Steve Porter on Porterhouse, Ibiza and Australia

Most people who hear Steve Porter's DJ sets or his productions would be amazed to know that a burning desire to be involved in the music industry has not always been within him. In fact, it was one of the last hobbies he took an interest in. And when he did get into dance music it was a slow exposure, starting - like many kids in the early '90s - with electronic acts such as CnC Music Factory, Black Box and Technotronic. However, when friends starting playing him mix tapes of DJs playing at raves, it was only a matter of time before he found himself selling Dance Music at record stores - the bug had truly hit home.

Over the last six years, Porter's discography includes over 50 singles and 28 remixes under both his own name and aliases such as Agent 001, HDF & Bons. Many of his tracks, such as Vodka Cranberries and Definite Form have reached cult status in the Progressive Dance community and have been used on numerous high-profile compilations. Although, to confine him to a single genre like Progressive House would be unfair, and indeed his self-described style of 'Porterhouse' is a much better definition.

"Porterhouse is a love for House music that has no discrimination for Trance, Breaks, and other forms of music," explains Porter. "It's about having fun and making people dance, usually a combination of cerebral and physical vibes. I know from my experience (that) developing a sound as a DJ takes time. It's more like developing a trust with people and I like having a wide spectrum. An open-minded crowd is the preferred crowd. I like to think of it as "turbo-charged fantasy funk."

Porter has ensured that the 'turbo-charged' theme continues with an upcoming EP of the same name soon to follow. Its arrival will continue the good work started with his album 'Homegrown'. "I look at Homegrown as the completion of chapter one in my music life," reveals Porter. "The goal was to have an album that spanned through a wide array of DJ tastes (Felix Da Housecat to Paul Van Dyk) yet is somehow all tied together. I hope it goes down as 'the little album of groovy magic that could'. It's a soundtrack designed for your everyday life scenarios, music for the imagination, body, and soul. I hope that this debut album is something I come back to in 20 years and use as a reference point from where I've come. It's always nice to know where you come from as a musician."

"My summer tour schedule is fairly insane with the UK and Ibiza dates right up until I head to Australia. I haven't been home in weeks! I've been very inspired during my tour, so in between gigs, at hotels, on flights, I've been working on the new 'Porterhouse EP' with original productions hopefully to be ready by November 2005. Then I'll be compiling the Porterhouse compilation for early 2006, all leading us up to the next Porterhouse party at the 2006 WMC."

Porter has been attending the Miami Winter Music Conference for a few years now and, like many, considers it to be one of the most important events on the dance music calendar. However, every year it has gone through a number of changes, some more positive then others. "This is my sixth time down here, and it just seems that every year it get's more and more epic," says an enthusiastic Porter. "Every year I come down, it's crazy. This year there were a lot of cancelled gigs because of the city's noise ordinances and clubs not having the proper permits. I had a lot of up-and-coming DJ friends who were looking forward to shows that never happened. It definitely still is the biggest date on the calendar.

"I would describe Miami as the calendar New Year for dance music. I also think it's important to put faces to names and emails from people you deal with all over the world, all year long. I even got to meet up with a bunch of Aussies!"

"The Miami party at State was a very special night, something I've never experienced before on the DJ front. I'd say even more startling was that everybody who< Tags

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