Full name
Ashley
Genres played:
Classic house
Old Skool Hardcore
Jungle
Happy Hardcore
Drum and Bass
Why did you choose your DJ name ?
Not 100% sure but think it's something to do with a scout camp in Spain when I was about 11 where the locals couldn't say my first name (Ashley) properly so they called me "Axely". The name stuck and got shortened to Axel as a nickname. When I needed a DJ name this seemed the obvious choice and I added the O as that's the first letter of my surname and I needed to differentiate myself from the Axel F tune of Beverly Hills Cop fame!
DJ Biography / overview / Bit about yourself and how you got into Djing and where you have played:
I starting DJing around 1996/97 on a dodgy pair of belt drive soundlab DPL-1s I jointly bought with a mate to share - I can still vividly remember carrying them home on the train after we bought them from Tottenham Court Road! Luckily he lost interest quite quickly so they ended up being all mine. I eventually upgraded to technics and never looked back. I starting off playing happy hardcore and drum and bass but increasingly got more interested in the older hardcore and jungle sound and spent many a happy hour in second hand record shops building my collection. Lost interest in the happy hardcore/drum and bass scene around 1998 as wasn't feeling the music so have very little knowledge of the music after this point so am somewhat stuck in an 88-98 time warp!I've played on several pirate radio stations in London over the years including Select UK 89.6FM, Eruption 101.3FM and Rude 88.2FM. Some great memories and always preferred radio to playing out as felt more informal with the opportunity to directly interact with the listeners and have a laugh. When my kids came along in the 2010s I hung up my headphones for a good while but for my 40th in 2020, my wife bought me the pioneer DDJ-1000s which introduced me to digital mixing. Have enjoyed playing around with the different effects but I'll always be old skool in my heart and do prefer the vinyl!
What or who are your influences to play what you play?
My older brother used to listen to dance music, rap and hip-hop in the late 80s/early 90s so picked up quite a bit from that but the main influence for me was Dream 107.6FM. I loved the vibe of the station and all the different DJs and MCs who all had their own style. Too many to mention but favourites included DJ Influence, DJ Energy, DJ Eclipse, DJ Spinback and the Rhythm Master. Other than that I've got to mention the godfather DJ Slipmatt who made some great tunes/remixes and always played a good set, DJ Vibes, Force and Styles (every tune they made was a banger) and the legendary scratching of DJ Hype (I will learn to scratch one day!)
What other intrests or hobbies do you have apart from Energy1058?
When I'm not working, ferrying the kids around to football or generally doing what my wife tells me I enjoy playing online chess (although can get quite addictive!) and trying to fix anything that's broken as I'm too tight to just buy again!!