DJ’s
Headliner: Phil Loraine (House Trained)
Phil
Loraine was born on Merseyside in ’75. Reared on a diet of mix tapes and
late night radio, his fixation with dance music began in the early acid house
days. At 15 he loaned a mate’s 1210s for a fortnight and rigged them up
to his Mum’s stack system, which he cheekily relocated to his bedroom.
Some four months later, the set-up was finally dismantled and begrudgingly
returned to its rightful owners. Starved of opportunities to build on
the self-taught basics, it would be three years or so before he was able to
pick up from where he had left off.
At 18, Phil dropped out of Bradford College after just three months. He swiftly grabbed the opportunity to apply for a student loan and used the money to fund a cheap belt-drive package which was delivered on the day he left the city. Jobless and seriously lacking direction he returned to his parents with his tail between his legs, a significant amount of debt and a car-load of brand-new, and as yet unpacked, DJ kit. Nevertheless, it was an inspired decision. He started work in a meat factory to keep his head above water and began buying vinyl at every opportunity. Distributing mix tapes to all and sundry, he took every available opportunity to play at house parties and a number of clubs - primarily youth clubs, tennis clubs and the like! Eventually trying his hand at putting on some small nights of his own with a friend, he got his first taste of the world of promotion. The events drew relatively small numbers but they provided him with a vision of what was possible and fuelled his motivation further. It was invaluable experience.
Phil’s first nightclub flirtation came when he was asked to play one of the back rooms at Bowler’s - a 10,000 capacity “rave” venue in Manchester. He made a handful of appearances in the main arena but his sets were dismissed as being “too slow” for the young, bpm hungry crowd. He continued to carve out his own house sound and his break finally came when he was invited to warm up for Alistair Whitehead at the Void nightclub in Stoke-on-Trent on moving there in ’98. He began co-promoting the 2Pure night on Thursdays before being offered a residency at the “Horny” night at the same venue run by Pete & Russell from Progress. During this time he warmed up for some of the “Best of British” of that era including Jeremy Healey, Judge Jules, Graeme Park & Tall Paul, sometimes finishing off the night himself when the opportunity arose.
On moving to London in 2001, Phil landed a job working for Def Jam UK and the now defunct Talkin' Loud label. Still hungry to put on nights of his own, he launched “vip?” with Neil Terry in 2002, putting on a free party in the heart of central London for a couple of hundred friends and guests. Over the next two years the night sporadically toured some of the capital's smaller capacity venues relying first and foremost on word-of-mouth promotion. Ultimately, the brand was reflective of Phil's passion for a good, old-fashioned, straight-up house party and also his attitude towards the scene and its people.
However, in 2004 the lads ditched the “vip?” format in favour of a new
monthly night known as “House Trained”,
which
was recently listed as “No.1 Top Night in London” in the September '04 issue
of Mixmag. Years of hard graft finally bearing fruit it would seem, and
proof if it was needed that persistence does indeed pay. With an
additional weekly residency at London's intimate Firehouse venue where he
partners co-host James Stephenson behind the decks, Phil has ample opportunity
to test his tune selection on the British public between shows. But while the
hectic lifestyle may have taken it's toll on his hairline, he's hoping his
best years still lie ahead of him - so at the age of 29, don't expect to find
him accompanied by his pipe and slippers in the studio just yet...!!!
