FISHA

DJ • Producer • Promoter

For Fisha, being a DJ has never been about being the star of the show. A DJ is an entertainer. His job is to look at the crowd in front of him, understand what they're feeling, and create an experience they want to be part of.

That obsession with the dancefloor began at just 17, standing behind the decks at his first ever gig and absolutely shitting himself with nerves. Somewhere between those nerves and seeing the dancefloor start to move, something clicked. He discovered the feeling that would stay with him for the next three decades: the almost addictive buzz of watching a crowd come alive through music.

And remarkably, that feeling hasn't changed. Whether there are 40 people in front of him or 4,000, Fisha gets the same satisfaction from seeing people lose themselves in the music.

His journey began in the mid-1990s, with early bookings at Full Monty at the House of Windsor, Simpsons in Bracknell, Bojangles in Guildford and The Warehouse in Fleet, followed by his first residency at the House of Windsor. He went on to become part of the pirate-radio scene, hosting a show on Sub FM alongside DJ Sy & Unknown, before taking up a second residency at Simpsons.

From there, the opportunities grew. A booking at the legendary Ministry of Sound became a major career milestone, followed by another defining moment when Fisha was booked for the first ever Creamfields at Matterley Bowl, Winchester.

But perhaps the most remarkable chapter of his early career came through a love of travel, club culture and a willingness to make things happen for himself.

In 1997, Fisha and his sister Sara moved to Majorca. Initially intending to sell timeshare and escape the UK, Fisha quickly discovered he was considerably better suited to music than sales. A bar job on the strip gave him the opportunity to jump on the turntables when things were quiet, and his playing caught the attention of a promoter from BCM, who offered him a warm-up residency in 1997.

The following two summers took him to Ibiza.

In 1998 and 1999, Fisha worked in artist liaison, collecting DJs from the airport and getting them to clubs and hotels around the island. It gave him a unique behind-the-scenes insight into the Ibiza scene while allowing him to continue developing as a DJ. Among the artists he picked up were Sasha, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Sonique, Pete Tong, Seb Fontaine and Judge Jules, to name just a few.

And then there was the occasion when Peasy and Brandon Block effectively kidnapped him for a couple of days because they weren't ready to go home yet.

Alongside artist liaison, Fisha was playing bars and clubs across Ibiza, including a regular six-hour monthly set at Limit Bar in San Antonio, which he maintained and secured for his second summer. He also found himself booked at some of the island's bigger clubs, including Amnesia, Space, Es Paradis and Eden.

In 2000, the journey continued to Tenerife, where Fisha took up a residency at Renaissance at The Leopard Lounge.

His passion for DJing also followed him into another major chapter of his life. Fisha spent 12 years serving in the Royal Navy, but even being deployed around the world couldn't keep him away from music. Whenever his ship arrived somewhere new, he would email clubs in the destination and ask for the opportunity to play.

It worked.

His DJ career took him across numerous Caribbean islands and through America, Panama, Brazil, Uruguay and the Falkland Islands, as well as Cape Town, Cyprus, Crete, Majorca, Ibiza, Tenerife, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Malta and many other destinations.

For Fisha, the Navy wasn't the end of his DJ career. If anything, it demonstrated just how deeply music was embedded in his life. Wherever the Navy took him, he found a way to find the decks.

That same determination eventually led to one of the most important chapters of his career: Trancelation.

As he began thinking about what life would look like after leaving the Navy, Fisha wanted to build something around the music he loved. There was also a deeply personal motivation. After spending so much time away on deployments, he wanted to spend more time with his sister Sara. The pair had always shared a love of clubbing, music and partying, and Sara became an important part of the support system that allowed Fisha to continue following his passion.

In 2014, Fisha joined forces with EJ Eternal and Krafted Music Group, and Trancelation was born.

The first Trancelation event took place at Lakota in Bristol on 1 May 2015, headlined by Bryan Kearney and Daniel Skyver. The night helped establish a renewed home for trance in Bristol, with an atmosphere and crowd response that proved there was a genuine appetite for the sound.

From there, Trancelation continued to grow, developing a dedicated team and a reputation for putting on events designed around the experience of the clubber. Fisha's vision has always been about more than simply booking big names. Trancelation is about supporting up-and-coming artists alongside established headliners and creating nights that build musically, move through genres and take the crowd on a journey.

That philosophy mirrors Fisha's approach behind the decks.

He has worked with numerous promoters throughout his career, while maintaining a particularly strong relationship with the Echo Boat Parties on the Thames, where he has been invited back for more than nine years.

But one of the most personal achievements of Fisha's career came through Peach.

A Peachy Raver since 1994, Fisha had spent years experiencing Peach from the other side of the decks. In 2017, he entered and won the Peach Reunion DJ competition — an achievement that carried enormous personal significance because he had been part of the Peach crowd himself since the 1990s.

Then came the full-circle moment.

In 2018, Fisha achieved his dream of playing the main room to a room full of Peachy Ravers. The following year, in 2019, the Peach promoters invited him to open the Peach Reunion at The Steelyard, becoming the first non-headliner to play alongside the Peach residents.

For someone who had once stood in that crowd as a raver, it was about as full-circle as a DJ career gets.

And Fisha's story is still evolving.

Although he studied Production and Electronic Analysis at Manchester MIDI School, he didn't actually begin producing music at that time. Decades later, around four years ago, he returned to that side of his musical journey and began actively learning production, now developing his skills in Logic.

That early technical education has given him a foundation to build upon, and the producer chapter is becoming an increasingly important part of the Fisha story. He is currently working on original productions and bootleg remixes, while continuing to develop his own sound. His recent work includes a collaboration with Jan Johnston, with the track receiving its first exclusive live play at the Isle of Wight Dance Weekender.

After more than three decades behind the decks, Fisha could easily be forgiven for slowing down.

He's doing the opposite.

Still DJing. Still promoting. Still learning. Still producing. Still looking for that next opportunity to make a dancefloor move.

Because ultimately, Fisha has never been motivated by fame or celebrity status.

His dream is much simpler — and perhaps much harder to achieve.

To play music for people who genuinely love it. To create experiences that become lifetime memories. To earn enough to make a living doing something he's genuinely passionate about. And, above all, to keep experiencing that feeling that hit him at 17 when he first watched a dancefloor come alive.

Forty people or four thousand.

The rush is still the same.

Fisha doesn't play for the crowd. He plays for the moment the crowd comes alive.