I started flippin’ tapes on a two deck ghetto blaster. I’d record stuff off the radio, cue tracks up on a walkman and then be stop start mixing on the two deck tape player. About as lo-fi as you could get, even for 1985. Soon moved into mobile DJing as a kid before getting into commercial nightclubs and underground raves.
Around the age of 16 I got involved with what we called in Australia “community radio”. Hosted various shows over the next 10 years but the mainstay was “The Juice” from around 1992 to 1999 playing underground club and rave music. For kids in Tassie, it was the only way they could get those sounds on the airwaves as the rest of Australian FM radio was still obsessed with Rock n Roll.
Moving to the UK in 1999 was a real game changer. There I was lucky to be given the opportunity to open a nightclub in Manchester where I met some really cool cats who were deep in the Manchester music scene, they immersed me in the world of soul, funk, disco, hip-hop, reggae and so much more. It was a great time and place to be buying records and hosting DJ’s and grass roots live music.
Moving from Manchester I got to open up a nightclub in Brighton (Po Na Na) and then the Soul Tree in Cambridge. All these places gave me the chance to put on live acts and DJ’s such as Fat Freddy’s Drop, Quantic Soul Orchestra, Little ‘Louie’ Vega, The Nextmen, Arctic Monkeys, Gilles Peterson, The New Mastersounds, Derrick May, Alice Russell, The James Taylor Quartet, Razorlight and many many more. Warming up for Little ‘Louie’ Vega was definitely a highlight!
Its’ only been in recent years that I’ve been lucky enough to get back onto the radio. I love the radio, it’s the best format for sharing a wide range of music, sowing together a little bit of magic for listeners who are after something tasteful and local.
DJ Larrikin presents The Main Ingredient
a cornucopia of flavours, Larrikin brings you treats from 4 decades of music collection and curation. Expect everything in the tasty realm of rhythm music, from funk to hip-hop, latin to house, reggae to deep fried soul, it will all be in there. The show is every 4th Tuesday evening from 6-8pm, so whether you are preparing a fine meal or calling in a take-out, 1BTN will bring The Main Ingredient.