Been into music since I was a kid - soul & funk on the radio with Robbie Vincent on a Sunday eve after Annie Nightingale after the Charts!

Hooked on house from when I first heard those first few "House" records from Chicago in late 86 - Love Can't Turn Around, Jack Your Body etc. Also into Hip Hop big time in those days - Public Enemy, NWA, Run DMC all that stuff!

Got the record buying bug at Uni. Cut my mixing teeth at University Radio and bought some Soundlab decks with my summer job money. They wore out in about 4 or 5 years and were replaced by the Technics.

Following Dance Music's twists and turns through the years, trying most things, but not loving all genres. My biggest musical regret is spurning the nascent hardcore scene when the tracks were still sounding rough and ropey, and I missed out on the development of jungle between 92-95, picking up again with the techstep thing in 95. But I sure as hell bought a lot of house and techno in those years!

Late 90s I concentrated on techno, D&B and "IDM"  - the whole WARP/Aphex/Autechre spawned genre of electronic listening music and experimentation. But I kept ujp with the commercial house and trance stuff too. Spent a lot of money on vinyl and clubbing in those days,

Styles I never really got into (but still enjoy in the right circumstances) include happy hardcore, gabba, breaks, minimal and UKG (until dubstep and its more recent mutations).

Early 2000s was lean years for me with starting a family, plus illness, slowing down my clubbing and music purchasing. A Numark CD deck joined my setup but became unreliable after a few years and was replaced by the Pioneers.

Picked up again in the last few years with more new purchases than in the early 2000s but still a lot less than in the 90s due to time and funding limitations.

Nowadays listening to D&B, dubstep, house, techno, and any eclectic stuff that catches my ear.

Mostly buy CDs and MP3 now due to the cost of vinyl but still love mixing vinyl and prefer the hands-on approach, hence the Pioneers instead of a laptop. The Citronic is the third mixer I have owned and by far the best. The Kaoss Pad was a lucky bargain from a friend of a friend, and the iKey is essential for recording, after years of using tape and minidisc!

I listed "house" as my favourite genre, not because that is what I favour most at present, but because in a way it's all house music. To me, Chicago House (and Detroit Techno) circa 1986 was the focal point, the narrowing in the funnel of all music, that then went on to fan out and spawn all the music I love.