1998
28 year old DJ Gav Valentine started DJing in 1998 as DJ Gav C. He started of as a lighting jock in the new nightclub Club Heaven & Hell, but soon worked his way up to be a DJ in Blackpool's first superclub. DJing as a side-kick to his mentor Johnny Fresh in the Hell room, he learned to play to a crowd and to mix his favourite styles of dance music, which at that time included: commercial dance, vocal trance, funky house, and what he calls "his" old skool. There, he was part of the DJ team that won an award for 'The Best Entertainment Team in The UK' at the 1998 BEDA Awards.
1999-2001
Sure enough, by mid 1999, Gav started to get his own work as a solo DJ working in all the popular town centre bars such as Cahoots and Arriba Bar to mention but a few. Having a loyal local following he persuaded bosses to open up nightclubs mid-week. After he finished DJing in the bars, his crowd followed him to places such as Addisons, Edwards, and Linekers.
2002
As well as a summer residency at Copper Face Jacks @ The Norbreck Castle, Gav also had airplay on local radio station Radio Wave 96.5 FM. He thanks one of his DJing friends Roy Lynch for both of these.
2003
Still as DJ Gav C, 2003 was a very successful year for the popular local DJ. He earned himself residencies at Schofields (Blackpool's most popular bar at the time), Too Hot To Handle I and II lap-dancing clubs, and Club Enigma @ The Royal Venue. He also played at other popular venues such as Sinless, K2 Bar, NTK, Yates', and The Waterfront Nightclub. In November he was featured on the BBCi website as 'DJ of the Month'. Click here to read the interview on the Blackpool based DJ.
2004
This year saw a name change from DJ Gav C to DJ Valentine, and was every bit as successful as the previous. After gaining another year of valuable experience he won himself a couple more residencies. One at Klub DNA along side DJ Tim J, and one at Blackpool's most popular bar at that time, K2. Gav was also spotted by SuperbFunctions.com, a reputable UK DJ agency, and due to his versatility with all music as well as entertaining skills, they offered him a contract to work mobile disco gigs. For Superb, he played corporate events, Christmas parties, and other private functions at major hotel chains all over the UK.
2005
Still on the books for SuperbFunctions.com and working mobile all over the UK, Gav didn't do much local work. He did however make good contacts with bar and club managers across the country. One of Gav's greatest DJ attributes, is his adaptability, and these contacts saw this and offered him cover work for some of the UK's finest DJs at bars and clubs in Manchester, Liverpool, London, Luton, Birmingham, and in Buxton, he even took a residency at the popular nightclub Ice Bar.
2006
2006 was a very busy year for Gav. Having got a feel for the bar and club scene again, Gav wanted to play back where his roots were, and took on the challenge of an unpopular bar in Blackpool, Bar|RED. Throughout this year, Gav and the bar manager Dave James, transformed the bar from Bar Dead, to its current reputation now known as Blackpool's most stylish and trendy town centre venue. During this time, Gav has branded his favourite styles of music and launched his own clubnight labelled 'FloorPlay', which is a FUNKY mix of ELECTRONIC DANCE music infused with HOUSE anthems and OLD SKOOL classics. FloorPlay has had trial runs in a few venues across the country as well as in its birth place, Bar|RED. The night seems to be popular among locals and is awaiting its official launch in 2007. One thing that Gav realised working back in Blackpool again, was that all the same old faces were still DJing in Blackpool, and not many new DJs broke onto the circuit. Having been to lots of house party's and listening to some really good young, unknown DJs, he wanted to give some of these jocks a chance to play to a live crowd, and so came up with the idea of a DJ competition. Battle of the DJs was born (another one), but this time for real, with top prizes, good promotion, and a good host venue. Gav managed to negotiate a Saturday night guest DJ appearance at the UK's biggest nightclub, The Syndicate Superclub, as a prize for the winner of the competition. He got Blackpool Spotlight Magazine to sponsor the event, which helped raise money for charity, and his manager at Bar|RED allowed the competition to be hosted there. DJs from all over the UK entered the competition, which ran over a period of 3 months, and Gav himself was chief judge.
2007
Currently, Gav is still at Bar|RED, now working as promoter as well as DJ. With the official launch of FloorPlay imminent, and a 2nd Battle of the DJs in the summer, this year promises to very successful. He has got a few young promising DJs on his books for FloorPlay, and plans to tour the UK putting on his event at top clubs. Gav still does the odd private party too, if worth it that is, as in for friends mainly. He can play any style of music needed and can certainly play up to a crowd and keep them well entertained. Still as a young DJ at only 28, he is very much in touch with the nightlife market and tends to be one step ahead regarding what is perceived as entertainment today. You can see DJ Valentine play at Bar|RED every Saturday night. For up-to-date information on when and where you can see him play, sign-up to this websites forum where you can also download, for FREE, mix CDs and mash-up mixes that Gav has produced.
Thanks for reading.