Confessions of a DJ DJ Debstar, Wire
We find out why Wire is a top choice for your New Year's Eve celebrations
Confessions of a DJ: DJ Debstar, Wire
Other Recent Confessions of a DJ Articles
When did you first start DJing and how long have you been resident at Wire?
I started DJing in March 2000 at ThinkTank, which was taken over and became Wire, so I’ll have been resident at Wire for ten years next March. The night I started at ThinkTank and kept in Wire, Fuzzy Logic, is also ten next May, so Wire will be having a couple of parties in 2010!
How would you describe Stereotypes to a newcomer to Leeds?
Stereotypes is a night for people who don’t fit any stereotype themselves, an alternative club night that recognises the fact that most people don’t stick fiercely to one genre any more - they want to dance to good music no matter what label the media have put on it. It’s predominately guitar-based music, but we play tracks by artists such as Justice, Prodigy and MGMT as well. We play indie, rock, electro, punk, 50s rock’n'roll, grunge, Mod, Britpop, 70s glam and ska/two-tone. Across a one-hour set, a Stereotypes DJ could play artists as diverse as The Strokes, Madness, Prince, The Beatles, QOTSA, The Cribs, Interpol and Florence and the Machine.
And we like to talk to the clubbers and take requests. We get so many good ones we can never fit them all in but we do take note for future nights - the clubbers help shape our sets as much as we do. Playing at New Year’s Eve will be myself and Fabianski. We’re planning an onslaught of hit after hit after hit - no duds, no trying to be clever, just a really happy vibe with things to sing along to and things to pogo-til-you-drop to. Every New Year’s Eve we’ve done at Wire has been really friendly and chilled, and we hope to keep that going this year.
How have your musical tastes evolved over the years?
I’ve become a lot more open-minded than when I first started, when if it wasn’t Britpop or Mod then it wasn’t any good. Up until I started DJing I didn’t own any dance/electro music aside from New Order. I’m still quite opinionated - just ask anyone who DJs with me - and if I don’t like something, I will say so. It’s a long-standing joke in the club, but I really do not like The Killers. I find them generic, derivative and dull - the three worst things a band can be. As I get older, I’m less preoccupied with looking cool, and more ready to admit I like a good pop tune. Girls Aloud, Take That and McFly are mainstays on my iPod these days - ten years ago I’d never admit to myself I liked that kind of thing! My dad has an iPod and is building up his music collection again - he likes things like Queen, Kraftwerk, Beach Boys, Motown, Kaiser Chiefs and ELO - you can see where I get my musical tastes from! I’ve given him some Muse and Ladytron to listen to, I hope he’s liked it.
Have you made any exciting new musical discoveries recently?
Dananananaykroyd brought out a super album and were amazing live at the Brudenell. They have so much energy onstage, with six members flying about everywhere, but still manage to keep the sound ultra-tight. I’ve decided I want to form a Look North-themed tribute band called Christatatatackroyd - who’s in? As I work at Leeds College of Music for my day job there are always great musicians kicking around, and a name to watch out for in the near future is John Newman. Finally, I thought the VV Brown album was really under-rated. I’ve heard snatches of tracks on BBC trailers and programmes lately so maybe she’s a slow-burner for 2010.
Other than DJing, what do you get up to in your spare time?
I’m the stadium announcer for Garforth Town Football Club. This involves reading out team sheets, announcing goals and scorers, announcing substitutions and anything else that’s going on. I’m DJing at Wire on New Year’s Eve, then going to Garforth on New Year’s Day for a big game against Halifax Town - luckily it’s a 3pm kick-off and I’m teetotal! I also like word games like Scrabble. I do a lot of reading, mainly non-fiction, and I’m partial to a bit of poker, Texas Hold ‘Em being my favourite.
What do you like and dislike about Leeds?
Leeds is home, I was born here. It’s a lovely compact city and all the best places are easy to get to. You can walk from one end of the city centre to the other in about 20 minutes - do you think you could do that in, say, Birmingham or London? It’s mostly a very pretty city too, with lots of historical features still intact and some lovely buildings - you can go on Leodis.net to see how the city centre has evolved. Saying that, the new buildings going up are hideous. That chequerboard thingy on Mill Street, and the grey triangular horror it sits next to. Did the architect’s toddler design them with his crayons? All the green glass and chrome stuff being thrown up is just terrible. It’s sucking the character out of the city. Leeds is great for sports fans, with Leeds United, the Rhinos, the international cricket at Headingley and the mighty Garforth Town!
At the end of the decade, how does the Leeds music scene compare now to 2000?
It’s an odd one this, because I think the scene in Leeds has gone from trough to peak in around 2004-2006, back to trough again now. There are still good bands out there, some very good - Eureka Machines are on tour with Electric 6 at the moment - but they’re not getting as much exposure at present. This does mean that the ‘teenies’ could potentially start a new explosion, which would be very exciting indeed!
Stereotypes NYE Party, Wire, 2A Call Lane, LS1 6DN, 0113 234 0980
Posted on Thursday 17th December 2009
SO'H
Sending you to Twitter, hold on... 
