Like To Get To Know You Well: Jim

Let's start at the beginning. What was the first record - single or album - you bought with your own money? HONESTLY!

The first album I bought with my own money, was a compilation called "Now Dance 97" - My best friend's sister had an older boyfriend who used to drive us round in his Vauxhall Nova - and he had a cassette tape of a trance record by DJ Quicksilver called "Free" which blew my mind when I was 8. I was obsessed, and spent hours looking for this track everywhere. It was never on the radio - and I spent hours in supermarkets and shops desperately trying to find this track, when one day, in a supermarket, on a fluorescent green covered compilation album, I finally saw it. I begged my Mum to let me part with £9.99 of my hard earned birthday money - and she reluctantly agreed. This compilation also introduced me to the work of Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Moby, The Prodigy and Adam F for the first time - and probably deeply impacted my love of dance music to this day. The first album that was ever bought for me however? Take That and Party! Banger.

Love that! So how did you get into DJing?

I used to play in punk and hardcore bands - and when we were teenagers no pubs would let us play gigs because we were underage. So we used to hire out village & church halls, under the guise of hosting a birthday party for an older relative - and set up live gigs which we'd charge people a small fee for attending. My friend Greeny was a happy hardcore and hip-hop DJ (what a combination) and I was fascinated by it. I started collecting vinyl shortly after, first record I bought was Still D.R.E/The Next Episode. My Dad was the next influence - he collected northern soul records, and when I was 16 he bought a pair of turntables and set them up in our house to play his records. I of course, wore out all his needles trying to scratch hip-hop, and blew speakers playing bassy early 00's classics, like "The Game - How We Do" at full volume. The real turning point for me, that moulded my world of live music and DJing was a book and a mix. I read a book about DJing, which in the first chapter said "If you play in a great band, you might have one song people will remember forever. When you are a DJ, every great song ever written, is yours to pass off as your own". And then I heard Radio Soulwax vol.2. Pop, punk, funk, dance, boogie - all mixed into one melting pot of incredible music. 2manyDJ's changed my life.

What for you are the key cornerstones of a great DJ set?

A great DJ set should be full of groove - it should have your toes tapping, with songs you know and songs you don't. It should make the room feel good. It should have energy and passion. It should be seamless - sounding effortless, even though it's carefully curated. It should take a risk every now and then. There should be some moments that test the audience - by surprising them with something they might not have expected, or a song they have forgotten - as these moments usually elevate the room to fever pitch.

Yes! What 3 records are impossible for you to leave out of any DJ set?

• Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved? (12" mix)
• Daft Punk - One More Time
• Basement Jaxx - Do Your Thing

Tell us about a favourite wedding DJing experience of yours...!

I have so many - but I once DJ'd a wedding for a friend of a friend. It was a really last minute (on the day) booking, and I had to leave my house almost straight away so no time to prepare. All I was told was that the bride liked indie - and the groom liked drum & bass. The wedding was held in a manor house in Derbyshire - and in the living room was a chandelier. As the night progressed from 80's funk and disco - through classic dance, pop and indie. Things got progressively more feral, and as we slid into jungle/drum & bass territory, mixing out of The Strokes - Reptilia into M-Beat - Incredible - the groom and groomsmen, resplendent in their kilts (authentically) were swinging from the chandelier and the bride was crowdsurfing to Shy FX, Vampire Weekend & The Cure. We went late into the night, closing off with some smooth R&B classics - some sweaty hugs, and I left, never seeing any of them again. Good people.

That is amazing, ha! So what 5 artists best represent your variety and diversity of musical tastes?

• The Cure
• Wu-Tang Clan
• Olivia Rodrigo
• The Chemical Brothers
• Nina Simone

What one track is your surefire guaranteed floorfiller?

Robin S - Show Me Love has rarely failed.

Do you think DJing a wedding differs in any way from a regular DJ set - and if so, how? - or do the core principles remain the same?

I think wedding sets are more personal than a general DJ set. I like to work closely with a couple to make sure that not only are good songs going to be played, but the songs that mean something to them, even if people don't understand why, are worked into the set in a way that keeps the party moving. When me and my wife got married, we had Talking Heads - Nothing But Flowers as our first dance. When we met, we were both into Talking Heads and sort of meticulously going through their back catalogue. We fell in love quickly - and Nothing But Flowers was a song we used to listen to when walking together, holding hands and sharing wired headphones, in the heat of the summer. Some years later, whilst we planned our wedding, we were visiting Kendal for a weekend away, and sat in a bar, whilst that song played. We stood up immediately, danced to it and we knew in that moment that would be our first dance. Why am I sharing this story? Because I know that you, as a bride or groom, will have those exact musical moments with each other - your friends and your family. Let's customise your party for you - with music you love - and music that means something more to you.

Love that. And what's the most unusual or memorable first dance record you've ever played?

My friends love the song 'Keep the Customer Satisfied' by Simon & Garfunkel. I had never heard it until they told me it was their first dance - and it's just a brilliant feel good, pop song that only S&G could write. It still reminds me of how happy they looked as they twirled around the dance floor. A joy.

Great song! What 10 albums would be your Desert Island Discs?

Corinne Bailey Rae - Self Titled

Prince - Purple Rain

Daft Punk - Discovery

Bob Marley - Exodus

Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

Fontaines D.C - Romance

Arctic Monkeys - Suck It & See

Ezra Collective - Where I'm Meant To Be

De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising

Nina Simone - Baltimore

Do you have any big DJing no-no's?

Rudeness, on both sides. I love talking to people, I love requests - but I think both parties should be treated with respect.

And finally...fundamentally, what can a couple expect from you as their wedding DJ?

A DJ with nearly 2 decades of experience DJing and making rooms of different people move, around the world. From the coolest back rooms of Berlin to Apres Ski - from student club nights to intimate rooms of 30 in a dark sweaty venue. I'll work with you to customise a killer on the day playlist - and mix it accordingly.