"I've never had a 9 to 5 job..."

What sort of problems?

People, postage, sometimes there's a problem...people at the other end receiving the item, if they're not straight forward and honest, or if they turn around and say they haven't received the item. To be honest most of the protection now is on the customer, which is understandable, they should be protected. As someone who has lost money via the internet I know that myself. Most people are okay.

So you're just trying to get this whole collection listed?

Yeah...there's a hell of a lot of records there. At the last count it was probably about 150,000 records and the only reason I know that is I bought 1,000 boxes and each one holds 150 and I've filled them and added to them on a weekly basis. Storage and categorising is a problem. And also displaying it. Once you've got this type of amount it's hard to...I can't just shelve it on one bookcase.

It looks like you live above this space?

I do, yeah.

So you basically live above 150,000 records?

[Laughs] I live on top of a record box, basically. This is my place, there's a long history and I've got quite a lot of sentimental attachment 'cos it was my father's workshop. He passed away and left it to me and also we started renovating it together 14 years ago and I'm still renovating it now. There's a long way to go but it's my piece of London.

Do you ever open this place up to people?

Only to producers mainly, and friends. I don't open it up to many people, for obvious reasons.

Have you ever thought about selling the whole thing in one go?

No, 'cos I've spent far too much time accumulating it and I've spent far too much money accumulating it. To just get rid of it in one go would be wasting a large effort, a large part of my life. I know of other DJs who've done that and maybe that was good for them, but it's not right for me. And I do need to sustain a career.

Have you ever had a proper job?

I used to work for my father, I used to have summer jobs at college but I've never actually had a 9 to 5 'normal' job. I'm pretty stubborn, I'm pretty strong minded and don't really respond well to being ordered about how to live, what to do etc. I like to do things at my own pace in my own way, it's just the type of person I am I suppose.

Who are your most loyal customers?

I've had different circles of loyal customers of the years. I would say they range from late teens to people in their 50s. There are some kids, not so much into soul and disco but they're into rap, drum n bass and electronic stuff. And due to sites like Discogs they've learnt about Detroit stuff as well- they see the pictures, they see the clips, it does help. I mean I'm in my mid-30s now so the older I get, the more detached I'll become from what the kids are into. I haven't reached that point yet.

Do you feel it's important to have a sense of history with music?

Of course, man. Every strand, every label, every record is kind of interlinked. And even across genres and categories of music. And formats. Good music is good music, a good tune is a good tune. It doesn't have to be jazz or soul or disco or rap or house, why have a category? That's part of the problem now, people tend to over-categorise stuff and I think that complicates how you market and how you sell the music as well. Before it used to be simple, it was just warehouse music or house and Detroit and Chicago [music] and there was a higher quality. Technology has made it easier for anyone to make a record now. When I started it was really hard to find a studio and book a studio to produce a record. Now you need software and a laptop basically and you can make a record, make a tune.