Q. Happy New Year, Fergie. Did you have a good one? What did you get up to?

Happy New Year to you too! I had the perfect end to ‘007 by bringing in ‘008 at SHINE in Northern Ireland, a club I have wanted to play for years so it was a major gig for me.

Q. Apart from kicking off the year for Guilt - more on that in a bit - what are your big aims for 2008? Any New Years resolutions? Are you back in Ibiza this year?

A. Well, first up is our Excentric nights - they've been building momentum over the past year and we are already booked for a lot more events throughout the UK and Ireland. And then there's the label. I just have so many ideas bouncing around in my head I’ll be churning it out this year, kicking off with a new E.P out in January on Excentric Muzik. I’ve also done a track with Gregor Tresher which is out on Great Stuff - add to that a remix I’ve just finished for the Bigger Than Jesus boys - that will come out on Silverplanet late January…not a bad start to 2008!

As you know we also have Excentric Artists where we look after a few D.Js who are set to make an impression and who I think are gonna do very well. And then of course there’s Ibeeeeeeefa…. so there’s a whole heap of stuff going on.

Q. I've heard the story of you turning up for your first day at secondary school with dreadlocks and trainers. So have you always been a bit ‘Excentric’ then? (See what I did there?)

A. What are you like!? Well, yeah I suppose I have always been a wee bit out there. I did get sent home from school because of the dread locks as they said it was inappropriate for school uniform but as there were girls with dreads in their hair, I couldn’t really see what they were moaning about. So there was a stand off, which I loved! School didn’t really like me but I wasn’t bothered as I didn’t really like it either - so there was no love lost.

Q. Any sign of calming down anytime soon, now that you’re an old fart? Do you see yourself carrying on for many years to come?
That’s nice, thanks! Old 28 - yeah I think I must be ready to retire... Not a chance. I know I have been around for quite a long time but that’s because I was a very lucky 16 year old when Tony brought me over to play the clubs in England. I have been very fortunate to play in a lot of different countries and play with so many D.Js. It’s only been in the last year that I have really sat down and looked at everything I have experienced and have put that into my D.J-ing and also into the studio. So you’re not getting me on the D.J scrap heap yet, I feel I’m in the best place I have ever been both with the music I’m playing and the focus I have towards my D.J-ing.

Q. You've always been into pushing the boundaries of modern dance music, what do you feel about the 80's revival of late? Do you think it should be left in the past, or are you into mixing up the old and new? How do you feel about bands like The Klaxons?

A. Yeah, I like to push new music that catches my ear. I know I’m not pushing something that people haven’t heard before but I do feel that I take music from some clubs and play it in other clubs were you wouldn’t normally here it… Which exposes it to a completely new crowd. I think the 80s thing has been around for along time and I think that it has been on its way out for a while. I’m quite a big 80's fan but I tend to keep that for when I’m in my house with the curtains closed and the iPod on full blast. There nothing like having a few shandys and busting out some moves.. Yeah I like the Klaxons I think there bringing something a little bit different to the table as they mix up their live band stuff but they still keep their club presence.

Q. And are you a fan of bands doing DJ sets? What about celebrity DJs?

A. Well, I’m all for anyone who wants to D.J as long as they're into the music. If bands like to do a D.J set like the Klaxons often do then this is a good thing as it opens it up to people who would normally only go to see the Klaxons band, but by them doing a D.J set its giving their fans a wee peek at what goes on in are dark little clubs, which is a good thing because for a while there the young people were bypassing the electronic music that was going on in club and just going to see bands, so yeah its all good.

Q. Where's been the best gig you've been to in the last 6 months?

A. Again this has to be SHINE on NYE, I have wanted to play there for such a long time so to be home which I haven’t been on new years eve for 11 years and also to play the Mandela Hall with Phil Kieran, Speedy J, and Silicon Soul was the perfect start to the new year.

Q. Speaking of amazing gigs, are you looking forward to playing for Guilt on the 26th January?

A. Well we have been trying to sort this gig for quite a while but as I normally play different clubs in Brighton it didn’t happen, but we have got it in the bag now! I have to say I am really looking forward to it as I’ve heard so many good things about it. I particularly like the whole intimate thing that they have got going on down there. And I feel really positive towards what you guys at Guilt are building.

Q. I have seen you a few times before in Brighton- but always at the bigger clubs before - do you like the vibe down here?

A. Yeah, I have been down quite a lot over the years,
Brighton has been good to me in that they always seem to let me go off and do my own thing musically which is ace. But equally they wont be to slow in coming up to you and telling you to sort it out if their not into it. So yeah there a good bit of give and take. I always seem to miss my flight home when I’m down there though it must be the sea air hmmmmmmmmmm!

Q. What sort of set are we going to get? You aren't one to be pigeon-holed into a genre, are you?

A. Well I was pigeon-holed for such a long time with the whole hard house label, which was o.k as that’s were I made my name and enjoyed playing it for a long time, but I felt that hard house changed quite a lot so it was time for me to move. Over the last 5 to 6 years I have been more on the techno, electronic scene which covers such a wide range of music so that’s what I will be playing. I think I’m playing for 2 hours so there won’t be much of a warm up more like lets get at it sort of vibe. I do like to play longer as it gives me a chance to play across the board and there is nothing more exciting than when you put the first record on in a club and also putting the last record on! I like the feeling you get when you see people coming in to the club… edging towards the dance floor and gradually getting ready to just go for gold…

Q. Your style has changed a lot since you first burst onto the scene. Do you still get grief from the old hard house fans, or do you think they've finally got over it and accepted your current style?

A. [laughs] Well I did get it in the neck for quite a long time but I feel that you have to go with your heart and my heart wasn’t into how hard house was developing. It just didn’t make sense to me any more as it was just getting harder and basically I felt that it just lost its groove. But you know I did have a good time playing it. And I still say to this day that the days I was paying in Trade in London were some of the best times I had. I think a lot of D.Js change their music as they move through their career but I did it quite dramatically! I just took all the records out of my record box and didn’t play them again… Well, not until about 4 years later when I went back to do a 1 off old set at the Tidy weekend. I dug very deep in to my old records which was ace, but I could see that quite a lot of the people didn’t even know the tracks I was playing!

Q. It seems to me like the hard house scene in the UK has certainly quieted down in the last couple of years. Do you think the same will happen to Electro eventually? What do you think the next craze will be? Excentricism?

A. I think hard house is still out there but we just don’t hear about it as much. I look in most music magazines and if I come across the hard house reviews I always see BK’s name mentioned. Like it or not he has been at the top of his game for a long time so fair play to him. The electro thing has also been there for such a long time but I think it got commercialized and watered down so much that it was just crap. If you look at D.Js like Hell or Felix the House Cat these guys have been making electro in its true form for years. Musically I think were in the best place we have been in for a while… There are so many new people coming through. Before you would go to a club and D.J and most of the people on the dance floor would be wanna be D.Js… But now the clubs are packed with young people who bring back what they hear at the club into their own studios and just push it even further by putting their own twist on it … In my opinion we are living in a very exciting time!

Q. If there was anything you would change about what you've done in your career so far, or how you did it, what would it be?

A. If I could remember half of it that would be nice!

Q. OK to finish on the REAL Fergie... Tell me your top 3 NON dance tunes of all time.

i) Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart.

ii) New Order - True Faith

iii) Queen - I'm Going Slightly Mad

Catch Fergie in Brighton on the 26th Jan with Guilt! Check out the website www.guilt-club.com - grab your tickets now!

The Joey.