So I was born in Auckland back in '74.  It's the year Nixon resigned because of Watergate, Muhammad Ali fights George foreman in the Famous Rumble in the Jungle and the first ever bar-code is scanned in a shop test that people said wouldn't take off.

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In the late 60's My parents emigrated from a small pacific island known as Niue, to study and work in New Zealand,  I was the first born in my family making me a first generation, New Zealand citizen of Niuean descent.  

When I was 14, we moved to Dunedin so Dad could study Theology.  I had no say in it so I left all my friends in Auckland on a new adventure.  I didn't mind too much as I was pretty much a loner at school, and being the oldest of 6 kids, I was responsible for pretty much 80% of the times since both Mum and Dad were working full time jobs back then. 

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I got the biggest culture shock when I got to Dunedin, because in Auckland I was used to seeing a sea of brown faces at school, church, weekend markets, etc.  But in Dunedin I was the only islander in my class, and you could spot me from a mile away in the class photos.  

 

Modelling and Wannabe Rappers

So I did that for a while, and it was good.  I think growing up in a environment like Dunedin where kids are pretty decent, and not really into the crap that Auckland kids got up to in the early 1990's was good,  I learned pretty quickly that people are more interested in you as a person, and not the bullshit you try and spin about how bad ass you were in Auckland.   I can thank John Hallilelo for pointing that out. 

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In high school I got involved with some guys that were into hip hop dance routines.  You see hip hop in the 90's had music videos that had artists dancing choreographed street dance and hip hop style break-dancing.    

We formed a dance group that made routines to Bobby Brown to MC Hammer and Bell Biv Devoe to Run DMC, We loved the idea we could show off our hard work to the entire school assembly. 

Showcasing american R&B/ Hip Hop Music.  

 

A couple of years later after finishing High School a local talent and modelling agency took us on to work for them performing at fashion shows and launches, DJing and teaching classes in "hip hop dance"

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We showed kids that hip hop wasn't a type of music or dance, but a movement or culture that wasn't defined by race or country, but how you feel, and what makes you feel that way.  For us it was a form of self expression that no one at the time was doing in Dunedin.  

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That turned into actual modelling for the agency, and I think it was pretty hilarious at times.  Because of the fact the the other male models at the agency was good at modelling suits, and dressed up clothes, when it came to modelling casual or sporting wear, they struggled to look relaxed, or even look like they enjoyed themselves.  

 

Don't get me wrong, they were awesome walking up and down the catwalk looking like your quintessential model, but when it came to letting loose, and getting your groove on, they look pretty out of place, and pretty square trying to dance up the catwalk.  

 

Queue us hip hop, break-dancing boys, doing back-flips, splits and windmills, killing the crowd and getting the audience to participate.  We were so good at it at some shows, we asked to tone it down because it drew the attention away from what it was supposed to be.  Fashion, and not wannabe rappers and Boys II Men singers.

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DJing

Then in 1994 I met 2 guys living in a flat above a shoe store in the main street of Dunedin.  They ran a local radio station and they played some unknown music that I never heard of on the radio or TV.   Gavin was a DJ from Melbourne that probably had the only set of Technics 1200 turntables in Dunedin, and Mike was a crazy Irishman, that organised house parties and warehouse raves, that at the time cops had no idea what that scene was at the time.  

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Gavin worked in Dunedin's only nightclub - Genesis, and sometimes I would tag along cause I had nothing better to do.  He left that job because he was also working a day job, so he trained me up to learn the subtle art of Djing.

 

This covered, beat-mixing to how to read a dance floor to setting up a PA system.  He even set me up with a stack of records and headphones.   To Gavin, I am forever grateful for your training and education in the Art of Djing, At a time when DJing in the world was still pretty much underground and  un-accessible, you had the faith in me to train me as your apprentice.  

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I went on to DJ in Australia for a small agency that specialised in event functions and corporate events, where I learned everything about DJing to the masses, and gaining a better understanding the world of mobile DJing, but nothing could stop me from doing what I loved the most;  Djing as a resident in a club/bar with a packed dance floor and the crowd loving the music and trusting you to make them dance.

I returned back from Australia in 1997 and then became the Resident DJ at the Captain Cook for 10 years, seeing major changes in bars like the lowering of the drinking age, and the banning of smoking indoors.

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NOW

In 2007 I moved back to Auckland for a career in Customer Services, but I still DJ when I can.  It's not bars or clubs anymore, but I still collect music and make mix tapes to listen to on the way to work.

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People ask me if I've quit DJing, and I say "you can never quit DJing, you are only waiting for your next gig"

They usually roll their eyes every time I say that.

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