Back in the 80s when the rules of hip hop came crashing into our teenage heads, some of us took to the microphone, others choose a can of spray of paint, others bought a rolls of lino to practice breakdancing on. For me however, it was DJing. Before I became interested in production or beatmaking, or even directing other musical artists, turntables were my first true love. Hours spent practising, scratching and cutting my first two records together. Those two records are now two of many in my collection. A collection that holds an integral (and imposing) part of my life.

The process of compiling started six or seven years ago, an itch that I scratched by putting out the Beach Diggin compilations. Exploring dusty crates for hours, unearthing those pearls and gluing them together with others of their kind. Bits of this, bits of that, looking back it's what made me want to return to DJing, and so return to it I did.

More recently, if I'm not on stage or in the studio, I spend my time crossing the world behind two turntables and a mixer, often dancing as much as those in the crowd. For most of my sets I'll have around a hundred records with me, I'll draw from them depending on the state of mind in that particular moment. Call it my immediate stock of music if you like. Things in my bag may only remain in there a short period of time before getting swapped out for something else. Others may make an appearances a little more often, then of course there are the loyal favourites that may stay in my bag for months on end and feature in all my sets.

So for this compilation, 'Straight From The Decks', there are seventeen tunes that constitute the true essence of my DJ sets. To listen at home, or to remind you of the atmosphere you may have experienced at one of them. Or, perhaps to entice you to attend the next one...

Pura Vida
Guts.