DJ Interviews: philip.johnson

Here's my interview with DJ Phillip Johnson

How'd you get started in music?

My earliest memories are spinning my dad’s old 78’s. Then when I was maybe 6 or 7 my elder cousin passed me her old collection of 45’s, bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis, etc. >Since that I was hooked on music ... vinyl, radio ... anything

Who are your biggestinspirations or influences?

rojan skinhead at 13, loved the early reggae, pop & ska and the first live band my younger brother persuaded me to see when I was 16 was someone called David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars ? >I remember thinking wow, these are good ! Hooked on Pink Floyd since the early days, followed endless bands at gigs / festivals. Love all sorts of music, a lifelong progressive rock and dance music fan. These days I’m going back to my roots and getting more involved with the reggae and dub scene.Main DJ influences include Old Grey Whistle Test, Tiesto, Sister Bliss (Faithless), David Rodigan, John Peel, Don Letts & Greg Dread from Dreadzone.

What advice would you offer aspiring performers

Do what you love. I’ve always done a bit of DJ’ing as a part time hobby more than a job, only because it’s always remained fun, and I’m useless with a guitar.It’s never too late to start, or re-kindle your aspirations.

How do you set yourself apart from other bands & singers?

I’m admin of a Facebook group, The Sensory Garden Project, a private group which has over 4,000 members and shares music, comedy and art to raise funds and awereness.Many of our members are musicians, artists, photographers, wanna-be comedians, etcWe have regular events and are currently supporting Papyrus, Prevention of Young Suicide with a compilation of tunes on Bandcamp, currently approx 100 tunes all donated by the artists / producers.

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

We released our first fundraising single in June this year on Bandcamp, Walk Tall, a reggae cover by a band called Sane Ground.The first album was arranged so that all the tracks that had been donated told the life story of an imaginary character, Val Valsson, loosely based on the lyrics from the single.The second album, Walk Tall for Papyrus – Volume 2 releases on 1^st December 2021.Walk Tall for Papyrus - Volume 2 | Sensory Garden Project - various artists (bandcamp.com)  which again loosely follows the life of ‘Val Valsson’ through his early years, a very rocky middle, and a happy ending where music and a black cat saves his life.

Special thanks to him for this interview & I wish him lots of luck in his music. So until then I'll catch you on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!