Tom Stephan on Muscle Marys and Roaches in his new London Club

4 months after Tom Stephan last chatted to Skrufff, he met up with Angie Ng in Malaysia as he flew into Kuala Lumpur (KL) as part of a South East Asia tour. Hailed back then as a protege and star in the making he's gone on to front covers of Ministry Magazine and others and even had a genre named after him, the unlikely to stick label Turbo house (after his remix alias Superchumbo). As an American gay man who's carved his career through years of spinning in the UK, it's been a rollercoaster ride that continues getting faster.


Skrufff (Angie Ng): In the last 4 months, you've appeared in loads of magazines hailed as the next superstar DJ, one even calling you a Future House God ("I like that one," he laughs) how much has your life changed-

Tom Stephan: Quite a lot. It's very strange because I don't feel like I've done anything different, it's just that suddenly people appreciate what I'm doing. This year has been amazing, like a fairy tale. Firstly with my single The Revolution taking off and then just crazy things happening that you could never plan for. Like the Missy Elliot record, for example. That was a remix I did just for myself to play in my own DJ sets. Three weeks after making it, Danny Tenaglia starts playing it and 4 weeks later Missy Elliot's record company is on the phone wanting to put it out. I'm just very grateful for it being such a good year."

Skrufff: Danny Tenaglia's someone you're often linked with, how much has he helped-

Tom Stephan: "Quite a bit really because it was his support of The Revolution which really gave the record a kick-start. I had actually already given it to several different record companies in the UK, who had all already turned it down. I actually thought it was over because I made the track in October and nothing had happened by December. Then it was just around Christmas time that I got an e-mail from Danny saying "I found this CD that you sent me, I never listened to it before but now I'm playing it and it's going down really well at Vinyl". Then a few months later it was the conference (Miami Winter Music Conference) and he really pushed it there. That was the spark that set the whole thing on fire."

Skrufff: Did he ever give you any advice on how to cope with this new level of success-

Tom Stephan: No, he didn't tell me how to do that, the only thing that he said to me once was possibly was the best advice I've ever had. I was gonna' play with him at Vinyl for the first time and I called him up and asked "is there any record that you don't want me to play or could you tell what style I should play-' because I was really nervous. And he said "You know what- Just have fun. Bring some records and play and just have fun; we're having a party. Stop worrying and just have fun because all of what you're feeling comes across in your music. Relax and have a good time and everyone else will".

And I though 'Yeah, that really makes a lot of sense' so I try to keep that in mind when I'm walking up to a DJ booth and there are thousands of people in front of me and I'm thinking "Oh my God" (palm covering eyes)".

Skrufff: You've made your mark in the UK more than the US so far, how much difference has it made to your career being an American based in London-

Tom Stephan: I think in some ways it makes me more of a novelty because I'm not actually from London. So at clubs, people are more interested because they can put 'Tom from the US' on flyers and then of course when I go back to the US; they'll put 'Tom from The UK.'"

Skrufff: Do the Brits take US DJs more seriously-

Tom Stephan: I think they used to but maybe not so much now because a lot of British DJs were very influenced by some of the big US DJs whereas now I think they've taken over; they've learnt their lessons. A few years ago, most of the records I bought were from the US and now that's no longer true. A lot of that music is being made in the UK and in fact everything has swapped over. Paul Oake Tags

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