WHAT'S ON

Dave VJ (he earned the nickname VJ = Vinyl Junkie because at one point he had a collection of over 40,000 vinyl) has been a DJ and Broadcaster for over 25 years. His love of music grew from listening to the radio as a child and from listening to his Antiguan father's collection which musically went from Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke to the Mighty Sparrow, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, John Holt and Jim Reeves. Eventually Dave became part of a massive sound system called Mastermind that ruled the Notting Hill Carnival through the 80’s. He went on to join an underground radio station called Kiss FM that made legal history by getting a broadcasting license and changing the face of radio in the UK. He ended up going from doing the Rap show to doing early breakfast show and then presenting the Kiss Chart show.

 

He left Kiss FM to join Choice FM - another massive urban radio station in London where he still DJ's now.  His time as a broadcaster has afforded him the chance to interview some of the biggest names in the world including Chaka Khan, Joe, Public Enemy, Ja Rule, KRS One, Musiq Soulchild, Jay Z, The Fugees, Akon, Ludacris, Method Man, Ciara, Busta Rhymes, Angie Stone, Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith, Old D B, Lionel Ritchie, Ice Cube, Common, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Tyrese, Tweet, Run DMC, Russell Simmons and Snoop Dogg.    He's also partied with the artists, played at their parties and concerts, done lots of remixes and even had dinner with them. Dave says “It was a dream job (and still is)".  He was flown to USA on a regular basis to do interviews and attend conferences and has DJ'ed around the world.

 

 During his time at Choice FM he was asked if he'd like to fly to Antigua to attend the Back II Life event so that he could broadcast his lunchtime radio show live from there back to the UK.  Of course he jumped at the chance and did it for 3 years in a row.  Dave has a strong connection with Antigua as his parents live there and also has lots of family on the island.

 

All the while Dave has been playing in clubs in the UK and started a night of his own called Grown & Sexy in 2008, a brand which caters for the over 35's playing old skool soul, rnb, rare groove, funky house and reggae.  

 

Fast forward to 2009 and with a major birthday approaching Dave decided to hold his party in Antigua.  It was supposed to be a group of 6 friends but as word got around the numbers started increasing.  Eventually as the numbers grew Dave had to get a friend with travel experience to help him out (enter Tracy Austin) 

 

Dave decided to bring the Grown & Sexy brand to Antigua and it has now become a group of 50 people with events organised at the following venues throughout the 10 day holiday.  We are flying over DJs from the UK, USA as well as some local Antiguan DJ's.  The evening events are being opened up to mature locals who are of the age that appreciate 80's soul, disco, boogie, funk and reggae who are welcome to party with us.

 

The events are:

 

 

Dave’s Top 10 Grown & Sexy Floor Fillers in no particular order:

Dave has also just finished a book with a long time friend from MTV.  The book is called WE CREATED HISTORY: UK BLACK RADIO. It's about the people who helped pioneer black music on the radio in the UK. The book has contributions from lots of DJ’s who have become friends over the years. Asking the likes of David Rodigan, Noman J, Jazzie B, Caron Wheeler, Omar, Trevor Nelson etc to participate in the book was only a phone call or an email away and they all were only too pleased to get involved with something that will tell the rest of the world how we came from an underground music scene that is now the dominant force in the world of media.

 

Dave has played all over the world including Belgium, USA, Ireland, Austria, Barbados, Holland, Guernsey, Portugal and Uganda to name a few and has had sponsorship from Vestax, FUBU and Timberland.

 

Dave would love the opportunity to be sponsored by Antiguan companies so he could spread the word about the Island on his travels and his radio shows (he's just joined 2 new stations in the UK and is in talks to do one in the USA)  Dave says "When I watch TV in the UK I see Barbados, St Lucia etc. advertised on the Holiday channels and I want to do more to sell the island of Antigua and promote my heritage, because we have as much to offer as anyone else in the Caribbean but some people don't even know Antigua exists!"