David Morales: I've lived a Very Selfish Life

"I'm sorry to say I was very selfish; I never let anything come between me and my career. I'm not saying it proudly, but I've lived a very selfish life, particularly when it's comes to me and my kids. "

17 years after New York house legend David Morales first became a father he admits he's started mellowing after carving himself a niche as one of the world's most popular DJs.

"I'm 42 so you start to be more aware, conscious of things, because obviously as you get older and you start to think about your life that has gone by you and how much more life you have left to do what you want to do, what you need to do," says David.

"I used to complain and go crazy whereas nowadays I'm trying not to complain," he continues. I'm being paid well and not everybody gets their money the way I get it. Not everybody is as spoilt as I am."

He's also the first to admit he's been lucky though more in his choice of friends than anything else.

"Definitely it helps to know people, without a doubt, I never would have played at the Paradise Garage if it wasn't for Judy Weinstein," he recalls.

"Somebody asked her if she could find a new dj, somebody nobody knows , who do you recommend - She said "Try this kid out.' Though for me it's really been about work.

"My breaks came because I worked for my breaks," he continues.

"I always say one thing and I say this to everybody - Your work gets you work. Somebody can open a door for you but it's what you do at that moment that matters. Are you going to advance or are you going to fall flat in your face-"

Responsible, grounded and clearly self aware, he's also happy to talk about his own far from ideal background as a teenage gangsta growing up in Brooklyn.

"I got shot when I was 15, when I went through my gang busting stuff," he admits.

"It happened in Brooklyn, it was supposed to be a fight, but the fight ended up being a one-way thing. It didn't stop me doing anything though, and didn't make me question anything. I was too young to even let it affect me. At that time I just wanted to get even with the guy that did it."

Whether he got revenge though, he's less willing to discuss.

"I'll plead the fifth on that one, though it's certainly music that made me escape from everything that I was doing. The shooting was part of my teenage life; my gangster style life at that time. I dropped out of school, because I hated my school because it was basically a school for people that no-one wanted. I had originally applied for a school, and I took an exam for a school that had a great sports curriculum because I wanted to play professional baseball. The board of education screwed up on my papers, my file so I had to go to my local zone high school which was the problem. It was downhill from there. "

He's also sympathetic with the issues facing his own 17 year old son (he has another aged 10).

"He's pretty sensible, but you know 17 year is a 17 year old. When you have a 17 tear old whose father is a celebrity figure, when you show them a kind of lifestyle sometimes he can get a little selfish and spoilt and get carried away a bit sometimes. He's a good kid, he's very headstrong, it's a pain in my arse but it's because he's my son. "

Family talk aside though, his primary concern today is discussing his new artist album 2 Worlds Collide, just his second ever artist album. A ten track collection based around the soulful funky house he's best known for, the record is out now on his own label DMI Records.


Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Two artist albums in ten years isn't exactly prolific, why did you wait so long before doing another-

David Morales: "I overdosed on the whole studio bit, so I decided to go on the road, like many of my other peers were doing at the time. I'd been staying in the studio and everybody else was traveling and once I got a taste for traveling I just kept getting busier and busier and I had no urge to be in the studio. I didn't want to do mi Tags

• David Morales