Interview with Eskie (Tony W)

[ChrisPointon 0]

The DJU weekly series of Interviews continues. This week we talk to London based DJ, Eskie (Tony W).

 

 

How long have you been DJ'ing?

 

Professionally (full time) 17 years; earning money from it 21 years; but first started 28 years ago!

 

What inspired you to become a DJ?

 

I started buying a lot of records from a very young age, probably cos there was always music being played in my house. My mum is an Elvis fanatic and she has every record he has ever released in the UK plus many US releases. My step brother was always playing Jimi Hendrix. As a kid I hated Elvis & Hendrix! Although I like them both now.

 

I did a paper round aged 9 to 11 and then a milk round from 11 until I was 16 and spent all my wages on buying records. As my collection started building up, whenever a friend had a party they’d ask me to bring some of my records along. I quickly learnt that most people don’t know how to treat records properly, and so I wouldn’t let anyone else touch my vinyl, and thus often ended up playing the music throughout the party.

 

What type of "Do" was your first gig?

 

As above, birthday parties. First paid gig was as part of a Reggae Sound System (called Capricorn One) on the Brixton Front Line (Railton Rd) in summer of 1982.

 

How much did you charge (Mikeee please convert this from Shilings and pence to decimal when it’s your go..)

 

Can’t remember. There were 4 of us, we had just started the sound system and the money was supposed to be split 4 ways, but it was put towards buying/making new equipment. This became a regular thing and we never seemed to make a penny from it. As with all sound systems we made our own speaker cabs, most of which were the size of large wardrobes!

 

What equipment did you have to begin with?

 

The 4 of us pooled various equipment together, My JVC AX-1 amp was used to drive the tweeters, can’t remember which power amps were used for the mid & bass cabs. A single turntable was used, as one of us would ‘toast’ between tracks.

For those of you unfamiliar with what a Reggae Sound System is; it would consist of usually at least 4 guys often as many as 9, 10 or more. There would be loads of speakers, usually stacked to the ceiling of the venue. The bass would consist of reflex cabs and double 18” cabs, so that the whole venue would shake to the bass. Prior to the 90’s only one turntable would ever be used cos between tracks the ‘DJ’ would ‘toast’ which you could say is the reggae equivalent of rapping. He would ‘big up’(self-acclaim!) the sound system, and advertise future ‘dances’ (events) that they’d be playing at, and if it was a ‘sound clash’ (where 2 sound systems compete with each other) he would tell the other sound system to ‘sign off’ (stop playing and go home!).

 

I branched off on my own in 83 and called my mobile: “Streetlife Sounds”, and my first mobile rig was a Cloud console which consisted of 2 BSR belt drive decks and a Cloud amp. I can’t remember the speakers, except they were huge and bleedin heavy! Some traffic light boxes and some other lights which I can’t remember.

 

Whets the worst/most embarrassing thing you've done in front of an audience?

 

At a wedding once the groom (who I knew reasonably well) asked me months before to play Prince-‘The most beautiful girl’ as the 2 of them walked into the venue to be married (it was a hotel banqueting room in Jakarta, and the ceremony and reception were all in the same room). I had thought that track was on the Greatest hits triple cd, plus I also had the cd single. 5 minutes before they were due to arrive I looked for the cd to cue it up, then it slowly dawned on me that Beautiful Girl wasn’t on the greatest hits cd, but even worse; I didn’t have the cd single with me!. I was now panicking cos the groom was about 6’4” and built like a brick s t house, and I had visions of being torn apart. Someone then called out to me that the bride & groom would be arriving in 1 minute; I quickly tried to think of an appropriate song and the only thing I could think of was ‘3 times a lady’ as it had a nice title!. As they walked in to be married Lionel Ritchie starts singing:

 

“Thanks for the times, that you’ve given me, the memories are all in my mind, but now that we’ve come to the end of our rainbow….”

I literally ducked down and hid behind the equipment as I realised what Lionel was singing about. As they approached the minister I faded the track, and was expecting the groom to look over and give me a dirty look, but he never.

 

Throughout the meal he was pleasant and jovial and right into the dancing he was still happy! It turned out that he’d been so nervous on walking in that he hadn’t even noticed what music was playing!!

 

What is your favourite type of function now? EG: Wedding, 18th Birthday party, funeral wake..

 

Depends on the crowd really, but I do prefer a specialist gig where I have a discerning crowd who are really into their music, and they show their appreciation loudly when you play certain tunes.

 

Is there anything that you include in your show now, that you wish you'd done/known when you started? (Not equipment, but in human/performer terms)

 

Just the knowledge that cos a dance floors empty; it’s not necessarily a reason to panic/worry, especially at the beginning of the night.

 

What do you feel you offer your public, that makes you a better DJ than "the next guy/girl"?

 

I honestly feel that there are few DJ’s in the world better than me at reading a crowd and knowing what would be the most appropriate track to play next. I have played at a huge variety of gigs and to all ages and cultures and many different countries, plus I have a very good music knowledge. I seem to have an inbuilt instinct to know exactly when to change from one music genre/decade to another, to keep the dance floor busy.

 

Have you ever bought something for your show that you wish you hadn’t? and why?

 

Not that I can think of/remember.

 

Whets your next DJ purchase likely to be?

 

Either a lighting effect or possibly a laptop to replace the flightcased desktop system I use.

 

If you could get someone to invent a new piece of disco equipment for your show, what would it be?

 

A 1 piece unit that incorporated the onboard fx units and kill switches from the Tascam X9 mixer, the filters & cross-fade from the Allen & Heath Xone 62 mixer, 2 x 1,000 Gb disk drive that would store wav files, 6 cue points for each track, seamless loops, automatically detect 2 beat, 4 beat, 8 beat & 16 beat loops, accurately detect all bpm’s of every track, and be able to somehow lock tracks so that the bpm doesn’t wander all over the place especially on 70’s disco tracks!) maybe time-stretch them!. It would also include 10 sample buttons which would each be able to hold upto 1 minute samples, tempo control range of -80% upto +80% and bpm pitch likewise, be able to reverse tracks, an inbuilt transmitter with radio mic, instantly retractable leads to connect to the powered speakers, the leads would fit into the units case hidden from view and self protected when transporting and would reach upto 20m in length. A flat screen monitor would be included that would fold away into the case lid when not in use. The whole unit would weigh less than 10kg, and would be no larger than 60cm w x 100cm h x 20cm d!

 

The guy who invents this could make a fortune!

 

What do you think is the best thing about DJ’ing?

 

The smiles on people’s faces when they’re all having a great time cos of the music you’re playing, and the praise you receive at the end of the gig from happy people who have had a great night.

 

What do you think is the worst thing about DJ’ing?

 

Lugging the gear about!

 

What would make you stop DJ'ing (if anything)?

 

When it’s no longer a buzz. If it ever becomes a chore!

 

How do you think DJ'ing will change, in the next 5 years?

 

PC’s/laptops will become more widely used. Hopefully as technology advances hard drives will be large enough in capacity to be able to store thousands of wav files and thus no need to use mp3’s, but the drive will still be small in physical size. Once these are easy to use and you do not need to have a good computer technical knowledge in order to use them then DJ’s will move away from cd’s.

 

Most stupid thing anyone's ever said to you at a gig?

 

What have you got!,

“oh hang on a minute, shall I quickly read out all 10,000 tracks that I carry around!!”

 

Best advice you were ever given by a fellow DJ?

And worst advice you were ever given?

 

Can’t think of any particularly good or bad advice that I’ve been given that’s stuck in my head. I was never a roadie for another dj, everything I know is completely self-taught and picked up from experience, although I would add that I have picked up some very useful tips on this forum over the past few months.

 

Name 3 songs that 95% of the time will fill your dance floor!!

 

Jackson 5 – I want you back

Nina Simone – My baby just cares for me

Stealers Wheel – Stuck in the middle with you

 

Age

39

 

Location

NW London, Kingsbury

 

Marital status

Single

 

Education level

Few O’ Levels, diploma in PR & Marketing, various exams/certificates which have qualified me as a mortgage broker & financial advisor

 

Mode of transportation

 

Honda HRV which will soon be swapped for a Honda CRV

 

What equipment do you currently use?

 

JBL EonG2 15 powered speakers, JBL Eon 15 sub-bass powered speakers, Allen & Heath Xone 62 mixer, Alcatech BPM Studio Control RCP-2001-A remote control unit, Pro audio UK Rack PC mark 3 19” unit, Belinea Flat Screen 15” TFT Monitor, Spacewriter iBall, Martin Voyagers, Abstract Gladiators, S&L Starcloth portable DJ booth, Rio Volt personal cd/mp3 player & Hitachi cd/mp3 player (both for back-up purposes), Pioneer DJSE-DJ5000 headphones, Beyer Dynamic TG-X58 Mic, Shure SM58 mic. A good friend has a variety of equipment that I have access to when I need more power or lighting.

 

How much have you "invested" in equipment?

 

Including music must be thousands of pounds, over the years, not far off £100,000 just on music alone (I have an absolutely huge record/cd collection). My present rig is around £7,000 not inc music.

 

What was your reason for becoming a DJ?

 

Covered in earlier question; cos of love of music, just naturally became a dj. It wasn’t a conscious decision.

 

Approximately how many gigs have you done to date?

 

Jeez, impossible to say. For over 12 years I worked in clubs on average of 5 or 6 nights a week, so during that time alone it would have been over 3,000 gigs. All in all probably over 5,000 gigs.

 

And finally…

 

In around 85 I started to get into club work, and was doing regular gigs in a few clubs in the west-end of London, including Le Beat Route, L’Equipe Anglaise, Oxfords & Hombre’s. (for some reason in the 80’s club owners in London had a fascination with French & Spanish names!). I was starting to do well and building up a good rep when I came to a crossroads. I was offered the chance to go and work in some clubs in Spain or I could stay in London and continue building up my reputation.

 

I went to Spain, but two of the DJ’s that I got to replace me at my regular gigs later became quite well known. I gave Matt Black (from Coldcut) my gig at Oxfords, and Leigh Guest (from Double Trouble, they had the hits Just Keep Rockin & Street Tuff) took over at L’ Equipe Anglaise. But when I gave em the jobs they were both skint! So if I'd stayed in London maybe I'd be mega famous now

 

I took the Spanish gigs and started off on my ‘Eskiepades’ and worked for a bloke who owned 3 clubs in Rota, Vistahermosa & Puerto Santa Maria in the south-west of Spain on the Atlantic coast, between Cadiz & Seville. I did 2 nights in each club every week throughout the summer of 86, having a great time living in an apartment on the beach!

When I returned I was offered some contracts in various parts of Finland including Pori, Hammenlinna, Turku & Tampere. Again had a great time and met some incredibly stunning girls (wow, what a place!).

 

Was then offered a job with Bacchus and went off to work in the Amsterdam Hilton, from there moved onto the Damascus Sheraton in Syria. The next contract was Basel Hilton in Switzerland, then moved onto a club called the Seahouse in Bodo, Norway in 1988, where first met Chris Shepherd (DJCS59). Bodo blew me away, and I had an absolutely fantastic time. Then moved to Switzerland again to work in a jazz club called Jaylin’s in the Schweizerhoff hotel in Berne. Chris by then was in charge of supplying DJ’s for various discos’ around the Bodo area for a company called Arctic Hotels and he offered me work so went back to Norway and worked in a few different clubs/towns. Also did 8 months there doing a weekly “Soul Show” for a local radio station called Radio 8000.

 

Bacchus had now been taken over by Juliana’s and they contacted me in late 89 and offered me a contract in Kobe, Japan. I accepted this job immediately as I’d always been interested in going to the far-east. 6 months later and I was working in a club called Lalique in the Paradise Beach Hotel which was on the Paradise Beach in Pusan. Believe me it wasn’t called Paradise Beach for no reason, what a great place, and the club was full within 30 minutes of opening EVERY single night!!

 

In September 90 I worked in a club called Cosmos in Hong Kong, before going to a club called The Music Room in Jakarta, Indonesia in 91. By now I was tired of moving to a different country every few months, plus Jakarta was filled with opportunities and money at the time, so at the end of that contract I turned down the offer to go to Shanghai and left Juliana’s and took a private contract in a club called Dynasty in Jakarta’s China town. Around the same time I also started a weekly slot on Jakarta’s equivalent to Capital FM (called Trijaya FM) and hosted a radio show called “It’s Saturday & Y-Not!”* playing a cross section of music, and was lucky enough that this enabled me to interview a lot of well known entertainment stars including BB King, Steven Seagle, Bon Jovi, Cindy Crawford, Roberta Flack, Take That & Boyzone to name but a few.

 

I was now sharing a house with another ex-Juliana’s DJ (Mark Bradshaw), plus 2 other English blokes and we were having a ball. The house included a maid, a gardener, driver etc. which wasn't being over the top, it was completely normal for any ex-pats living in Indonesia.

In the summer of 92 Mark & I took over a failing club called “The Java Jive” and re-opened it as “JJ Do It!” (There’s a long story behind the name!). Mark was the front man while I DJ’ed, and we both shared doing the books, hiring & firing etc. From the opening night the club was a huge success and we made a small fortune over the next 18 months only problem was we were working 7 nights a week and it eventually became too much.

 

I left there in 94 and did various nights in different clubs/bars around Jakarta for the next few years as well as running Jakarta’s only ex-pat Mobile Disco: “Streetlife Sounds”. This involved doing all the large society balls, diplomatic functions etc. Started another weekly radio slot on a sister station to Trijaya FM called Radio ARH doing a show called “Chocolate City” playing soul, acid-jazz, R&B, rap & reggae.

 

Returned home in the summer of 98 as by now was starting to miss home for the first time and wanted a place to call my own, plus I didn’t want to get settled down in Jakarta as I’d seen what happened to many ex-pats who married Indonesian women, and I was determined that the same wouldn’t happen to me (again another long story).

 

Re-started my mobile “Streetlife Sounds” when I got home and since then have been re-establishing my reputation as I’d virtually been forgotten in the dj world after being away for 12 years.

 

I still love DJ’ing as much as ever, and I still get a buzz like I did when I was 12 when I get hold of a hot new album. Music has only ever given me highs, unlike football, women, family and most other things you could mention.

 

If you’ve managed to get this far, then you’ve got far too much time on your hands, go and do something less boring instead!!

 

* Y-Not = Tony backwards! For those that don’t know; my name is Tony Winyard.

[Ian Stewart 0]

Tony,

 

your attitudes & style seem to be exactly the same as mine, good interview.

 

interviewing Roberta Flack, did you ask her if she was felt guilty of causing one of the greatest voices ever to kill himself.

that a bit heavy, but Donny Hathaway's one of my favs

 

[YourBigEvent 0]

Fantastic interview Tony. All those places you've been, I bet you had a load of TigerTokens in the 80's !!

[C.S 0]

Esk, you are getting old man, nice interview http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[paula 0]

How Intresting.... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

[Gary 0]

Good, full answers their Eskie.

 

How many of us have been reading these last few interviews, and thinking "Ohh yes, thats happened to me too", "Yeah, I know exactly what they mean there"

 

Also, there seems to be a trend forming for lightweight, auto-setting up, auto-folding down disco equipment...

 

Great reading (and no, thats not a compliment to a town in Berkshire!)

[martink 0]

Adventures in DJing! Great read

[Dj_Kray 0]

Wow eskie what a great life you have had and a great intervew http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/notworthy.gif

[Paul Smith 0]

That was interesting, informative & inspiring 'Inskie' http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Eskie 0]

Thanks for the appreciative comments, I was worried that I'd gone on too much and was gonna bore everyone silly http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/blink.gif

 

DJ Kray, was spot on when he said what a great life I've had. I've been truly fortunate and had some fantastic experiences and have no regrets whatsoever.

I'm the proof of the saying that happiness is more important than money. As a few times in my dj life I had situations where I could choose between jobs, but always chose the job that I thought I'd enjoy more rather than the one that would pay the most, even though a couple of times there was a tremendous difference in financial terms!

I would definitely advise any new DJ's; don't just follow the money. Do a job cos you think you'll enjoy it, not cos it pays well, otherwise your heart won't truly be in the job, and if you're hearts not in it, it shows, and will be reflected in your performance http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/1106.gif

 

As I step down from the soapbox http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif , I have 3 people in my mind for the next victim, and will decide tomorrow as to who it will be. I was thinking of choosing Mikeee, but I don't think he's gonna have a lot of time on his hands what with Plasa, same goes for Gary.

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

Thanks for the appreciative comments, I was worried that I'd gone on too much and was gonna bore everyone silly

 

No its the informative replies that keep everybodies attention. It would get boring if we all replied yes & no to every question. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

looking forward to seeing who is going to be next http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

[Dukesy 0]

Hombre's - ah, the memories!

 

Been a very long time since I was there! The wall of sound!!!!!

 

Excellent interview! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/notworthy.gif

[mobile_dj_crooks 0]

shoooot

that was a long interview http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

good job http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/laugh.gif

 

who's next? http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Peteee 0]

cool ice man

39 and single

you must be fantastically rich http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/071.gif

great interview would not want to try and follow that !

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/nono.gif

[Eskie 0]

QUOTE

you must be fantastically rich

Well I was a millionairre in Indonesia, but then you only need 20p for that http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

When I win the lottery maybe I'll be rich for a short period, till I blow it all!... no, me n money never seem to stay together very long. I'm certainly not skint, but on the other hand far from rich!

 

Anyway, back to the serious biznizz of choosing the next candidate to have their private life interrogated http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif and it'll be Chris 'Get down Shep' Shepherd, otherwise known as DJCS59, the well-known sardine lover http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fish.gif

 

Make sure that all of you have plenty of time next wednesday morning to read his interview, cos Chris has been DJ'ing since the Gramophone was invented http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[paula 0]

Oh Good!

He was actually going to be my next victim!

Until Uuuuuuuuuuuu called me Bridget http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

[YourBigEvent 0]

When you did your 'toasting' was it done in a rapping style, like a rhyme or did you just say anything with no 'rapping' to it ?

[Eskie 0]

Actually both.

 

Often the following would happen. In a sound system there would normally be at least 3 or 4 guys who would do the DJ'ing or toasting (rapping) and 2 or 3 who would be the operators/selectors (they would select which tracks to play and operate the controls).

 

On Most 12" reggae tracks there is a dub section. While one guy was DJ'ing (toasting) the operator would slide the volume up and down into a distinct pattern which would make it easier for the DJ to toast over the riddim (the dub section). As the track ended the dj would often still toast in a kind of singing style, while the operator would remove the vinyl from the deck and another guy would quickly throw on another record and place the stylus to the opening groove. Most sound systems would get so good at this that sometimes the gap would only be about a few seconds, as the next track started, the DJ would smoothly adjust his toast to blend in with the new track.

 

But other times as one track finished, the DJ would just toast or rather 'chat pon the mic' i.e. not in a singing style.

 

This all started with sound systems in Jamaica in the 60's and is where rap originates from. Other expressions which are widely used now also originate from the sound systems, such as 'rewind'.

 

When a sound played a top tune all the crowd would shout out 'Jack up boss' & 'Rewind selector' which both mean the same thing. After playing the opening 20 or 30 seconds of the track, the operator would then jack it up (lift the stylus) and place it back at the beginning of the track (i.e. rewind the track). The crowd would then go potty. With a really happening tune this could go on 2 or 3 times, meanwhile the DJ would be on the mic bigging up the sound system.

 

Much of what happens at a 'reggae dance' (reggae party) or 'blues' as they were commonly called, was very confusing to anyone who wasn't into reggae but somehow found themselves at a blues. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/533.gif

 

It took a long time before Sound Systems would make the transition from using 1 turntable to using 2. Some still only use 1, as it's such a tradition. Up until very very recently, you would rarely ever hear a sound system mix 2 tracks.