Stephen Teasdale

MY BIOG:

When you love something it's with you for life that's what music is to me ,something that will always be with me ,and Dj'ing is an experience in itself and a big part of me. Being a DJ your in a position to entertain people and sometimes even educate them with the music it's sometimes awe inspiring to be able to see the response to what your doing, I've been a DJ now for over 30 years and it's the love and the passion that's kept me in the game for so long,I count myself very lucky to have had DJ work all the way through my career and have never went without any work,that's something I'm very proud of , I must of been doing something right all these years ,

I still have that real passion today so I'll keep going probably till I can't,that's how much I love what I'm doing.

I , like a lot of other DJ's got into it through listening to the radio and recording the shows Adrian Allen Jeff young, Robbie Vincent and early Pete tong ,sitting there with my tape recorder ready to pause it trying to time it so I'd miss out the commentary so one record would flow into the next, early Dj'ing at its most basic ,but I was fascinated by it and I wanted to be a DJ just like the guys I'd been listening to.

My first real steps and education was through mobile DJ work ,ABC discos wow. Thanks Keith, that was to be a fantastic education for me,this was to be my first introduction to dual turntables FAL disco decks who remembers those,it was also the first time I had to use a microphone which was vitally important for different kind of occasions like birthdays, weddings etc I had to learn how to adapt and entertain with these different types of party's, a brilliant learning curve ,as I recall also that's where I learnt very quickly about music programming and how to follow one big record with another in a similar style or sound ,something that really has stayed with me all this time ,I've never really been a DJ who's went out and spent Silly amounts of money on the records , I was always very choosey with what I was buying I could've spent thousands on the best records but to be a DJ there's more to it ,and for me it's always been about programming and choosing the right records.

After my baptism through mobile DJ work I met a lot of other DJ's and owners and I got asked to work at some pubs and clubs in the area,this eventually led me to get residencies as the main DJ at various venues.

And Over the years I've worked at so many pubs and clubs I couldn't list them all, but I have held residencies at some of the most influential venues pubs and clubs in and around Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, Sheffield and little gigs abroad ,I've also missed out on big opportunities working in America and Asia through past family issues, I still have big regrets today as this was at the peak of my career and could of been my calling. Thus it was not to be. I'm still thankful however with my achievements I couldn't complain it's been a fantastic ride and I'm not getting off just yet.

Also In my early days I did a little bit of radio as well, of which I really should of pursued more to be honest cos I was pretty good at it ,i had my own shows with another presenter on Kix FM and the Point FM and I still have some real good friends in radio now john foster, Les Gunn, Adrian Allan.

I still love every minute of what I'm doing and I still get that buzz from playing to a packed audience,sometimes its what you do with the music and how you program it that makes the difference, being creative with instrumentals and acapellas you can add to the experience ,I'm not one of those Djs who plays their own records and doesn't care, I really care, and for me it's all about the people wanting to hear you play a set that reflects not only your passion ,but also everybody in the room that why it's important to gain the experience of working in different environments’, and I've been lucky to have had that experience, I have never understood the philosophy of a young DJ who plays records in his bedroom and then expects to be able to entertain a crowd in a packed nightclub because he or she has spent £80.00 on a selection of records.

I learnt to mix in the early eighties (without samplers) or variable speed turntables and back then it was hard work sometimes you had to push the turntable to keep it in sync ,as best you could anyway, later on us DJ's had the introduction of the Technics turntables which are still regarded as the best tools in the business,and so they should be, long live vinyl. even now there is no better feeling than playing a vinyl record, or in fact the whole build up to it was something to treasure, it used to be like this didn't it!

firstly you where hearing a track on the radio that you really like and want, then you went heading down to your local record store to see if they have it ,in our case it was Alan fearnleys or austins records and they usually did, then you bought the track ,now if this was an import even better because you had that massive excitement and anticipation of having to remove the selophane, before finally taking the vinyl from its sleeve and placing it onto your turntable, and then in my case get down and bust some moves to it haha ,also it could be, that you had the only copy in the area and you were going to break it first , that was always a great feeling, and over the years I've been fortunate enough to break so many big records first, either on import or promo white labels.

Sadly We all have to move with the times and we are now into the digital age everything's changed ,I've tried to embrace this as much as possible but it's not something I'm a fan of tbh,for a start there's too much music flooding the market and not enough quality coming through ,we've also very much changed the way we listen to music and more to, the way we play it, especially DJ's ,Cd's changed it to start with ,and now we have downloads and memory sticks, it's very mundane for me , and I can't see me ever loving it the same way I do with vinyl. With vinyl you had something Tangible, it was physical, and there was a feeling ,the digital age doesn't give you anything like that, and we've lost something there I think.

I'm still a bit of a record collector, and until recently I had a huge record collection of over 34,000 records, I've now streamlined this to a more manageable 12,000 I got rid of all my pop records and trance 12's and even some of my northern and modern soul collection (what a numpty my biggest regret of all here) I actually put them in a skip.

I'm now playing out at various Northern soul and modern nights but with Cd's, and its just not the same, I made a big mistake.

Alongside my DJ career I've also been a professional promoter putting on my own events over the years and featuring superstar DJ's , Live music Artists and bands, and celebrities etc.

I single handedly ran all the MADISON Reunion nights over the years and

For the last 9 years I've ran and organised the company SOUL'ed OUT Events I have put on many different types of nights and events over the years ranging from House, R&B northern soul and modern, Live music events & personal appearances, of which I still continue to do now, but better than before as now I work alongside a couple of sidekicks Scott & Tino without their help and support SOUL'ed OUT Events wouldn't be as good as it is right now.

So that's a little history of my Career in Brief (lol)

I love what I do and whether it's DJ'ing or Putting on an event you can always guarantee I will give 110% every time.

events side of things it's about putting on a successful night and being organised.

DJ'ing, it's really about being the centre of attention and entertaining as many people as possible in a room ,or even a field for that matter.

I personally have always lived by this rule & philosophy..

'The entertainment always comes first, The education is second'

Now that however may be something that many a DJ entirely doesn't agree with me on....

Steve Teasdale

DJ Stevie T