I’ve always had a love of music. Thinking back to 1994, I was 10 years old and every Saturday my mum would head off shopping and I’d be at home with Dad and my sisters, windows open, volume up! Dad has a huge love of vinyl and the speakers in the living room were and still are a dominant feature. We’d be blaring beats until Mum returned home from shopping and intimated the volume be turned down, which ultimately meant off.

When I was 11, I had a stacked stereo system with separate CD player in my bedroom – I’m still not sure Mum has forgiven Dad for that present! As I grew up, a paper-round followed and that money was spent on CDs each week in Woolworths, growing my collection to an unknown figure – all of which I still own.

By 2000 I’d played a few bookings at local kids' clubs and Scout group nights, all on other people's kit. But then I got a new job working in a veterinary clinic and decided to spend the money building my own show: Numark CDN-22 dual players, a Behringer mixer, KAM speakers and some Vestax PDX2000 vinyl decks. Next up was lighting. I bought an NJD Chaos 2 backed up with an XTC from Maplins.

Taking up over half the bedroom for storage or setup, I played, practised and honed my craft until I felt ready to play out to a crowd. I discovered a local bar in Balham, South West London. The owners Chris and Roger Gonga were friendly and not only did I end up drinking there on a regular basis, but eventually they let me loose on the decks, playing a range of music from garage to dancehall and reggae. I always remember going there on my 18th birthday and telling Chris it was time to buy me a drink, now that I was legal – to which he fell over knowing he’d been serving me for close to three years.

I soon registered with a local agent and got a few bookings across London, the first of which was in Catford for a mere £120 with kit! Next up, how to get there? Well, I hailed ‘DadTaxi’. Which leads nicely onto a memory that will live with me forever. Dad became my unofficial unpaid roadie until I got my own driving licence in 2005. I remember saying to him, “One day, I'm going to have a better stereo than you.” The reply five or six bookings later was, “Son, I think you won!”

Eventually the driving licence arrived. I had a car, I had freedom, and that was it, I was off fulfilling bookings – mainly birthdays, anniversaries and friends' events, but often house parties too, which is where I met my better half. Sophie has been by my side ever since, supporting the growth of what started as Phase1DJs. Admittedly, this name did cause some confusion owing to its similarity to a certain DJ shop up north; phone calls asking about products or punters telling me they had recently bought kit from me. Each time I had to explain that I was nothing to do with the famous ‘Mike at PhaseONE DJ Store’.

In 2006, I moved on from veterinary practice after pretty much being booted out by my boss and mentor, Rory.
He felt I was ready to move on to bigger and better things and I joined TRM, an equine supplement company that was launching a small animal-veterinary range in the UK. I took the lead and initially started as the South East UK representative before moving up to UK Sales Manager, which meant a move to the Midlands. I wanted to get onto the property ladder, so I waved a finger over a map and ended up in Stoke-on-Trent, buying my first house in 2008 at 24 years old.

The DJ business always remained a side line for me, a secondary source of income, and I was able to be picky with the bookings. I ended up keeping kit in my own house ‘up norf’ and pretty much spent half a week in London at my parents working the day job.

I would travel to the Midlands on a Wednesday night, work with the team there, and then end the week DJing on Friday and Saturday nights.
Getting bookings in a new area is always hard. But I ended up with a whole new contact list, most notably Bert Harding, who we know now from within the industry but then was working at Cookies Sound and Light. I was a regular visitor to the ‘candyshop’ of DJ kit; I always had a shopping list of kit I wanted and he obliged with taking my money.

Around a year later, SC Sound and Lighting opened up literally next door to Cookies. That’s when I met Stephen Crumpton, who later became a close friend. He was a local DJ who opened a new DJ store and repair centre, and I also ended up spending a lot of money with him. I had a new look (which I look back at now and cringe), I wanted more bookings, and Stephen introduced a local agent, CB Roadshows (run by Cleo).

Bookings flew in and I was busy most weeks, but still I wanted more money and better events. And so came an introduction to Hipswing Entertainment, an event production company and agency for DJs based across the border in Cheshire (it was always about that A500 roundabout; cross that and you’d make double dollars as standard). Both Scott and Tansy took me under their wing. And that’s when I discovered weddings. I was shit scared at first and to be fair, even to this day, I’m on edge until the first dance is out of the way.

Networking, coffee and chats at SC Sound and Lighting was a regular occurrence, as was post-gig dinners with Stephen, John Tilstone and Ian Finney at 1.30am. It was through these guys that I was introduced to the NADJ North West branch, a monthly networking meeting with ideas, education, and demos from manufacturers and retailers. It was there that I met Paul Arnett and John Forbes and got dragged into the association, getting involved in event organisation. (I want to say thanks guys, but I'm not sure that’s the right word!) London needed a NADJ branch, and with my travel between London and the Midlands and with Tony Winyard trying to set up a London branch, we met in an dodgy pub in 2012 and NADJ London was formed. Tony, Fabio Capozzi, Ed Bereton, Keith Ellwood, Matt Hayden-Baker and myself started what grew into one of the most successful branches for the association.

By 2014, the years of travelling had taken its toll. Sophie was never going to move to Staffordshire and with the day job not gaining as many reps as originally thought, I made the decision to move back towards home.

After nine years it was finally time to move in together. We’d never be able to afford a house in South West London, or even Kingston where we both lived with our parents, so we ended up in Tongham, near Guildford. Here we go again: a new area, with no bookings – dé-jà vu.
Thankfully, with NADJ South Central and London, I had a great network of local DJs to connect with, even living on the same street as one of them. Daytime coffee and cake pre-gig and and rum and coke post-gig became a regular thing with Pete Hawkins! And, thanks to Fabio, I got more involved with NADJ, as John Forbes and Paul Arnett stepped back in 2016. Between us, we ran membership alongside the London branch.

DJ-wise I picked up a residency at a former haunt in London, playing bashment, dancehall and reggaeton. This shaped another element of my musical knowledge and I still use this to my advantage now. With the DJ business still a secondary income, I was able to be picky with the amount of work and type of events I took on. It was also time for a company rebrand, including a new logo. So I got a graphic designer (thanks Fabio), and Steven Honeyball Event Production & DJ Entertainment was born. I decided to provide a more personal service, concentrating on weddings and corporate events with the eventual plan to become a small event production company.

I attended PLASA London, and it was great to look at what kit I would be owning in 10 years’ time. Thanks to Alan Marshall, I also discovered Pro Mobile Conference and the power of networking with like-minded people, as well as seeing seminar content that helped improve business practice.

Like many others, I was initially reluctant, and it was a large investment in terms of being out of the DJ business on a Saturday night and also spending a further two days away. But after attending my first conference, I haven’t missed another since. The return on investment was insane and I just wish other DJs would jump on the same waggon – it would improve the industry tenfold. Pro Mobile Conference also led to me attending Mobile Beat Conference in Las Vegas, a four-day conference targeted not only at mobile DJs but club DJs and production companies too. It seemed like a natural progression to my business model – and who doesn’t like a tax-deductible ‘holiday’? Suffice to say I haven’t missed a Mobile Beat since.

The very next year, PBX International (PhotoBooth Expo) was held at the same time as Mobile Beat, and the benefit of attending two shows on one trip was a bonus, although it did cost me when I returned. Often I would have meetings with clients with questions like, "Do you have a magic mirror? Do you have LED letters?” to which the answer was always, “No, but I can get them in from a third party.” After attending the Las Vegas show, I bit the bullet and added a magic mirror, a vintage-style booth, a Selfie Wizard, and some LED love letters (it’s great having a dad who happens to be a joiner!) for clients to add to their package booking.

In 2017 I met Stefan Ramsdale and initially bought some Sparkular Mini Machines to offer my customers that next level #wow effect, before teaming up with him on numerous events across the UK. This setup – topped with dry ice for dancing on the clouds – completed the purchase of new equipment and I truly had a great inventory of kit and the contacts to deliver outstanding events.

2018 arrived and Pro Mobile Magazine was acquired by NADJ under my suggestion, following the demise of Marked Events. I agreed to run it for ‘free’ until it had paid its initial investment, working alongside industry legend Eddie Short, the main man behind Pro Mobile from the very first issue. I went from speaking to Eddie twice a year to at least once and sometimes multiple times a day. The industry
resource continued supplying invaluable information to mobile DJs and to this day continues to be the only independent and impartial printed magazine written by mobile DJs for mobile DJs.
I ended up with a new ‘work-wife’ towards the end of 2020, when Eddie moved onto pastures new working with ADJ on a full-time basis. Up stepped Peter Holding with a new take on the magazine and the ever-famous Pro Mobile Conference. In 2022, Pete and I took ownership of Pro Mobile and its assets from NADJ and formed HH Publishing. The magazine continued without any changes for our subscribers and we also added the new Focus & Retreat event.

All of this was happening whilst I was an active DJ and still involved in the veterinary market. But the latter came to a rather abrupt end in 2021, near the end of that dreaded COVID thing. I got a surprise email with a redundancy pay off with five weeks' notice! I panicked. I had a house, a mortgage, a cat (those of you that know me well will know that Figaro is my fur baby), and I was fast approaching no income. The DJ business was always a top-up business – so what was I going to do?

I vividly remember waking up on that first day thinking, “F**k, no one is paying me today.” Reality hit. I had started my own veterinary supplement company – partly in retaliation against my previous employer, but also because I had 14 years of experience and contacts – but I knew it wouldn’t pay the bills. It was going to take time to convert clients to the new brand.

So, I flipped my main businesses – DJing became number one, with Honeyball Veterinary Supplements taking second place. I had 16 years of experience in the sector and approached a local company to put myself out there more. It worked well and I built a great relationship with him. To this day, I have a number of hotels that want me on their books as first choice for their couples.

During this time, I also expanded the production side of my business and started chasing more daytime corporate AV tech work.
In turn, this required more equipment and more storage space; with a rammed garage and kit spilling into the house, it was becoming a nightmare. Thankfully I found a warehouse and office on the same site just 12 miles from home, all at a reasonable cost with an owner who supported new businesses. Everything moved to the new place. I had an empty garage and no kit at home, and from a mental health perspective it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I get up, get dressed, go to work, and at the end of the day, turn off and head home. Gone are the days of working until 11pm in the home office or processing veterinary orders on a Sunday just because I could. Allowing yourself to turn off from work when being self-employed is in my top ten tips for sure.

My plan was to grow from a DJ company into a small event production company, taking lead from the superstar Jack Wilson at Kent Media Group, who I must thank for all the advice on what sells and what doesn’t, and the brands to invest in and what is cross-hireable. I took a phone call to supply an LED wall for the London Palladium Stage – 12m wide by 3.5m high, flown just 1.5m from the stage floor. I picked up the phone to Jack for help! KMG didn’t have availability nor a wall that big, so it was ‘go big or go home’ time (those of you who’ve been on an Alan Berg workshop will have heard that a few times!). So I put on my big boy pants and quoted for the job, getting the kit in under my brand and working with a suggested partner. We pulled it off – a job that was over £12,000 for a day’s work.

That was my first big look into production work and I’ve never looked back since, knowing if I can pull that off then I can take on just about any challenge. I’ve since worked for Pete and Michelle at All Parties & Events, as well as Carl at Production Hype, on a number of larger events using the knowledge gained from that day.
Next on my list was finding growth for this very magazine, and Pete and I wanted to target the USA. This is when our relationship with Rob Savickis grew. Mobile Beat (now Mobile Entertainment Expo) used to have a magazine that turned digital and failed. It was time to look at resurrecting this, which is something we are still actively pursuing. That also opened up conversations about bringing the famous PBX show to Europe. It happened under licence from Rob last year in September and returns again in October 2024 alongside weDJ, a new show that will expand the DJ show offerings in the UK and Europe.

Here in 2024, I’m still actively DJing on a regular basis across weddings and corporate events, with AV tech and production work chucked in for fun. It’s very much a full-time job, and having been self-employed since 2021, I'm not sure I could ever return to working in a company’s chain of command. I enjoy the freedom of choice; working when I want to work, and holidays when I need a break. At this point it’s important to mention that none of this would be possible without the support of Sophie, my better half who stands by me in all my decisions.
Whilst she has next to zero interest in being at events whilst I’m working, she will always rescue me if needed! A perfect example of that was New Year’s Eve 2023. I couldn’t for the life of me find anyone to run the Magic Mirror for my event. So, Sophie stepped up to the plate and we spent our second ever New Year’s Eve together in 19 years.

My journey has taught me that other DJs are not competition. We’re a strong network and there is more than enough work for everyone. I’ll also close on a few tips. Surround yourself with a network of people who can cover for you, people you trust to deliver your events to the same standard you would. Support local retailers – you’ll complain when they are gone. And immerse yourself in workshops, conferences and industry events – it’s tax-deductible and you never ever stop learning.

Finally, I look forward to seeing many of you at PBX London and weDJ in October – and maybe, just maybe, some more of you at MEX/PBX in Las Vegas 2025. I love networking, I love this industry, and I can’t wait to make more memories for both me, my couples and corporate clients.