And I did my selection with 10 power, and I joined the 10th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. Poached and approached by BBC Radio 1, and I joined Radio 1, and I was there for seven years on a prime time Saturday night. They did the same thing with Punk. Radio's pretty faceless, was Bill Campion chasing a forces radio presenter. It's happened in the party mood across the land, and it was a great decade to 90. Danny, how are you, brother? I'm good, Chris. How are you? I'm phenomenal, mate, and I'm even more phenomenal to not just have people like you in my life, but to be talking to the man himself today. Well, the sun's shining. It's Wednesday afternoon, and my brother looks at things. After this interview, I'll be going to get in the channel. I haven't been in for a week, so I know that the temperature is going down rapidly, so getting for an invigorating dip in the channel. Oh, cold water immersion, isn't it good? Absolutely, yeah, it is, yeah, really good. Yes, I noticed on your Instagram, you've been very spiritual, taking the beautiful photos of the sun sets. It's really important, isn't it, at times of stress that we take a bit of time for ourselves and just remember that despite the fricking nonsense that's going on, the universe is an incredible place and we all have our place in it, don't we? Yeah, a very kind of small place in the grand scale of the universe, but I'm just very grateful to wake up in the morning to, well, it's not a spectacular sunrise every day, but when they are spectacular, they certainly are. I'm the same for sunset, so I get up early and I like to see the sun coming up as much as I can on the weekends when I'm DJing. I'm at work till maybe two or four in the morning, so I don't see as many sunsets on Saturday night, Sunday morning, but I make a point of waking and looking at the sunset. And then a 15-minute meditation and all of this really, I've always been started the day with gratitude and at night going to sleep with gratitude is very important, I feel, for one's well-being, but getting up in the morning, meditation is, I think, as a result of this crisis we've been in, that's really prompted me to embark on meditation and it's a really good thing to do daily. It's an absolute lifesaver, mate, isn't it, really? It's funny, isn't it?  Well, it's re-centering energy and decluttering the mind of all the noise that's going on around us and right now it's really blooming noisy, isn't it? It is, it is. So I was going to ask you, are you like a Londoner by trade? I was born in London, I lived there for 50-plus years and I've been on the coast in East Sussex for close to 11 years now and I love it here because it's pretty laid back. There's low traffic emissions, lots of open land to tab on and go for long hikes. Seven Sisters, one of the most beautiful landmarks in the UK along with the Jurassic Coast and other parts, that's just on the doorstep. So yeah, kind of walking and again, I mean, the cold water immersion, I only started in March last year and I've lived here years and look at the sea and think, no, that looks a bit cold, but yeah, the benefits have been and continue to be profound, yeah. Yeah, massively. So I was just up your way, wasn't I? We stayed in Weymouth for the summer holiday, not for the half-term holiday. Yeah, we got a modest little hotel, but it was literally the cliche 100 metres from the beach. Yeah. So every morning I was in that sea. Yeah. And I got low blood pressure, so I get a bit of Reynard's syndrome quite easily, but I managed that. No problem. I was just, it wasn't a big shocker or anything, it's just straight in. I won't say I stayed in there a long time, you don't have to give me a buzz for the day. Exactly, and that's the thing. It's the benefits of the cardiovascular system and inflammation and blood pressure also, and mental health and well-being. And that's why the cold water therapy immersion has really become hugely popular since this crisis emerged and more people are getting in the sea. More than ever. So here locally there's an unofficial club and people meet three times a day, certain points of the day, go along, meet other like-minded people and people are in the sea with other people around because particularly with the cold water it's not really the thing to do is just get in there on your own without any support around just in case there is any difficulties as such. Wouldn't it be great, when you bear in mind, right, something that we've forgotten in this country is that the politicians work for us, not the other, you know, you could pay money to push them in the sea. It's a new sport. That's a great idea for Winter 21-22. Push a politician into the cold water and shake some common sense into them. Yes. Or freeze some common sense. You've got to have a bit of humour, haven't you? Well, you have, mate. They've just got to be lucky that they don't live near a volcano. Yes. Hey, you never guess what I found on the Hint Hint Jurassic coast? Oh, yeah. Found a fossil, mate. I actually did. We went to that beach where all the holiday makers chip the rocks open. And my boys massively love these dinosaurs and stuff. And to be honest, I wasn't 100%... I have seen this narrative out there that dinosaurs never existed. And I've never really come in contact other than going to the Natural History Museum and stuff. And the way that narrative, without going into one, they explain it that over the years people have found like an ancient elephant's hit bone and then they say that it's like, oh, this is Tyrannosaurus. So, like a lot of these narratives, it can actually sound quite convincing, but on the Jurassic coast, I found a fossilised shell. Yeah. Incredible. And when we went to the little museum there, there's lots of complete skeletons of dinosaur-like sea creatures. It was quite an eye-opener.  So, yeah, maybe in the new year or the spring of next year, the lovely part of the country. But yeah, fossil hunting. Brilliant. So, let's talk about your time as death from the sky. That surprised me to hear. I've gone through a lot in my life and life is a series of experiences and adventures. That's my, you know, I think that's my own personal view. But, yeah, my grandfather was a military man. He served in the Territorial Army before the British Expedition Force in 1939 and then went into Europe. And he was a member of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiment, which later became the Royal Green Jacket. So, he was a long-standing military career man. And I lived with him as a young man. And he influenced me greatly. And I wanted to follow in his footsteps. And he was a great inspiration to me. So, I wanted to join the Regular Army. And I spent a year training. And I wanted to join the Parachute Regiment. And I went to Sutton-Colefield. I did all the fitness and, you know, kind of... Actually, I was so fit. It was a pretty much a doddle, actually. The BFT at Sutton-Colefield. That's where Selection Centre was back then in the 80s. And I had an interview with the Colonel, as you do. He was like an army officer like out of one of those 70s films with his dog sitting close to him. And all of his, you know, kind of military career pictures on the wall and certification. I had this interview. I don't know whether it was the interview or the fact that I was a bit cocky on the pull-ups with a ferocious-looking bloke who captain in the Parachute Regiment, coincidentally. And I made the mistake of saying, is that it after I think it was about 20 or 25 pull-ups? Is that it? And I didn't address him as sir or anything and should have kept my mouth shut. And I think it could have been that that got me kind of my card marks. And he exploded in a rage of language that we won't repeat on here and doubled them up, which I did. And I think that marked my card. So at the interview, they said to me that you haven't made the upgrade for the regiment, but you can join another regiment. And I said, well, I've only come here to join the Parachute Regiment. I was very young at that time. I think I was 20 years old or something. So I went off very, very greatly disappointed that I hadn't got through with my ambition there at Sutton Guildford. I went home anyway to cut long story short. My grandfather said to me, well, it's, you know, it's a bit of a disappointment, but you could always join the Territorial Army, which is where I was before I was in the Regular Army. And to be honest, I didn't really know a great deal about the TA at that time. So he gave me the number of the Duke of York headquarters in Kings Road, Chelsea. I went along there and I did my selection with 10 power. And I joined the 10th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. So really looking back on it, I had the best of both worlds because I was just starting to DJ at that time as well. And it was a great experience. It taught me a lot about resilience, motivation. And I am very proud to have partly followed in his footsteps and given some service and learned a great deal from that about myself. And it made, it turned a bit of an unruly lad into a man. That's how I viewed that, that transition process. And I'm immensely proud of that achievement because out of Alcada, there was 130 men embarked on Alcada in Aldershot and 13 of us passed on Malta Barracks Parade Square. And being given that red beret, as you know yourself, you were given a green beret, one of the greatest days of your life with the endurance that you go through and the challenges and the determination and the motivation to achieve that. So yeah, that was a part of my life that I am really proud of. And it set the benchmark, I believe, for all that has followed a successful DJ career. I'm still DJing across the country at the moment. Of course the world travel has been impacted by this crisis for many of us. And I don't really have the desire to travel overseas at present until things stabilise and level out with what we've got going on here on home soil. So yeah, all part of one's rich life experiences. Did you get to jump, Danny? Yes, I did. Yeah, I went to Bryson Orton on a wings course, which is a two-week course. But on my seventh jump, there were eight jumps at that time, on the seventh jump, I creamed in with a container. I released the container, the container hit the DZ. And I, for a split second, thought that I was about to land and I was still 10 feet above the ground, 10 feet, 15 feet. And I came in an abnormal landing and smashed my shoulders in and dislocated one of them. So yeah, I was pretty gutsy because I had one more jump to do, another container jump. And so my wings were compromised. I went back there some months later and the transport never collected me in another bloke who was going back to do one more jump to get the wings. So unfortunately, the parachuting side of it, that was my only experience of the jumping side of things. But there are blokes in the regiment now that have spent three years and still haven't qualified for that. And now it's five jumps, where it was eight in the 80s. And did you do your first one from the balloon? Yeah, eerie silence and step forward and out. But just look up. I think that's what got me through and just head to the sky, just do not look down. Yes, I'm going to find a little clip while we're... I can still remember that now. It's such a... That first experience, you've done it yourself clearly. The silence is eerie. It's a really eerie silence. And of course, there's a level of fear. And you can't say that there's no fear in stepping out of like a stationary balloon with kind of this just views across the countryside in complete silence. But it's a test of your fear, overcoming fear. That's one of the first tests before you actually get into an aircraft. Yeah, so I won't bore you with my anecdotes, but I literally couldn't show fear because there's a corporal with, I think, about three or four-year service under my belt by that time. I was in the basket with three baby parrots. So when they said he's going to be first out, it's like, me, sorry for this, but this is the way it's going to be. Just get me out of there. Yeah, it was the geronimo that made everybody laugh. Well, not the parrots. Their mind was quite preoccupied, but the jumping instructor was like, Bro, what do you mean?  Friendly push and out you went. Yeah, that's a great thing about, let's not talk about the Global Veterans Alliance at the moment, but I love working with the parents back then. They're lovely lads. It was always supposed to be this rivalry, and I never saw it. And now to be marching through London with a parra on your left shoulder and an army compatriot on the right and then a Royal Air Force and a Navy, et cetera, et cetera.  Yeah, great day. Yeah. Lot of respect. You would have missed the nightjump, then, I'm guessing. Yeah. Thank heavens. Yeah. That was funny.  Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Stuck in trees. Yeah, great. So, yes, yeah. Great experience and wouldn't have missed it for the world, but all part of one's character and who we are as individuals. And I mean, it was great tribute to my grandfather, and that's why I just say this rounding off on that. Remembrance Sunday. I mean, I remember in most days, but particularly on Remembrance Sunday, because he never went to Remembrance Sunday Parade in Whitehall and he was invited there. He was, you know, he was, I don't know, he traveled the world and Singapore and India and Europe and he didn't want to go overseas anymore and kind of he didn't participate in any of the military stuff after the war, you know, parades and things. He went and gave service again in the Territual Army, but on Remembrance Sunday, that is my day of ultimate remembrance for my grandfather. So, yeah, we all have a special sense of remembrance, I think, anybody who's served in the military or has a military family on that given day. Yes, and I think there's been no greater time to honour the sacrifice that many of these, I won't say brave individuals, because some of them were just bloody children. Probably weren't brave, probably absolutely terrified, but they still went over the top, didn't they, for our freedom and the freedom of future generations and when you start talking about silly nonsense such as passports and this guy can go in that club, but that guy, sorry, that is not on. It's just simply such a dishonour. Absolutely. Here we go. We'll have a minor rent, but it just feels like history is repeating and also on the other hand, history has been erased and the merits and the whole reason for that has just been completely like, you know, sidetracked. Oh, that doesn't matter. We're out at the moment, we're in a very strange time, a very strange time. Yes, and it's just a wee bit more set in there, Danny went, okay, you could understand for maybe civilians that have never served, that have never lost colleagues, that have never, you know, had colleagues die in conflict, et cetera, to not honour this commitment that hundreds of thousands, millions made, but so many service personnel are just going along with this narrative, aren't they? Just because some of them are blissfully unaware, that's the nature of the matrix, isn't it? But some are aware, but they're just going along with it because it makes their life easier and they get their TV contract or whatever the thing may be for next year or they can get on an aeroplane and do their... It is a temptation there to be a bit upset about that. Well, I think we have a very divided society right now. It's very, very, very clear. Personally, I think that it's levels of consciousness and consciousness is a frequency and we all have a different level of consciousness and I think that's playing a major role in what we're experiencing here. The divide of friends, family, business, businesses, co-workers, associations, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, you name it, everybody is experiencing some form of divide. As much as you want to rise above that, not everybody is able and has the capacity consciously to rise above the division and it's a very, very dark time that we've never seen anything like this. It's hard to fathom out at times but that, personally, that's what I feel it is. It's just different levels of consciousness and some people are further back along the road of consciousness and some people are further ahead but I do feel that those people will catch up and we're meeting the middle somewhere because this cannot go on like this. This is just not the world that we desire to live in. We're here to shape a better world and that's what we're doing. Yes, exactly. We're enabling people to win the spiritual battle whereas the spiritual battle played out. Is it in the physical? Nope. It's in the pineal gland in the brain. It's with the chemicals that this clever thing produces and that certain elements in society very well know how to control. Once we can enlighten people as to this, we're going to get the outcome that humanity deserves, Stanley, aren't we? Yeah, and I firmly believe that. Hope, faith and intentionality are so important in these days that we are living in. These times and the experiences we're going through. Hope is very, very important right now. Yes, let's keep the vibration up, folks. Exactly. Keep raising the vibration. Yeah. Let's talk about music then. One of my favourite subjects. It is my surprise. We've got quite a lot in common, Danny. I was actually DJ of the biggest nightclub in southern China. Wow.  I got sacked literally within about a week. But that's not the interesting thing. The interesting thing was I blanked the job. I'd never DJed in this sense in my life. The last time I played a record was when you had those red vinyl boxes.  And I went to my favourite nightclub in Hong Kong where I knew Roy was his name. He's Ray in my book. And I said, Roy, can I go in the DJ box and write down the name of the tracks? Because I dance to them every night. I don't know what they called. So I'm in there and I'm writing down K-class and all this sort of stuff. Went off to China. While I was in the DJ box writing them down in Hong Kong in the early part of the evening you have a Filipino band playing, right? And then the band disappear and the DJ comes on. So the band finished and they came over to the DJ box. They went, OK, over to you. I'm like, it's got me. Put the headphones on one ear because that's what I know. You put them on one. Oh, that's the slider, right? A and B. Oh, yeah, that's this track. And I just cued in this track and the first three mixes were just perfect. Everyone got up and dancing and I've got it. You know, I've got what it is to be a DJ. This is great. Brilliant. And then the fourth mix was it sounded like a herd of left of handcuffed mustangs crashing down a flight of stairs. But yeah, where did you love the music start and what were you into? My love for music started at a very young age when I went through my mother having the radio on in the house. My father worked in a print. So he'd either be sleeping during the day or he'd be at work or out with the dog. So he worked nights at the weekends and he worked days during the week. So she'd always had the radio on in the kitchen and stuff. And I just got fascinated by the radio. I loved records at family parties. I just loved the music from a very young age. And the radio was my obsession how a radio show was broadcast and where my imagination was making this picture of the studio on a ship somewhere off the coast in the Atlantic or something like that. Just that's where it started really in collecting records. So at a very young age. And I wanted to be on the radio. It was either that, the radio farming and astronaut and later the army. All these things combined as a youngster. Do you remember was it Radio Luxembourg? Yeah, I used to listen to Radio Luxembourg on a small transistor radio late at night when I should have been sleeping and getting ready to go. I was exactly the same. I used to just drift off the street listening to Radio Luxembourg and it was just brilliant on a small radio. Yeah, in my mind, they were kind of like the new Radio Caroline. Yeah, I might have been making a male connection there. But so Radio Caroline was a ship, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah. The DJs that went to sea and could play what they liked and not have to pay royalties or I'm guessing. Well, they all became Radio One DJs. Radio Caroline was the foundations of BBC Radio One's Pop DJs. Tony Blackburn and Jimmy Young and all these DJs were on Caroline at the time. The BBC brought them onto the station and Radio One was born. The Pop Tastic station where after many years of radio on pirate radio, I went from there on Kiss Radio and then Kiss became legal. I spent I think nine years on the legal side of Kiss and then when it became a commercial station and then I was poached and approached by BBC Radio One. And I joined Radio One and I was there for seven years on a primetime Saturday night slot. So I declined the radio ladder from a relatively unknown obscure soul DJ at two o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday night, Wednesday morning when there was probably like a handful of people listening to playing to millions of people internationally on BBC Radio One. So I'm very proud of that achievement as well and I'm really passionate about radio. I still produce radio shows. I have a show on ForceRadio.net which is a news station. Phil Campion is on that station and other former military DJs and presenters the station is made up of. That's ForceRadio.net. So I'm on there Saturday seven to nine weekly. Is that kind of... Is that military orientated or are they freedom oriented? Well, it's military orientated. It's a new independently back station. It's along the lines of ForceRadio, that kind of thing. Yeah. I remember getting interviewed on ForceRadio and not that long ago. Just before my interview finished, they said... And it was live as well, I think. And they said, what's your recommendations, Chris, for curing PTSD? And I said, well, let's stop sending them to these Mickey Mouse Wars. And they kind of chuckled a bit. Letters of a complaint were there. Yeah, possibly to the radio station, I never got any. Oh, nothing like a bit of controversy is what makes Radio go with a bit of a bang. But one of the, I think, best radio moments because Radio's pretty faces was Phil Campion chasing a forces radio presenter who was cocky Tim around the studio on a live stream. I think for me, that's one of the ultimate classic radio moments. Big Phil on this rather mouthy drive-time radio for forces radio who overstepped them up. I saw a video, I think Phil put that on one of his channels. That's classic radio, that is. But yeah, so music, I love music. And this whole thing has done so much devastation to all different fields of industry and business. And our club scene has been impacted greatly in the festival scene and the live music circuit. And it's been really hard for 18 months. But there's been a turning point in the summer. And I've been pretty busy since July the 19th, which was billed as Freedom Day. And I played in Bristol that day. And it was an incredible day, hot sunshine. Everyone was so excited to be out dancing and enjoying themselves and interacting with other people. And yeah, it's been a good run. So hopefully there's not going to be another kind of restriction where everything closes again, because there's enough devastation that has been done. And the industry has further going to be impacted with the introduction. And this is what we're opposing of this passport that is completely wrong. It's unethical. And we are opposing that. And I'm part of the together declaration dot org, which is very strong initiative, which is supporting hospitality, all different industries and general opposition towards this pass. There is no place for it in our open democratic society. And I've spent a lot of time campaigning over the last three months since the exception of together declaration and part of the committee. I've played a voluntary role on the committee and do a lot of work within that campaign group. Because I have contributed so greatly to the music scene in this country. And to see where things are heading, we look at Scotland and the introduction to it, this pass, has got off to a very, very bad start. Businesses are down. They're traded is down 40, 50%. There's had a logistical complications and it just doesn't work. It's unnecessary and we don't want it. And the young people, the young kids, you've got James from Wales, the student guys. What's his surname? Is it James Martin? What's his name? The young student guy, student action. What's his name? He's putting out some really positive stuff. How this has impacted his life and other students and the 18 to 21 group. They've been denied all the freedoms and the good times and going out without any restrictions and coming of age and going to the pub or whatever over the last couple of years. They haven't had that pleasure. It must be very hard. It's hard for everyone. But particularly for the young community, how it's impacted them. And he's a great spokesperson for the 18 to 21 year old in this country. Yeah, that's James Harvey, isn't it? That's it, James Harvey. He was good enough to come on one of our GVA podcast. And I've said this a lot. Again, taking it back to veterans, we didn't fight and our colleagues died. So that on your 18th birthday, you rock up at a nightclub and some boots on the ground, blooming dormant goes, sorry mate, you ain't coming in, but all your mates can. Yeah. And who's the person that's not allowed in? Well, it's the one that actually believes in eating well. Yeah. You know, bit of moderate exercise. Health conscious. Boost in their natural immunity. They're the ones being penalized. Clearly, that doesn't make sense. So you know someone's fish, you know, you know this passport system is, there's something needs to be questioned about it, you could say. Well, it's morally wrong and it's creating a segregated society which it has in Scotland and Wales because they are ahead of England. Ireland also is going through this. The European countries, Australia is really, really terrible what's going on in Australia, which isn't reported on the mainstream media. It's a news blackout, what's going on down there. But there's a lot, you know, a lot of friends that are really terrified and they're, you know, they're in states of anxiety, you know, they've lost their jobs, their businesses, they cannot go to certain places. You know, that isn't, that is not acceptable. You know, this is not what life's about. It's unacceptable and we do not want it here and that's why we are opposing it with the Together Declaration and I'm urging everybody to sign the charter at TogetherDeclaration.org join us and support us and let's show our opposition towards this plan and these proposals. There is no segregation in society. No, we don't. Any form. We don't have apartheid in Britain. Absolutely not, you know, we saw that in South Africa and how hideous it can get and the hatred, it just wants to develop hatred from birth in difference and division that actually doesn't exist because we're all one humanity. Absolutely, yeah. We get on better as humans when everyone is succeeding and doing well. Not by suppressing a certain element of society and that's, yeah. That's Alan Miller, isn't it? Yes, Alan Miller is, he's the founder of the Together Declaration Group. Alan was also the founder of the Nighttime Industries Association which I supported from its inception. He's a great campaigner and he puts together strong groups of people that make a difference and that's what we're doing. We're making a difference and we're standing for what's right and not supporting anything that is wrong and there's a lot that's very wrong with these things that are being drafted in and swept through in 40-minute debates which is again completely wrong. Yeah, we have to be careful because if we take our eye off the ball like for example they did in Cambodia and there's numerous other examples worldwide, you're inviting tyranny because not everyone's as nice as you. Some people have agendas and we have to keep on top of that. Yeah, I've been to Cambodia. It's a wonderful country and I certainly know that I'm going to go and visit there again in the future because travel is not going to be restricted. Travel and freedom to travel are fundamental human rights, our inalienable sovereign rights to travel freely any place of our choosing across the world and that is going to return. So Cambodia, I have been to the Killing Fields Museum and it really is. It's a very disturbing experience of the genocide that went on in that country and how that happened and people turning against each other. Haunting that museum, isn't it? Yeah, it really is. It really puts up close the scale of the human suffering that went on there and the division and the manipulation of society and these atrocities cannot be repeated. They cannot be repeated but we're in danger of this history. Well, let's not mince our words here, Danny. It is being repeated. Well, once you start to silence the intellectuals which is what they did in Cambodia and then you find excuses to segregate them which is what happened at Toul Slang, the Torture Museum. It's already happening and we need to be realistic about this where freedom of speech is being stifled. Voices of dissent that say, hang on, have you thought about it? They're not being allowed to speak. They're being cut out of the mainstream narrative completely and what they wanted in Cambodia in a very, my amateur synopsis, they just wanted a kind of peasant population so people that were kind of farmers that couldn't really think much outside the box, controlled head down. And when you look at, I mean, just take this country but it's not this country. It's like you say it's Australia, Canada, but when you look at the people that just go along with this blatant flavor and loss of freedom, then you can see the parallel with Cambodia, the ones that don't question, they're not going to rock the boat. Yeah, let's get back to the music, Danny, because... Yeah, we've heard, of course, a little there. No, it's absolutely fine. It needs to be said and I know there's many beautiful people out there that will be so pleased we've had this conversation. They'll either know it or they've certainly been thinking about it. One thing is we're standing on the right side of history and we will stand in our values, in our truth and in our sovereign power. That is our role here and we will uphold that. Yes, exactly. And everyone needs to look themselves in the mirror and say, what did you do when it came for the children? What did you do? Because I don't want to sound threatening or fearful. I think fear creates division, but you are responsible for your actions and there is repercussions. For every action, there's an equal and opposite. I don't know, maybe I've gone a bit off point, but it's not enough to just hold your hands and say, yeah, but what it was, I wanted my two weeks in Charmel Shake. But what it was, I was a school teacher, I had to do it. It's like, no, that doesn't, that's called the Nuremberg Defence. It's dangerous ground. You have to stand firm and say, no, that's simple. Nothing will happen to you. Nothing will, upholding your inalienable rights, as Danny said, nothing will happen to you. Yeah, have courage, have faith, understand in one's sovereign power. And I think during the crisis that came about, particularly the lockdown period, I think it gave a lot of people time alone and time in their thoughts to really evaluate our lives, who we are as people, what life means, how we want the world to be, how we want to live in the world. And I think there's been a major shift in consciousness, which is happening right now, and also a major realization of personal sovereignty. Personal sovereignty is not being an anarchist. Personal sovereignty is self-responsibility. Do no harm, do not break any laws. Be kind to other people and stand united. These are just the basic core values of life in general. And I think this time that we have been isolated has been productive for a huge group of people who didn't choose to just sit on the couch and sit back and watch every single box set that's available on Netflix. They've taken time to read more books, look at information online that's empowering, take courses that are empowering, online courses. And that's one of the positives that has come out of a very negative set of circumstances. Yeah, and let's not forget how many wonderful people we've all met through this. You know, genuine crusaders, kind-hearted warriors that just love children and are willing to put the children first and in last look welcome aboard, isn't it? You know, it's really made you analyze who you associate with, and I don't mean this in terms of division, but when you've got to keep your vibration up, which is really important in life, and then you look at individuals and think, well, hang on, and it's maybe not there. It's probably not their fault, but it's like, you call me names because I love people, because I like to read books and I like to learn history and see where tyranny comes at you. You label me as this or that, and no disrespect. I still love you and I always will, but I don't want to wake up to you in my life. I want to wake up to people like Danny and people that realize we're these beautiful human beings, and this is an incredible universe, and we are a universe, we are a part of it, and we have every right to be here. Absolutely. On our terms.  And again, no judgment. I used to be like that. I'm sure we all were at one point, but when you've got people, yeah, do you see the statistics on the, and how do you explain it? No, I haven't watched news for 20 years. I get what it is. I know who owns the news companies. I know why they put these narratives out, and anyway, independent, independent you media represent. Factual information, kind of, and it's in real time. It's there. New media is media of the people. New media is media that's presented by real people and not massive corporations that own everything and direct and narrate it. How much would you say, Danny? And I don't know how much you were into the substances. As anyone who's read my memoirs will know, I never had a problem with the dancing.  But it was when I got to Hong Kong and someone went, Oi, Chris, have you ever tried this crystal meth? That triggered my childhood trauma. We didn't trigger it. It was the key I thought in the lock and that's a dangerous thing. When you think you've found your potion and it makes you feel normal for the first time in your life. What now spirituality makes me realize I'm completely normal, right? But back then it was experimenting. But yeah, I just wondered how did you negotiate that as a DJ? Well, I never worked in that state. Kind of an altered state. There were a lot of recreation and I personally didn't think it was that harmful. It opened a lot of people's minds at that time as well and it created a wave of empathy and it brought a lot of people together. It really did deconstruct everything and people came together like they hadn't before. It was one tribe. It wasn't like all these different tribes It became one tribe, the whole dance movement and so much positivity came out of that time in the summers of love of 88 and 89. Youth culture changed dramatically and careers were born, businesses, babies lifelong relationships and friendships. There was so much positivity bringing people opportunity and bringing people together, the unity aspect of it the collective consciousness and I think what we see at rallies right now in my opinion because I was at the helm of all of that there is a very, very parallel collective consciousness of the human spirit that you get at these large rallies around the world the freedom rallies, the core collective consciousness the spirit of unity is very, very parallel but without the music and everything else that went on then very parallel in terms of on a conscious level and that is powerful when groups of people come together and that collective energy that creates a shift and it creates a change as it did back then within the electronic music and dance world and youth tribes and there was no ageism then either that ageism has crept back into society and all this kind of marginalised pigeonholed you're part of this and part of that and this one's rights and that one's rights that's all great, yeah but at that time everything became unified and that was a really incredible experience and I think this is where we're heading now with this whole shift that's going on and anybody who's been to a large rally will confirm that the energy is very, very, very, very positive and it gives people's morale a huge lift then they do not feel alone there are other people around them that are also a connected mindset and consciousness and it's a very positive experience we are all flying the flag of freedom and unity and human rights Yes, one thing that it would be good to mention here I'm really big on social influences I mean to control what I call it the agenda when you've got people on a remote Polynesian island and they're all wearing certain things on their face and diving in the bushes when the next-door neighbour walks past aka social distancing you know this isn't there's something more to this, right because it ain't just London and Boris Johnson is it this is global, right this is, I call it agenda and when I look back and it's not a new thing it's probably hundreds of years in the making this thing and when I see how music has been co-opted or infiltrated let's say to keep what I call people in their infant mind so to sever that connection from the universe and the way music does it is it's all like lovey-dovey, oh I'm no good I need you to be a human I miss you, oh you left me and it's all to lower your vibration and get you to think that you're a useless, worthless human being that needs someone else to and with the house music it was the polar opposite we are one tribe, we are one world we are perfect as we are you know, et cetera when I listen to those songs now and I love to do it when I go running down the age, you know just infinite possibility comes from those house music tracks absolutely and the frequency of the positivity that emanates from the melody and the lyrics of all of those early productions underpinned the change that was happening as well there was all different components to what actually happened then and they all merged together and then this whole movement was born and as I said I see parallels with what happened then happening now in a different form and it's to pick out these pertinent moments there's a word for it in spirituality it slipped my mind but let's not all forget folks those of us that experienced that here, we did it for a reason and it's all coming good now and it's put something in our hearts and our minds that other people can't take that away from us and it works to our advantage how was it then because I used to chuckle driving along in a car on a Saturday night you're off to the dance warehouse and on BBC would come your name is the name I remember the most when I think about BBC Radio Danny Ramplin I used to chuckle because they'd get these phonings people all driving back from the dance nights out the festivals we're going back to Kent and in my mind I'm just picturing people like yeah and yet the BBC obviously with their sanitised version of life skirted very much around the subject of substance use didn't they it literally like never they wanted to get in on the dance scene but they did it on their terms I just wondered if that was ever like an issue they did because when Acid House began and the rave scene they banned the shame they banned a couple of Acid records and said it was a kind of they sensationalised it but they did the same thing with punk it was kind of like punk records were banned off the playlist but what it did it just created more sensationalism for people to come and take part in it and like great what's this new music but then they kind of mellowed out into the early 90s and you know I'm glad they invited me on there but when I was invited on there initially I was kind of like I was quite taken back in the sense that I drove into Leicester one night to a gig and there's this massive billboard 30 feet by like 15 feet high with my face on it saying and they didn't tell me this was going to happen so it was placed on the motorway into Leicester I'm a dance music DJ not a chat show host they obviously lifted that caption from one of my interviews but I just thought man this is like really serious you know I've joined the station and now I'm not you know just on the radio broadcasting to London and the South East would kiss you know this is like speaking to the whole country looking back on it that was a marvellous experience but at the same time very daunting initially you know kind of that jump from just a city to all the cities around the UK and I love playing around the UK you know people say where's your favourite place in the world to play well I've played all over the world and you know I love Ibiza and I love America and Asia and Australia but yeah you know playing on home turf is always very close to my heart and I love it I've been to every city across the UK I've put you know as many moles in as Eddie Stobart's lorries over the years but I don't travel so much on the motorway by car these days I prefer to get the train and I'll stay in the city if it's Newcastle or something then get on the first train out in the morning at 8 o'clock or 8.30 and then get home and have a bit of Sunday I just love the UK and at that time when I was on radio one on Saturday night it was a soundtrack to people getting ready to go out on a Saturday night you know it really got people pumped up and in the party mood across the land and everyone and it was a great decade the 90s the 90s was a hedonistic free you know a decade of fun and parties and Britpop and music and compilations and mix albums and fashion and available credit and the economy was doing okay and people had disposable income it was it was just an incredible decade for everybody Did you ever play Hong Kong? I did the first time I played in Hong Kong it was in a karaoke club so there'd been more experience of Hong Kong there'd been some karaoke earlier on in the club and then the club turned into a nightclub and that was for Lee Burridge the DJ Lee Burridge he invited me to play in Hong Kong it was a wonderful experience I played Hong Kong a number of times over the years it's a city I love it's changed dramatically in recent years and it's got its problems there like everywhere in the world right now but I remember Lee came up to me in the Big Apple Club and we were chatting and this was before he became an international name and you want a beer Chris? was it Corona I think we used to drink you want to come back with a Corona and it's funny just to think that there's us chatting in his grungy nightclub in Hong Kong and now he's playing like Burning Man and all this sort of stuff yeah Lee's a great guy really really good guy but yeah so you was out there and he's kind of early days of his career yeah I would say when it all kicks off in Hong Kong I just remember how it all sort of happened I remember it was like mid 90s yeah Josh can I say there's a certain substance that's very easy to get hold of in Hong Kong and it's like bloody strong not what people are getting here and no folks we're not advocating any of this stuff I'm just telling you like my experiences and yeah some a lot of DJs fell foul of that kind of thing didn't they you can go for so long DJing and then you start to go downhill mentally I mean well I think it's like you know anything you know in life you know kind of something feels good and it becomes addictive then it becomes a problem and fortunately you know over the years I've always kept fit I've always you know kind of I eat healthy I cook my own food and I take care of myself and that's really important but you know some people can have like you know go down the pub and have two beers and go home I find that quite difficult I prefer like five or six beers but you know I don't like get up in the morning and have a beer for breakfast or you know a bottle of scotch but you know it affects anything any any chemical induced of you know escapism people can come very very addictive and it becomes destructive and that destructive behaviour is based in core issues of childhood and that's where the roots of addiction are and I think you know kind of some people have come through the whole music scene in particular you see it with rock bands everything and others have just like you know kind of wasted themselves and their careers and some people have lost their lives through addiction many people but yeah it's kind of yeah it's that decade of the 90s was it was a party decade you know and everybody was having the time of their lives it was a time of such freedom and fun and you know I'm glad that we were you know kind of all around during that decade and contributing to it you know it was so much I'd love to ask you first of all did you like the film it's all gone Pete Tom no I thought it was a bit I thought it was to be honest I didn't particularly like that film I prefer human traffic I think human traffic is the most realistic definitive account which is the spirit of those times a bloody brilliant film and train spotting as well but those other films I thought were I don't know I just they were kind of like comedy but I didn't really find it funny you know the Pete the all gone was all about the deaf guy wasn't it which I had like a topical issue an important issue because I'm half deaf but that's a firing an 84 millimetre in Brecken but nothing to do with like DJ right bad sound systems but yeah no I my favourite out of all of these films that have been produced is definitely human traffic you know which DJs did you get along well with I get along with all DJs you know we're all you know kind of we're all in the same industry but you know there aren't many DJs that you know kind of don't get along with as such you know this thing that's happened now I mean our industries you know kind of there's I don't know it's you know kind of people have gone along with it and that's their choice you know I'm very pro-choice but you know there's a you know I this morning I you know there was people that I've been friends with and I've come under a lot of flak for speaking my mind and standing in my truth as we all do and the amount of like insults and abuse I you know I I could shrug it off generally because I rise above it but this morning it kind of affected me and I just thought you know it's just low you know you know I just delete that crap but you know it does affect you sometimes you think what's going through your mind to actually start insulting someone who's actually been a friend and you've drank with and you've played in the same booth with it's just like it's like come on you know what are you trying to achieve you're making yourself look bloody stupid because we have a difference of opinions and a viewpoint you've got to resort to insults and abuse you know there's no I don't take kindly to that it's like go away you know don't don't come on here don't come into my house and insult me because you'll be showing the door straight away and that's what I do I just block these people and move on yeah I do get it I can see there's certain individuals on the DJ scene are just going right along with it to make their lives to make their lives easier and maybe it's naivety as well and I get it Danny I get it can you give us any names then of some good time I mean I met Brandon Hong Kong and Alex which was quite yeah we're still yeah we're still friends to this day and yeah good yeah they're great guys they're all great guys you know we all get along you know we you know playing on the same gigs together and stuff and you know catch up and have a bit of a laugh like you know kind of you do with your you know a lot of your military buddies and stuff you know it's you know well you know we're all doing the same thing and bringing pleasure to people in the like the DJ arena and having a great time you know at the same time playing music and sharing music and getting that vibe going and that's you know it's very it's very addictive and it's a wonderful connection to have with the audience and that rapport you know it's a massive natural high it's just you know kind of and every gig is different you know I always strive to be better than my last gig and if I've had might get your it happens seldom happens you might get the odd gig that might be played with a few difficulties or technical difficulties or sometimes you know the vibe might not be right but then you know the next time you step out you know it's just that's gone it's done you know it's not to be repeated there's been one world crop up that's life you know you could have like piece of equipment go down or something or you know kind of people not in the you know kind of like the right space but I I endeavour to get them in that space that's what I do I'm you know I'm a shaman I'm a musical shaman you know I bring the energy as we all do we bring the energy to the room and we lift that energy have you ever when you've been mixing between two tracks have you ever really screwed it up does that happen of course we all have and that's how you learn but you know in the early days you know I wasn't like you know kind of the you know kind of immediate like kind of you know master mix that takes time to refine the graph it's different levels of ability with rhythm but you know when I had had clunky mixes just chopped straight out of them you know it's like and you know what it's a split second but you don't stay in the trouble you get out of it a quick get out you know everything's smashing about in out that's that's always been my my you know exit point out that it can happen you know particularly in the vinyl days you know you know things can go turntable can wander a man you're in the territory of clustering sounds as much as you're trying to get that mix back I would just like cut out of it it's gone you know it's kind of rather than like you know kind of thinking a bit and you know kind of it's the same when you know equipment goes down and stuff you know kind of on the back in the vinyl days I'd like you know kind of when CDs were first introduced you know kind of like I push the stop occasionally I'd hit the stop button on the one that was playing it's like oh shit what's happened here you know and everyone has done that every single DJ has done it and every single DJ has experienced you know a mix that's how you know particularly when you're starting out that's how you learn if I hit the stop button I'd go right it's a two-minute silence for Bob people jeering boo people going home yeah it's you know kind of it's it's all experience isn't it and you know kind of my first experience was in Spain and it was the first ever DJ gig that I was I thought I'd made it got this job in a club I lasted a couple of hours because there was a power cut and back then in the 80s there was you know kind of Spain was power cuts in you know 70s and 80s were commonplace anyway the power went down and the owner of the club he said hey just get on the mic and tell jokes and I'm bloody hopeless at telling jokes because I can never remember them and I said well I can't tell any jokes said well how about a wet t-shirt contest just come on interact with the audience and I wasn't very I wasn't very confident on the mic at all and I said I'm sorry I'm here I'm just here to play the music they said oh my friend then you have to go then so that was the end of my residency in Spain and I just I you know kind of I was so in experience but hey you know you I didn't give up I went back and then you know kind of not in that club but I wasn't welcome back there because I wasn't a comedian and I wasn't very Mike proficient so I was very like a newbie you know it's just starting out but you know you have your setbacks in anything life and just keep going don't you if you're determined you get back up and you dust yourself down and you keep going Sean did you ever meet the beachy Bernie chance no I didn't meet him actually yes a very sad story isn't it I met his road manager once in Holland on an event I was playing at he was on an event there also I didn't meet him in person no I just have all those people in history you'd like to see he would just be one of them I listen to his tracks quite a lot when I go running yeah he was a very talented producer and DJ and you know massive massive star and the pressure and fame of his touring and everything and alcoholism and it got to him and yeah it's tragic story but you know God bless his soul really tragic story and that's that's the tale of the excesses of both work life and alcohol and uppers and downers you know a pill to get to sleep and a pill to wake you up you know he got into that kind of prescriptive medication and stuff and you know being in demand across the world it's it was too much for the I think when you say when you sign his big music contract they want their pound of flesh out you don't they and they just exploited him they did unfortunately yeah absolutely tragic but that's you know the tragedy of some of the artists in music you know kind of cannot cope with it and just a really sad story so yeah so Danny we're going to finish on a positive but to go to the negative first what's been your worst moment DJ you can give a few examples if some come to mind worst moment well I remember I played in Jersey one night and again it was like a power issue and I played I played three minutes of one record in Jersey you know kind of can't just like get on another plane and go home at midnight and within three minutes the tragedy had gone down in the venue and I thought well it'll come back on they didn't come back on so the gig was ruined but I mean there's been plenty of things you know kind of missed flights and you know kind of I remember I went to Poland once and what happened in Poland there was this problem with the sound system in this coastal town I think it was there was that first there was a sound issue that they were trying to rectify and then this storm came in and that gig didn't happen and the same in Acapulco there was an electric storm that happened there and it was torrential rain and turned up in Mexico it was the first time that I was playing in Mexico and this rain just came down on the storm and I played but it was very very difficult and challenging because the rain had kept everyone out off the festival site apart from the diehards and it rained everyone off just playing under this tarpaulin and the water was coming through so it was a pretty precarious situation but I mean they're kind of few and far between really Did you see the cliff divers in Acapulco? No I didn't I was only there for like I think one night so I didn't get to see that either amazing Have you done that? Yes I saw the Elvis when Elvis died it was the summer of 77 they played his movies all summer holidays and one of them was going local in Acapulco or Elvis in Acapulco whatever it was called and it was for a friends at home if you haven't seen it Elvis goes to Acapulco and he ends up doing the infamous dive of Las Coloblada I think the cliff is called of the big cliff that the locals do fearlessly and it's 42 meters high so to give anyone an idea that's the height that most people jump to can I say commit suicide these guys do it part of the show and when I got I'm one of these people Danny I always put stuff on a bank burner in my mind I'll never say never like if I get the chance I'm going to do it right when I rocked up in Acapulco travelling the world first place after I left Mexico City the first place I wanted to go to was the cliff so Acapulco to see the cliff and I wandered down to the cliff out it's like a hotel complex and I saw the changing room for these guys and it's got Las Clavadistas the divers on the thing with a star or something I thought oh my god I can go in the changing room and I went in and literally it was pretty bleak in there it was just some dumbbells on the floor for them to walk that was it maybe a peg to hold your coat and I was mopping out and I said hola hola come on down and in my fractured Spanish so where are these cliff diving I'm Salvador I'm a cliff diver I'm like a child in a sweet shop by this state this is what I love about life I love these things about life I saw this Elvis movie I'm there talking to him and he said do you want to go and swim I thought he meant in the hotel swimming pool so I'm like see bueno so we walked out and rather than go right to the hotel he starts walking down to the cliff and next thing I know he's stripping his shirt off so I'm like I'm following suit he's still on this parapet and even to get into the lagoon it's like a five or six meter dive and off he went so I went after him and the whole thing about where the whole thing about the dive that makes it so infamous is that you have to wait for the wave to come in otherwise it's not deep enough that's right so we dived in and then you suddenly realise well is huge it's taking you 20 meters this way then it's swooshing you back again and so I just started to make for the actual cliff and historically these guys always climb the cliff it's just what they do you can go around the top way but these guys always climb the 42 meters so I climbed up and this guy Salvador was like oh you know he thinks the tourist is going to hurt himself and I was like it's okay I climbed to I don't know maybe 10 meters and I turned and I did a swallow dive and to say dream come true dream come true Danny yeah it was the experience of that brilliant something that we should all do live your dreams one life that's it well that's the thing just talking about personal development I'm very connected with a life remix Mark Wilkinson's personal development life coaching company and Mark's been great support through my own difficulties through going from a full diary no diary last year so I wrote the forward to Mark's book and I'm part of his life coaching company and I've trained to do a couple of other things through Mark's help life remix that's a really good book and you know if you're going through career changes or manner of life changes which I think a huge percentage of people are and Mark's experiences to read at this time you know he's a very very positive guy he's been a DJ internationally he's been a friend for many years so I really recommend life remix coaching personal development coaching yes and I would too because I signed up for his course my philosophy is you can never learn enough in life exactly and the other thing as well is it's good to be accountable so if you say you're going to whatever it is not the booze on it you've got someone going how are you getting on and you can chat about it you know but to be it's the accountable thing so accountability very important I've been able to put stuff in my career in place I've just procrastinated about for years I'm saying once you're accountable you do it in a week yeah Mark was on the show so I'll put a link that's just reminding me I must watch that interview Chris yeah the only trouble when you when you chat with Mark he's always trying to borrow a tenor off you and you've got to watch it in the tenor bucket watch your checkbook as well I've got one of those at the moment but I've gone out of circulation but what was I going to say yeah I'm playing down your neck of the woods actually in Plymouth oh yes on New Year's Day whereabouts tell us and let's promote it have a look let's have a look so my next gigs are at Ministry of Sound Classical that's with the London Orchestra at Delaware Pavilion on November the 26th Friday November the 26th I'll be playing a set there and introducing the orchestra that's going to be a good gig pretty epic spectacular gig and then I'm playing on Saturday the 27th with Tallpaw and Seb Fontaine in Maidstone Kent and then in December the fourth I'm playing at Crop Work Orange at Fabric in London that's a big old day thing and then the 12th I believe it is we present in Leicester with DJ Alfredo from Ibiza and then New Year's Day in Plymouth let's just get the club details I loved the way that doesn't roll off your tongue Plymouth we're up there with Paris in New York mate well I haven't played Plymouth for quite some time but yeah I've spent a couple of days down there so we'll we'll meet up definitely do you know the venue I'm trying to find it here on this feed just bear with me ah right got it where is it right New Year's Day 1pm till late 1pm right okay so it's a an all day probably 1pm till midnight thing with uh Ridney it's at the Treasury is it the Treasury yes Catherine Street Plymouth that's New Year's Day looking forward to that brilliant I'll try and wander down and see you in there well you've got UK Column down in Plymouth which is a great news channel as well just in Plymouth aren't they yes their name's been coming up a lot recently no surprise yeah I'm sure great media company New Media should I say New Independent Media Company well I've been going a few years but they've really taken centre stage in the last couple of years haven't they yes they see their backdrop it's Plymouth where Sir Francis Drake famously refused to not finish his game of bowls before sailing out to frazzle the Spanish Armada yeah brilliant yes so last Danny I tell you what do just send me all that in a little paragraph and I'll put it below our video so everyone can just save me having to you know do an internet search for it all so last question then is Bessmo got any particular highlight that stands out in your there's thousands of them but I think playing at George Michael's 30th birthday party in a film studio in West London was a high point that was great playing in Cape Town on the race course in Cape Town on the Millennium Eve radio one did the broadcast all around the world and I was dispatched to Cape Town which is a place I love and that was a great gig there was 35,000 people on this open air or this big open air event and that was a magnificent evening that really was and all the nights in Ibiza all the shum events in the 88-89 all the recent shum events that I've put together but in terms of promoting my own events at the moment with the shum brand I've just put that on hold for the time being until things level out a bit you know yeah George Michael was a nice guy wasn't he yeah he really was so down to earth and he just got a fricking hammering in by the mainstream media didn't he he did yeah unfortunately like a lot of pop stars but he was a very charming down to earth guy and you know kind of had a chat with him and met him and you know totally down to earth no pretenses just yeah had a dance to the music wasn't the greatest dancer though if I remember great singer but he's dancing skills were you know kind of without the choreography but then I was playing house music and that was very early on I think it was 88 that party 88-89 but he had a good dance and so to finish off what's your favourite dance track or house oh plumbing hell okay off the top of my head Frankie Knuckles your love brilliant yeah yes I'm going to chip in I'm really bad at remembering names there's probably about 20 tracks that equally are just beautiful in my yeah I do like where love is it where love lives Alice and Limerick again Frankie Knuckles and David Morales timeless classic production yes brilliant happy music uplifting positive music yes what we need and what we can all learn from you can check out my radio shows on MixCloud under my page on MixCloud Danny Rampling MixCloud there's the love group dance party shows there and the weekly Saturday show on between seven and nine on falseradio.net all uplifting house sounds we'll put all the links below the video folks so Danny stay on the line just so I can thank you properly and ask you if I can borrow a tenner but much love to you mate thank you so much for coming on the show next time someone asked you what the highlight your career you can say being on Chris Rawls bought the t-shirt podcast absolutely Chris yeah obviously to our friends at home big love to you all thanks for tuning in I hope you love this chat as much as I have if you can like subscribe or maybe don't like and don't subscribe it's this is what freedom is all about and we'll see you next time yeah pleasure