Bio
Format - Vinyl
Turntables - 3x Technics SL-1210's & 1x Technics SL-1200
Mixer - Pioneer DJM-600
... SjS aka Daren Hewitt is a helpless vinyl junkie & obsessive dj currently living in Portsmouth on the South Coast of the UK, with his cat and best friend 'Pants'.
Straitjacket Soul has played out in underground bars & clubs all over the South of England and London...recently appeared as a guest dj for two top radio stations in the UK's other largest cities - Manchester & Birmingham, & in September 2007 has been asked to do a weekly 60 min resident slot for a radio show based in Chicago.
The brutal honesty and twisted passion for rare, quality, off centre, dance music carved out in his recent SjS mixes are not only now starting to catch the eye of one or two well respected djs, artists and producers, the stench of some very positive comments are seriously beginning to waft out of the gutters, drains, sleazy backstreets and shady alleyways of Amsterdam, Paris, New York and Miami.
His sets are made up of a backbone of quality house music ranging from deep, acid house, jackin' Chicago house right through to soulful, tribal and gospel house. He is also well known throughout the South Coast for playing diverse eclectic sets that include rare soul, raw funk, afrobeat, breakbeat, underground jazz, indie, punk, latin and disco. In his own words "There's only two kinds of music - good and bad, so just stick it on ya plate n' lick it!"
He is influenced by artists such as The Freaks, Stevie Wonder, Troydon, Kasabian, Curtis Mayfield, The Jam, Leroy Hutson, The Lawnchair Generals, The Clash, Terry Callier, Jose Feliciano, MAW, Kinky Movement, Inland Knights, Ray Charles, The Voices Of East Harlem and Crazy P.
His favourite Dj's include Derrick Carter, Justin Long, Scud Bloom, Mark Farina, Dan X, Ron Hardy, Bryan Jones, Rob Mello, Honey Dijon, Phil Weeks, Larry Levan, Jessie Rose, Dr Bob Jones, Miles Maeda, Leo Elstrob, Bill Brewster, Norman Jay, Keb Darge, Dave Mancuso, John Peel, Paul 'Trouble' Anderson and Gilles Peterson.
His favourite labels are Dotbleep, MFF, Classic, Drop Music, 2020Vision, Tango, Phonoshuffle, Control US, Aroma, Amenti, Ringside, Jalapeno, Funk Weapons, Paper Recordings and Barely Breakin Even.
North West, United Kingdom
Member since: 29 May 2008
