Andy D
Andy has been hanging around the dance music scene for several years now, starting out, as you do, playing house parties, before a chance encounter saw him take a crash course in the free party scene, playing alongside the POD soundsystem at festivals such as the now legendary Glastonbury.
Playing with POD gave Andy a taste for all things dance related, pushing him to step into the realm of the club DJ, working his way up from a humble unknown newbie to a residency at the Ministry of Sound, London, which saw him along side Talvin Singh.
It was here at the Ministry, that a DJ called Darren Emerson, approached Andy after one of his sets in the main room and was over heard saying
“Fuck me captain, you know how to steer the ship…” before shaking his hand and walking off.
After his stint at Ministry, Andy decided to return to the free party scene, the music policy was less restrictive and the vibe a lot less claustrophobic than clubland, allowing him to experiment with different music genres.
Andy’s approach to turntablism and music saw him become a fixed regular once again, on the free party scene. However, the honeymoon period was short lived, punters became demanding to play for and were a lot harder to keep dancing. Eventually he turned to the studio and begun to experiment with production.
A studio is hard work for a novice, after a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to produce a sound he was happy with, disillusionment set in and in the late 90’s.
Andy decided to take a break from the music scene altogether. He sold his records, got rid of his decks and went off to see a bit of the world, in other words, he took a well-earned holiday. The holiday just happened to last a little longer than expected.
In early 2000, Andy returned to the UK and eventually found his way back to dance music. In 2002, he packed himself off to music college in a bid to learn new studio skills and get his mojo back.
