My mother used to take me to Radio 1 road shows and my father’s varied taste – everything from classical to rock ‘n’ roll – rubbed off on me. However, at the age of 10, my musical eyes began to be opened by outside influences. Our next door neighbour gave me a rare birthday present, it was a double cassette called ‘Rap Traxx’ . This was a genre of music that I’d never heard before and it rocked my world!
It never left my Sony Walkman for the entire summer of 1990! My taste in music expanded further as time passed: from Indie to Grunge, Punk to Rock, and then, eventually – when I was old enough to go clubbing – late ‘90s dance took over. My taste in music was wide and varied and I didn’t care if that wasn’t cool! As a teenager, my friend’s older sister was always having parties.
My buddy and I would play vinyl records, through home hi-fi speakers owned by his dad, to entertain her guests. She was really old, like 18 or something! It was 1996 and I had three records in my box. The only one I can remember now is ‘Missing’ by Everything But The Girl, what an awful song!
We were in no way, shape or form DJs, but we enjoyed the attention from her friends! CHRIS SPITTAL 15PROFILE: CHRIS SPITTAL My budding DJ career didn’t go any further than that over the following decade, as I entered the world of work, however I did pick up experience that proved invaluable. After a short career as a window cleaner, I became an Event Manager for a venue that concentrated on weddings: Pavilions of Harrogate on the Great Yorkshire Show Ground.
My boss at the time, Robert Whiteley, taught me everything I needed to know. Managing events here pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was soon supervising up to 30 staff in one night and even became a toastmaster after getting some training from the late sports commentator Dave Callaghan. My confidence grew, feeding from nervous energy, and I realised that I liked this new Chris Spittal, he had balls!
I remember once telling 400 businessmen at a Friday afternoon business lunch to be quiet and getting a round of applause! The main lesson I learned from coordinating weddings was that customer service is key and that what the customer wants, the customer gets… well, within reason. I soon became a pro, working alongside registrars, various different catering companies, flower arrangers and photographers… I had the venue running like clockwork! Weddings were our every weekend bread and butter.
Not only that, but once a year we opened our doors to the largest wedding fayre in the North of England. Every single type of wedding supplier was there, from florists to jewellery specialists, caterers to photographers… why are there always 15 photographers at every wedding fayre to 1 of everything else? The event had a full catwalk show four times a day with a speaker system that made me go weak at the knees. Cathy, the organiser at the time, was a nutcase, but so much fun, and the after show parties will go down in history.
This was before I was a DJ, I was simply a party animal / hard-working Event Manager burning the candle from the middle, never mind both ends! At the time I owned a classic-style Mini my girlfriend (now wife) had bought me. I loved it and managed to get a nice FLI sub in the boot to make sure Armand Van Helden’s classic ‘You Don’t Know Me’ sounded at its best for everyone I drove past! I even picked up the nickname ‘Mr Oizo’ around town for nodding my head to the beat like in the Levi adverts.
I was someone! Or, at least, I thought I was!! Looking back, I can see this was the time that I started to develop what I like to call my DJ Ego. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but a necessity for all DJs.
Our ego, or self-confidence, is something we all need, and feed off at gigs. By nature, DJs don’t want to be unnoticed; we don’t want to be sat at the back! The trick is not to let our ego run way out of control. Part of my job at Pavilions was security, so a couple of colleagues and I went on a course called ‘Door Safe’ .
It was run by the local constabulary and once completed you got what we all know as a ‘Door Licence’ . Obviously things have changed now, but at the time this gave me the right to work in town as a Doorman. This kind of made me laugh as I am 5ft 4” and every Doorman I knew was well over 6ft! But I was able to hold my own, being able to run under people’s arms and pop up in the middle to break up any arguments!
Around the same time I was buying my first house, so I needed a little extra money. I started working for a friend and doorman at Harrogate’s prestigious nightclub, complete with sticky floors, Carrington’s. Generally, my role was to stand behind the DJ and keep my eyes peeled for any fights breaking out on the dancefloor. However, my eyes would often wonder towards the DJ booth, interested in how he mixed one song into another.
This was one of a number of influences that would soon lead to me standing behind the decks myself! Another was one of the DJs that used to work at the Pavilions, David Bielby or Bib to his mates. I would regularly stand in awe watching as “AFTER A SHORT CAREER AS A WINDOW CLEANER, I BECAME AN EVENT MANAGER FOR A VENUE THAT CONCENTRATED ON WEDDINGS” : CHRIS SPITTAL he made rooms come alive with his mixing techniques, using a corded telephone in place of headphones!
A true talent, but he always tells me he’s still learning. I guess we all are, and that is what feeds the passion. Somehow I managed to hold down my job at Pavilions while also working my way around most of the nightclubs in Harrogate on the doors. Needs must when you’ve bought a house and you’re skint!
It was around this time I asked my girlfriend, Vicky, to move in with me. I was growing up! We decided to get married in 2006 and I was my mother-in-law’s worst nightmare! Having seen so many weddings, I knew what looked amazing and how the best weddings worked (at least in my head).
I was put in charge of the evening entertainment and booked, of course, none other than my mate Bib to DJ the night. I also booked a band that I regularly saw out in Harrogate and my ego/confidence made another appearance when I asked if I could join them for two or three songs, as a surprise for everyone at the wedding. I’d secretly been practising to play the drums for months before and there weren’t many people who knew. My ego saw me through and I was a total hit, playing a couple of AC/DC classics and ‘When September Ends’ for my wife, as this was her favourite Green Day song.
It was a complete surprise for everyone and I loved being the centre of attention! Some might say I started my DJ journey as a ‘Pirate DJ’ . Well, I was a member of Ripon Sailing Club and in unwittingly signed up to help with the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Because of my experience at Pavillions, I originally signed up to help run the bar.
Very soon, however, music became the centre of attention in our conversations. What would we do for entertainment? With next to no money in the budget, for some reason I offered my services to play some songs at the year’s big event! Before long I was on eBay picking up every NOW CD I could find.
I also bought myself a Denon DN-4500 twin CD player and a Behringer mixer, which I laid out on a table, and managed to borrow a pair of speakers that sat at the side. No tablecloth, no lights, no frills, just music as loud as I could play it! I spent two weeks preparing my playlist ready for the night. However, I soon learned that DJing was about feeling the vibe and reading the dancefloor, something they don’t teach you in DJ 101!
Although I’d spent two weeks on the playlist, nobody danced until 30 minutes before the end when I think they just felt sorry for me. However, at the end everybody said what a fantastic time they’d had and asked if I’d do the next one. “Yes of course,” came my reply! The next event was to be the Christmas dinner and it would not be in the clubhouse this time but at a local hotel. I naively thought that maybe the hotel would see my DJ skills and ask me back to work for them in the future.
This became my motivation for investing in a more professional looking setup, so I bought a black tablecloth and some lights. Still nothing fancy, but they flashed and I wrapped a rope light (bought from a Christmas sale) around the stands. This time it was an awards ceremony too, and I wanted to make it spectacular. I played songs like ‘Simply the Best’ as people walked up to collect their prizes.
It was dramatic and nothing like the club had seen before… Looking back, however, that perception of the event may have been all in my head, as after the ceremony everyone went to the bar in the other room and I was left playing songs to myself. Well, I enjoyed it! On a holiday near Castle Donnington, Vicky and I decided to go and watch some Aston Martins racing at Donnington Park race circuit. As we arrived I saw a sign reading ‘DJ SHOW’ .
Intrigued, later that day we went and had a look. This turned out to be one of the early BPM shows and I was impressed by all the equipment, having previously not realised that half of it even existed! Attending the show opened my eyes to all the professional DJs around the UK and made me feel very small, but I knew I had potential. A few years later we attended BPM again, this time with money in our pockets ready to spend on any deals that could be snapped up.
I walked away with a four-poster truss system that we bundled into the back of our Vauxhall Astra with much difficulty. Now I had something to hang my lights from and look like a pro! Unfortunately, this didn’t last long as it took way too long to set up and the box section had to be hammered together every time. It turned out to be one of those purchases you wish you hadn’t made!
However, I also bought some KAM Parbar lights that I still have today, even if they have been rewired once or twice. “SOMEHOW I MANAGED TO HOLD DOWN MY JOB AT PAVILIONS WHILE ALSO WORKING MY WAY AROUND MOST OF THE NIGHTCLUBS IN HARROGATE ON THE DOORS” 17PROFILE: CHRIS SPITTAL After I’d picked up experience working for a variety of different parties, it was time to take on my first wedding. It was for a friend and I threw the kitchen sink at it, every piece of gear I owned!
I remember playing their favourite tune, which happened to be a dance mix of ‘Sex On Fire’ , and increasing the BPM from 120 to 135. I had the whole room jumping! Unfortunately, we were on the first floor room of Rudding Park Hotel and downstairs there was a high profile event with an expensive speaker telling his jokes and keeping everybody laughing. The slight distraction was the rumble of bass from upstairs and the chandelier swinging from left to right!
Upstairs the party was going off, but I panicked when the Event Manager from the hotel asked me politely if I would mind turning the bass down and playing something a bit more chilled out to stop people dancing so erratically. I laughed at him and said, “this is what I do!” Maybe this was cutting my nose off to spite my face, but I soon learned that the turnover in staff at hotels means that these small challenges never last long in the memory of any hotel or its staff, as I was soon asked to come back and cover Rudding Park’s Deer Lodge Christmas parties.
For me this was a prestigious venue, even if it was just the lodge and not the main house. One of these parties was for the Harrogate Midwives, an amazing group that I have since DJed for many times. Those girls know how to party! I slowly improved my DJ skills, built up my music collection and expanded my rig.
At the same time my diary started to fill with bookings and I realised that my favourite type of events were weddings, as I was able to use the experience I’d picked up during my Event Manager days at Pavilions. Home life also carried on, with my lovely wife providing support and keeping me fed and watered, while I grew the business and held down a full-time day job. I was now working as an account manager selling telephones, go figure! Over the next few years we also had a little baby girl and then, to our surprise, a baby boy too!
Now 7 and 5, they “I SLOWLY IMPROVED MY DJ SKILLS, BUILT UP MY MUSIC COLLECTION AND EXPANDED MY RIG” are my life and are my motivation for both growing my business and striking a good work/life balance. In the famous words of a takeaway I frequent too often, ‘I’m lovin’ it’! I’m not sure why, but at one point I fell out of love with DJing for a while and very nearly hung up my headphones. I questioned my abilities as a DJ, Brides and Grooms didn’t seem to see the value of the service I was trying to offer and drunk people became more annoying than I ever thought possible.
But, to be honest, the main problem was that I had become stressed out from taking too much on. I was trying to do everything and please everyone, but I wasn’t charging what I was really worth. I was a grumpy DJ and I guess that came across too. Then, one night at a party in Leeds, it happened.
It had before, but this time I realised and listened to the client, and all their guests, when they said they loved me! I had one of those nights when you go home buzzing. God is a DJ and that was me! They loved me and I loved them and I wanted to DJ again.
My passion was reignited and I started feeling like a new person, a new DJ. In December was asked by my friends and DJs Scott Wall and Shaun Gill to give them a helping hand over Christmas down at a large Harrogate hotel. I covered the smaller events, while they did the grand party nights. It was great and I loved the venue and the staff.
But then in the January Scott and Shaun told me they had had enough and had decided to pack DJing in. They asked if I would like them to put my name forward to take over and I jumped at the chance! After an interview with the hotel manager it was confirmed, I’d take over. This then meant that I needed to find other DJs to help me, as the hotel regularly had more than one party on each night.
I started meeting with local DJs, set up a group on Facebook and my DJ community soon grew. I realised : CHRIS SPITTAL VIBRANT NEW music video download ser vice DJ-FRIENDL Y WEMASTERS* , INTRO/OUTRO EDITS & EXTENDED MIXES/REMIXES Unriv alled Collection of New + Classic Videos Ex ceptional Video + Audio Qualit y Affordable + F air Subscription P ackages Friendl Y + Helpful Local Suppor t JOIN TODA Y AND RECEIVE FREE credits WWW . WEMIX.EU *WEMASTERS – remastered audio and video - 4:3 videos with added borders to make them 16:9 so they fill the screen with no black bars. wemix-advert.indd 1 22/08/2018 08:58 remain plugged into our local DJ community, recognising that we all have our strengths and weakness.
If I am approached by a client wanting a specific genre, and I know the right person for the job, then I’ll happily refer the client even if we have availability ourselves. One thing I’ve learnt over the years is that collaboration with clients, musicians and, of course, other DJs is vital. I think that working with other DJs for the greater good, both locally and nationally, sharing and communicating ideas and experiences, is essential for moving the whole industry forward.
There is always something to be learnt when we put our DJ egos back in their boxes! As if I wasn’t already busy enough, I decided it would be a great idea to try my hand as a broadcaster and joined Harrogate Hospital Radio. After passing my training, I was let loose in the studio. I broadcast two shows, each one hour long, every week.
The first was a chartbased show looking at music that that there were more DJs locally than I thought, and they were nearly all nice people. Friendships grew and eventually I met a like-minded DJ called Anthony Smith. Until this point I’d called my business Jack Plug Entertainment, a name that I wasn’t a huge fan of but thought was ok. However, Ant expressed an interest in the venue residency and we decided to join forces and setup Yorkshire DJ Beats.
We work well separately in the main, but share equipment and sometimes do karaoke together with me as the compere and Ant moving faders. We do still operate as sole traders, stating so on our contracts and invoicing, and that setup works well for us. When we’re together we joke and have fun, which the punters love. My wife calls us Ant and Dec!
Facebook has been hugely instrumental in our success. Regular posts about public events and building a strong local following, coupled with our website, pulls in customers from far and wide. I also was number 1 in years gone by. The second was a show based on cover versions.
Sometimes I would play the lesser known track, which was often the original! For example, ‘Tainted Love,’ which has been covered by many artists including Marilyn Manson, Scorpions and, of course, Soft Cell, was originally recorded by Gloria Jones! I really enjoyed the research that went into this show, but ultimately Hospital Radio was taking a lot of my time which needed to be focused on my business if it was to continue to grow and, therefore, my love for broadcasting is currently on hold.
These days, DJing for me is all about community and serving the client to the best of my abilities. Customer service remains key. I honestly couldn’t be happier with my chosen career and I am now pleased that I was made redundant from my day job. Although desperately sad at the time, this was a blessing in disguise.
Life is a rollercoaster and challenges are always set out in front of us, but you have to roll with the punches and try your very hardest to stay as positive as possible. For every event, be it a wedding or a corporate function, I always come out of the corner fighting with a beaming smile and bags of confidence, knowing that the crowd will always feed from the energy of a DJ dancing to his own music! After attending the Pro Mobile Conference earlier this year, I have realised that I can join up some of my experience and potentially become a wedding host.
The Conference really gave me a boost and I met some really amazing people. The only negative thing I can say about it is that I wish I had attended earlier Conferences and not missed out! I am extremely grateful for the support of other DJs in the area and the continued support of my family and friends. This has enabled me to work very hard to build what I once saw as a bit of a hobby/interest into the successful business that it is today, and for that I will always be grateful. “I ALWAYS COME OUT OF THE CORNER FIGHTING WITH A BEAMING SMILE AND BAGS OF CONFIDENCE, KNOWING THAT THE CROWD WILL ALWAYS FEED FROM THE ENERGY OF A DJ DANCING TO HIS OWN MUSIC!” : CHRIS SPITTAL
