This is my second live, in front of an audience interview, this time with Jay Wearden, a DJ whose journey runs from early hip hop obsession to Manchester’s underground: Precinct 13, Konspiracy, Thunderdome and the legendary Hippos.
Jay talks about falling in love with music as a kid, spending pocket money on records and learning on belt drive youth club decks. Hip hop gave him a lane for scratching and cutting, and that approach still shapes how he plays house today, loop driven and focused on feeling rather than fashion.
We cover the first proper gigs at The Venue on Whitworth Street, and how cross genre nights back then taught him that great DJing is about emotion, not labels. Then we move into Manchester’s acid house underground: tiny midweek crowds at Precinct 13, the Konspiracy versus Thunderdome rivalry, and how those rooms acted as levellers during hard times, where race, class, postcode and football allegiance fell away on the dancefloor. He shares police raid stories and the pressure around those nights.
There is Eastern Bloc, getting paid in records because happiness matters more than money, and Jay’s view of the DJ as educator. He would rather dig for B sides, alternate mixes and re edits than play the obvious tunes. He wants a crowd that really listens, not a jukebox reaction.
We touch on Ibiza in 1988 and 1989, sleeping on benches, sneaking showers, and handing a white label of Pacific State to a DJ who played it in the club. Back home we move to Hippos, with psychological queues, bold posters, and the craft of building nights so people leave wanting more.
In the present, Jay explains why he stopped for years, why he returned, and the ethos behind the current Hidden parties: good music, good people, minimal hype and putting the crowd at the centre. He is candid about shyness, ADHD as a superpower, ignoring negativity, and measuring success by joy, his and yours.
If you were there, you will recognise the stories. If you were not, this is living social history from someone who helped shape it, told with the same authenticity he brings to the booth.
Donate
Upload