You are on the Desktop website, Click here to go back to our mobile website
ARTICLE
My interest in music began at an early age when I became fascinated with vinyl records. My parents had a ton of them. I loved the album covers and the pleasure of pulling out the shiny black vinyl from its cover and placing it on the record table. I was about 10 years old when I was first allowed to play records in the house. I remember playing a record while lightly rubbing a vinyl cleaner – a soft pad – over the vinyl as it played. The harder I pressed, the slower the record would play. This was my starting point, when I knew I would be doing something with music, but I just didn’t know what.
My journey began in the late 1980s when I was taken to a party by my mother, where a local DJ was set up with massive light boxes next to a dance floor. I watched in awe as the DJ seamlessly mixed tracks, creating an atmosphere that was both exhilarating and transformative. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of that magic.
One of the biggest things I remember about that night is that the DJ had a telephone handset as his headphones, which I though was the best thing in the world.
From that day forward, I was sold on being a DJ. I decided to recreate my own disco setup with two tape cassette players and a load of cardboard boxes. The boxes were my lights, and I would pretend to be the DJ. I remember colouring in all the cardboard boxes into different patterns just like the DJ had at the party.
The love grew. Every Sunday I would listen to the Top 40 on the radio and record all the songs on my tape machine, pausing the recording when the Radio 1 DJ, Bruno Brookes, spoke to ensure I only got the music. This turned into an art form of knowing when Bruno would start to speak and also finish speaking.
I had many blank tapes and, once the show finished, I would write out the date of the Top 40 and what number tracks were on that cassette. On the cassette’s paper cover, I would write down what songs I had from the Top 40 and their position. This made it easier when I was DJing, using the double tape machine, to find the tracks and queue them up ready to play.
I think my passion was becoming obvious to my parents, so they took me to a local electrical shop, Tandy. This is where I got my first disco light, a grey rectangular box containing red, orange, blue and green light bulbs that flashed to the sound of the music. But this was not enough. I wanted the main attraction of mobile DJ lights: the all-singing and all-dancing Rope Light. This had a controller that enabled me to change the chase effect speed and direction. I was in heaven but I needed more.
I started doing parties at the village youth club, bringing my twin tape deck, recorded tapes from the Top 40, and my two disco lights. I was 12 years old and felt incredible.
A couple of years passed, and I was ready for the next step. I wanted my own proper DJ turntables. I did jobs around the house for what seemed like years and eventually saved up for my first set of turntables, the Citronic Mono Popular, a pair of large hi-fi speakers and a modest collection of vinyl records from Woolworths to get me started, not forgetting my new headphones in the form of a telephone handset.
Woolworths was my new playground on a Saturday morning to get that week’s seven-inch vinyl releases. Each single would cost me £1.99 and sometimes you could get them for 99p. Now that I had my twin turntable, my record collection grew.
My early days were filled with experimentation, learning the art of beatmatching, thinking I could scratch, but ultimately creating smooth transitions between tracks. I spent countless hours on my new decks, honing my skills.
I was asked to DJ at children’s parties and family gatherings. In my head, I was a local celebrity, but I needed a name. My stepmom suggested ‘Matt’s Music Box’, referencing the massive Citronic Mono turntable I had purchased a few years back. I was sold on the name, and she even got me a t-shirt made with the name on it.
In the early 1990s, I began performing at local parties and a couple of pubs in the nearby town. It was bizarre, as I was only 16 and being dropped off by my dad and being left to do a disco in a pub on a Friday night in the town centre – something you couldn’t imagine these days.
As my school years ended and college life started, I found myself DJing in the Student Union bar on Thursday nights. However, I dropped out of college and joined the Army in 1995. DJing was now on hold.
Fast forward a couple of years and, after completing basic training and a tour in Northern Ireland, I found myself stationed in Germany. This is where I met Paul Elphick, an ex-BFBS radio DJ with his own entertainment company, Britannia Entertainments.
He supplied DJs, live entertainment, theme nights and karaoke to the force’s community in Germany. After pitching to Paul and showing him I could DJ, he gave me my first gig in Germany, DJing in a NAAFI bar. In no time I was hosting karaoke night on Thursdays and DJing on Friday and Saturday nights.
I loved it and I couldn’t wait for the weekends to come (which is pretty much how I feel to this day). I continued working with Paul and Britannia Entertainments for several years until I decided to leave the Army. This would mean me leaving Germany and being stationed back in the UK for my final year before exiting the forces.
However, Paul invited me back for one big Army festival in 2002, where I DJd in front of hundreds of people from the Army and German communities. I was on stage, DJing in between live acts, during the day, plus working in Army nightclubs after the festival closed.
Back in the UK, it wasn’t long until I found a wedding venue residency, managed by my cousin. I acted as their resident DJ for well over 15 years. It was an easy gig for me, as we had already installed all the equipment into the wedding venue. I didn’t need to speak to the bride or groom; I was just supplied with a playlist well in advance of the parties and turned up, plugged in and played. It was easy work but something I never gave 100% to, as it wasn’t my setup, nor my name attached the venue.
I got to the point that I needed to break free, so I stepped away from the wedding venue. My wife, who has been extremely supportive of my DJing path, suggested I start doing the mobile DJ work.
She had seen an advert on a community social media page a week before New Year’s Eve, saying a local pub needed a DJ for New Year’s Eve.
I accepted the gig without telling them I had no equipment, so I needed to purchase a new setup quickly. I found a reasonably priced DJ setup. The only problem was I could only pick it up on New Year’s Eve itself. Talk about cutting it fine! Nevertheless, on New Year’s Eve, at 6am, I drove from Hertfordshire to Burnley, made the purchase, and drove back down south – a 430-mile round trip.
I had roughly two-and-a-half hours before I needed to be at the venue, ready to set up for the evening event. No one ever knew how tight it was to get this gig off the ground, and this was the start of my most recent mobile DJ venture.
While trying to grow my new mobile DJ venture, I stumbled across an advert asking for DJs for a silent disco tour. Little did I know, this was the start of something very big.
After speaking to the owner of the company, Silent Discos in Incredible Places, he agreed for me to do a test show in front of 1,400 people at Ely Cathedral. This was the first time I had ever done a silent disco and the first time in a cathedral of all places.
I absolutely loved it. I got home that night, buzzing, and told my wife what an amazing experience it was and how incredible the venue looked. It was an unforgettable moment. Fast forward two-and-a-half years, and I am now the Silent Discos in Incredible Places DJ Booker for both the UK and Australia Tours and head DJ for the tour, traveling the country and performing at amazing venues in front of thousands of people.
I now had my own setup for private work and the silent disco tour. Around this time, I came across a very interesting DJ on social media by the name of DJ 2Four7. It was strange because I felt I recognized him but couldn’t pinpoint where I knew him from.
It turned out that we’d met in 2011 when we both worked within the youth sector in North London. I reached out to DJ 2Four7, as he was all about opening doors and being transparent within the DJ community. He recommended that I come along to the Pro Mobile Focus and Retreat.
Not wanting to miss a trick, I secured a place at the retreat in 2024. This was the start of something special for me, as it opened my eyes to my own business and many networking opportunities.
One of those opportunities came when I met Jon Colley. We immediately hit it off, and I sensed he would be a great asset for the DJ team on Silent Discos in Incredible Places. He is now one of our main DJs on our UK tour, while many other DJs from the social media platforms also get booked for shows on the tour.
I wanted to follow 2Four7’s community focus approach on education and helping the DJ community and I wanted to do this in the form of a podcast. Whilst on my summer holidays abroad, I reached out to Jon and asked if he wanted to co-host a podcast with me about DJing for the DJ network.
However, I didn’t want it to be just about mobile DJing; I wanted it to cover club DJs, mobile DJs, producers, performers – anything worth talking about within our industry. Jon was keen and The Groove Junction was born.
We have now been established for over six months and have released an episode every Friday morning for the DJ community. We’ve interviewed numerous DJs from all walks of life, listening to their stories and tips on how they got to where they are in the industry. The feedback from the podcast has been immense, and it blows my mind when I see new areas of the world tuning in to listen. Currently, we have listeners in over 20 countries, and we’re in the top 20% of all video podcasts on Spotify. It’s incredible to think that people in South Africa, South America, the US, and Europe are all listening to Jon and me talk about DJing and interviewing different DJs within the industry. The podcast has become a real passion, and I look forward to recording it every week and seeing the feedback when new episodes drop on Friday morning.
So, if you haven’t listened to it, you can find it on all podcast streaming platforms and YouTube. Just search for ‘The Groove Junction’.
The past 30 years have been a remarkable journey, filled with highs and lows, challenges and triumphs. From the early days of spinning vinyl to the digital revolution and the tours, my life as a DJ has been a testament to the power of passion and perseverance. As I continue to evolve and grow, I am committed to staying true to the essence of what makes DJing so special: the music, the people and the moments that bring us all together on the dancefloor.
My journey began in the late 1980s when I was taken to a party by my mother, where a local DJ was set up with massive light boxes next to a dance floor. I watched in awe as the DJ seamlessly mixed tracks, creating an atmosphere that was both exhilarating and transformative. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of that magic.
One of the biggest things I remember about that night is that the DJ had a telephone handset as his headphones, which I though was the best thing in the world.
From that day forward, I was sold on being a DJ. I decided to recreate my own disco setup with two tape cassette players and a load of cardboard boxes. The boxes were my lights, and I would pretend to be the DJ. I remember colouring in all the cardboard boxes into different patterns just like the DJ had at the party.
The love grew. Every Sunday I would listen to the Top 40 on the radio and record all the songs on my tape machine, pausing the recording when the Radio 1 DJ, Bruno Brookes, spoke to ensure I only got the music. This turned into an art form of knowing when Bruno would start to speak and also finish speaking.
I had many blank tapes and, once the show finished, I would write out the date of the Top 40 and what number tracks were on that cassette. On the cassette’s paper cover, I would write down what songs I had from the Top 40 and their position. This made it easier when I was DJing, using the double tape machine, to find the tracks and queue them up ready to play.
I think my passion was becoming obvious to my parents, so they took me to a local electrical shop, Tandy. This is where I got my first disco light, a grey rectangular box containing red, orange, blue and green light bulbs that flashed to the sound of the music. But this was not enough. I wanted the main attraction of mobile DJ lights: the all-singing and all-dancing Rope Light. This had a controller that enabled me to change the chase effect speed and direction. I was in heaven but I needed more.
I started doing parties at the village youth club, bringing my twin tape deck, recorded tapes from the Top 40, and my two disco lights. I was 12 years old and felt incredible.
A couple of years passed, and I was ready for the next step. I wanted my own proper DJ turntables. I did jobs around the house for what seemed like years and eventually saved up for my first set of turntables, the Citronic Mono Popular, a pair of large hi-fi speakers and a modest collection of vinyl records from Woolworths to get me started, not forgetting my new headphones in the form of a telephone handset.
Woolworths was my new playground on a Saturday morning to get that week’s seven-inch vinyl releases. Each single would cost me £1.99 and sometimes you could get them for 99p. Now that I had my twin turntable, my record collection grew.
My early days were filled with experimentation, learning the art of beatmatching, thinking I could scratch, but ultimately creating smooth transitions between tracks. I spent countless hours on my new decks, honing my skills.
I was asked to DJ at children’s parties and family gatherings. In my head, I was a local celebrity, but I needed a name. My stepmom suggested ‘Matt’s Music Box’, referencing the massive Citronic Mono turntable I had purchased a few years back. I was sold on the name, and she even got me a t-shirt made with the name on it.
In the early 1990s, I began performing at local parties and a couple of pubs in the nearby town. It was bizarre, as I was only 16 and being dropped off by my dad and being left to do a disco in a pub on a Friday night in the town centre – something you couldn’t imagine these days.
As my school years ended and college life started, I found myself DJing in the Student Union bar on Thursday nights. However, I dropped out of college and joined the Army in 1995. DJing was now on hold.
Fast forward a couple of years and, after completing basic training and a tour in Northern Ireland, I found myself stationed in Germany. This is where I met Paul Elphick, an ex-BFBS radio DJ with his own entertainment company, Britannia Entertainments.
He supplied DJs, live entertainment, theme nights and karaoke to the force’s community in Germany. After pitching to Paul and showing him I could DJ, he gave me my first gig in Germany, DJing in a NAAFI bar. In no time I was hosting karaoke night on Thursdays and DJing on Friday and Saturday nights.
I loved it and I couldn’t wait for the weekends to come (which is pretty much how I feel to this day). I continued working with Paul and Britannia Entertainments for several years until I decided to leave the Army. This would mean me leaving Germany and being stationed back in the UK for my final year before exiting the forces.
However, Paul invited me back for one big Army festival in 2002, where I DJd in front of hundreds of people from the Army and German communities. I was on stage, DJing in between live acts, during the day, plus working in Army nightclubs after the festival closed.
Back in the UK, it wasn’t long until I found a wedding venue residency, managed by my cousin. I acted as their resident DJ for well over 15 years. It was an easy gig for me, as we had already installed all the equipment into the wedding venue. I didn’t need to speak to the bride or groom; I was just supplied with a playlist well in advance of the parties and turned up, plugged in and played. It was easy work but something I never gave 100% to, as it wasn’t my setup, nor my name attached the venue.
I got to the point that I needed to break free, so I stepped away from the wedding venue. My wife, who has been extremely supportive of my DJing path, suggested I start doing the mobile DJ work.
She had seen an advert on a community social media page a week before New Year’s Eve, saying a local pub needed a DJ for New Year’s Eve.
I accepted the gig without telling them I had no equipment, so I needed to purchase a new setup quickly. I found a reasonably priced DJ setup. The only problem was I could only pick it up on New Year’s Eve itself. Talk about cutting it fine! Nevertheless, on New Year’s Eve, at 6am, I drove from Hertfordshire to Burnley, made the purchase, and drove back down south – a 430-mile round trip.
I had roughly two-and-a-half hours before I needed to be at the venue, ready to set up for the evening event. No one ever knew how tight it was to get this gig off the ground, and this was the start of my most recent mobile DJ venture.
While trying to grow my new mobile DJ venture, I stumbled across an advert asking for DJs for a silent disco tour. Little did I know, this was the start of something very big.
After speaking to the owner of the company, Silent Discos in Incredible Places, he agreed for me to do a test show in front of 1,400 people at Ely Cathedral. This was the first time I had ever done a silent disco and the first time in a cathedral of all places.
I absolutely loved it. I got home that night, buzzing, and told my wife what an amazing experience it was and how incredible the venue looked. It was an unforgettable moment. Fast forward two-and-a-half years, and I am now the Silent Discos in Incredible Places DJ Booker for both the UK and Australia Tours and head DJ for the tour, traveling the country and performing at amazing venues in front of thousands of people.
I now had my own setup for private work and the silent disco tour. Around this time, I came across a very interesting DJ on social media by the name of DJ 2Four7. It was strange because I felt I recognized him but couldn’t pinpoint where I knew him from.
It turned out that we’d met in 2011 when we both worked within the youth sector in North London. I reached out to DJ 2Four7, as he was all about opening doors and being transparent within the DJ community. He recommended that I come along to the Pro Mobile Focus and Retreat.
Not wanting to miss a trick, I secured a place at the retreat in 2024. This was the start of something special for me, as it opened my eyes to my own business and many networking opportunities.
One of those opportunities came when I met Jon Colley. We immediately hit it off, and I sensed he would be a great asset for the DJ team on Silent Discos in Incredible Places. He is now one of our main DJs on our UK tour, while many other DJs from the social media platforms also get booked for shows on the tour.
I wanted to follow 2Four7’s community focus approach on education and helping the DJ community and I wanted to do this in the form of a podcast. Whilst on my summer holidays abroad, I reached out to Jon and asked if he wanted to co-host a podcast with me about DJing for the DJ network.
However, I didn’t want it to be just about mobile DJing; I wanted it to cover club DJs, mobile DJs, producers, performers – anything worth talking about within our industry. Jon was keen and The Groove Junction was born.
We have now been established for over six months and have released an episode every Friday morning for the DJ community. We’ve interviewed numerous DJs from all walks of life, listening to their stories and tips on how they got to where they are in the industry. The feedback from the podcast has been immense, and it blows my mind when I see new areas of the world tuning in to listen. Currently, we have listeners in over 20 countries, and we’re in the top 20% of all video podcasts on Spotify. It’s incredible to think that people in South Africa, South America, the US, and Europe are all listening to Jon and me talk about DJing and interviewing different DJs within the industry. The podcast has become a real passion, and I look forward to recording it every week and seeing the feedback when new episodes drop on Friday morning.
So, if you haven’t listened to it, you can find it on all podcast streaming platforms and YouTube. Just search for ‘The Groove Junction’.
The past 30 years have been a remarkable journey, filled with highs and lows, challenges and triumphs. From the early days of spinning vinyl to the digital revolution and the tours, my life as a DJ has been a testament to the power of passion and perseverance. As I continue to evolve and grow, I am committed to staying true to the essence of what makes DJing so special: the music, the people and the moments that bring us all together on the dancefloor.
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 130, Pages 12-19.
