Influenced by the likes of Pete Tong, Danny Rampling, Erick Morillo and Judge Jules, David’s sound is definitely one to fill the dance floors with big beats and euphoric melodies. As a graduate of the Ministry of Sound academy, David has perfected his Djing skills and presence behind the decks. After completing the DJ course, David was invited back to feature on the line-up alongside Sharam, Tom Middleton and Alex Kenji at the world famous club night Global Underground. In October 2010, David took centre- stage on the Reloop DJ stand at BPM, Europe’s biggest event dedicated to DJs, electronic music production and club culture. David’s latest project is his partnership with producer Ric Scott with whom he has released ‘The Chase’ in 2010. The pair signed to Colorful Records and released the hugely successful 2011 summer anthem ‘Sunrise’ which was played in different podcasts including the ones from Pedro Del Mar (Mellowmania) and trance legend M.I.K.E. Push. Radio support also came in the form of a month long slot as the ‘tune of the week’ on the NRG 95.6FM Rhodes as well as Frank Frenzy of Toronto’s Chin FM playing the track on his weekly shows. Following the success of the track, both radio stations invited David and Ric to put together exclusive guest mixes that would be broadcast across the airwaves. The production partnership of ‘Scot & Payne’ continues to grow and their latest collaboration, ‘Paradise’ featuring Alice B on vocals, was snapped up by Miami house label 4in4out Music. David recently headlined a special charity event at Nottingham’s legendary super- club Gatecrasher and his own night, Takeover, continues to be one of the busiest nights around his town. With some very special events planned over the coming months, as well as some more radio appearances and releases, 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for David.

• David Payne
• 25October

Inspired by DJ’s such as John Digweed and Sasha, John O’ Connor is a student from Ireland that participated at one of the courses at Ministry of Sound. After the course ended, John set up his own monthly club night ‘Alive’ at his local nightclub ‘The Queens Night Club’. He played at some of the biggest clubs and dance festivals of Ireland, headlined one of Ireland’s most iconic clubs ‘The Pod’ in Dublin and has even gone on to support GUY J at the Ministry of Sound festival in Malta. John went on to play at the Irish Dance Music Awards this year and his club night Alive was nominated for the best small club night. Alive will also be hosting the outdoors stage at Mystik – Festival in Ireland. John emphasized that the course at Ministry of Sound was a life changing experience, it helped him to gain confidence, achieve his goals and make new friends.  Tutors of his course included Ray Keith, Karl Brown and scratch expert Jamie Griffith to name just a few. Above all, John appreciated the support he received from the DJ academy once the course ended. Since then he has worked with some great DJ’s throughout Ireland and made new friends like Danny Alonso and David De Valera who happen to be two of Dublin’s biggest DJ’s. John has also supported and played alongside Guy J., Tom Middleton, Psycatron, Wade Bennet, Ian O Donovan and Audiofreak and appeared on the same line- ups of clubs and festivals as John Digweed, Jeff Mills, Mark Knight, Calvin Harris and Chris Liebing.

• John O’ Connor
• 10October

Andy has been a keen record/ vinyl/ collector for over 15 years and was introduced to DJing through a love of vinyl via his parent’s vast collection of northern soul collection. After spending time hunting tunes in record shops he started learning to DJ and following countless hours and lessons spent with local DJ’s, he began to find his flow. Influenced by artists such as Sasha, Andy’s main inspiration came from places like Ibiza and parties like Cream in Liverpool where he could see world famous DJs including Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk, Steve Lawler, Hernan Cattaneo among others. After travelling the world, Andy attended one of the courses on a week end at Ministry of Sound in 2009. Ministry of Sound legend Jazzy M, his tutor at the time, offered a wide range of knowledge, both technically and about the DJ industry as a whole. After impressing the tutors Andy was invited to play at the club for the Erick Morillo’s event, Subliminal Sessions, and due to its success he was invited again for the same party. After being on the same event as Erick Morillo, Andy caught the eye of the event that has been his earlier inspiration, Cream in Liverpool. Having played in such a renowned party, he was then offered a two hours set opening at the Amnesia terrace for Cream Ibiza, warming up for Sasha and Nick Warren. Since then, Andy has been a DJ resident for Creamfields, one of the most important festivals around the world. This also led to the creation of another important project that was hosting a room at Ministry of Sound with a friend made in the same course group. In 2010, Andy was playing again for Cream Ibiza and for various pre- parties’ sets throughout the summer and in 2011 he was booked for Cream Ibiza, Creamfields and Creamfields Tours. Andy’s life changed significantly following the course at Ministry of Sound and after moving to London recently he diverted his spare time to the studio and music production.

• Andy Woods
• 10October

Hi Sam,

             Hope you are well. Just a little thank you for the DJ Academy day really enjoyed it and definitely would recommend it !! Think I will be returning myself soon! I have attached a link for a recent mix that i have done if you would have a listen and give me some feedback I would really appreciate it.

• Scott ONeil
• 17May

DJ Joia started mixing at an early stage of his life, but it was only in 1993 that he had his first official residency at Club 22 in Portugal. Joia was exposed to the acid house explosion in Portugal and he belonged to a group of DJs who spread the electronic music in the centre of Portugal from the very beginning under the alias of Mr Happy and Lewis Jay. Joia also worked for many years as a resident DJ in clubs such as Tribus, Excentrica, Assimetria and was responsible for the launch of many clubs and bars in Portugal. Having been influenced by world class DJs such as Frankie Knuckles, Danny Tenaglia, Carl Cox and Erick Morillo, his talent was soon recognized. Joia played at Pacha, Via Invicta and Oporto Exponor alongside DJs such as Josh Wink ,Eddie Amador, Frank Maurel, Carlos Fauvrelle among others. After moving to London, he also performed at The Cross and Club 24 as well as for club nights such as Space and Starlight. In 2009 Joia joined one of the courses at Ministry of Sound where he could learn new techniques to improve his DJ skills. Tutors of his course included dance music legends Ray Keith, Karl Brown and Jamie Griffiths who helped him to DJ as a professional and trained him across all four DJ booths at the club. After the course ended, Joia submitted few mixes and was selected to play for the DJ academy Takeover Night at the Baby Box. He describes the course as a life changing experience and since then Joia had the privilege to play for world leading club nights such as Subliminal Sessions and Global Underground alongside the likes of Erick Morillo, Sharam (Deep Dish), Tom Middleton, Patrick Hoffman to name just a few. He also started his own club night, Divinal Sessions, and spent the whole summer in 2010 promoting it around Portugal. Joia is currently working at his studio to finish his first album which is due to be released by the end of 2011/ beginning 2012.

• DJ JOIA
• 21January