My musical influences could have been very different: moving to West London from Liverpool in the 80's exposed me to a whole plethora of music that I hadn't been exposed to previously. The melting pot of cultures that exists in the Portobello Road area of West London encouraged me to explore different genres of music, and I soon developed a taste for Soul, Jazz-Funk and Hip-Hop.

After spending a few years collecting vinyl, House started to dominate the collection by the late 80's; after being inspired by the likes of Paul Trouble at Dingwalls ,Louie Vega whenever he came over to London, Tony Humphries and CJ Mackintosh at Ministry, and Rob Acteson and Rhythm Doctor at Feel Real, I just had to start djing. I got my first break playing at a monthly House night at a club called 'The Clink' and by the mid 90's I was playing regularly at various clubs in London and had started a US House night called 'Sound' at Covent Garden's 'Gardening Club'.

In 97/98, I teamed up with Dave Taylor to form Solid Groove; for the next few years we created quite a buzz, and our remixes and productions were getting strong support from some of the scene's most prominent DJ's. After we split a few years later, Dave kept the name 'Solid Groove' and still uses it to this day - as well as his other pseudonyms such as 'Induceve' and 'Switch'.

In 2001, I had my first single under the name 'Real Deep' released on Azuli records and have been producing and remixing under that name ever since...

Too many to mention, but here's a selection of DJ's, producers and artists that have influenced me:

Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, Gilles Peterson, Paul 'Trouble' Anderson, Tony Humphries, Phil Asher, Jazzanova, Dixon, DJ Deep, Franck Roger, Frankie Feliciano, Osunlade, Ron Trent, Atjazz, Koop, Markus Enochson, DJ Gregory, Bugz In The Attic, St.Germain, Julien Jabre, Matty Heilbronn, Joe Claussell, Moodyman, Ame, Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Marley Marl, Jazzy Jeff, Quincy Jones, Francois Kervorkian, Blaze, DJ Spinna, Marshall Jefferson, Roy Davis Junior, Larry Heard, Lil Louis, Mood II Swing, Roy Ayers, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Vince Montana, Santana, George Benson, War, Tania Maria, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Fela Kuti, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith...

Inspired by the same kind of people, me and my brother used our influences in slightly different ways: whilst I got into DJing, Andy started messing about with the piano that our dad bought (but never used). The thing is, the little bastard actually seemed to have a natural flair for it, and whilst I was bloody useless with instruments, Andy was playing some nice grooves within no time. Still, I got the looks I suppose, so... (What?!)

He's developed into an accomplished musician and has played on various remix projects for Real Deep, as well as a remix of Nicola Conte's 'Zona Sul' for Raw Deal.

He's living in Dubai at the minute, but the wonders of modern technology means that we're still writing together and hope to finish some fresh material soon. Watch this space...