Well to answer this we can go all the way back to when i was four, when i leaped on the piano chair lifted the lid and started playing about, from what i remember it took me around 20 mins to come up with a song, it was simple but my mother fell off the chair!!! For years i played around on keyboards and drum machines till my teens, where after been at a mate's house and watched him on the decks. I quickly sucked up mummies behind for a set of decks, started off on vinyl, basic mixing, simple cueing up on the first tasty phat beat,then moved into the cd decks (Pioneer CDJ500s) where i did a few local gigs for a while till i was 19, then disater struck, when due to family problems i ended up homeless for 3 years, was a rough experience but toughened and matured me real quickly, got away from the drugs, the bad crowds and got myself into a flat in Leith (Edinburgh) where a neighbour introduced me to their friends who were into producing music, from there the rest is history, I've just pushed and pushed with what little equipment i have to this point in 2010, where now I'm happy to say things are starting to look good, I'm now in the pros class i guess now since being signed by Bruce Ruffin....
Who were some of your biggest influences?
Hmmm, well besides the fact that I dont follow anyone's style in my productions, I'd have to say the music that got me wanting to have a shot at producing myself would be hardcore, back in the early to mid 90's there were many venues in Scotland with DJs like Lenny Dee, Marc Smith, Bass Generator, Tom Wilson, Ultimate Buzz, and many many more, my fav venues were the Rez at No1 of course, but Nosebleed in Rosyth was fantastic, I remember one time, the friends I went with knew Lenny Dee and i got to sit and chill with him and the crew right after he had knocked a bloke out for getting lippy with him, the boy didn't know he just started with Lenny either,lol, was a funny one. One producer I loved was Los Pablos (Rotterdam) the tunes were pounding hard, simple yet skillfull construct, it was those beats that I long for in my own productions so I guess you could say Los Pablos was my guide in a way...
So where does the name DJCTX come from?
The name comes from a personal point in my life, as u will gather ctx is xtc backwards and is slang for ecstasy, a friend of mine unfortunaily passed away on the drug doing something stupid, kinda put me right off it so from there (when sitting infront of my CTX monitor) it occured to me ctx could be a way of saying anti xtc, so yes im against xtc, the drugs have just got worse over the years to the point u can buy 5 pills for 10 Britsh pounds, wouldnt go near them at any party, or gig, although I'm not going to preach at anyone for taking them, its their life their mistakes... this my friends, is where the name ctx comes from :)
How would you describe your sound?
I would say my sound is varied and I'm not talking genres I'm just talking about the tracks,lol, I have a beefy beat sound, fast and spirited percussion, never take to much interest in base at the moment, some tracks yes, others I let the beat do the talking, I'm not a synthy person just now either I do simple work up for tunes but keep them simple to fit the genres I like working with just now which are, tech house, electro and old faithful techno....
If you could work with anyone, irrespective of genre, who would you like to work with in the studio?
Well there are many fine producers I'd love to work with like Linkin Park for one, but more on the electronic side it would have to be Aareen San, Tim Meyer of course, cause great minds think alike, I'd also love to work in the studio with Data Worx, they got mad ideas that fit right into my idea of great music....
What initially drew you to create electronic music?
What pulled me in for electronic music was how it all flowed, I love how there are so many genres to listen to, there is so many options to start a career from producing electronic music, the tastes of the public now is so varied there is always someone who like your tunes, plus I love music with a passion so it was fate that me and electronic music fused together to make djctx aka THE MAD SCOTSMAN....
What have you got planned for the future in terms of music production and dj'ing?
My plans are quite simple, i have just released my debut EP through BRM electro on the 4th of October which went out to hundreds of stores including Beatport, right now I'm arranging my second through BRM on their Beatwave records label which is in the works right now, for future plans I want to start gigging and also get enough money together for pro gear as I still use basic stuff but i plan to change that, from there, its up and up for me hopefully, maybe even one day I might be on the spot light :)
