What if you were destined to be a great NBA player but you never picked up a basketball? Or a producer but you never played your music for anyone? Either would be a shame. Luckily neither happened with Da Sunlounge. The UK DJ and producer started out as a DJ and underground dance party host. One day he played a song of his own and a label owner liked it so much that he signed the single a few days later. Soon after, Da Sunlounge found himself deep into the Dance world not just as a DJ but as an artist in high demand. He now owns his own labels and tours the world, all thanks to a dubplate he made one night just hours before his own event.
As a young kid, Da Sunlounge recalls being into body popping: "not that I was any good!" You can consider this one of his earlier memories of music becoming a part of his life. A few years later, early Rave mixtapes made their rounds at his school and his friends and he would make their own from purchased vinyl. They then enjoyed the fruits of their labor by having the bus driver play them on the way home. The first time he heard House music, most likely through a pirate radio station, he was hooked. The Midlands, where he grew up had a strong underground House scene at the time. Da Sunlounge describes the parties as such:
"It's like a social gathering of all your best friends, even if you'd only just met some of them. People came to enjoy the music and dance. You wouldn't see mobile phones out on the dancefloor being pointed at the DJ, or people really dressed up in the latest fashion. What you would see is a genuine, music loving crowd just getting down. DIY and Smokescreen are still going strong today."
Before he had his own parties to host, Da Sunlounge would frequent the local jams as a teenager, sometimes in "some bad clothing choices that seemed cool at the time!" One of the better decisions he did make was getting into DJing. From making those mixtapes with his friends, a few of them bought decks and experimented with mixing. At first, they had one deck and a mixer then they would record it to a tape. While playing that tape, they would record it back into the mixer and mix back into it while recording onto a second tape deck. Eventually he saved up for a second deck to make things easier. Not before long, he had the basic concepts down to DJ with proper equipment at an event he organized with his brother.
What put Da Sunlounge on the map initially was his Travelling Without Moving parties. He would spin alongside DJs like Terry Francis, Inland Knights, the DIY DJ’s, Andy Wetherall, Rob Mello, and others. At one such party in 2000, Clive Henry of Peace Divison was the guest DJ for the night. While Da Sunlounge was warming up the floor, he did something he seldom did: play a dubplate he had cut hours before the event for a song he produced. And it wasn't because he was unsure of himself:
"I don’t recall being shy. I was always excited to hear how it would sound and work in the club. Back then we didn't really have CDJ players to test your own music out with. If you wanted to test your productions in a club, you really needed to cut a dubplate. It was a little expensive to do that, so you were only really going to cut and play out your best productions that you had faith in."
Clive asked about signing the song to his label Low Pressings. A few days later, Da Sunlounge sent a CD and the single was signed. Then 83 West came knocking at his door for a song, and soon enough he was putting out music through Cajual, King Street, 2020 Vision, and more.
In 2001, Da Sunlounge launched his own label, Myna Music. It's considered his main label while the one he started in 2005, Bambino, was started to help handle the volume of releases--his own and from other producers he signed. In his words, Bambino "ended up being a little more funky and bumping than Myna." In 2008, he also launched Borrowed Music with Inland Knights' Andy Riley. That started as a bootleg label on vinyl in the sense that they would "borrow" an acapella from a track that they really liked and then work out their own remix of it. Although it's not as active as his other two labels, they'll put something out now and again if they find the right vocals.
While Da Sunlounge has made the transition to sell his music digitally, he remains a big proponent of vinyl. The sound, the fact that it's harder to pirate, and the habit of handling vinyl all contribute to his preference. When he performs, he'll stick to CDJs instead of using Traktor or Serato since CDs are more familiar to him and closer to vinyl. And you'll get a taste of his philosophy: "For me House music is about getting into the groove and being lost in it for hours, either on the dance floor or behind the decks." And while you might call him old fashioned, his music proves time and time again that he belongs in upper echelons of Deep House. He's constantly reinventing himself by matching the right percussion to the ideal melodies. The nuance of his tracks is subtle, but keeps them varied and the dancefloor moving. Like a great magician who wows crowds with pigeons coming out of hats, Da Sunlounge continues his amazing work, but will never reveal his secrets.
Prepare for a stupendous and soulful 2016 from Da Sunlounge!
Last Call
1. What is your favorite movie of all time?The Goonies
2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?Carl Cox & Sasha in the very early days
3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?Bad monitoring speakers and system. Doesn't help my tinnitus!
4. What is your current set up at home?DJ set up: None at home, I would never have the time to go near it! However in the studio, it's 1210s and some CDJs.
Production set up: Again, I don’t really have a set up at home apart from my Mac laptop and headphones. All the production is done in the studio, with a lot of old and new outboard gear and some select plugins.
5. What's your favorite record of all time?If we're talking non-House, then Patrice Rushen - "Forget Me Nots." House music wise, so many to choose from but one of them is Liberty City - "If You Really Love Someone (Murk Strikes Again Mix)."
Keep up with Da Sunlounge on his Facebook, Instagram, website, and Twitter.