A shameless recreation of Paddy's 50th birthday party set at Canvas, Bournemouth - 11/11/2023

Dave Stalker @ Paddy's 50th. Canvas, Bournemouth, 11/11/23

Glade Mix -  27 June '25

Originally from Canvey Island in Essex, Dave Stalker swapped seaside towns in 1994 to be where the air was fresher and the beaches sandier. Prior to this point, his life from around 1988 (and indeed to this day) has been spent gawping at the UK underground dance music scene. 

From collecting glasses at legendary Essex establishment The Goldmine, the 16 year old went on to blag a few sets behind the same decks regularly graced by then relative unknowns Fabio, Grooverider and Kenny Ken. A residency followed, lasting until the club's untimely demise in 1990. After a dalliance in Ibiza the following year, our skinny, ponytailed raver returned to the UK to open the first of two Essex record shops, Armageddon Records, during the days of HMV thinking Grunge was the be-all and end-all. 

The Majors got wise, the margins got tight, and eventually Stalker bottled out. Promoting a bunch of all night raves happened around this time at London's Roller Express and The Sanctuary in Milton Keynes, at the same time a manic year was spent in West London working at the infamous Guru Josh's 'Bunker' studio complex (Dr. Devious and the Wisemen project). By the end of '93 he'd had enough. The XR3i with Go-Faster Stripes was out for a Massey Ferguson tractor instead. Dorset, mush.

The remainder of the 90's saw a number of residencies and lots of free parties in the forests that stretched to the new millennium before embarking on a self-imposed 10 year exile to do 'dad stuff'. A production role at Glastonbury Festival begun at this point which continues today, currently with the festival's official radio station (Worthy FM). Hands down the best part of the year. Amazing team.

The lure of speaker stacks and late night parties never went away though. In 2008, he and long-time friend and DJ partner Paul Moore decided between them that they were bored and should get back on it again.

A slew of Bournemouth club nights were put on by the pair (Special Branch), where they ducked and dived around the thriving local underground house community for the next 10 years before the pandemic  took a big dump on everything.

Moving away from town and back into the countryside it was remembered once more that music actually sounds quite fantastic in the open air and maybe they should put on a few parties for a close bunch of a couple of hundred people? This has been going a few years now at a secret location as the LPP party consortium. A bit hush-hush, but very, very good.

Committed raver. Music collector. Knees are still OK.

Stalker SB

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