been djing now for... gulp... 15 years!! I run the SoulBrew & Body Music nights and do a few other parties under my own Birdsong music name... a general west london wheeler & dealer!

mini profile...

my musical tastes vary from paul simon to prince to prins thomas to peven everett (do you like what I did there) & I have had the pleasure of playing alongside some pretty decent djs... of which norman jay, dj harvey, jazzie b, quentin harris, bob jones & cash money have been highlights, & have played in clubs across london - the cross, key, cargo, medicine, the end / aka, plastic people & more.

I can dj hip hop / drum and bass / disco / real good party bangers / funk / soul / latin bits & most enjoy djing music from about 110bpm up to about 125bpm... whether thats house, broken beat / nu jazz, straight up disco & boogie, afro stuff or just deeeep house. I like to keep my sets mixed up, and I like to play for 4 hours or more so I can get into my groove.

I started buying records because I was going down to Speed (bukem & fabios night) and metalheadz at the blue note in 1994. Some of the tracks & the freshness of the music just blew me away so I bought some 1210s and started wasting serious money on vinyl!

after 4-5 years of bedroom djing I moved to manchester and drifted away somewhat from a drum and bass scene getting faster and harder. Meanwhile I was starting to pick up more old soul bits - stevie, motown, etc and really appreciate them. Having picked up some Rare compilations I really started to dig a bit deeper and that kicked off a love of disco, soul, boogie and crate digging that I still have.

My first dj break was a weekly residency in Manchester's ponana bar .. I didnt try too hard to mix the tracks.. but playing for 4-5 hours a night to a pretty much full dancefloor really gave me an appreciation of the power of certain songs, tempo and tracks, and took away the fear of mood, volume or tempo changes that most 'house' djs seem to have today. This stood me in good stead.

My first promotion was in the basement of a spot called mcnallys. I spent a fucking fortune on colour posters, spray mount, candles & decor for the venue, had about 10 people turn up, but when I was playing the music that I wanted to play in a venue I knew was great & done up the way I wanted. There was a moment with MAW slamming out of the system, my gorgeous girl dancing & it all just clicked & I got the promoting bug there and then which I havent quite shaken!!

Moving back to London I started promoting parties at the Clinic bar on gerrard st - awesome & thorughly seedy little venue home to some v.naughty parties. It was this time that myself and DJ SpinDoctor started the SoulBrew parties which we have had the pleasure of doing ever since around London town - and a residency at a great sunday night party - Hype @ AKA got me buying and playing a lot more house.

I also got heavily into the dj bar and members bar scene.. it was a time when new dj bars were springing up & throwing money at me to play so it was rude not to.. ge club, medicine, 93 ft east, cafe de paris, ormonds, opium, cobden club, met bar, etc ad infinitum. but I hit a wall with them all in 2002/3 & I quit bar gigs as I COULDNT FACE PLAYING MUSIC TO CUNTS ANY LONGER. A bit harsh maybe, but you try a saturday night met bar residency for 2 years!!

I love house music.... deep dirty dark vocal house music keeps me up all night. But I came here from a funny direction. From blues, r&b and rock as I kid, via hardcore, drum and bass, then motown, rare groove, boogie and disco. For me growing up in London in the 90s.. house music was shirts, skirts "back once again with the renagade master". I could deal with it, but it wasnt in my heart. I like to think my musical background and the way Ive come to house music gives me a bit of an edge over your average hed kandi comp collector.

And onto my Body Music nights currently based at Plan in London. A good, quality underground house night on a FAT system that has seen me bring over Kerri Chandler, Quentin Harris, Karizma, DJ Spinna, Terry Hunter, Tyrone Francis, JoJo Flores, Yam Who, Raw Deal, Bob Jones to come and play records for me.

I hope this has given some of you who know me a little nuggets you never knew, and those who don't know me impetus to book me or come check out one of my parties. You can find out more about me and my parties on www.myspace.com/andybird or www.bodymusic.org where there is a podcast with some slamming mixes on by our djs.

I've posted 230 comments, I've not posted in the live-chat yet, and I've been spotted 32 times.

My favourite groups

SoulBrew regulars "Soulful music, top venues, London's finest and funkiest crowd, and a dedication to putting on simply great parties - that's SoulBrew!!"	Body Music regulars Body Music regulars group for discussing Body Music parties
Soul City regulars Soul City regulars group for discussing Soul City parties	www.unknownfm.net Unknown FM, London's leading House station invites you to join the family and be a part of the most exciting thing since 1210's!
Bacardi B Live regulars Bacardi B Bar regulars group for discussing Bacardi B Bar parties