Interview with Joshua Roberts
A DJ who’s shared the bill with Tiesto and Fatboy Slim; a child protégée who worked the studio with Sasha Brooks at Kiss FM at the tender of 15; a resident DJ for Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi; but perhaps, most interestingly for us, a Norwich raised lad turned Multi-National. Joshua Roberts is the name you’ll know as previous Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year winner and the DJ who tears up the dance floor at the ever-popular Funked Up nights. We caught up with Joshua to find out just how you fit in huge lifetime achievements BEFORE the age of 21…
Reading on your website, you first started mixing at the age of 11, and I just wondered how you got into it at such an early age?
It’s weird, ‘cause I’ve always had a musical passion from a very early age and as a toddler, I was always asking my parents to bring the speakers down on the floor so that I could just feel them vibrate – obviously not in a sexual way; not at that age anyway! I got bought my first turntables, like disco turntables when I was about four; obviously I didn’t DJ, but I just pissed around with some old 7” singles – I had some like, old Motown tunes and stuff. I played a bit of football as well; I was just a normal kid really. Then, when I was 11, I just decided that I wanted to be a DJ. It really just hit me that that’s what I wanted to do. I just bought some CD decks, couldn’t really mix at first and then just picked it up eventually. I picked it up properly at about the age of 12 or 13. When I was 11 I was doing more house parties and discos, so it wasn’t as important that I was technically any good, ‘cause you’re just sort of playing one tune after the other. Then I got mixing on Vibe FM with Sasha Brooks when I was 15, then when I was 17, I won the Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year competition. It just went from there really, kind of escalated.
You were so young –
A DJ who’s shared the bill with Tiesto and Fatboy Slim; a child protégée who worked the studio with Sasha Brooks at Kiss FM at the tender of 15; a resident DJ for Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi; but perhaps, most interestingly for us, a Norwich raised lad turned Multi-National. Joshua Roberts is the name you’ll know as previous Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year winner and the DJ who tears up the dance floor at the ever-popular Funked Up nights. We caught up with Joshua to find out just how you fit in huge lifetime achievements BEFORE the age of 21…
Reading on your website, you first started mixing at the age of 11, and I just wondered how you got into it at such an early age?
It’s weird, ‘cause I’ve always had a musical passion from a very early age and as a toddler, I was always asking my parents to bring the speakers down on the floor so that I could just feel them vibrate – obviously not in a sexual way; not at that age anyway! I got bought my first turntables, like disco turntables when I was about four; obviously I didn’t DJ, but I just pissed around with some old 7” singles – I had some like, old Motown tunes and stuff. I played a bit of football as well; I was just a normal kid really. Then, when I was 11, I just decided that I wanted to be a DJ. It really just hit me that that’s what I wanted to do. I just bought some CD decks, couldn’t really mix at first and then just picked it up eventually. I picked it up properly at about the age of 12 or 13. When I was 11 I was doing more house parties and discos, so it wasn’t as important that I was technically any good, ‘cause you’re just sort of playing one tune after the other. Then I got mixing on Vibe FM with Sasha Brooks when I was 15, then when I was 17, I won the Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year competition. It just went from there really, kind of escalated.
You were so young –
A DJ who’s shared the bill with Tiesto and Fatboy Slim; a child protégée who worked the studio with Sasha Brooks at Kiss FM at the tender of 15; a resident DJ for Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi; but perhaps, most interestingly for us, a Norwich raised lad turned Multi-National. Joshua Roberts is the name you’ll know as previous Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year winner and the DJ who tears up the dance floor at the ever-popular Funked Up nights. We caught up with Joshua to find out just how you fit in huge lifetime achievements BEFORE the age of 21…
Reading on your website, you first started mixing at the age of 11, and I just wondered how you got into it at such an early age?
It’s weird, ‘cause I’ve always had a musical passion from a very early age and as a toddler, I was always asking my parents to bring the speakers down on the floor so that I could just feel them vibrate – obviously not in a sexual way; not at that age anyway! I got bought my first turntables, like disco turntables when I was about four; obviously I didn’t DJ, but I just pissed around with some old 7” singles – I had some like, old Motown tunes and stuff. I played a bit of football as well; I was just a normal kid really. Then, when I was 11, I just decided that I wanted to be a DJ. It really just hit me that that’s what I wanted to do. I just bought some CD decks, couldn’t really mix at first and then just picked it up eventually. I picked it up properly at about the age of 12 or 13. When I was 11 I was doing more house parties and discos, so it wasn’t as important that I was technically any good, ‘cause you’re just sort of playing one tune after the other. Then I got mixing on Vibe FM with Sasha Brooks when I was 15, then when I was 17, I won the Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year competition. It just went from there really, kind of escalated.
You were so young –
A DJ who’s shared the bill with Tiesto and Fatboy Slim; a child protégée who worked the studio with Sasha Brooks at Kiss FM at the tender of 15; a resident DJ for Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi; but perhaps, most interestingly for us, a Norwich raised lad turned Multi-National. Joshua Roberts is the name you’ll know as previous Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year winner and the DJ who tears up the dance floor at the ever-popular Funked Up nights. We caught up with Joshua to find out just how you fit in huge lifetime achievements BEFORE the age of 21…
Reading on your website, you first started mixing at the age of 11, and I just wondered how you got into it at such an early age?
It’s weird, ‘cause I’ve always had a musical passion from a very early age and as a toddler, I was always asking my parents to bring the speakers down on the floor so that I could just feel them vibrate – obviously not in a sexual way; not at that age anyway! I got bought my first turntables, like disco turntables when I was about four; obviously I didn’t DJ, but I just pissed around with some old 7” singles – I had some like, old Motown tunes and stuff. I played a bit of football as well; I was just a normal kid really. Then, when I was 11, I just decided that I wanted to be a DJ. It really just hit me that that’s what I wanted to do. I just bought some CD decks, couldn’t really mix at first and then just picked it up eventually. I picked it up properly at about the age of 12 or 13. When I was 11 I was doing more house parties and discos, so it wasn’t as important that I was technically any good, ‘cause you’re just sort of playing one tune after the other. Then I got mixing on Vibe FM with Sasha Brooks when I was 15, then when I was 17, I won the Radio 1 Young DJ of the Year competition. It just went from there really, kind of escalated.
You were so young –
