It all started in a sleepy market town just outside of Bristol. My Uncle Phil ran (and still runs) The Radioactive Roadshow (the name came from the fact that he worked at the local power station). I just loved the idea that you can play music and make people dance. That was it: career decided at the age of eight!

My other ambitions were in radio, after listening to Ken’s Den on Severn Sound with my brother. We used to ring in for the competitions and several times were lucky enough to be selected to go on air. We figured out that if they put us on first, we had probably got it wrong. So we changed our answer and ruined the section that they had lined up with several wrong answers before the winner was revealed!

Dad changed jobs, so we moved South. First to Devon and then Cornwall. I clearly remember the DJ booth in the basement of my school in Plymouth. I was fascinated by it because it looked like the Tardis, but I didn’t get to spin any tunes there. My first opportunity to DJ was at a school disco at my primary school in Cornwall. I used my home hi-fi and had to switch between playing records and tapes to keep the music flowing. I also learned at this point that long intros to songs were difficult to dance to; ‘Money For Nothing’ by Dire Straits has a big intro that builds and builds, but the dance floor just wanted the hook.

Soon after, we moved again, this time to Cambridge where I met Gerry, the leader of the local youth club. My friend Simon and I wandered in and showed interest in their Citronic Thames console. Coincidentally, they were looking for a new DJ, so Gerry offered me an audition there and then. For the next two years or so, my mum took me and my extensive music collection to play a two hour set every Thursday evening.

Even back then, my musical tastes were broad, encompassing ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, pop and the blues. My other passion as a teenager was playing the guitar. My mum and dad told me they would buy me a guitar if I could learn to play the lead riff from ‘Johnny B Goode’ by Chuck Berry. It took me about three weeks' practice, and then we were off to the guitar shop! I think I learned it more quickly than they expected... In fact my guitar teacher had privately told them that he didn’t expect me to persevere. My next teacher was a brilliant musician called Calum. He taught me so much about music and music theory, but I also picked up on his style of teaching. Calum is a very patient teacher who helps you to figure things out yourself. To this day, when I am explaining something I try to adopt Calum’s style of teaching.

Whilst living near Cambridge, I tuned my Amstrad Studio 100 (remember those?!) into a very weak London station called KISS. I could only just pick up the signal, but KISS widened my musical tastes into hip hop, reggae, house and acid house. The one song I remember being played over and over was ‘Tease Me’ by Chaka Demus and Pliers. I just loved the variety of music and absorbed as much as possible.

The next milestone in my fledgling DJ career was when my mum saw an advert in The Beehive Centre from a local DJ called Tim, who was looking for a roadie. I jumped at the opportunity, and started to help him move and set up all of his equipment. I would then watch and listen to Tim in action, which helped me work on my song selections but also made me very jealous of his impressive mixing skills! And after a while, he trusted me enough to play a few songs. Tim was very much focused on the music, which gave me the opportunity to develop my microphone technique.

Both my mum and dad are very musical. Mum sang in choirs in her younger years and Dad was in a band in his early twenties. Unsurprisingly, I followed in their footsteps and at Sixth Form played in a couple of bands – The Superunknown (named after the album by Soundgarden) and The Haven. The Superunknown only played three gigs, but I remember our first like it was yesterday. It was at an alternative band showcase in Bar Hill, near Cambridge. Our set was mainly based on covers of songs by bands including Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. We also played my third favourite song of all time, ‘Hey Joe’ by Jimi Hendrix. But there was one song that didn’t quite fit. I was very nervous because I was singing the lead vocal on this song. I started singing… and everyone joined in. Phew! The song was ‘Love Is All Around’ by The Troggs and later made famous again by Wet Wet Wet. It goes to show that you can’t always predict how an audience will react! We do this as DJs too, so be brave and play that unexpected song that might just work...

My next move was to Weymouth, where I took my Engineering foundation year to improve my maths skills, before going to Southampton University. I loved going to The Malibu nightclub in Weymouth and was in awe of the DJs playing what are now classic ‘90s dance tunes.

At Southampton Uni, as well as studying Acoustical Engineering, I was heavily involved in Radio Glen, the student radio station. The studios were directly outside my front door, so it was very convenient and lots of fun! I later found out that Scott Mills had also been involved with the station and recorded the jingles package which was used on all of the shows.

After graduating, I had two job offers, which