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Fergie - Hooverless but still Horny

Author: Clare Dickins
Thursday, July 7, 2005
It's a rare treat to interview someone like Fergie. The 25 year old DJ/producer is kinda like the Irish equivalent of Steve Irwin (minus the crocodiles of course); jovial, down-to-earth and every bit the cheeky larrikin you'd imagine him to be.

"Hullooo! How are you-" he bellows down the phone in his trademark thick Irish accent. "I'm actually in the supermarket at the minute buying a tin of tuna, an orange and a salad. I'm just at the cashier now putting my little groceries on the conveyer belt," he chuckles.

So Ferg, how do you think people perceive you- "I get on with everybody I meet. Everybody's perception of me is that I like to have a party and I like to enjoy myself, and they're right. I do take my career seriously and I absolutely love what I do, but I always make sure I enjoy myself - do you know what I mean-"

Fergie may be the dance world's fun-loving prankster, but the road to the top hasn't all been peaches and cream. "There are always tough times - you always have to keep one step ahead of everyone, you know- When I stopped playing hard house, it was a big thing and a lot of people didn't like it - 'Oh Fergie has fucked off his fans!' - what the public didn't really think about was what a hard thing it was for me to do; I could have lost all my gigs and getting paid," he explains.

Similarly, when Fergie's mentor Tony De Vit died in 1998 his strength was also tested. "The day Tony got buried he was booked to play at Godskitchen and I had to leave his funeral to go and fill in for him at this gig. His parents were both there and it was quite bizarre."

So how did Fergie cope with all of this- "I don't know, I really don't. It was just so fucking bizarre...I really don't know [stammers]...it was just surreal. It's a heartwarming thing in a way, but also really devastating because I'd just lost one of my good friends and mentors - he was someone who had shown me a lot of things.

"One minute I am sitting in my bedroom looking at Tony's name on the flyer and thinking to myself 'holy shit! I'm going over to England to stay at this guy's house'. The next thing I know I am standing in a DJ booth playing at this gig for him because he's just died - it's like fucking hell!" he reflects.

Having conquered life's challenges, Fergie is embracing the future. As an artist, the Irishman is arguably one of the scene's most versatile artists. He doesn't discriminate. Listen to his show on Radio 1 and you'll hear everything from Coburn, Meat Katie, Marco Bailey and Sasha. He may only be 25, but Fergie agrees his taste in music is maturing as he gets older. "Yeah it's certainly maturing. People say 'Well you're only fucking 25!' and I think to myself, 'Yeah I am only 25, but I've also gone through a lot of changes in music and I've seen so many DJs come and go as well'. Fucking hell I've been doing this quite a long time!" he exclaims.

"I've been very lucky and fortunate to have been involved in the scene when it was at its real peak. I also believe it's going to come back around again. Five years ago, the press were going, 'Well how come the clubs aren't as busy [as they should be]-' Well it's simple, it's because people keep pigeonholing artists - 'Oh Steve Lawler is progressive house, 'Oh Fergie is hard house'. Dance music used to be about everyone jumping in the one club and everyone playing a 1.5 - 2 hour set," he says. "It's getting back to that now; some of the house music I'm playing on my show, Steve Lawler plays too. It's just all coming under one roof now and it's one of the most exciting times. With the music and all the technology coming through at the minute, it's just awesome!"

Fergie is shortly due to be touring Oz with old hard house partner-in-crime BK. Considering the pair's current preference for techno, it's difficult to believe they were both responsible for the classic hard houser Hoovers and Horns in 2000. "I used to speak to BK and he's like 'Ferg - I never had the heart to tell you
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