Where's your hometown/ where are you from?
Baltimore, Maryland US

How did you get into music? What were your early musical influences?
I am from a family that has a heavy gospel/religious background - a lot of singers and musicians.  This is where my affinity for "gospel house" comes from.  My 2 older brothers were into various styles of funk, disco, soul and rock and the music they listened to had a huge influence on my love for music.

What/When was your first foray/break into the dance scene?
In 1989 Basement Boys did a remix of a hip-hop track I had called, "Do it Good". That venture and being in the room with them when they remixed my tune, was an amazing experience.  This is where my desire to produce dance music began.

Any particular driving force behind your music?
The one thing I always wanted to be was the best as whatever I do.  I think that desire is always driving me.  I love music so much that I need to be at the top of it to say that I accomplished what I set out to do.

Where do you think the future of house music lie?
I believe that house music will always be around in one way, shape or form.  It may not be called house music, but the feel will definitely be around.  In my opinion, disco never died - house music is disco, updated and in another form.  So I believe the music will constantly evolve but will still have that 4/4 driving beat that people love dancing to.

How/when did your new release  come about?
It came about last year DJ Technic gave me a pretty raw but funky track with these really rude obnoxious strings.  I believed I could expand on his work and make the track more suitable for a worldwide audience.  At that time, I went into the studio with my partners Gary Hudgins (keyboard), Irvin Madden(bass) and Gary Deane(engineer) to create what people are now playing.  It was really something that I wanted to approach differently from what I normally do since people know me for my gospel house sound more than anything else.  It seemed to work really well.

How did you get involved with this curent release/label?
We originally put the record out as the 2nd release on our label (Code Red Recordings) last September.  The track did really well and got some good support from DJ's like Kenny Dope, Jazzy Jeff, Louie Vega, and Danny Rambling just to name a few.  That caught the attention of Defected Records who is gearing up to do a re-release with remixes sometime soon.

What's in store for  2005?
Currently on Code Red, we have a record out by Karizma (my former Basement Boys partner) called "4 The Love" which is doing quite well.  We're working on a follow-up to Gabryelle which is going to be by another friend of mine, KW Griff who's from Baltimore also.  The song is called "Dubb of Death". We're also working on MuthaFunkaz track called "Holy Ghost".

How's the music scene in London different from the US?
The English scene is a lot more vibrant to say the least. There are a few dance clubs in New York, Chicago, LA and Miami, but the driving force of the club industry in the US is R&B and hip-hop.  The English scene still has a lot of good dance clubs.  It would be impossible to name them all on one page.

Do you think it's hard for a DJ to be a great producer and vice versa?
I think it's harder for a producer to become a great DJ.  To be a good DJ, is something that just has to be within a person.  It's a natural thing.  Don't get me wrong, producing is important but I think the transition from DJ to producer is much easier and natural than it is to go from producer to DJ.

Current top 15 tracks in your box now?
Karizma feat. DJ Spen - "4 the Love" (Code Red)
Those Guys - "I Walk Alone" (Demetri Remixes on Basement Boys)
DJ Technic - "Gabryelle" (Defected/Code Red Recordings)
Miami Sound Machine - "Conga" (S.U.M.O. remixes - CDR)
Jill Scott - "Woo Woo" (Not like Crazy Kenny Dope Remix-CDR)
Michelle Weeks - "Be Thankful" (Purple Music)
Mom Sykes, Mom Fisher & The Truth- "On Time God" (CDR)
Fanatix feat. Kele Le Rock "Lesson Learned" (CDR)
Kerri Chandler - "Bar A Thum" (Kingstreet)
Ron Hall & the MuthaFunkaz - "The Way You Love Me" (Hustle Music)
Blaze feat. Barbara Tucker - "Most Precious Love" (Kingstreet)
Kenny Bobien - "Right Away" (Spiritually Sound)
John Legend - "Ordinary People" (Karizma Remix - CDR)
Juke Joint & Shawn BensonShawn Benson - "Move" (CDR)
Kimara Lovelace - "Misery" (MuthaFunkaz remix - Kingstreet)

If you can be resident at any club/night, where will you choose?
I have played at some great clubs around the world but 2 that really stick out are:
Yellow (Tokyo) - there's nowhere on earth like it!  It's dark, it's funky and the sound system is incredible!
Shindig (UK) - the system is incredible and the people are very receptive.