Biography

I started djing around 1985 when electro first was heard on the shores of the UK having had a go at breakdancin and graffiti which I was not very good at I decided to look into the music I was dancing too , standing across the local shopping center were we used to break was a lad with a gettoblaster dressed in a brightly colored tracksuit and green glasses (hence the nickname Greenbins) , I asked him what some of the tracks he was playing was and who had put the tape together he told me the tracks then added he had done the tape .

After a few weeks he invited me round to his house where in the corner of the room was two turntables and a mixer , over the next few hours i was there he showed me how he had mixed the tape and with our great love of music are friendship was formed I was hooked and had to get my own set up !

lucky for me I was able to utilize my other talent of being a musician who had started playing keyboards from the age of 7 and with nights i was playing in hotels managed to get the technics and mixer I had dreamed of , over the next few months me and Greenbins traveled to buy records from Manchester where we discovered the famous Hacienda.

We discovered that this club was playing the best tracks of hip hop and a new sound that was starting to breakthrough that had a feel of electro but was known as house/acid, so one chilly Wednesday night we hit the train to Manchester to change our life forever.

After a few months of going to Manchester to the club and to get them famous records, I had started to get the mixing thing together and decided to start putting tapes out. The sound was growing with great speed and soon it was not just for the city , people who had traveled to the hacienda wanted it and wanted it on there own doorstep. It was a trip to Blackburn that put me on the map I heard that party's were taking place all night in small lock ups and when I first attended made my way to the front to find the decks with my bag of tunes after some negotiations I got on the decks and did my set it went down a storm and I was asked to play again. The following weekend I returned to Blackburn to play and noticed more people than the week before attended the party and soon over the course of weeks then months the people and venues grew into full scale warehouse party's with convoys of cars reaching miles long and attended by thousands the atmosphere at these events was truly amazing and memories I will never forget.

My sets at these legendary warehouse party's help spread my name all over the north west and when police pressure sadly ended the weekly party's I was approached to launch my own night at MONROES in Blackburn . The first few weeks was quiet due to a police road block around the club as it was a meeting point in the past for the warehouse party's but after three weeks of the owners meetings with the police the block was lifted and soon the club was filled to the maximum ,over the next two years my residency established JOHN J on the underground house circuit playing a blend of uplifting house from around the globe . Monroe's was a truly amazing night and along with myself, GREEN BINS & DREAD MC and later on added WELLY became the team to have on at an event.

REVENGE warehouse party's and UPFRONT events followed before we split to go our own ways due to demand. Next I returned to my hometown where id been asked to become resident dj at a new night being launched called ZONE it was to be held in the former home of the famous 89-90 SHABOO club.

The night was a instant success and its brand name is one still running today it has helped and launched the careers of many well known DJs . ROB TISSERA , MATT BELL , CHRIS BAKER are to name a few . After four years I gave up my weekly residency to monthly to go play spots at other clubs. In the following years I was able to play at many major North West clubs & events on a regular basis.

THE EMPIRE , ANGELS & LIFE are just three excellent places that I have been able to play along side djs like JUDGE JULES, SASHA ,PAUL TAYLOR , CARL COX & many more.. The crowds was always exceptional at these events.

Wigan pier is also a great venue where I hosted the Splash night in 1996-7, with DJ Craig Stocks. The night was named after a dedicated dance radio station SPLASH FM that I had my own show on broadcasting live across the Fylde coast. After two years of traveling the road I returned to Blackpool to launch a new night at INSOMNIA.

The night took a bit to get going but over two months the word had spread this night was a banging place to be.

I had moved my sound to a more progressive house and trance style the crowd and the night went on to be recognized for being the first around for playing the big room sound that is popular today. Since then I have continued to work at many venues around the UK playing a blend of various sounds of dance music. My career as a DJ inevitably has lead to me making the transition to the recording studio where again my skills of playing the keyboards has come to use working with various other artists to produce original tracks as well as remixes.

The use of new technology is taking my sets to new levels as I am always pushing forward the ability to have your own set up and be able to remix stuff quickly is amazing along with the use of various programs and a laptop combined with cd decks and turntables the sky's the limit that's all for now but ill be adding to it as life moves on feel free to look around the rest of the site.

thanks John J