Influences... Its all about dance music

Music seems to have always played a part in my life in one way or another. In my early teens I was a drummer, I played my first pub gig at 15 years old. If you think about drumming there is definitely a link there from keeping the steady beat in a band to keeping that beat going in mixing music.

Soft Cell
It was the early 80's when I really got into music. Without any doubt the biggest influence in music that hit me was a band called Soft Cell. Soft Cell were a band way ahead of there time. In 1980 they released their first track "Memorabilia", now positively identified as the first ever techno record. In my opinion Soft Cell opened a huge amount of doors for electronic music as we know it today, again only my opinion but I think they are one of the most underrated bands of the last 30 years when you consider their style of music 30 years ago.

House, the beginning...
I remember when I first got into House music. It was pretty much when it first came about in the late 80's. It was around 88/89 that really got me hooked, this was when I first started getting into mixing on a pair of turntables I bought from Tandy! (How many people remember that shop?)
Some of the tracks I remember were: Frankie Knuckles - Your Love, Quartz - Meltdown, Richie Rich - Salsa House, Sueno Latino - Sueno Latino, Raze - Break For Love, FBI Project - Rich In Paradise, Rhythm Is Rhythm - Strings Of Life, Ce Ce Rogers - Someday and who could forget the incredible "Let Me Love You For Tonight" by Kariya?

The early 90's gave us tracks, like Alison Limerick - Where Love Lives, one of my all time top 5 tracks. Also tracks from Alten 8, more on the rave side of things, Snap - Rhythm is Dancer, Ce Ce Peniston - Finally, Civilles & Cole 'A Deeper Love and obviously Robin S - Show Me Love, which I remember buying on import (Big Beat Records) Other 90's dance tracks I loved playing out were: Degrees of motion - Do You Want It Right Now, Bassheads - Is There Anybody Out There?, House of virginism - I'll Be There For You, another which I love is K-Klass - Rhythm Is A Mystery.
Obviously I can't list every single track I played or made an impression on me in the house music scene, but I think you get the general idea of the sort of tracks I fell in love with.

DJ's
There are lots of DJ's I admire. Without a doubt the one I really do admire as like a lot of other people is Carl Cox. This is the man that helped pioneer house music from the very beginning, from Chicago house to what it is today. The energy Carl shows when playing a set proves just how in love with the music he is. Carl was voted best DJ of the last 25 years by mixmag readers and rightly so. I don't believe there could be a single DJ or any dance music fan out there that does not admire what Carl has done for dance music. The guy is a true legend.

Many things have influenced me in the house music I play today. From the early sounds of Soft Cell to house legends like Carl Cox, for me it's always been about dance music in one form or another.