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My first appearance was Subways Hiltrup Munster in 1992, I appeared occasionally until the club closed in early 1993, later in the year I made my debut for the Cosmic Club Munster at the Cosmic Rave and thereafter became a resident DJ for the Cosmic Club playing House/Trance/Techno on the Club nights and Break beats/Drum n Bass at the Raves…. For example, Mystic Land 1, 2, 3 etc.
Whilst working for the Cosmic Club I was presented with other opportunities, for example, Cosmic Club Tour of Germany and I was to become the official DJ for Numark Germany making appearances for them at the Frankfurt Music Mess and Love Parade Berlin 1996, from there my Debut for Evo Sonic in 1997 playing Drum n Bass.
In 1998 I saw another opportunity to appear at the Berlin Love Parade in front of 1.8 million revellers this time as part of the ‘Elevator/Cosmic Club float, I also made my debut appearance for BFBS Radio Germany producing ‘Anthems in the Mix’, finishing in 2001. I returned to the UK in 2002 to study music production and teach DJ skills at Northampton College, 2005 set up my own recording studio, April 2019 saw the return to Evo Sonic producing The DnB Dimension and return to teaching Music Production and Music Technology in Further Education”
Mike’s foray into the Dance Music Industry began in the early 90s, as his father’s job entailed moving around, he ended up in Germany, Bielefeld to be exact, where he would whet his appetite for the German nightclub experience, however, it wasn’t until his father was relocated to a small town called Dülmen on the outskirts of the city of Münster that things really started to get interesting.
He regularly attended a small night spot called ‘Subways,’ a disused train station, situated in the suburban district of Hiltrup, close to the city of Münster. This nightclub was to become legendary and was instrumental in his progression into the German Rave scene.
This small and intermate venue with a capacity of around 200/300 was to become absolutely legendary in the History of Dance Music in Munster, he was introduced to the promoters of the events in this venue by a mutual friend, the cliental was a mixture of local German youth and British dependants from the local Military Bases, there was a fantastic atmosphere in the club and when it went off in this venue it seriously went off!
The promoters Robert Lauterwein and Gregor Engberding (who later went on to start what is now the global brand Reloop) were absolutely pivotal in the progression of Mike’s career as a DJ.
He began by playing a few warm-up sets for the club nights, these consisted of OldSkool Rave and Hardcore catering for the large British contingent in the crowds, making for quite an interesting atmosphere.
Sadly, all good things come to an end and after 18 months the club closed down, Bobby and Gregor relocated to central Münster for their next club venture, ‘The Cosmic Club’ was born. This venue was to become, although no one knew it at the time, Germany’s second-biggest club, second only to the mighty Tresor located in Berlin. The capacity for this venue was around 1200 however there were many locations within this venue that could be turned into a dance floor and an outside area that transformed into a huge arena, this would take the capacity well over the 5000 mark into the realms of up to 7500. The ‘Cosmic Club was situated in the industrial heartland of Münster, an area known as Hawerkamp, (pronounced Havercamp).
Mike was offered a residency in early 95 and his first big Rave experience came in the form of Cosmic Rave 3 with a line-up that included ‘Westbam’ and ‘Tanith’ and an attendance of around 2000 revellers. After the success of this appearance, he (DJ Prime) was also offered a bi-monthly residency in the House floor of the Cosmic Club, he was playing House on club nights and Breaks/Rave/Jungle and emerging Drum and Bass sounds at the Raves promoted by the duo Bobby and Gregs.
Sadly, all good things come to an end and after 18 months the club closed down, Bobby and Gregor relocated to central Münster for their next club venture, ‘The Cosmic Club’ was born. This venue was to become, although no one knew it at the time, Germany’s second-biggest club, second only to the mighty Tresor located in Berlin. The capacity for this venue was around 1200 however there were many locations within this venue that could be turned into a dance floor and an outside area that transformed into a huge arena, this would take the capacity well over the 5000 mark into the realms of up to 7500. The ‘Cosmic Club was situated in the industrial heartland of Münster, an area known as Hawerkamp, (pronounced Havercamp).
Following the success of Comic Rave 3 Bobby and Gregs launched the Mystic Land Raves the first of which took place on 20/5/95, with a line up that included ‘Marusha’ ‘DJ Dick’ Miss Djax of Djax Up Beats, Holland, Pierre Morgan and Roland Casper to name but a few.
Mike appeared at the first 5 Mystic Lands, appearing alongside some of Germany’s leading names in the Dance Music scene including ‘DJ Misjah’, ‘Jens Mahlstedt’, ‘Pascal F.E.O.S’ Thomas Schumacher’, Mario De Bellis’, ‘Mark Spoon’ and UK acts such as ‘Q-Tex’, ‘Carl Cox’, and international acts such as Japans ‘Takkyu Ishino’.
The Cosmic Club also embarked on a tour of Germany’s leading night clubs, this included all the resident club DJ’s, together with guest DJ’s ‘Steve Mason/B.F.B.S’, ‘DJ Misjah/X-Trax’ and ’Westbam,’ the tour visited 12 clubs throughout Germany. The venues visited were some of the country’s top night spots and regularly featured huge names from the Dance Music scene.
For example:
Hanover ‘Tori,’München ‘Reaktor,’ Dortmund ‘Orpheum,’ Dusseldorf ‘Poison Club,’ Bielefeld ‘Subway,’ Köln ‘Warehouse,’ Pirna ‘Musikfabrik,’ Berlin ‘WM66,’ Worbis-‘Glashaus,’ Hamburg ‘Tunnel,’ Neuss Tribehouse.
In 1997 he was first approached by Evosonic Radio situated in Köln on the banks of the river Rhine, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, the first Radio station dedicated to Electronic Dance Music broadcasting 24/7, he appeared once a month and whet his broadcasting appetite. This was the start of things to come! Whilst a resident at the Cosmic Club other opportunities presented themselves, including international bookings to Switzerland. Bobby and Gregs opened their Elevator DJ store selling vinyl and a few turntables, this was to give Mike an opportunity to embark on a foray into the retail sector, working Fridays and Saturdays in the store in the centre of Münster.
Through his work at the shop, he helped Bobby and Gregs set up a small UK vinyl distribution operation with his suppliers of vinyl from London ‘Vinyl Mania’this introduced the Breakbeat and Jungle sounds of London to the record-buying community. It was at this point he was introduced to Jack O’Donnell CEO of Numark whilst working for Elevator DJ Equipment, this led him to become the official DJ for Numark Germany, meaning he would exhibit and test DJ equipment manufactured by Numark and would appear at DJ equipment exhibitions throughout Germany, including Frankfurt Musik Messe in 96 and 97.
He also appeared at the ‘Love Parade’ in Berlin in 1996 as an artist representing Numark, the following year 97 he appeared at the ‘Love Parade’ on the Elevator Distribution wagon the crowds were unbelievable, estimated range from 1.2-1.8 million revellers respectively. The opportunity of featuring as an artist in the Elevator DJ School video arose whilst working in the shop, the video was an introduction to mixing and scratching and was produced by Bobby and Gregs for sale within their shop, 500 copies were produced and sold nationally, he also featured as an interview partner for Elevators catalogue as the shop grew into Germany’s leading DJ Equipment Distributor, dominating the supply chain throughout the 90’s.
Sadly the Club closed down in 98 and was no more, although Bobby and Gregs really enjoyed the club, the Dance scene was in decline and another venue could not be found so the guys concentrated on starting their own brand of DJ equipment. This, as mentioned earlier, was to become the global brand ‘Reloop’, this was to signal the end of his time with the Cosmic Club Crew, they parted ways in late 1998 as he still had a burning desire to pursue a career in Music, so wishing the guys all the best he applied to B.F.B.S Radio in Herford Germany, he was employed on a freelance basis and given the responsibility for ‘Anthems in the Mix’ a small 30 min mix featured in the ‘Drive Time’ show hosted by Jason King, this was a global production although primarily was broadcast to serving personnel within the areas of Germany, Holland and Belgium.
Whilst freelancing for B.F.B.S. the opportunity to co-produce and co-present a show entitled ‘The Millenium Countdown’ with Jason King arose, the production, a 2-hour Dance Music show was to be broadcast around the world on New Year’s Eve 1999. This was Mike’s first experience of presenting and producing, laying the groundwork for a permanent offer of work with the station, Sadly though, this was not to be, with the drawdown of British troops in Germany and the arrival of a new station manager, his time at the station was over.
He returned to the UK in early 2002 attending university to study Music Production.
On arrival, he was recruited by the College where he studied as a lecturer.
He was a student and a lecturer at the same time which led to some interesting situations in the staff room.
The subjects and courses that he lectured on are as follows:
• Teaching Music Technology and Sound Production courses ranging from BTEC 1st to National Award.
• Subjects: DJ Skills, Analogue Synthesis,
Computer Music Production,
Sampling,
Promotion & Marketing,
Events Management,
Health & Safety,
History of Broadcasting and Business English.
Although challenging at times, he studied and taught at Northampton College for just over 18 months, when he left to set up his own recording studio and tuition services, he was also involved with the local schools where he offered advice to all the educational institutions within his local area, this resulted in him helping his local Secondary School Magdalen College setting up and running its own internet radio station via Radio Waves. After returning to university in 2018 to complete his degree in Popular Music he achieved his goal of gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Popular Music with Honours.
After completing his education, he was surfing the net when he came across the website for Evosonic Radio, they were still going strong, and after a few emails and catching up with old friends he was offered the opportunity to produce a show for the station, and so ‘The DnB Dimension’ with DJ K-Lyde was born, the show first aired on a Wednesday night at 8 pm GMT
in April of 2019 and is still going strong, cementing a place on the Evosonic roster and acquiring a Global fanbase. He is now in the process of setting up his own Record Label and Website ‘Dark Trooper Recordings’.
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