Andrew (real name!) commenced life as a DJ in the same month he left school, July 1975. For six years he worked as a mobile DJ for the Derek James Agency, which at that time also had Radio One DJ, Noel Edmonds, on their books. He did the normal run of birthday parties, wedding receptions and similar events, but soon built up a reputation for the more sophisticated functions such as Hunt Balls and Society Events and was much sought after within a 50 or 60 mile radius of his home town of Frome. His greatest thrill was to be asked during that time to perform for The Two Ronnie’s at an end of filming party in Shaftesbury.
In 1981 Andrew changed track and entered the world of nightclubs when he became the first DJ to appear at a brand new club within the grounds of Longleat Estate called Oscars. He went on to work there for a period of ten years. During that time he regularly worked with the well known Radio One DJ’s of that era such as Steve Wright, Mike Read, Dave Lee Travis and many more. It was also during that ten year period that Andrew was ‘head hunted’ by the Virgin Organisation to work in Richard Branson’s newly purchased club, Goldiggers, in Chippenham. He worked there, in addition to Oscars, between 1984 and 1987. It was his work there in 1986 that led to Andrew being named DJ of the Year for South Wales and the South West. There he would work with many of the big artists of the era such as Blancmange, The Thompson Twins and Howard Jones.
In 1991 Andrew thought it was time for a change of scenery and moved to three new clubs, Legends in Gillingham, Dorset, Reflections in Westbury, Wiltshire (again as the first DJ to appear) and McGuinness's in his home town of Frome.
However it was in 1994 that Andrew’s career really took a turn for the better when Center Parcs opened a village in Longleat only five miles from Andrew’s home. Andrew’s reputation had gone before him and he was offered the role of resident DJ/compere, even before it opened to the public, for their end of holiday ‘Party on the Parc’.
The work at Center Parcs led Andrew to once again invest in mobile equipment and go ‘out on the road’. Again Andrew performed at a variety of standard day-to-day events together with a string of ‘up-market’ corporate and Society functions within an hour or so of Frome in Somerset.
Another major change occurred in 1999, with the rise in popularity of 70’s music, when Andrew was asked to host a ‘one off’ event in Bath called ‘Boogie Wonderland’ in the guise of Johnny Inferno. So successful was this event that it became a quarterly gig at the City’s Pavilion, regularly attracting audiences in excess of 1000. Johnny Inferno had become cult hero with the City’s students and he went on to host a regular night in the University’s nightclub playing the cheesy tunes Andrew had been brought up on.
Further work followed for Johnny Inferno, this time in the corporate line, when companies got to hear of Johnny’s exploits with his dance troupe, Charlie’s Angels. Andrew has worked as far a field as Yorkshire in this guise for amongst others, the UK’s largest brick manufacturer, Ibstock Brick, and their letter of reference is included elsewhere within this web site. Andrew includes a pop quiz when he is performing at corporate events and this seems to go down very well with the guests as they think about their misspent youth!
The success of Johnny Inferno also led Andrew to create two more characters, Mickey Mullet for 80’s nights and Mr. Bronson for ‘Back to School Nights’. These again can be utilised equally effectively in both nightclubs and for corporate occasions and include the dancing girls if required.
Nowadays Andrew concentrates on his position as resident DJ at Orchardleigh House near Frome specialising in high quality weddings, and other mobile work.
However, when Center Parcs opened their own night club within the grounds of their Longleat Village, they asked Andrew to supply them with the DJ’s. To do this he set up a business for his wife, Liz Carpenter and she now has a team of 15 DJ’s all available for outside work when available, both for mobile work and nightclubs. The full details of these 15 DJ’s are given elsewhere within this web site.
The Agency is going from strength to strength and now boasts not only a full range of top quality DJs but also bands, singers, magicians, children's entertainers and much more enabling Andrew to offer a full evening's entertainment.
Many venues and individuals are using our Agency for a professional reliable service. So whatever your needs please contact us.
