Young Talent….Presenting New Kid on the Block….

Aged 18, DJ Danny D also known as Daniel Julian is a young DJ based in London. In his own candid words….

I have been involved in the soca scene since the age of 14 years old. I initially started off with Dragons Mas band following in the footsteps of my uncle, Mike Forbes. I used to watch him and DJ Tate play when I was at carnival but I could never grasp the concept of being able to mix tunes the way they did it. When I turned 17, I started to take a more serious interest in ‘deejaying’ and actually pressured both my uncles, Mike Forbes and Trevor Davis to teach me how to physically do it all. I used to work with Mike Forbes every week when he went around England to deejay at different events and I learnt to pick up some of his techniques but I still could never play properly. As time went on, from just being around so many DJ’s and listening to them, I then learnt how to select songs well.

In the middle of 2011, Trevor Davis agreed to have me on a radio station with him on a Saturday day time so he could teach me the basics of ‘deejaying’. In May 2011, I did my first show alongside Trevor Davis on HOT96.co.uk. After a couple weeks watching what he was doing, he allowed me to be his selector for one show and he received good feedback about the show. At the beginning of August 2011, I performed at a youth lead project in Shepherds Bush Festival and was the resident DJ. I didn’t have any serious equipment so I used DJay on my iPod touch, and the crowd loved how I played. The same team put on another event called, The Winter Bush Festival, in December that year and I was lucky enough to have bought myself my first controller decks to use in conjunction with Serato (a vital piece of deejay equipment). I subsequently performed at this event and got an even better reaction from the crowd.

2012 was the year that everything kicked off for me. I was given a short slot at the UK Chocolate Nation Thank you party and this experience helped me, to get a better feel for the crowd that I had been partying with for a number of years from a different point of view. In addition, I also played on the UK Chocolate Nation Easter boat party for a short time. In both instances, I played well and I received good feedback from the crowd and the other DJ’s on the boat. Following on from that, in May I was sent an invitation on Facebook from a friend for a DJ competition being hosted by M2K, Masquerade 2000, a mas band. I took part in the competition and there were only 3 of us taking part. I won that competition and as a part of my prize, I was able to go on tour with M2K around the UK. I was then spotted by Judith, one of the main organisers of Utopia Mas band, who enjoyed how I played and she spoke with my manager (my mother) and organised for me to deejay for Utopia at Luton Carnival alongside DJ RawTrouble HD. After playing so well in Luton with DJ RawTrouble HD, I was then invited to play at Northampton Carnival.

In the summer, I played at the UK Chocolate Nation Band Lunch alongside DJ Tate and Soca Mafia and I received an even better feel of the crowd and NHC carnival vibes that were building up. After this, M2K then organised for me to play alongside DJ ShakerHD in Swanage and in Leicester, both of which were great successes. I was then invited by Poison UK to play at one of their After Work Limes in Lala Bar Hammersmith and after enjoying my set, I became one of their resident DJ’s on a Friday night for this particular fete. The week before Notting Hill carnival, UK Chocolate Nation held another boat party and I played a long set, which was enjoyed by everyone. At Notting Hill carnival, I then played with UK Chocolate Nation on carnival Sunday for their “final lap” stint which was a great way to end an epic day. On carnival Monday, I played with M2K on one of their trucks and had everyone on the groove moving to my style of playing and the music I was playing.

I am now looking forward to next year’s carnival season and seeing what the future has in store for me.

To showcase what I can do and what I have learnt, I have ended off my 2012 carnival season with the mix above.