15PROFILE: JACK WILSON Strap yourself in, this is a (not so) little story about my journey of being a DJ! For as long as I can remember, music and all things technical have been a big part of my life. However, I’d say junior school was where the seed was really planted! I somehow fell into being part of the school band playing percussion and just about anything I could get my hands on to make a noise with!
I was also lucky enough to be chosen as ‘that person’ who got to put on the music in the school hall (using the Coomber tape recorders) as the rest of the school entered into assembly… I think this was when I first got bitten by the DJing bug! It was also during my time at junior school that my dad moved to Spain and owned a bar in Palma called the Pine Tree Inn. My older sister and I used to visit him every year and the bar quickly became a place we loved!
Dad often had entertainment on and one evening my love of music and playing instruments was ignited thanks to one man and his keyboard. That man was my dad’s friend Jim, who also owned his own music bar a little further into town. After seeing and hearing Jim play live in the bar I remembered thinking to myself, “that’s something I want to do, entertain people!” As soon as I returned home from Spain I told my mum and stepdad that I really wanted to learn to play piano and sing.
I was very happy that my family supported me that year by buying me my first keyboard for Christmas and my birthday (they are only a couple of weeks apart). I can still remember the day I walked into Toys ’R’ Us in Chatham and picked up that Casio LK-50. It was like a dream machine, the keys lit up so I could learn to play songs and there were loads of sounds to choose from. I could use it to record myself and play it back too whilst layering other things over the top, I was mixing!
JACK WILSON KENT DISCOS / KENT MEDIA GROUP Towards the end of my final year in the juniors (2003) we put on a school play, our very own rendition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Since I was one of the tech geeks of the year group (even back then!) I was asked if I’d like to help putting together the visuals and sound effects for the show. I spent many days producing various PowerPoints for the different scenes and even found the audio stings they used in the real shows!
This play was one of the first times I’d ever seen the school’s four lighting fixtures get used. One of the PE teachers placed the lump of a DMX lighting desk on top of a piece of PE apparatus, connected it to the socket on the wall and, with a push of a few buttons, I had control of the lights: two in front of the stage, one to the left and one to the right. Sadly I didn’t run the lights during the show, as I was on stage – playing instruments and singing – but I was allowed to set them up and play with them whilst rehearsals were taking place.
This was when I realised I liked doing both parts quite a lot: being the tech geek at the back and the guy on the stage! Little did I know that fast forwarding a few years I’d find a way of doing both at the same time. In my secondary school years I was fortunate enough to be part of the school stage crew. I started helping out during my second term and became the guy running it all a few years later when the older guys left!
My school was then called Chatham Grammar School for Boys (it has since changed name) and what a school it was… I couldn’t imagine being able to get away with half the things we did in that school today. Health and safety then was a little bit overlooked as we were just allowed to run up and down ladders, play with all the lights we had at our disposal and no-one ever batted an eye lid! Well, until you missed a few too many lessons, then you might have had a little telling off!
The setup was quite a bit more advanced than what I’d experienced at primary school, and during my time there we had many upgrades and additions to the kit we had to play with. The stage was home to many school productions, open evenings, assemblies, school discos and much more, all of which had an AV element to it that I was proud to be part of! For the open evenings we used to get in a little more kit from an ex-student who went on to create his own sound and lighting company.
We used it to design and program a complete lighting show to an audio track and fire it all off manually on the night, now that was fun for a young teenage geek! I particularly enjoyed doing the lights for school discos. For these we were sometimes again blessed with being lent some kit from the ex-student: a handful of UV cannons alongside Martin MX-1 scanners and Martin Egos that I operated on the little MC Showtime controller. We then had some generic par cans and two giant moving heads (at least that’s what I thought at the time), Geni Oby-3s, that were all hung from the ceiling.
This was all run through a Zero88 Fat Frog desk. A few years down the line and many school discos under my belt, the older guys left and there was no-one left to DJ. So I said that I’d like to take over and give them a rebrand, which is when ‘Neon Nightz’ was born! It was almost like a mini nightclub for the teens and we all loved it.
The school were absolutely amazing and pretty much let us do what we wanted and even gave us a small bit of money each for the effort we put in! Hey… we’ve got the makings of a little business here! I was still at secondary school when I became a mobile DJ… well a roadie at first. My family was invited to a party one evening and my stepdad (knowing that I was interested in all things sound and lighting) went up to the DJ, Jeff, and said, “if you cross my boy’s hand with silver he’ll help you if “ IN MY SECONDARY SCHOOL YEARS I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE PART OF THE SCHOOL STAGE CREW ” : JACK WILSON like another dad, so it was a very tough conversation to have and I remember both of us being in tears as neither of us wanted to part ways but we had different ideas of how we wanted things to go.
Jeff decided a few months later that he was going to move back to be with his dad and would sell the disco to me. We agreed on the very fair price of £200 for the remainder of Jeff’s side of the equipment and that day Kent Discos became mine. By this point I had added quite a bit to the rig so there wasn’t much of the original setup left! During the time we worked together the light screens had gone and were replaced with a Giraffe deck stand and LEDJ star cloth.
The speakers were replaced with Omnitronic DX-2222s that my mum and step dad bought me from eBay and the lighting had had a few additions too… ok it was still very ‘Maplins’ but I thought it looked great! you want,” and that’s where it all began! From that night Jeff and I worked together most weekends. Initially I was the roadie who helped him bring the kit in, set it up and occasionally played a few tracks when he went to the toilet. To be honest, I was a little afraid of talking on the microphone, so didn’t fancy making announcements and left those to him.
90% of our work was at one venue, Lordswood Sports and Social Club, and this is where I began to learn the tricks of the trade. After the first year my confidence grew and I started to take more of an active role. I came up with the name ‘Kent Discos’ and suggested to Jeff that we should rename the disco and start expanding as a few of my family and friends had asked us to do parties in other venues. Needless to say, Jeff agreed as more work was always a good thing, although back then we were only charging around £120 a night!
We performed at many different parties and events and I squirreled away the money I earnt and started to buy additional equipment. I also replaced some items on the setup as they were getting a little rough around the edges (Jeff had been DJing many years before I came on the scene). Picture the setup: at the beginning we had a 4ft centre light box with homemade wooden panels either side with the disco name cut out of card and stuck on the front. The sound was a mix of unbranded, cheap speakers and amplifiers and four home CD players attached to a Samson rotary mixer.
The lighting resembled a Maplin’s special offer sale! We had a Geni Wildblaze and XTC, some mini strobes, rope lights and a handful of other cheap effects that didn’t really do a lot! Jeff originated from County Durham, which is where his dad still lived, so he often went to visit. Sadly, his dad became ill and these trips became a little more frequent.
This meant that Jeff decided he needed to slow down on the discos as he also worked full-time as a maths teacher at a school in Sidcup, so you can imagine that his life was pretty busy. Oh and he also had three boys and a wife at home, they didn’t have much interest in the discos, so the advertising and bookings ended up becoming my baby and it wasn’t too long before I started investing more of my own money into the business to improve its appearance.
Unfortunately, all of the back and forth with everything became a little too much for Jeff’s family and sadly he and his wife separated and had a divorce. At this time Jeff was in a bit of a bad place and decided that he needed to come away from the discos so one day we had ‘that awkward conversation’ . I wanted to keep pushing and working but Jeff wanted to slow down even more. I had come to think of Jeff “ THE SOUND WAS A MIX OF UNBRANDED, CHEAP SPEAKERS AND AMPS...
THE LIGHTING RESEMBLED A MAPLIN’S SPECIAL OFFER SALE! ” I was 16 when I took over the disco from Jeff, which meant there was one big problem… I still couldn’t drive so my step dad took me to all of my gigs and picked me up after them too. He never charged me either… bonus! I was very lucky to also get a job that same year at Lordswood Leisure Centre as a Recreational Assistant. This pretty much meant being the young one who did all the setting up, packing away, children’s parties and just about anything that needed doing on site.
Back then I only earned about £3.50 an hour, but everything I earnt went back into my disco pot as I had to spend the money on my big love: DJ equipment! As soon as I turned started to learn how to drive so I could get myself around and my mum and stepdad bought me my first van. The thing was like my baby and was eventually named ‘Sooty’ due to it being a little smoky diesel, but boy did I love it! It was around this time that I was also introduced to SEDA and visited my first ShowNight.
I remember walking into the room at the Village Hotel, Maidstone (invited by my good friend Steve Ware) and encountering what seemed like a DJs’ paradise. Lights were everywhere, music was playing and I found a fantastic community of DJs of all ages mixing together and sharing their stories, I loved it! At the second SEDA ShowNight I attended I remember bartering a little deal with Dave from Allied Entertainments who was the Featured Retailer that night.
I really wanted to introduce DMX lighting into my own setup after learning the skill at school, so approached Dave and we eventually made a deal: £160 for four LEDJ par cans and four DMX cables. It was almost all I had at the time, but it felt like the best money I had ever spent. The bug continued to get worse and after passing my driving test I couldn’t stop myself from buying new equipment and adding it to the setup. It was also around this time I became good friends with a guy called Neal Short and we ended up getting some equipment together as Neal liked having a play with all things geeky too!
Together we bought two Peavey Pro systems (the 15” tops and 15” subs) and some W-Audio amplifiers and processing equipment. Do you know what? I certainly don’t miss humping around all that kit in a rack that wasn’t on wheels… I mean we did try it on wheels, but they fell off before long! In my later teens, I managed to score a weekly Thursday night karaoke gig at a local pub called the Star in Gillingham.
This is an important part of the story because it is where I met my future wife… but I won’t go into the details or you’ll be reading this forever! Suffice to say, we had some great nights at the Star with many family and friends coming along to support me. I also think this is where I first met local DJ legend Glenn Nash, who also knew my wife from other karaoke nights he ran in the area. Unfortunately, nothing good lasts forever; the pub changed landlord and that was the end of that.
However, speaking of Glenn, I actually have quite a lot to thank him for! As he was the person who recommended me to Dave Chapman at DJ Dealer when he was looking for staff as Glenn knew I was into all things technical. I started working at DJ Dealer selling equipment to the local DJs and online too. If I’m honest, I kind of just fell into the job and didn’t really know what I was doing at first, but the understanding of the kit and how it worked was a big benefit and I soon picked up the sales stuff from Dave!
He also had a separate company called First Light Event Production which, as the name suggests, did event production. So not only did I get a job doing what I loved with DJ equipment, I also had the chance to play with some of the bigger boy toys too! My first event production job was for a huge crane company – Beck and Politzer. The event was in Dartford and they needed an extra pair of hands so I shot down from the shop in Rochester to help.
I ended up being the video guy “ I WAS INTRODUCED TO SEDA AND VISITED MY FIRST SHOWNIGHT ENCOUNTERING WHAT SEEMED LIKE A DJS’ PARADISE ” : JACK WILSON that day, switching all of the live cameras and presentations. A few weeks later I was invited to help on a large event in London with a company that First Light worked for called Bespoke Events. This event was the launch of a new Bear Grylls series at Battersea Power Station, the event had everything – projection mapping, lighting, video, a DJ and so much more.
You can still see the video on YouTube now and I was standing in the room… I couldn’t believe my luck! It was also at DJ Dealer where I met the 6ft 4” giant whose name seems to have become a bit of a legend in our industry – Lofty! He came to us on work experience and one day I said “fancy helping me on a gig tonight?” And that’s when Lofty became part of team Kent Discos! I was also able to visit my first BPM show thanks to DJ Dealer.
Back then I ran the shop’s blog so I went up to the show with my Trade Pass and I was like a kid in a toy shop. My dad actually went with me as I hadn’t driven that far on my own before, so I thought it would be a good idea. It was a little risky though, as my wife was heavily pregnant with our son, but I couldn’t miss it and I knew that my dad could drive back if we needed to get home quickly! DJ Dealer became a big part of my life and I soon found myself working nearly every day for the shop.
Dave was even kind enough to offer me directorship of the company as a present when I got married in 2015, sadly that didn’t work out. I left the company a few months later as my lust for larger events and progressing my own company led me in another direction… Part of that new direction was with another company that Neal and I formed alongside another friend, Peter Hope. We were asked one day by someone we knew if we could go and service the lights at their nightclub in Folkestone and on the way back from the site visit on the M20 we invented JNP as we wanted to do it properly as a company!
JNP still runs today, although it is mainly myself and Neal installing equipment into venues. Pete now runs the production equipment side of Bespoke Events! During my time at DJ Dealer I met many incredible reps from different companies and I learnt what happened on the ‘other side of the fence’ . I decided that I’d like to be part of that if the opportunity ever arose, and it did!
Whilst working at the shop, Mark Parkhouse from FBT and I became good friends. At that time Mark was running FBT UK on his own, before he had any warehouse or stock over here. But, Mark being Mark, he always had bigger plans and it wasn’t long before he was looking to expand the business and it was at this point I left DJ Dealer when the opportunity arose for me to get onto the other side of the fence (from retail to trade). If I’m honest, I did feel bad leaving DJ Dealer and going to work for FBT, but I had a little family at home and I felt I needed something a little more and that it was the right move for me and my family. “ AS YOU CAN TELL, I HAD LOTS GOING ON IN MY LIFE, BUT MY BIG LOVE WAS STILL WITH MY LITTLE DISCO COMPANY ” : JACK WILSON I worked for FBT part-time on a self-employed basis as a Marketing Manager for a few years so that I could continue my other job at Lordswood Leisure Centre and of course my own discos.
I couldn’t let either of those things go as they had both become a big part of my life. Lordswood had made me a Duty Manager so I had big responsibilities and didn’t want to leave the little family we are at Lordswood behind. This worked quite well for both Mark and I, as we both had flexibility, and still continues today! FBT opened up so many new doors and I was introduced to many people.
The industry really is such a small world and I quickly became part of it! Mark introduced me to many people including Kris Dawber from ADJ who I also owe a lot to. Kris and Mark both supported me when our business started to take off into a more professional outfit than the standard cheap discos we used to do. Thanks to these two, I learnt a lot about business and took that knowledge away and used it in my own business to progress what we did.
This certainly helped Kent Discos to grow into what it is today. Mark and I also went into business together with a few other people when we built Q-Audio after KAM unfortunately went bust. We saw an opportunity so struck whilst the iron was hot and seemingly overnight Q-Audio was born. At the time it was the same wireless microphone products that KAM had but just rebranded to Q-Audio until we could get established and start to bring out our own products (which you can read about in the review starting on page 76 of this Pro Mobile magazine).
So, as you can tell, I had lots going on in my life with all of this and the family at home, but my big love was still with my little disco company. After all, it was mine that I’d built from the ground up so it was something I felt very proud of and I just wanted to keep putting my heart and soul into that. I’ve always liked to do something ‘a little different’ so often come up with all sorts of ideas for new services we could incorporate into what we do.
One of those ideas was a video wall! Kris showed me ADJ’s video wall products at some of the events we attended and I fell in love! I thought, “no-one else does it for a mobile disco, so let’s be one of the first!” After a year of ‘umming and ahhing’ and working out how the heck I was going to afford it, I pushed the button, much to the disgust of my family who thought I was crazy spending that amount of money. Despite the big investment (for me at the time), it was only actually a small screen… but it was a start!
After buying the wall the team and I thought no-one would hire a video wall from a disco company, so Kent Media Group was born in 2016. Kent Discos became a part of the group, so it could still continue with its own name and we could separate the DJ and the events side of what we would be doing. The video wall became the turning point for our company. In 2018 we were very lucky to pick up a client who wanted to show the World Cup games on a big screen outside his bar in Maidstone but we didn’t have enough panels to make a screen to the size he wanted.
This meant we had to come up with a plan and take a bit of a gamble. We ordered more and hoped that England would play well. Fortunately, the national team made it all the way through to the semis, which meant we had a fair few games for the screen to go out on, PHEW! Kent Media Group grew very fast and once again I found myself investing more money back into the company to get new toys… I mean equipment!
Of course the gear we bought for the production side of the business also ended up being used on the disco setups too! We changed the way we did things at Kent Discos by offering three setup options to customers. This gave them the choice and allowed us to either go minimal, mid-size or all out with the toys. And, of course, when the toys came out so did the boys, we grew a team of some amazing people and that’s our awesome #teamKMG today!
In 2018, Mark and I could see that my own business was growing and that my focus was starting to shift away from FBT. As Kent Discos and Kent Media Group got busier and busier, I unfortunately couldn’t dedicate the time to FBT anymore so we shook hands and I no longer worked for FBT as their Marketing Manager, although I did (and still do) continue to do a lot of their marketing and graphic work as that’s another thing we do at KMG! When I left FBT I setup a little office with Neal so we could run Kent Media Group and JNP side by side, and that office was inside Lordswood Leisure Centre… small world eh!?
That same year, the company that had run BPM unfortunately went into receivership. Of course the industry couldn’t see our only large exhibition disappear, so the guys from MDJN took it over alongside Mark and Kris. Pete from MDJN felt that he couldn’t give the time and attention to the show the following year (2019). Mark and Kris seized the opportunity to have me involved alongside Steven Boys and they asked me to become a Director of BPM… "Wow, " I thought, "I get to be part of running that show?!" It was another thing to add to an already busy plate but being part of something like BPM was an absolute dream and I couldn’t say no!
BPM had scaled back from what it was a few years previous but this wasn’t a bad thing, we felt that it actually brought the show back to DJs as it showcased equipment, setups and techniques that were all within the reach of the attendees. However, I do always miss the big lighting shows you saw at BPM back in the day. But hey, who knows… maybe we’ll see those again one day, hopefully the show can build year on year and we can get back to seeing some of the larger displays but still having the focus on the DJ!
Mark and Kris also suggested that Kent Media Group provided the production for the PLAY @ BPM stage and that’s what we did in 2019, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough video wall as it was booked on another job that weekend! So we had to get even more in, but thankfully work was going well with the screens thanks to jobs coming in through Bespoke Events. This meant the extra investment was a decision that was easily made but maybe a little close to BPM as we actually had them delivered to Cranmore Park!
