Erol first came to prominence with his weekly indie night "Trash" at London's top nightclub the End. Putting on the latest cutting edge bands wasn't enough for Erol who took to the decks playing not only the hottest new rock and alternative but also used his first class mixing skills to play some of the best dance music in there too. His reputation increased and before you know it acid house/big disco/party people Bugged Out picked him as a new resident and Erol found a whole new audience.

On top of all this, Erol has finally released his first official mix album for Bugged Out. Disc 1 is a big, chunky electro bash with a few surprises ranging from a Deep Purple intro to some indie acapellas and ending with his own re-edit of Josh Wink's "Higher State Of Consciousness". All excellent, ground-breaking mix stuff but that's not all. Disc 2 is the "Bugged In" mix which sees him blending the Whicker Man soundtrack with he likes of 80s soulsters Imagination and Spacemen 3 and M83 and Gonzales solo piano outings. It's completely staggering and, in my humble opinion, the best mix album I have ever heard.

However, Erol isn't sitting idly by counting the coins. When I rang him up, not only was he spending the day talking to people like me to promote the "Bugged Out" album & making cups of tea, he was also redesigning the website for his "Trash" club So, he's still very much hands on.

Also, how many DJs have created a short film to promote their mix album? Just Erol. Here're the links: Windows Media File / Quicktime

Erol explained:

"It's all filmed on my little Casio camera. Just from around the world. I've always filmed the crowds. The concept was that someone once wrote a review saying "the DJ filming the crowd was a reversal of how it should be. The death of a superstar DJ", which I applied to the cover and this movie. I feel that DJs have been perceived as cold people who turn up with absolute disdain for their audience, play records & **** off. I'm fortunate enough to play to really nice people who aren't absolutely smashed &aren't there for a meat market. I'm trying to reinforce what club culture can be. That's my rationale behind it. I think clubs in this day & age; they're beautiful places and can be special. You do sometimes get the feeling that it isn't documented that much."

Who has influenced you as a DJ?

"I'm more influence by other elements as oppose to DJs. I don't really listen to DJs. A lot of the DJs I've admired have been hip hop DJs who can manipulate and makes things look like they're easy. I find straight DJing quite boring. I listen to a lot of pirate radio, which was my be all and end all of DJs rather than clubs. I grew up in Archway, listening to Fantasy FM 89-90. I never experienced acid house. DJ Hype was my favourite DJ when I was 15."

I really enjoy the first CD but it's disc 2 that really kills me. I'm a self-confessed music geek and all my friends turn to me for help during pub quizzes but there are some amazing songs on there that I've never heard of. There's also amazing songs like Magnet featuring Paul Giovanni "Willow's Song" from "The Whicker Man" soundtrack.

"That's the whole point of music for me. To me that's one of the hardest records. Even though it's gentle but there's something really potent in there. I find it to be really powerful. The whole point of a mix album was that if I was able to do electronic music, I also had to flip it . I could never be doing one kind of music without having the other side of me presented. I believe most people have a lot more to offer than what's presented at face value. There's all this other music which is beautiful, well-written. I really believe it's as universal as dance music. Why do I have to confine myself to being a quirky DJ who plays electro music and bootlegs? there's stuff in there to entice the music fan & then something they haven't heard of that hopefully that will have the same impact."

You've managed to grab some really rare gems on there. Are you one of those people who gets to car boots sales in the early hours or do you spend loads on eBay?

"There's a million ways of getting things. It's my life. I can trip over something in the street or someone will record me something on tape or I'll download it. If you open yourself up to it, it just gravitates to you. I've spent so many times going to all the record shops with £100 to spend on records and come away with nothing. In your mind, you have this notion that this incredible record is out there waiting to be discovered. If you want contemporary dance vinyl, it's easy. At the moment I'm into contemporary Turkish prog rock & folk music and I'm delving deeper. At the moment I've so much stuff, I don't have time to listen to it all."

I presume you must have had a lot of offers, why has it taken so long for you to put out a mix CD?

"It's because only now was I able to get myself across in the way I wanted to with 2 CDs. Bugged Out have supported my way of doing it. They've stuck with me. I've had lots of other offers for what was basically 'Now That's What I Call Electro' but I'm obviously not going to go down that way. I think the time is right now. After all the success of the last few years, I just wanted to get my head down and prove myself in the clubs."

So what's next?

"I've no game plan. I'm happy where I am and I'm just enjoying what's here."

Interview by Simon Netherwood
Big thanks to Simon Ashcroft