GingeDJ At Keystones
Today we talk about our resident GingeDJ and the story of him. In 1992 saw not only the birth of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ but also a budding DJ in Solihull by the name of James Phipps. Little did he know however that he was about to have a childhood idolising music from Robbie Williams; “Blame my mother!” he says.
Dedicated to his roots, whilst keeping options open, Phipps’ musical preferences remained until his later teenage years when he took on the role of an avid clubber in Birmingham, where the scene is ripe with through-the-night affairs and the coolest minimal and house vibes flooding the city, right into Sunday mornings and beyond. Surrounded by insane parties and club nights, James was hungry for his shot as a record selector.
It wasn’t until 25 that Phipps jumped on CDJ 1000s with a Pioneer 900 mixer, and thus, ‘Ginge’ was born. Dabbling with commercial house and chart remixes, GingeDJ began ruffling feathers of local promoters and club owners, as he raised eyebrows with his regular mixtapes gaining traction from his growing, local fanbase.
By a strange turn of events, Ginge finally broke the mould whilst on a night out with a friend, who he was learning with, offered him the first 15 minutes of his set. All things happen for a reason, right? Little did the pair know that Ginge would be left to play the remaining 3 hours to a wall-to-wall audience, craving their fix of house, hip-hop, chart and more. He aptly named this ordeal as a baptism of fire. That would explain the lit mixtapes that followed suit…
Seamlessly blending old with new, genre hopping from one to another so analytically, and growing a largely encompassing playlist, GingeDJ was ready to gig again. This, coinciding with his ‘take it by the horns’ attitude, has proven its prevalence in landing him a residency at Keystones Cocktail Club in Worcester, playing a range of house, garage and RnB, further crafting his versatility and crowd analysis. This has quickly become a second home for him, particularly following what was a rammed New Year’s Eve party, where the vibe was nothing short of ‘goose-bump giving and crowd winning.’
The next few years will see GingeDJ grow from DJ to artist, as he explores his potential in the studio, and continues to be the man of his town, as more and more clubs get behind this prospect. If you want to know more about GingeDJ then head over to his social media today and check out his recent photos, in the meantime have a listen to his latest tracks on Soundcloud.