Tell us a little about your background and how you first became involved in music.

In the past, I've done all sorts of things, from Bingo calling and local radio presentation and voiceover work to hotel management and media sales, but now im a DJ and producer which will hopefully carry on...

What were your original musical inspirations?

I was really into electro and hip hop pre 1991, then people like Carl Cox after that and then guys like Derrick May, Robert Hood and labels like R&S, Rellief and DJAX really influenced my DJing and music, but i also get lots of inspiration from music my parents used to play.

How did you first make the leap from being a raver to getting behind the decks yourself?

I used to go to raves in 1990-1992 and got hooked, then started DJing and it went from there. As well as the big parties, every Friday we went to a club called Milwaukees which was a mental place in Bedford where Carl Cox, and all the big DJs used to play every week. It held about 250 people and it was great as you could see exactly how they mixed etc so picked up some tips and went off and did it for myself. I started going to places like Club UK, Lost and Open @ Ministry in 1993/94 and thats where the techno side of things came about.

What are you favourite parties - both back in the day and here and now?

Aside from the ones i mentioned already, Atomic Jam has always been a big part of things, which is even better as i have been resident there for the last 5 years as well. I love playing places like Holland, Spain and Central/Eastern Europe as the crowds there are generally excellent, and my favourite place that I play a couple of times a year is Firefly in Nottingham which is really fun - its a big rave in an old Ballroom and the crowd are up for anything.

Tell us a little about Flux Recordings?

Flux has been going for about 6/7 years now and has always out out a wide mix of dancefloor stuff. I run it with Andi who i have known since we were really young - (we went to school together), and i do the music side of things while he presents me with spreadsheets and generally gives me a hard time.

How would you describe the kind of music you make and play?

My productions are also 100% dancefloor material. Im not one of these guys that churns out hunderds of tracks as I'm first and fortemost a DJ who produces not the other way round. My Petrolbomb EP on Flux (available from all good stores) would be a good example of what I do. I play everything techno really - from "upbeat" funky minimal, through acid and chicago to straight up techno and dark stuff, depending on where i play. Some clubs I like dropping old rave tracks and edits I've done of them and others I play more of a serious set. I just try and mix things up and surprise the crowd (in a good way!). I certainly couldnt play 1 sound all night that would bore me to tears. Now that I use Serato Scratch its so much easier for me to do what I want to do as well as I can take thousands of records with me and get more creative.

What are your thoughts on the current state of the UK techno scene?

Yeah its healthy and its changed a lot recently too. A few years ago the UK ruled the techno world and now although the focus is more European, the UK has really embraced techno as with the minimal thing, people from the progressive, techno house and even the vocal house scenes have got into it and thats a good thing if you ask me. It means that techno isnt a dirty word any more and people have finally opened up their ears.

Closer is all about hearing techno in a more intimate space - do you enjoy playing at these kinds of parties?

Yeah, its going to be good, I love playing these sorts of places. The lineup is great - im good friends with James, Franki and Steve so i think the vibe should be really fun and hopefully the crowd will pick up on that and go for it

What kind of set can we expect to hear from you on August 16th?

It'll be a full on party set from me its pretty safe to say!

Finally, if you had to hazard a guess where do you think youíll be doing in five years time?

Musically, its so hard to tell but hopefuly ill still be doing what i am doing now, hopefully having had a record or 2 out that have done well and I can be relaxing in my Ibizan mansion. Im also getting started on a new project outside of music which is comedy related, and I'm really excited about that too