially an Ibiza DJ there is the best and worst of all that in
one small place. One day I'm playing a free party where it's the maddest mix of ages, nationalities
and types. Other times it's so painfully 'cool' and unpleasant I can't bear it and can't get out
quick enough. The importance of image over reality was predicted in the 1920's by some French
thinkers and it's all come drastically true. I guess you have to make your own decision. I find it
funny sometimes when I'm at a place and every single person thinks they are so cool and different
when in fact they are all practically wearing a uniform. Funny and a little bit tragic, like all good farces.

Do you think that once your image has been established you have to almost play that role from then on?

Good question! certainly for some. Oakey is an old mate of mine and he is an example of a DJ trapped in a role. Round his house I've seen him do the most amazing Hip Hop scratching and breaks things. But people pay to see a certain thing and he has to deliver. Or if you are on a bandwagon it's very easy to lose your career when the wagon moves on. Obviously the best thing
is to have your own vibe and never compete but stay ahead. Mr C is a great example. He's always done his own thing and has a clear 'sound' of his own which is always slightly ahead of the game.

Who are other DJ´s/Producers that you respect?

Woo. Tough one cos like I said I don't know how important or serious it all is really. Danny
Tenaglia is truly great. I love the Germans. Richie Hawtin, Guido Schneider, Andre Crom, Magda and Cassy. Mr C always. Smokin' Jo is brilliant and has been for a long time. Ralph Lawson. Jon Carter. Giles from Secretsundaze. Stuart Geddes. Mike Monday. I mean I could go on all day really but to be honest a lot of young unknown guys who are my residents or who I play alongside at guest gigs are much better than the 'big names'. I respect DJs who follow their own path I guess. It's not easy.

Where do you get your musical inspirations from and what types of music do you like to listen to outside of the dance scene?

I like a lot of 'strange' music. Frank Zappa. Psychic TV. Captain Beefheart. Devo. The Residents.
"Classical" is a bad word for me cos it covers so much but I listen to quite a bit. Weird old jazz funk. Steely Dan. Early Pink Floyd. If I get the chance I love Radio 2. I love music with a strong lyrical content. The Smiths and Morrissey. Prefab Sprout. The Pogues. Tom Waits. I love Roxy Music and David Bowie. I like a guy called 'Simple Kid' and a Japanese kid called 'Cornelius' is brilliant. Again... so much! I could go on. Electronic music is my job and in a way has a 'function' and I don't 'consume' it for pleasure. It's my work. So I don't really even like to hear any if it's my time off. But then I don't get much time off. I used to listen to music all day and night. I could sit and listen to Earth, Wind and Fire or Trouble Funk all day... but now it's kind of the opposite. To chill I watch DVDs. Lots! Music in the past, I mean a hundred years ago or so, used to be an audio method for describing something. Art I suppose. When I go into the studio now I have an idea I want to get across, an emotion or even a picture... and I try to describe that in music. I have it in my head before I go in. It's an old habit 'cos it costs money to make a tune for me. I was an old school producer before computers and I can't quite shake the habit of it being a job and time is money. But I never had the patience to engineer. I can... but I'm slow! I prefer to 'direct' and play the melodies and be a 'proper' producer rather than obsess over hi hats. Although I am involved in the minutae of that too, I need a little distance over the project or you get lost in the details. Focus is important. It's easy to disappear up your own crevice in the studio.

It´s seems everyone these days is calling themselves a DJ. What do think makes a good DJ?

Experience. Lots. But a devotion to the music is everything. You have to LOVE it. You can't fake
that. A lot of young 'uns are in love with the idea of 'success' and 'being a DJ' which is totally
different. I guess you have to dance. I mean I still find myself on the dancefloor if it's good
enough, even at my age. It's supposed to happen from the neck down not the other way up. I do see a trend of very good producers turning up and not really having the chops to DJ. There are clubs or parties that are so underground they can get away with it, but put them somewhere else and they flounder. I'm not a fan of 'jonny laptops' either before you ask! But if the music is good and the people are happy, hey! who gives a shit?!

Do you practice at home? Or if you used too, for how long?

People never believe me but I don't even own any decks. Well I have one turntable and one CD to
listen on. I learned on the job I never needed any. Maybe I should! but it takes the element of
surprise out of it for me. I write a lot, maybe that's what I do when other DJs are playing with
their decks. I rarely watch Television so you'd be amazed how much you get done!

Do You prefer playing to a huge arena or a small private venue?

Oh easily the small venue. Anyway my days of arenas are long over. I'm an underground DJ again and very happy there. Sometimes the big gigs can be awesome. I did one in a park in Rome a couple of years ago and everyone was locked into a very minimal groove. But to me it's all about sound and just acoustically it's almost impossible to achieve great sound in huge areas. Sound depends on the space more than the equipment. Square or oblong room. Low ceiling. Thick
walls.

Are you as popular in other parts of the world as you are here?

In Ibiza more so, maybe. In Valencia for some reason, maybe cos it's so close to Ibiza. In
Switzerland! but don't ask me why. I pared back the mad travel schedule thing a few years ago. It
became a treadmill and I would roll up in places where people just weren't getting the music and it
was about the 'name'. So I try to do gigs that I either know are on my level or might be. I'm not
very ambitious anymore. I just want to be happy and I've been at the 'big time' level and it's quite alienating and weird. I'm never happier playing back to back in a dingy hole somewhere nowadays. It sounds corny but if the party is happening then I'm happy. It's not about my ego anymore. It used to be. People are genuinely shocked if I play to a hundred people in Leicester but I'm in heaven if everyone is into it. I don't care how many. It's bad when it's a thousand but they are just jigging about listlessly.

Tell us more about your recent film projects

Oakey works and lives in Hollywood now and he's at the stage where he wants to make a movie because he reckons they are pretty short on ideas over there. We worked out a script from some options I gave him. I've always been a writer. We had a meet and I kind of explained to him about archetypes. How the Lion King and Star Wars and Hamlet are all the same story and we
worked on something quite musical but populist based on portions of my life (you have to write from truth) mixed with a more formulaic story arc and it was well received by the Hollywood bigshots. Right now it's a script. It could easily get taken out of my hands and ruined but you have to be prepared for that. It's a step on the ladder. I'm more focused on a documentary of our scene. I just finished filming in Ibiza. Trying to tell the REAL story, to contradict the horrible SKY uncovered thing. A very serious approach. Keep an eye out.

What are your top 3 tunes ever?

Phew. Top 3 albums might be "What's Going On" Marvin Gaye and "Sgt Peppers" and maybe "Transformer" by Lou Reed. "Strangeways Here We Come" or "The Queen is Dead" are right up there too. "Hunky Dory" by Bowie is a corker. I think it's much MUCH harder to have a coherent album than a single. To have a cohesive hour of music is a real art.

How do you think you will fair in DJ Mags Top 100 DJs Poll

Never been in it. Never will. Although one year about 7 DJs put me as their favourite DJ. Although 3
were good mates! I much preferred that in a way. It's a bit silly. Not only weird to try quantify
Djing but strangely unrealistic. I mean you get like the whole of Holland voting and most brits
think they are too cool to vote and you get bizzare campaigns by agents and even DJs themselves to vote for them. I honestly have never heard of half the people who get in. I don't
understand it really. Gives everyone something to flap about for a week or two.

Which DJs Do You Think Will Be Hot in 2008?

The ones with the thickest jumpers?