We caught up with the disco deviant to find out more.

How did you first get into DJing?
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a star called ‘disco ball neon’ super-nova’d, spewing out electro dancefloor vibes all across the solar system. No planet or living creature was spared the harmful radioactive good time rays. A comet called Popcox smashed through the atmosphere of a tranquil planet called Earth…

Okay, so that wasn’t quite how it happened. It certainly beats, “Well I started as a spotty teenager playing in an old mans pub when I was 17, then ran my own parties, then travelled the UK and internationally as a DJ duo, then re-invented myself as Popcox back in May 2008”.

You be the judge I guess, I prefer the first one.

What was that first set like?
Funny. When I first started, I used to play proper underground disco, funk, soul and motown - very Horse Meat Disco style. I’d practically begged for a set and - quite literally - played for peanuts - and beer (lots and lots of beer). I invited all my friends and we had a riotous party with heaps of people coming in off the street to see what the fuss was about and join in the fun. The landlord’s bar take was so significantly up he instantly offered me a residency, I told him “I’ll let you know” and walked out head held high, guess I was a princess even back then!

So how would you describe your DJ style?
Nu-disco, electroboogie, techtro house chaos! I’ve got a fair bit of experience and a wide range of music I’m into. I go to every single gig with my eyes open and play to the crowd – I make people whoop and dance their pretty asses off, whether its 10 people in a house party or 1,000 in a club.

I tend to get really excited to and bounce around the booth like a nut-job. Very un-ladylike.

Does modern music owe a debt to gay culture?
Absobloodelutely! Every discerning gay person should know about the history of the Stonewall Riots in the US. The soundtrack to that whole era of gay pride was predominantly disco music purveyed by the likes of Larry Levan who was openly gay and popular because of his ‘diva persona’. I love disco music, its energy, rebellious nature, culture and history. Disco had a massive influence on the development of house music too of course.

"Every discerning gay person should know about the history of the Stonewall Riots. The soundtrack to that era of gay pride was predominantly disco."

So, is the gay scene a good place to experiment with music?
I’ve promoted a fair few parties in my time and we always had a rule of thumb that we needed at least 10% of the crowd to be gay for it to be a success. Gay people seem to have more fun on the whole.

I’ve had a residency at Ghetto and it’s always refreshing to see how people come in and head straight for the floor to bug out. There are more smiles and yes, I think the gay scene is keener to have their envelope pushed and hear some new music put together differently.

What do you think of the state of dance music on the gay scene at the moment?
I’m bound to upset a few people here but to be honest, a fair bit of it is shit. Same as the straight club scene mind you. The barriers to entry have come down and there are more DJs desperate to play because DJing became so cool – it’s not really, it’s still a geek’s game that’s developed celebrity status.

Superstar DJs will always get the bookings because they pull big crowds. Too often promoters gorge themselves on filling the rest of the bill with crew DJs who bring a few mates and play for free and who really aren’t that good. I’m not having a bitch, change is good and new faces are always welcome it’s just a shame that it’s creating a bottle neck for mid-tier and breakthrough DJs with real talent.

You've played all over the place both in the UK and beyond, what have been some of the most memorable nights?
As I’ve mentioned the Popcox project is me in a new guise and only launched in May of this year. I’ve had a long and pretty successful career previous to that (I’ll keep you guessing under what name as I’m not publicising it until Popcox judged on her own merit after my first few releases).

I love the International gigs, I’m quite childish about travelling and still get excited about flying off somewhere I’ve never been to play great music. Canada was simply awesome, geographically the furthest away from London I’ve ever played, but they are so in touch with their music out there and the friendliest race you could ever meet. Plus, they're hedonistic party animals! I’ve had a really, really wild trip to France, I’m surprised I made it back in one piece, Ibiza is always full of surprises and a recent trip Hamburg was ace fun.

"I love disco music, its energy, rebellious nature, culture and history. Disco had a massive influence on the development of house music too of course."

Ever had a disaster?
Just 'a' disaster?! Loads over the years! The DJ monitor speakers have blown up, my headphones have exploded mid-mix – numerous times, my hair got caught, then eaten by a big electric fan, I’ve been showered in broken glass when a woman threw her drink at a bouncer at a venue in Camden and I had an over-eager ‘booth whore’ spill an entire pint over one of the record decks, which instantly packed up. I had 8 minutes to take the deck to bits dry it out and get it working again – I did it though!

This was all in the past of course - I’m ever the professional nowadays! Jokes apart, there’s loads of stuff that can go wrong that’s totally out of your control, disasters are part of the fun I guess.

What's the worst DJ cliché in the world?
“It’s not as good as it was back in the day . . .” Fuck. Off. Of course it’s as good, if not infinitely better than it was ‘back in the day’.

Memories belong to those who have experienced them. It is theirs and it’s personal and rightly cherished. Respect others but never be patronised by someone older and more experienced than you; live for the present, look to the future and embrace technology and change.

Where can people here you playing out at the moment?
I’ve got my residency at Helsinki in Leicester this Saturday 13 of December for a big Chrimbo ho-down. Can’t wait, I love that place, its my second clubbing home to London now and staff and the crowd are just so lovely and boy do they know how to party! It’s run by a gay guy called Nick Broderick who’s crowd is gay/mixed and it’s a great venue with an awesome vibe, anyone reading this should come down on Saturday for sure – its worth the trip up from London.

I’m also headlining ‘A Fairytale Most Grimm’ Pushca New Year’s Eve extravaganza and absolutely can’t wait.

Other than that I’m in the studio for the rest of the year then off to Mimo in Reading on 24 January and a then a two-date tour of West Canada (Victoria and Vancouver) sometime between January and March 2009, can’t wait, I love Canada and Canadians, they really get their music out there too.

"I’ve promoted a fair few parties in my time and we always had a rule of thumb that we needed at least 10% of the crowd to be gay for it to be a success. Gay people seem to have more fun on the whole"

Where do you go clubbing when you're not behind the decks?
I went to see The Bays live with the Heritage Orchestra at The Festival Hall one Saturday late in November. Seeing 22 musicians improvising every note from start to finish is a truly humbling experience!

Playtime, run by my close friend Big Daddy (he’s a gayer) is a favourite night too, had heaps of fun playing at the last one at Bar Rhumba with a wild after party at mine.

I enjoy Horse Meat Disco of course and I‘m looking forward to trying to make it down to my friend’s night Moustache Mamma’s on Friday.

Is DJing really as good as they say when it comes to picking up the guys and girls?
Yup. I’ve had a girl with no kickers on flash me (rear view), then later flash me again (front view) which was nearly enough to put me off my mix. I’ve had a few snogs in the DJ booth over the years and one incident where I lost my T-shirt a few years ago.

Popcox in particular seems to attract boys and girls, straight and gay, especially some rather creepy guys young and old who are total sleazebags. I was joking with a girlfriend about it and reading her some of the less romantic online approaches I got and after a good giggle we decided I should call my group on Facebook ‘Popcoxpervycockinfanclub’.

I went and set it up with that title as a joke not realising you can’t change the group title. I complained to Facebook to take it down and they ignored me so its there forever! Seems pretty popular so it’s remained my Facebook home.

And finally, if people wanted to say 'hi' to you during a set, what would be the best opening gambit to elicit a smile?!
I’ll leave the witticisms to the readers of this feature. And anyway, you’ll be dancing too hard to have time for chit chat! I headlined Egg earlier this year and at one point I heard the whole dancefloor chanting ‘Popcox’ – that was brilliant!

Find out more at www.popcox.com and www.myspace.com/popcox.

You can catch Popcox at Helsinki in Leicester this Saturday, 13 of December 2008 and at ‘A Fairytale Most Grimm’, Pushca New Year’s Eve extravaganza.