Welcome to our newest blog feature – Profile. Here we hope to feature some of the faces you’ll see around Harvest City Church and dig a bit deeper into who they are and how they live for Christ in their daily lives.

When did you start getting into DJ’ing and what were some of your early influences?

I started DJ’ing from the age of 13, a very long time ago. I used to be a break dancer back in the day, but the fad of breaking dancing died out and we realised it was all about the music. We continued with the music, and the only way to control the music was to play the music – that’s the only reason I became a DJ.

What’s the most unique thing about your particular job?

I’m my own boss. It allows me to do what I want, when I want. It’s a job and a lifestyle as well. When I look back how I ended up where I was, I know it was a blessing but I didn’t appreciate it at a time. I ran two businesses for 25 years and now I can look at all the success we’ve had, but when you’re going through it you don’t appreciate it.

What are some of the significant challenges you face in your job?

Probably the most significant challenge would be time. There is never enough time! I’ll go home and I’ll be speaking to guys in Australia and someone in America will be hitting me up about doing this and that. It’s non-stop.

I’ve been very fortunate because I’ve never drifted away, I’ve never done drugs, never drank so that side of the business has never affected me. Some of my friends have gotten drawn into it, and when I see what they had and what they have now it’s quite a shame. I’ve been blessed.

But I think now it’s definitely a time thing. I have to think ‘can I get back in time for church?’ It’s making priorities realistic.

As a Christian, how did and do you overcome challenges in the secular industry?

I think in my line of work the biggest challenges are with drink and drugs and being around that kind of thing. Because I never did it, I handled it quite easy. I just look at it as ‘it’s a job’. I’m not going to the nightclub to rave, I’m controlling the music. I play my set and I’m gone. I feel God is testing me because when I’m abroad sometimes and I’m in parties, I’m sitting there thinking ‘what am I doing here?’ I know I’m being tested and that is probably going to be my biggest challenge.

When it does get challenging like that, how do you deal with it?

I just sit back. What I’ve learnt is before I could be with the boys, but now I tend to go away on my own and just sit and watch what’s going on. I analyse more. I’m very aware of my surroundings, I’m very aware of what’s going on, because my eyes are open now.

How do you come to a final decision of whether to take on a gig?

I’ve been blessed because I’ve dealt with a lot of people over the years, so I’ve got a network of people that I deal with on a regular basis. For anything new, you look at where it is. I’m trying to look at interesting places now, somewhere and something different. And then I look at ‘can I get back for church?’ I look at it and think ‘yep, I can do that as long as I can get an early flight’. I like the concept of playing abroad because it’s more interesting than playing here.

So say if you were offered three gigs at the same time in three different countries how would you go about choosing?

I’d look at the person, the promoter, who it’s for, what kind of show it is, because you know when it’s a big show because it’s all over the place. Or I’d play for someone I know, like a friend. If it’s a new person, it’s like ‘mmm no’. I’ve been quite fortunate, it’s only happened to me a few times when I’ve gone and it’s been dodgy. I remember going to America and the promoter just left us in the hotel. He didn’t pick us up, just left us cold. It would have to be a relationship thing or something that’s going to give you a bit more prestige.

With a job that demands a lot of travelling and so much of your time how do you prioritise God and family?

God comes with me, so it’s not a problem. He goes everywhere with me. Paris (my daughter) lives with her mum so I have a set time with her in the week. I mostly go away at the weekend, and I’m normally back on Sunday so it doesn’t affect that or church. If I’m going away on a long trip, say Australia, everything’s affected then, but that’s rare and that’s it.