King Billy!

Look back from the start, and one of the names that is inextricably linked with dance music in Ireland is Billy Scurry. He has been there at every turn, always on hand to entertain, inspire and educate his followers. Ask any aspiring spinners who they look to for guidance and Scurry s name is reverently mentioned, more often than not in the same breath as international figures such as Carl Cox, Billy Nasty and Jeff Mills.
Talk to Billy Nasty himself about his favourite ever DJ sets and you can rest assured that he will tell you about the night Scurry, in his capacity as warm up DJ for Nasty, brought the Furnace in Dublin to boiling point and very nearly upstaged one of Europe s favourite spinners.
If we are to understand Scurry s undoubted talent then we have to use the present as a means by which we can understand his past. With these intentions in mind, a quiet pub on a Sunday evening is chosen so that Billy can tell of his lifelong involvement with music. Scurry is in fine form, having sunk a few stouts while watching his beloved Manchester United win away against Spurs. This is the Temple of Sound resident in relaxed mode, and for a good two hours his company proves to be almost as enthralling as the sets he plays every week.
I ve always been into music. I studied music at school , and did it for my Inter. Then I got into hip-hop when I was about 13. My cousins used to come over from England and they were into it as well. I was really into the whole scene, and we used to go breakdancing and hang out around the Central Bank. When I first started DJing it was in a dodgy club in Leeson Street, playing across-the-board stuff like 808 State and MC Tunes.
For a while he spent some time in England, and went to groundbreaking clubs like Shoom in London. When he returned to Dublin Billy saw that Sides, a small Dublin club was making the same musical inroads as the English ones he had visited. Scurry became a regular at the club and started buying records at the club s store where he got to know resident DJ Liam Dollard. After some persuasion Billy was given a slot or two. His trial gigs went down a storm and he never looked back.
Although it closed down with a bad image, Scurry still rates Sides as the most important development in Irish clubbing. What that club meant to people will never be achieved again. It might have lost it towards the end, but when it was good it was unreal. Still, you can t dwell on things like that for too long, you ve got to move forward.
Since the Sides days Billy has progressed: as resident at the Temple of Sound (which he describes as one of the last bastions for good dance music in Dublin ) his spinning skills have earned him a huge amount of respect on a national and international level. Scurry however, remains typically modest about the work he does, preferring to namecheck other less known DJs. Paddy Gallagher was playing in the Temple the other night and he was unreal. In terms of Irish DJs I d rate him alongside David Holmes. I just turn up and play records that I enjoy and do it in a certain way, and if people enjoy it then it s a bonus, he says clichidly.
Although it mightn t be flavour-of-the-month drum n bass, listen to the music Billy plays and the way in which he puts it together, and even the most fickle among you will succumb to its charm. I rate Motorbass and Daft Punk from France. A lot of the records I play at the moment are British Emerson s Underwater, Mark Broom s label and the Schatrax people from the Isle of Wight is the kind of stuff keeping things soulful and funky.
Judging on the amount of bookings he gets around the country, Billy is doing something right. Although a regular at the Man Fridays/Can t Stop gigs in Waterford ( I played down there on a Wednesday night and eight hundred people showed up ) Shine in Belfast, and appearing soon at Back 2 Basics in Leeds and Slam in Glasgow, Scurry is cynical of the scene in his native Dublin.
Maybe it s just because I m always in Dublin that I don t enjoy playing here as much. Last year in Dublin it was cool to be into techno. I ve been playing techno for years without much recognition, yet as soon as Richie Hawtin plays here techno is in. I don t know how anyone could call Dublin the Club Capital of Europe
For a DJ of Scurry s capabilities, the next logical step is to start producing: having debuted with the melancholic melodies of Pulp Fact on the first Nu Diocese EP, Billy is now focusing on buying equipment to program at home: I want to be able to do pre-production at home and then go into a studio and do it all myself as opposed to watching someone else do it. Eric Powell (from the UK-based Bush Records) was ranting and raving about the first tune I did two years ago, and wanted to release it. Because it was the first thing I ever did I didn t want it to go out. I listened to it the other day and it s still a good tune. At the moment I just want to get settled and get stuff going that I m really happy with.
If Billy s up-and-coming studio productions are anything like the music he makes with a set of Technics, then we can be confident that house music will never die. n
Billy Scurry plays nearly every Saturday at the Temple Of Sound, Dublin and guests regularly around the country. Check the Digital Beat s listings for details.

Billy Scurry s Top Ten:
1. Red Planet 7: Firekeeper (Red Planet)
2. Paul Teebrooke: Blue Light (Op-Art)
3. Motorbass: Panasoul LP (Cassius)
4. Daft Punk: Muzique (Astralwerks)
5. Ian O Brien: Everyday World (4th Wave)
6. 808 State: Lopez (Propellorheads Mix) (ZTT)
7. Various Artists: Backchich EP 2 (Backchich)
8. Gene Farris: Spring Fling (Sounds)
9. Tomas Bangalter: Spinal Scratch (Roule)
10. Wise Caucasian: Tokyo Blues EP (Mosaic)