Music and Me

This week we're shining the spotlight on DJ Magic Martin.

Martin has been a member of Sunnybank for many years. In his blog, he tells us about his DJ journey.

Where it all started

I first got interested in music when I was quite little, I think it was when I was around 3 or 4 years old.

My dad had a sound system in the house and I used to play around with it, even though he didn't like me touching his records. My dad and I are both really into music, he is into the older stuff but I like all kinds of music from the 50's all the way up to today's music.

I first started DJing in 2010 when I went on a family holiday to India. On holiday I spent time with my cousin who is a DJ, and I felt inspired. At a family party I asked him if I could DJ and he said yes, that was my first ever DJ gig.

I have always been interested in becoming a DJ - I even remember having a DJ session at Merton Abbey when I was just 13 or 14 years old.

The famous Swag disco

I have DJ'd at Sunnybank's monthly Swag discos for a couple of years now and was disappointed when they couldn't go ahead during the pandemic.

In the first lockdown I went to an online 90s festival and I thought to myself 'what can we do on Zoom?'. I thought it would be a good idea to bring back our Swag disco online. After chatting it through with Sunnybank's CEO, Dorothy, we came up with a plan and the rest is history!

Getting the party started

One of my favourite songs to play at is If you really love me by David Guetta, Mista Jam & John Newman. At the end of the night I also like to play Falling in love with you by UB40. Ever since I went to a UB40 concert it's been one of my favourite songs.

When I'm not DJing, and listening to the radio, I listen to Radio 1 or Capital Dance. I really like my dance music. The only kind of music that I don't like is classical music.

Sunnybank and beyond

Recently I was invited to DJ at Phab's Christmas disco which was lots of fun. I think it's important for young people to see someone with a disability DJing so that they know that it's something they could do too. Someone at the disco showed a real interest in DJing which I thought was great.

I am also very proud to have recently started hosting my own radio show on Groove London.

I haven't had my own radio show for almost 4 years and I've really missed it. You can hear my Friday Vibe show every Friday from 12-2pm.

I love to DJ at events and share my love of music. If you would like to find out more about my DJ services, please contact info@sunnybanktrust.org