Rosco, Tell me about your musical background in Sheffield. How did you get into dance music? When and Where did you first go clubbing and start DJing?

The first club that I went to was Rise in Sheffield, at age fourteen. It was a Miss Moneypennies Tour. The next club was Gatecrasher, with Sonique and Tony de Vit headlining. From that night on, I started buying dance music on vinyl and playing them on my Dad's record player. This continued until he got too annoyed, and bought me my own set of decks in 1997. I started to make tapes in my bedroom, giving and sending them out, promoting myself.

What were you doing before you started playing at Trade?

I was at the University of Leeds studying a Management Degree. Leeds is where I first started DJing in clubs at quite a few one offs. Then whilst still studying I got my first residency on Saturday nights at a new venue called NG1 in Nottingham, when I was 17. After that I played Reaktor in Sweden, and a couple of gigs for Sundissential. The first time was Sundissential North in Leeds in May 2000; I played the last set, covering for Fergie.

So how did you land your Trade residency. You've actually been with Trade for a while now, but only recently started playing in London?

When I was in Ibiza in 1999, I was working for Trade, handing out flyers. On my return, I kept in touch with them, and sent them copies of my mix CDs. Soon after this they booked me to play at a Trade event. My debut gig was at Trade Eire in Wexford in February last year. After this, I went to Ibiza to take up two residencies at Trade and Manumission for the duration of the 2001 season. I started playing at Trade in London after I returned to England from Ibiza last October.

How would you describe your style? What are you in to?

It's hard to pinpoint, as I wouldn't describe myself as hard or funky, I'm somewhere in the middle. What I play crosses over many genres; house, tribal, techno and some progressive stuff. Overall my style has a tough, driving theme, which maintains a groovy edge, as it seems to work best in a club environment. What I play crosses over into both the Main floor and the Lite lounge at Trade, so I play both rooms. I play differently in each club that I work. Playing one style everywhere wouldn't work, because not all clubs are the same and different crowds are into different things. I like to go to a venue and get a feel for the place before I play there.

How do you see the music scene in 2002, and where is the sound going?

I see the Hard Dance sound possibly going off in two directions, one harder leaning towards Nu-Nrg and the other going in a funkier direction. Other genres are also being affected. The House scene is already shifting towards a tougher theme, with labels such as Subliminal and Sondos coming out with some tougher House and Tribal productions, which are really exciting. From Hard Dance tunes, we see that an uptempo pitch works and people react to a tougher beat. These themes translate through to tracks in the other styles. This is seen in quite a lot that I'm playing. For example, artists such as D. Ramirez, Richard F and Robbie Rivera, who's Funkatron is quite Hard Dance based. Overall I think we are going to see a general shift in the tougher direction, which I'm all for.

Tell me about playing for Trade in Ibiza and Los Angeles?

I was in Ibiza during the 2001 season playing at Privilege twice a week for Trade and Manumission and, which was great when things started to get going. Being in Ibiza for four months was brilliant, especially when I got the chance to play at Space, which is most DJs dream. I found that Ibiza was an amazing and special place, thousands of people descending on one island for music and clubbing. Also I'm playing in Los Angeles about every six weeks in the main room at the Hollywood Palace, which is a lot of fun.

How does the club scene differ between Los Angeles and London?

Playing to the American crowd is quite different to the UK. The majority of what they are hearing is quite new to them, so I try to play tracks that are more accessible. I play more vocals and more anthemic tracks than usual, but I still keep a tribal theme, which they can relate to. But some of the more Progressive tracks don't have the same impact as they do in the UK. From a younger person's point of view, the main difference is that there aren't as many people under the age of 21 in clubs, due to their legislation on alcohol. This is probably why non club-orientated styles are so popular over there. More and more people are getting into it though, along with more and more UK clubs running nights there on a regular basis. The potential dance music scene is huge; the success of Trade in LA has been astounding.

As a producer, do you have any collaborations or tracks planned?

Production is an area that I'm defiantly moving into. I'm currently half way through a track with an American producer, which I'm going to complete the next time that I'm in the States. At the moment I'm looking for someone to team up with in the UK to release a track before the summer is over, and I'm going to be collaborating with Peter Ward.

You're been presenting a Radio show as well?

I was on Ministry Radio, presenting the Trade experience until the end of last year. In October last year, I did a mix for the Sharp Boys show on Kiss FM for the past Trade Birthday. Also I'm set to do shows for Groove Radio in America and mixes for Trust the DJ Radio, which is another popular internet station.

What do you do when you're not at Trade?

I try to get some rest, and relax with a cup of tea. I'm a bit of a 'Sex and the City' fan on TV.
Also, I practise DJing, sometimes up to four hours per day. I'm always on the lookout for new records to play and I collect eighties music, and love listening to it too. The rest of the time I like to go out, socialising with mates, and do some clothes shopping. Apart from this, I'm quite into Cooking. Being from Yorkshire I love to make a Sunday Roast, and I cook a mean Spanish Paella as well.

When did you first go to Trade?

The first time that I went to Trade was at the 10th Birthday in October 2000. I was supposed to DJ in Sweden on that night, but when I got to the airport, I discovered that my passport had run out. I had to come back to London with no money, and didn't have anywhere to go; but I knew that friends of mine were at Trade that night. I had the best night of my life. It must have been fate, because that was when I ran into the Trade staff again, and got my first booking.
I first played there at the end of October 2001. I was really nervous, because Trade has such a high reputation for DJs, and it's not the easiest thing starting off there. I played a tough house set in the second slot, and got a really good reaction. It was fantastic and very satisfying, The crowd at Trade is very responsive.

What are your favourite labels and artists at the moment?

I like a German collective of labels such as Superbra and Phontmusic, also Anodyne has been producing some great stuff. There's an American label called Sondos and Headroom music, which is a Belgian collective. Artists that I'm into at the moment are D Ramirez, R Rivera, Wally Lopez, Dr Kucho and Champion Burns.

Ever had any embarrassing moments as a DJ?

When I was playing at Sundissential North, a girl threw her knickers into the DJ box, and they landed on my head. So I autographed them and threw them back.

You're new to Trade, Has it been hard to catch up on the past eleven years?

I do feel that I missed out on the early days of clubbing in London, when Trade started and people were going to FF. I wasn't around when Trade was taking off, and becoming well known. I also missed out on quite a lot of the music, progression and some of the Techno scene. The good thing about being younger though, is that some people tend to underestimate me, so it's even better when I do well.

You've told me you get a lot of records from the Internet? Also what's your favourite website?

Shopping on the Internet is great; I tend to spend more time on there shopping for music than going round record shops. It's really efficient, with next day delivery. You can listen to the tracks online, and you can order from abroad, those obscure imports.
Apart from music sites, I find the hotmail site the most useful, I'm always checking the Trade message board. I've been looking at housing and property websites; and reading the reviews of circuit parties in America.

What can we expect from you in 2002, and any other predictions for the future?
I'm going to be playing at Trade, with some more experimental sets. I'm getting into techno influenced music, which I think will be coming a bit more mainstream. For instance, there's been a Detroit techno re-release called Octave1- Blackwater, and it's charting. I think we'll see techno influences in the overall music scene.

Any thing else you want to say?

One of the most important things to me is feedback after my sets. I would really appreciate it if people passed their comments on to me. Either at the club after I've played or leave me a message on the Trade message forum at www.tradeuk.net. Oh, and a drink is always appreciated. I'll have a Gin and Tonic please.
See you at Trade.

Interview and words by Ramón.

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