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It has been a good year for DJ Sparky.

 The DJ from Basildon, Essex has had massive success with his debut album, “Elektrifyin’,” which turned millions across the country into Drum & Bass fanatics with its infectious tunes and heavy, heart thumping drum beats. Couple this and his backing from huge MCs like MC Shabba, and a string of hugely popular live tours, and you get something truly special.

 B4ss Lin3 finally managed to catch some time in Sparky’s busy schedule for an exclusive interview, and we grilled him good! “My favourite moment has to be when everyone started singing along to “Solar Flare.” That was when it dawned on me how much of an impact my music had on people,” he said with a grin, “or the time when Skibadee tried to do a flip on stage and stacked it, that was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and probably will ever see, and the best thing was the crowd didn’t boo or jeer, they laughed and cheered, and carried on raving like maniacs as soon as we started again, brilliant.”

Sparky hit mainstream success with his massive singles, “Solar Flare” and “Bring the Rain,” Solar Flare even managing to knock Cheryl Cole’s latest hit off the UK charts top spot. “I think people like my tunes because there’s something for every one,” comments Sparky.


“We started off with just me and a few mates, raving it up in all the DnB arenas, then Fizzle showed us his MCing skills, and everyone suggested I go professional, so me and Fizzle set up a partnership, it was just a joke at first, but I had no idea we’d make it this big, we just wanted to chill out and have fun!”

“Before I knew it, Fizzle’s uncle had contacted a load of agencies, and we were off to London to show off our skills to some top dog and try and prove ourselves. I had no idea it’d be Andy C and that he would give us a recording deal.”

“We started off as supporting acts for Skibba and Andy, you know, we would go on for a couple of songs, see how the crowd liked us and let the others carry on with the main event.” We asked Sparky about his partnership with MC Fizzle, who has, by now begun to produce his own solo tunes and tour independently. “Fizzle’s such a legend, we’re always having a laugh together and causing havoc out on the streets on Friday nights, the reason we don’t work together anymore is because we both understand that MCing doesn’t really work when someone’s trying to make it mainstream, and he’s cool with that, as long as I’m buying the first round!”

Sparky has recently been travelling up and down the country, along with Fizzle, and has been appearing in pretty much every promoting his debut album, Elektrifyin’, which has sold platinum across the UK. We asked Sparky about where his old album came from, and what inspired him to name his tracks as he did. “I came up with the lyrics of Solar Flare when i watched that film, The Knowing, where the world gets destroyed by a solar flare. I just mixed that idea with lyrics about the intensity of a rave and I got something truly special, and the country loved it. For Bring the rain, I tried to mimic the sounds of a modern war using the drum beats and bass line to mimic explosions and gunfire, which made the song so intense and mental during a rave that everyone loved it. I suppose the album name sort of links in with “DJ Sparky,” so I stuck with it for that reason, plus it promotes that idea of really high energy, loud songs, which I love creating.”

“For the second album, I really wanted to just produce the same sort of tunes as the first one, since that one worked out so well, and maybe experiment a little with the third one, and try and broaden my audience out amongst people who like rock, and try and get them into it as well.”

When asked about the sort of tunes that will be featured in the new album, “New Paths,” Sparky said “I can’t reveal too much, or I’ll ruin all the surprises, but, I’ll share a few of the secrets with you. One of the songs is featuring MC Fizzle, I really feel like I need to help him expand out into the top 20s of the British charts, what with how much he’s helped me over the years. The song is basically a drum beat with a heavy bassline in the background, accompanied by Fizzle’s MCing, which hopefully everyone like.” The song, “Rough Streets” will be the first single of Sparky’s album to hit the charts in September, and then the album will be released a month later, on the 25th October.

“I have a few more instrumental songs coming up in the album, and a few more with the same, electronic style vocals that I used in Solar Flare,” reveals Sparky “I have a song on the album dedicated to my bird, you know, everyone’s got to have a song like that, but the biggest one I rekon will be “Gold Rush,” which is about today’s society and how everyone is trying to get rich, but the tune is so catchy I rekon it could even have the oldies singing along.”

When we asked him about the difficulties he faced whilst climbing to top, he answered with a frown, “well, i have to say that the thing that P****d me off the most during the last year has to be the older generation dissing my style and the way i am, and where i come from. Sure, I’m from a rough area, but how the hell do my roots affect whether or not my songs are any good? It really winds me up when people act as though every single Drum & Bass fan is going to start on them out on the street, people think us Drum & Bass lot are all thugs and hooligans, but they couldn’t be more wrong! All it takes is one bloke to go out and do something stupid, and all of the the media swarm on the area like vultures blowing everything out of proportion and exaggerating thins to get better stories. I remember one time, when we were younger, these haters at a cafe kicked me and Fizzle out, just because we were there. it actually offends me when people shy away from me on the street, purely from what i’m wearing or how i’m talking, if you just talked to us or got to know us, you’d realise that we’re not as bad as you may think.”

When asked about his favourite artists, Sparky told us, “i’ve always loved Pendulum, they really do it for me i love all of the tunes, especially blood sugar and Tarantua, they have always been two of my favourite songs. Obviously Andy C was the biggest inspiration for me, it was his style of music that got me into Drum & Bass in the first place, and i like to think of myslef as a mini version of him. Sub Focus is also amazing, I thought “Rock It” was such a sick tune, and he really knows how to work the crowd live. Chase & Status, also are absolutely brilliant, especially when they work with Plan B. Shouts out to Fizzle and his uncle, without them i wouldn’t even be here today, and they’ve always been great mates from the start. Obviously, thanks to all my family, my mum and dad, an a massive shout to all those who used to be in the Ravers Cru, you know who you are!”