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DJing at Homelands


DJ Switch

16 year-old Anthony Culverwell, aka DJ Switch, has fought off fierce competition to win Youth Music's competition to play the opening set at Homelands.

Before the big night.

DJ Switch

Playing at Youth Music's press event

I was practising at my mate's flat when I got the phone call to say that I had won and I was totally taken by surprise. I wasn't expecting to win, especially as there are hundreds of entrants from across the country.

I won another competition back in April - the IDJ (International DJ Magazine) Turntablist of the Month (April 2005), and the week after the phone call from Youth Music I reached the final of the DMC Birmingham DJ competition. The CD I sent into the Homelands competition showed me as a scratch DJ, which I think few of the other entries tried. It may have helped that the mix ends with a Sesame Street outro, too!

At the moment I'm feeling a mixture of everything. I'm nervous, excited, anxious - especially as this is the largest crowd I will have played out to. 

I've played out at the Medicine Bar in Birmingham about three times, but unfortunately you can't fit thousands of people in there!

I'm trying to calm my nerves and prepare for the set by focusing on my mixing, but also picking out what tunes to take and what scratch routines to show off. I think for any event I go to I should do it all live. Rather than writing down a playlist, my records are organised by BPM (beats per minute), making it easier for me to find what to play next and how to play it.

Apart from playing, I can't wait for the whole experience of just being there. I've been to small festivals before like the Birmingham Arts Festival, but I feel that they've declined slightly in the music they play out. I've never been to anything like Homelands with all the top names playing. The other performances are going to be excellent: Kentaro, Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash are the ones I'm looking forward to in particular, the Scratch Perverts always deliver, and I'm warming up for Skinnyman!

On the day

I don't tend to get that nervous long before a gig - I just think about which songs I want to play first, and then let the rest of the set come naturally. Saying that, I was fairly nervous just before I played my set, because Volley (the runner-up) played all-out drum and bass. I was wondering: "How can I follow that up?" because his set just burst with energy and deep basslines, and I've got my jazzy hip hop which gives a totally different appeal.

"The crowd liked the scratches I did, and especially enjoyed the old school and funk tunes I played out."
The Homelands crowd

The Homelands crowd

We also had a bit of a problem on arrival with which mixer to use; scratch DJs tend to use slim-line mixers and the battle style setup so they have better access to the records. I was just nervous for the half-hour before they brought in a Vestax battle mixer. But the sound crew were really friendly and helped a lot on the setup.

Because I was warming up for Skinnyman, what I wanted to do was play stuff to get the crowd started, rather than exhaust them with everything in the Top 10. But the crowd liked the scratches I did, and especially enjoyed the old school and funk tunes I played out. I also slipped in a good dose of UK hip hop which they were feeling. Everyone went ballistic when I played out Lyn Collins' "Think" and then just scratched and juggled it.

I managed to rub shoulders with some big names, too - I caught Blakey coming out of the crowd (2004 UK DMC champion) who said he saw my set and liked it. Annie Mac (Radio 1) and Justin Robertson were also there, and I chatted to them about the festival and other stuff.

An hour after my set I was part relaxing, part wanting to get on another set of decks and keep going! I was just so hyped up and energetic afterwards. A few people came up to me with positive comments so that felt good, even the Japanese guys with Kentaro (2002 DMC/Technics World DJ Champion) enjoyed me warming up!

I think the whole experience was excellent. The performers were unbelievable; I was quite surprised that the Scratch Perverts played early - how could you follow them up? - but Jazzy Jeff also got heaps of support from the crowd, spinning so many breaks that I don't even know. I also saw Kentaro practising in the early afternoon - the man is just a dope DJ! I caught most of the acts in the Hip Hop arena, and also Roots Manuva on the live stage.

I've done a lot of interviews since winning this competition; IDJ will be asking me soon how things have gone after wining their 'Turntablist of the Month'. I've got plenty of other things still going on, including a competition down in Derby in a few days, so I'll be concentrating on them at the moment. But I'm definitely optimistic about playing out in the future and hopefully I'll be getting a few more gigs!


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