"WE ARE NOT HERE FOR A LONG TIME, WE ARE HERE FOR A GOOD TIME"
for a FREE copy of my latest mix please CLICK... sendspace.com The mix is approx 1 hour from my Slammin Vinyl West Fest V.I.P set for the DSI Arena, its HOUSE MUSIC!!!!
ANYONE WITH SERIOUS DJ WORK PLEASE GET IN CONTACT WITH ME THRU THE USUAL CHANNELS OR VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE ON DSI, MYSPACE OR FACEBOOK...
email address... djfunkytoast@yahoo.co.uk
BIG shout outs to the following families... Slammin Vinyl/DSI West Fest, Pams House, PHunky, Groove Est, Kidology, Smartie Partie, Soul Village Weekender, Incognito, DirtyDisco, Connected, Hey Georgeous, Degeros, What Da Funk and all the others i have worked with and thats not forgettin the Loyal Love-Bug Family!!!
"My NEW PB a Mirror Carp called "Time Out" @ 24lb"
"House Music Allnight Long... say wot... HOUSE MUSIC ALLNIGHT LONG"
www.myspace.com/lovebughouse
"HOUSE IS A FEELING"
photo by DSI legend Marc-de-Groot photographer to the stars
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Funky-Toast's Interview/Biog with DSI's jacKofKats
Funky Toast has been a DJ in East Anglia since 1996. This has given him a remarkable overview of Dance Music as he has progressed from a Hard House and Trance DJ and matured into a House music maestro, able to use all the technical skills at his disposal in order to create sublime mixes of funky, vocal, uplifting house.
Over the years Toast has had many influences and leanings within the entire musical spectrum, not just through house. For instance, he can even cite musical inspiration from sources as diverse as Kenny G, Stevie Wonder, Jamariquai, Marshall Jefferson, Masters at Work, Deacon Blue, Alexander O’Neal and Bob Marley the list could go on forever. Danny Rampling, and his Love Groove dance party has been a huge influence on both his musical and promotional career.
“First time I heard Rampling must have been the Summer of Ninety Five” Toast tells us. “At the tender age of fifteen… I used to go out to a lot of band orientated festivals, mainly Reggae before that. On one particular nothing out of the ordinary Friday night I quite literally tuned into his show on Radio One, and Rampling’s blend of vocal house with the big dropping piano lines had me hooked”
Before he knew what had hit him Toast was in possession of his first set of decks. “I didn’t fuck around with belt-drives” he admits, “I was straight to the 1210s” all bought with saved up cash from his Saturday job around the time of his Sixteenth birthday. He’s self-taught with a few pointers from Richard Carruthers who explained the structure of four by four beats. It wasn’t long before the DJ slots started to come, with nights at Bluenotes, the legendary Tiffany’s in Gt. Yarmouth, alongside numerous cheeky sets played at nights in the middle of nowhere that never happened.
“A set that particularly comes to my mind when I think back is a Danny De’Mere (AKA Flytronix) private invite party” Toast reminisces. “It was one of my first big nights on the listing. David James, Paul Christian and Steve ‘Scratch’ Whurley were headlining the bill. It was one of those nights when you had about 250 people in a room where you weren’t supposed to be. Around two hundred and fifty real music lovers. I remember dropping tunes like Eddie Amador’s ‘House Music’, The Don ‘Horn Song’ and David Morales “Needin’ You”, it was the first time I experienced an affinity with a big crowd. I understood what people meant by ‘read the crowd’ and ‘playing the crowd’ as well. Seeing the people react to my tune selection and mixing, giving everyone a great night; I came off the decks buzzing and had a smile on my face all night”
After establishing his young talent on the East coast of England, Toast went on to play many more times at Tiffany’s. He broke into Norwich playing at the hugely popular sophisticated Milky Lunch house night as well as playing the Legendary Pam House and SoulShaker nights, aswell as being a regular guest DJ for the East Coasts Pioneering House Night "The Qat Club", Cliffy and the crew helped to mold my taste in the Underground House Music Scene. As he went from strength to strength he appeared on the same billing as LTJ Bukem, albeit in the second room playing house, but still an achievement for any DJ barely 18 years old back in those talent saturated days of the Nineties. He is also proud to off being involved DJ'in for the Legendary Dance Paradise re-union event at its Spiritual home Tiffany's now called the Arean in Great Yarmouth.
When the big Trance sound and the Two Step takeover came around in the late Nineties, Toast moved onwards with the Harder House sound staying true to his love of evocative music, expressing it through a high energy sound. His love of uplifting House had found a new home. One of the highpoints of this time in his career was playing alongside Steve Blake (TidyTrax) and Nick Sentience (Nukleuz).
“A lot of my clubbing was based around seeing the names and faces, our club heroes at that time” Toast says. “However, one of my biggest loves has always been the East Anglian Free Party scene. Of course,” he smiles “I’ve never been to anything like the Thetford Forest raves, let alone near any farmland”
After the millennium Toast rediscovered the slower, more chilled vibe of the main floor house sound. This at the time was not the well loved music of the people, but rather a second dog to the Big Beat and Dn’B explosions of the south. “I took stick for years for being a House DJ” Toast says, “but the music was always close to my heart. ‘House is a feeling’, nuff said.” As he matured musically he realised where his loyalties lied with a return to the music that had caught his soul in the first place. “Many of my mates are heavily involved in the Liquid (then called Intelligent) Drum and Bass scene, we’ve always had banter between ourselves but alongside a deep respect for anyone playing music outside of the normal, fashionable, commercial scene”
Loyalty was paid off as Toast decided to take his career into his own hands launching “Love-Bug”, a friendly funky House night in Lowestoft in the late nineties. The night, still going strong has toured all around East Anglia and is a well recognised brand with strong following in the area. The night focuses on underground house, jackin’ house together with blends of classic melodies with nu-skool flavours creating a strong, vibrant music policy.
The success of Love-Bug has lead to Toast gaining further notoriety on the scene. He has now played Thames Boat parties and is regularly booked for his talents in London and Ibiza and the occasional festival or Soul Village weekender. Sets at Turnmills, Brixton Jamm, Whitehouse for labels like the hot and upcoming Kidology and well established Smartie Partie. Such experience has lead to him becoming a consistent artist of cutting and blending both vinyl and CDJ’s. Some say anyone can mix on 2 CDJs these days. “If you can’t do it with vinyl, you’re not a real DJ” Toast assures us. “It’s the old skool, its how the scene developed and started.” He puts his money where his mouth is with mixing skills on up to four decks, and that’s vinyl for the record, excuse the pun.
If you’re at a party and he’s on the decks, you’ll be able to judge for yourself, don’t take my word for it. Of course, if you’re out there looking for a great party DJ then we’d recommend this man, after all, whilst writing this biography we’ve been listening to a Toast mix. “It’s not great” he says, demanding it back as he doesn’t want the copy on general release. I don’t care, I’ve taken it off him, it’s that bloody good I’m not letting it go!
Funky-Toast has played with some of major names in the House Music Industry, they include the following... Joey Negro aka Dave Lee (Z-Records), K-Klass, Bobby & Steve (Garage City), Alex Miles (bora bora), Rob Wilder (M.O.S/Hed Kandi), Allister Whitehead (Fantazia), Glyne Braithwaite (Hed Kandi/Stereo Sushi), Andy Warburton (hed kandi), BeatThiefs (beatthiefs.com), Filthy Rich, Jay Funk (Pams House/ES Paradise), Mark Wilkinson (Kidology), Lisa Lashes, BK (Nukleuz), Steve Blake (Tidytracks), Nick Sentance (Nukluez), PFM and LTJ Bukem (Progression Sessions), Agnelli & Nelson & Lisa Pin Up to mention only a few
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“Video Games don’t affect Kids. If Pacman had affected us as Kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms munching Magic Pills & listening to Repetitive Electronic Music” Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc. 1989.
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"House Music Allnight Long... say wot... HOUSE MUSIC ALLNIGHT LONG"
I've posted , 2,206 live chat messages, and I've been spotted 1,780 times.
Music I listen to: Club Classics, Funky House, Jackin House, Electro House, Soulful House, Deep House, US House, US Garage, Hard House, Trance, Breaks, Reggae, Funk, Disco, Jazz
Places I visit: London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Miami, Portsmouth, Norwich, Bournemouth, Southend-on-Sea, Poole, Ipswich, Brighton, Chelmsford, Ibiza, Bath, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth