Gentlemen Prefer Strawberry Blondes

In the world of dance music it certainly pays to know the whole process extremely well. Many DJs produce their own records, and some even start up their own label, like Edinburgh DJ Stuart Hirst.

He first began playing local clubs in the city which led to a residency at Glam, but his career started to really kick off in 2003 after winning a competition in the much respected DJ magazine to perform a set at the Space closing party in Ibiza. Stu said: "It's been a huge catalyst. The prize itself was amazing but I have been asked back every year since and it has put my name alongside the industry's leading figures, at one of the world's most important parties."

With the House and Techno DJ gigs lining up, Hirst decided to turn his attention to making records as well as playing them: "I've been producing for well over 3 years now, releasing on labels such as Harlem, Plastic Fantastic, Fantastic House, Limbo, Level and Viva. I record under 3 different names; Stu Hirst, Ourhouse and Davidson & Hirst. I see production as an integral part of being involved in the industry."

Throughout 2005 he worked as an A&R rep for Subversive records scouting for new talent and this encouraged him to start his own label, Strawberry Blonde Records, in April of this year. He says the role gave him the basic skills to consider starting his own label: "Unfortunately the start-up costs can often be large, but with the rise of digital DJing, I realised that I could provide an outlet for my own music at very little cost. I had not planned to release music from other artists, but I came across so much good new music that it seemed a waste not to try and support it."

The label has already seen some highly rated releases such as 'Mondovista' by Livio & Roby, and many more are in the pipeline: "Future releases come from artists such as Murray Richardson and Ourhouse, which is the name I record under with Neil Anthony. There's also 'Eyes' from Chuck Lepley, which featured on Steve Lawler's 'Lights Out 3' Global Underground compilation."

With all this label work Hirst could be forgiven for putting DJing to the background but a busy summer is sure to increase his already growing reputation: "I've got some cracking gigs lined up over the next few months. I'm going over to Romania to play La Mania, an awesome club on the Black Sea Coast, which Sasha regularly appears at. I'm also playing Privilege in Ibiza and I have gigs in the UK at places such as Godskitchen and the Rhythm Room, and then hopefully the madness of the Space Closing Party over on the White Isle!"