Djsoulprovyder's musical influences began back in the day as a young soul boy going to legendary clubs such as Crackers (George Power), 100 Club (Robbie Vincent), Royalty (Froggy), Electric Ballroom Jazzi Funk Club (Paul Anderson), Horseshoe (Paul Murphy) and Baracudas (Trevor Shakes). Back then this vibrant Soul/Jazz/Funk scene with all-dayers, all-nighters and weekenders across the Country were the beginnings of the dance music scene we have in the UK today.
Growing up in the South London Soul Scene he was fortunate enough to witness the development of some great djs such as Trevor Fung, Giles Peterson, Danny Rampling, Carl Cox and Pete Tong.
"I grew up listening to the Robbie Vincent radio show and the Greg Edwards Soul Spectrum. So when I began djing in 1991 I started playing 70s Soul, Funk, Jazz and Rare Groove by artists such as James Brown and the JBs, Rick James, Brass Construction, Cameo, Mass Production, Lonnie Listen Smith, Roy Ayres, Gill Scott Heron, MFSB, Herbie Hancock, Mandril, Gilberto Gil, Airto and Flora Purim to name just a few."
Between 1991 and 1994 djsoulprovyder dj'd alongside Basil Black 2 Basic and his ten piece funk band performing at many live music venues across London including the Jazz Café and Ronnie Scott's. The band showcased some of the finest up and coming musicians, singers and MCs on the scene at the time such as Noel McKoy and Maxi Jazz. In the winter of 1995 he took the Funk to India where he was resident dj in a club in New Delhi called Annabel's at the Holiday Inn Hotel.
When soulprovyder returned to London he was invited to play at a night called Groove Tube in Covent Garden run by Dillon (Earl) of Mutiny (Sunflower Records) and Gem (Soul of Man) of Finger Lickin Records.
"This took my musical style into a more eclectic direction where I started dropping old skool hip hop, afro-beat, roots reggae, and latin jazz which has led me to where I am now."
His current sets include a mixture of past and present tracks crossing over many musical categories but his love of deep soulful house and disco is evident in his sets.
Gig highlights include playing at the Isle of Wight Festival for the Bacardi B-Bar arena, the 2007 Festival Awards held at Koko in Camden, and the Sunsplash Antalya 2009 festival in the South of Turkey.
djsoulprovyder has a weekly radio show called "The Soul Solution" on urbanjazzradio.net, every Monday 7-9pm (GMT) and a weekly residency of the same name at Gramaphone Bar in Shoreditch. This runs every Saturday with guest djs from the Urbanjazz collective. Along with his partner, he also runs a small promotions company called Urban Essentials PR. They offer dj bookings for private parties, an artist lisasion chauffeur service and a flyer and poster distribution service throughout London.
