Hi Darren, I am so happy to finally have you as EILO’s Artist of the Weekend. How are you?

I’m very good thank you very much.. just waiting for the sun.

I know you have been busy lately, tell us more what are on about?

I’ve been beavering away in the studio working on my productions and Remix’s for labels such as Wiggle Recs, Grant Dells Giant records imprint and Alfresco Disco.

When was your last party that you were playing?

I played at a charity gig for Cancer research called Palace Sessions where the proceeds go to the Charity. It was a great vibe and obviously for a good cause.

Can you tell the difference the way you see it between the parties now and back in the time?

I think clubbing years ago was a fantastic time. Some great music and quality Djs. It was slightly different as everybody was kind of listening to the same stuff which made a difference in the atmosphere, whether it be 200 or 2000 people all dancing and singing together- it was a very spiritual time indeed. People went out to listen to the music and would get to know it in time because djs would play the records for at least 6 months to a year. Fast forward to today there is so much music available from the different mediums.. Most people don’t play the records for more than a month or two let alone know the title of the track or the artist. Plus people feel the need to talk more these days- you can really hear the crowd noise at parties now where people are talking and not listening.. Don’t get me wrong there’s some great music out there at the moment and quality selectors. I just think it was more heads down years ago and you would be totally lost in the groove. And of course there was the ecstasy explosion.

Now please share with us about more about yourself, your childhood for example and your first interactions with music?

My mother and father both love music and definitely inspired me with their knowledge of music. I would get record vouchers from family members for birthday and Christmas and would go straight down to the record shops as early as 6 years old (with a parent of course) I then would take my boxes of 7inch’s to family parties and sit by the record player putting one record on after the other at about 8 years old. I think it was then that I first got my insight into the power of music to make people move and dance. At 16 years old my dad gave me car a Datsun Sunny to learn to drive. But I sold it for £600 and bought decks and a mixer - the rest is history.

When did you realize your life will be connected with the music that much?

When I first heard Donna Summer i Feel Love at a bout 4 years old . I would listen to it over and over again fascinated by it.. that’s when I realized music was my life.

What is the music that you love listening? Name some of your favourite artist, please.

I love Motown, I think that it was a great era for music- Stevie wonder, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, to name a few, it was an underground sound in the US that was broken in the UK. I also love anything by John Williams he basically did the film score’s to 100’s of films- that guy is a genius – you should listen to Star Wars, Empire strikes back and Superman film scores, he knows how to capture you imagination and take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

How do you see the global music scene at the moment? How about the dance one?

Well it’s massive and healthy to say the least. There are loads of different tribes out there dancing to their genre of music.. millions of people every weekend partying. I guess the underground has gone overground. The EDM thing has erupted in places like the US and has been focusing on one DJ behind the decks rather than a band playing with their entourage. I think some people are capitalizing on those kind of gigs as it cheaper to stage. I just think there needs to be some kind of voice within dance music that represents everybody as a whole fighting against world issues. That’s millions of voices standing together.

Can you tell us how you get yourself ready for a gig? How do you make yours choices what to take with you as I know you are a record player and I assume it is a bit of a challenge to take everything with you.

Well most gigs you only play for an hour and half to two hours max, so you will only play 20 – 30 records in that time. I like to group records together – so you may have 3 records that blend well together or 2 records that take things up a bit. I tend to grab a selection that you can tell a kind of story a beginning, a middle and an end. I tend to leave it to the last minute and have an hour panic before I leave. lol

Can you describe your style at the moment? If you have to describe it with a color what that would be?

I’ve played House, Tech house and Techno through the last 20 years. So I play whatever the gig requires and of course it depends on what time you play. As for a colour, I think it would be more like a rainbow. A bit of everything.

What would you tell to the the people who are now getting involved to the magic of rave?

Enjoy yourself and dance hard.

And what would you tell to our audience?

I hope you enjoy the mix – I wanted to keep it nice and easy as it’s almost summer.. So something with nice vibes.

Thanks again for being our special guest Darren, hope to hear from very soon again!