The Journey of Brova Nick
(Soultrain guest DJ - August 26th, 2007)

I have been DJ-ing for 17 years now, and it’s been a long journey.

My love for music came way before I started DJ-ing, saving all my lunch money from school to buy one 7inch, by the end of the week. This was when I new I had a problem, when it came to music, my first love.

I remember the day, when I decided I wanted to be a DJ. The month of July 1982, the main calendar event in Bristol. The St Pauls festival, the Hottest DJ’s in Bristol would play on the street ‘till the early hours of the morning. Crew’s like the Wild Bunch, City Rockers, Dirty Den, FBI, break dancing and Hip Hop, were just coming to the main stream and about to blow up.

DJ’s from the various crews, above have now gone on, to be successful in there own right, Massive Attack, Nelle Hooper (production for big sound track movies and various artist), Miles (big producer, very successful in Japan), anybody who wanted to be in the industry kept a close look on these guys above.

My collection by 1982 was very strong, I bought everything released, even had weekend breaks in London just to hunt for tunes; (the obsession had begun).

First Break

I was playing, at some low key gigs around Bristol, but mainly following what the big sounds were doing, in anticipation on my first break.

All the crews in Bristol at the time played mainly Hip Hop, US Garage, old school brakes, RnB, but Bristol was just about to be hit with the biggest crew since The Wild Bunch (Daddy G and Crew)….

The Soul Twins changed the whole music scene in Bristol. Two boys from Easton, twins of course, smashed the scene with up front RnB of the highest standard, and brought slow Jams to the forefront of the club scene, more impressively than that, they played Rare Groove as there signature music, and challenged the best DJ’s in London, and were the only crew in the UK to make such an impact.

Doing gigs with Soul2Soul, Loose ends, just to name a few. They also set up the FIRST EVER pirate station in Bristol BAD RADIO. This station was the biggest change in underground music history in Bristol, every top DJ was on it, from all genres.

I was still DJing solo, during this time, and my set was being recognised, not just by the Bristol public but by promoters, club owners all around, but more importantly the Soul Twins recognised I had a different talent, and that it could strengthen there hold on the scene. The success of the Soul Twins in the early to mid 80’s set up my chance to make a difference and being seen.

I followed their gigs everywhere and became best friends with the boys, because of our mutual interest in the music scene. They gave me my first break and allowed me to play with them on their sets in the late 80’s. By the early ninety’s we had the whole city locked down, I was an honorary member of the crew and MCs started calling me Brova Nick, (because of the connection with the Twins).

My trade as a DJ was learnt then, scratching & mixing under pressure with 600 people looking just at you, but most of all music selection, how to control a crowd with one tune, how to demolish a sound with one tune, timing, battling against the biggest crews in London, they would come to Bristol to challenge us, week in, week out, and the crowd would choose the winner, word of mouth would go around Bristol for weeks on what happened at the last clash. Every club wanted us to be their residences, and everybody wanted to come to a Soul Twins dance, there was no trouble and most of them didn’t end till 6 in the morning.

This success stayed with us right up till the mid nineties. Then the music scene changed. Bad Radio had finally left the air waves for good. The Soul Twins had other interests, but when your successful for such a long time, all things have to come to an end.

My hunger had not changed one bit, it was time to see whether I could do it alone…

People still recognised my face and name. I decided to start up a crew called the Paisley Crew. These guys were my friends, and we used to party all the time, and their love for music was the same, so the name was an obvious one to use at the time, it didn’t catch on, and no matter where I went people still wanted to call me Brova Nick from the Soul Twins. I decided to just use the name I had been given by the public and see what would happen.

I had various big residency’s over the years clubs like Vadims, Wedges, Central Chambers, Creation, Blue Mountain, Thekla, Trinity, Tropics, LaKota, Bristol Academy (alongside Dream Team).

I started getting gigs in Cardiff, Bath, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Birmingham, and London. Things were slow but still moving in the right direction. The 2 step garage scene had hit the UK in a big way, and was affecting the RnB scene, but most of all the club scene in general.

I then joined a new pirate radio station which I am still on to this day PASSION 106.2 fm, was about to make its mark. I was one of the first DJ’s to get the call.

The phase of garage didn’t last long, and I saw this as my opportunity to make a mark as garage faded out.

I got a call from a big promoter to be put on the bill at the Hammersmith Apollo, 2,500 people, one of the biggest most reputable clubs in the country. I played along side DJ Semtex, (A&R rep for Def Jam Records). I was the last DJ on the bill, playing at 4am, all the big tunes had been played earlier, but all the important people in the music industry were still there, along with various celebs. My set was tight, I smashed the club and the crowd loved it. Straight after Semtex, various Record company reps, RnB Artist, started asking for my number and my phone was blowing up non-stop the following week. My name, Brova Nick had finally shaken off the Soul Twins tag, and I had done it all off my own back. Soon after I got invites to the MoBo awards from the Dream Team, which helped me network with the London big wigs.

I got a call from the head of Urban music at Warner/Atlantic/EastWest records very shortly after asking me to work for them and be the south west representative for the record company, I went to the head office had a meeting and joined there Urban department. This has allowed me to work on projects with Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, Brandy, Marques Houston, Twsita, Kevin Little, just to name a few, anything these artist do I get to know first, all their music and concerts, and interviews, come to me as a employee. I was automatically put on some of the biggest record labels in the world Universal, Def Jam, Jive, Sony, BMG, Direct Demand (agency).

I did special guest appearances on radio stations Respect FM, Power Jam, and play on most radio stations in Bristol if they have a months license.

My residency’s now included PooNaNa every Wednesday, (a mix of RnB Classic/front and commercial joints, Hip Hop, Ragga). Guest appearances at 3Bar (New York Hip hop/RnB), Pretty Young Thing (RnB). I have 2 new Residency’s starting up soon, (which will be Nu or Neo Soul, e.g Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild etc.)

My main residency which has been running for over two years now, it is called 2Close. The most successful TRUE RnB night in Bristol, Upfront joints is the music policy, with True Classics and some commercial joints, it has been so successful we have had rave reviews in Mix Mag, Venue Magazine, Evening Post, Touch, Blues and Soul. Some of the top Dj’s in the country, Ronne Herel (1xtra), DJ Bigga (editor for Blues and Soul), Mark Devlin, Starlight Crew, Dj Dodge, Manny Norte (1xtra), have also played there. I played live on Radio 1 2004 New Years Eve from the club, that’s how successful the night is, still to this day.

Today in 2005, all the above is still happening and getting bigger and better, more profile, I play every year at St Pauls festival and do good quality nights. The main thing is my name never goes on a flyer unless I think the gig is going to be special, my reputation has been built up over too many years to spoil it, by doing it just for the money, and people know this, coming from the training I got with the Soul Twins, it’s the least they expect. So they are usually successful, because people know what to expect.

My radio show on a Friday night 8 til 10, is still the hot show in Bristol, almost every DJ in Bristol listens to it, and all RnB Heads lock into the show, because I keep it real, I dont play anything commercial, and concentrate on the latest music in London, U.S and the underground, from Hip Hop to Slow Jams, from Promo’s to un-released exclusives. If it’s good I’ll play it. If its crap I will tell the public. All up and coming artist come to my show to release there new joints, including Beverly Knight, Rhina Benson, the US Band 112. I also have the respect of Bristols finest, I get their tracks, straight from the studio either to air it over the radio, or just to ask me what I think.

My next move, is a natural progression into production. With over 25,000 thousand vinyl tunes to choose from, I have done and I am doing my ground work first. I am on my second advanced music production course and have finished my first track. So who knows, MoBo’s maybe, MTV and then the Grammys. If you don’t try you’ll never know………

Peace….Brova Nick