World-renowned as both a producer and a DJ, Aphrodite (Gavin King), has been blowing up the dance music scene in England and all over the globe with his unique style of jump-up jungle. He`s been working the one`s and two`s for about twelve years now -- a veteran of the UK rave scene -- and he isn`t planning on quitting any time soon.
His mother was a piano teacher, so you might say that the music was in his genes from the start. As a teen he listened avidly to jazz, funk, electro, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. He has collaborated with long-time buddy Mickey Finn under the name Urban Shakedown, and together they formed the record label Urban Takeover, which has released such singles as "Drop Top Caddy." Together the dynamic duo has remixed the Jungle Brothers` song, "True Blue," and many other artists as well, including Yazz ("Abandon Me") and Luniz ("Five On It").
Most of Aphrodite`s songs have been released under the Aphrodite Recordings label, based out of London, which he began three years ago as an outlet for all the music he was involved in at the time. You might recognize Aphrodite as the man responsible for such tracks as "I Wanted It More And More," featuring Gail McClain on Artcore 2: The Art of Drum And Bass, or "Spice" the song that rocked dancefloors with the famous sample from Dune, "The spice extends life, the spice expands consciousness..." But let`s not forget his classic tunes of which "Some Justice," "We Enter," and "Calling The People" are just a few.
Taking a look at his schedule you would figure he needn`t bother paying rent on an apartment since he`s getting flown off to some new part of the world almost every day. He has infected pretty much every major landmass besides Antarctica with his contagious beats and basslines, and takes pictures of the international crowds he plays for to post on his website. Meanwhile, the penguins wait with bated breath and the multi-talented man behind the music takes a few minutes to answer our questions...
ClubPlanet:Which did you get involved with first -- DJing or producing? Which do you like better? How did you get started working in the dance music scene? What kinds of difficulties did you face?
Aphrodite: I was a DJ first, and got interested as far back as 1984 but mainly got into it DJing the Aphrodite nights at college in 1988. Acid house was the music that myself and Adam started to play. The DJ name came from the night, and we got known as the Aphrodite crew. Then once Adam left to go round the world, it was just myself, and the name stuck. There was never any intention to become a so-called "big time" DJ -- I just wanted to make crowds happy by DJing good music that was different from what all the other DJs played and I wanted to give something to the scene.
To be honest, the only real difficulties are if you get swept along by all the hype and general bullshit that a record company deal or success can bring, apart from that your earnings directly relate to the quality and frequency of the records that you release, and if you go independent as I did, then you have nobody to answer to and always have control.