Back in the mid-nineties I was an aspiring Drum & Bass DJ. I'd started a paper round when I was thirteen to save up the money to buy some record decks. After about a year I had enough for a pair of belt drive Soundlabs and a mixer from Richer Sounds and then my cash started going on records. I was trying to teach myself to mix but not getting very far until another guy at school into DnB found out I was a DJ. He had been mixing for a while going by the name DJ Manic and had a great collection of records.
I regularly went round his house and we'd just have a mix. I quickly became proficient in beat matching and on Wednesday evenings I started accompanying Manic to a youth club that his Mum helped run. We used to have to lug his decks and all the equipment down and would mostly play sets to half a dozen disinterested teenagers. Occasionally though there would be a few more people down including some MCs and it was thrilling to mix with someone rhyming to your selections and greater energy in the room.
Later Manic started getting into Garage more and I left home to go to university so we drifted apart a bit. By the time I came back at the end of my first year he was involved with pirate radio and DJing regularly, while I had a boring summer admin job. But we still saw each other once in a while, including an epic night at the Trouble On Vinyl Carnival Afterparty at Scala. On a Friday evening shortly afterwards I got a call from Manic, he was due to play a DnB set that night on the radio and needed someone to go back to back with. I jumped at the chance. I had about 15 minutes to sort my record bag out and get ready and then we were on our way.
There was one problem. I'd never bothered to come up with a DJ name for myself. So on the drive there we had to figure one out and I settled on DV8, which I think someone we knew had considered but rejected. Not the best moniker ever but it would have to do. Also in the car was Flava who was normally a Garage MC but was going to be on the mic for us this evening. We were playing the 10-12 slot on Flare FM 89.6, a station in North London primarily known for Garage, and we were running late.
We arrived around 10-15 minutes past when when we were supposed to be on. The studio was in a tower block flat with the decks in the corner of a room surrounded by mattresses as a form of soundproofing. I paid my £5 and we were straight on, Manic starting things off. As it was mainly a Garage station we'd decided on a crowd pleasing set of Jump Up and Jungle but everything was off the cuff. I was really nervous and it was tricky to mix on a setup I wasn't used to at quite low volume and with an MC in my ear. But my first mix bringing in TNT's '2 Degrees' went relatively smoothly and I started to relax.
Overall I think I acquitted myself pretty well. There are a few dodgy mixes but no absolute clangers and listening back now there are some parts I'm really pleased with, like where the mid-track breakdown of Zinc's 'Fugeez Or Not' coincided with the section before the drop of his own remix of 'Reach Out'. Lauryn Hill's vocals over the half-speed drums and bassline sounds particularly good. I also managed a rather nice long blend between Roni Size's 'It's Jazzy' and DJ Die's 'Special Treat'.
Not long after, I went back to university and this ended up being my only appearance on pirate radio. But fortunately before we headed to the studio that night I had the foresight to tune my radio into Flare FM (proper old long bit of wire as an antenna) and set up my minidisc deck to record. In mono you could get just shy of 150 minutes recording time and I managed to capture almost the entire set - it cuts off during the last tune. That's the original minidisc as the cover art. Occasionally the reception is a bit crackly with some interference but it's a great memento of my moment of "fame".
Looking back it was sometimes a little bit reminiscent of People Just Do Nothing with studio antics, off mic discussions as to exactly how to pronounce DV8 and shout outs like "hold tight the London Colney crew". But it makes me rather nostalgic when hearing mentions of places long gone such as my local record shop Boxer Records or nights at the Fleur de Lys and it's an experience I will always treasure. Respect going out to Manic for giving me the opportunity.
Check the full tracklist below. Downloads are enabled but only up to a 100 so if for some reason you want to keep this for offline listening don't wait too long.
1 DJ Zinc - Super Sharp Shooter (Ganja Records, 1995)
2 Mickey Finn & Aphrodite - Bad Ass! (Urban Takeover, 1996)
3 TNT - 2 Degrees (Kartoons, 1997)
4 Shy FX - Bambaata (Ebony Recordings, 1998)
5 Firefox & Survivor - Who Is It (Philly Blunt Records, 1996)
6 Mampi Swift - The 1 (Charge Recordings, 1997)
7 DJ Red - Enta Da Dragon (Trouble On Vinyl, 1997)
8 Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows (Awake '96 Remix) (RAM Records, 1996)
9 Origin Unknown - Truly One (RAM Records, 1995)
10 Tribe Of Issachar feat. Top Cat - Champion Natty (Congo Natty, 1997)
11 The Ganja Kru - Tiger Style (Ganja Records, 1994)
12 The Terrorist - The Chopper (Shy FX Ebony Remix) (Dread Recordings, 1996)
13 Dope Skillz - 6 Million Remix (Mix 1) (Frontline Records, 1996)
14 Shimon & Andy C - Night Flight (RAM Records, 1995)
15 IQ Collective - Mode 1 (Trouble On Vinyl, 1997)
16 DJ Die - Clear Skyz (Full Cycle Records, 1998)
17 Gang Related & Mask - Concentration (Dope Dragon, 1996)
18 Wots My Code - Dub Plate (XLR8, 1992)
19 DJ Hype - Roll The Beats (Remix) (Suburban Base Records, 1994)
20 DJ Zinc - Fugeez Or Not (White Label, 1996)
21 DJ Zinc - Reach Out (Remix) (True Playaz, 1997)
22 Roni Size - It's Jazzy (V Recordings, 1997)
23 DJ Die - Special Treat (V Recordings, 1997)
24 Bad Company - The Pulse (Prototype Recordings, 1999)
25 Q Project - Champion Sound (Total Science Remix) (C.I.A, 2000)
26 Twisted Individual - ZX Spectrum (5HQ Recordings, 2000)
27 Jo - R Type (Awesome Records, 1993)
28 DJ Krust - Warhead (Steppa Mix) (V Recordings, 1997)
29 Roni Size / Reprazent - Trust Me (Talkin' Loud, 1996)
30 Tribe Of Issachar feat. Pete Bouncer - Junglist (DJ Zinc Remix) (Congo Natty, 1996)
31 Freestyles - Play The Game (True Playaz, 1996)
32 DRS feat. Kenny Ken - Everyman (Rugged Vinyl Records, 1994)
33 M-Beat feat. Nazlyn - Sweet Love (Renk Records, 1994)Labels: 2000, DV8, Flare FM, Manic, MC Flava, Pirate Radio