Gaining inspiration from watching early Carl Cox and Prodigy live sets, Yousef won a mix tape competition that led to residencies at top UK clubs including Cream, a club he used to frequent as a youngster. Since then he’s been running his own record label, Carioca, and his own club night, Circus, in his hometown of Liverpool. Circus has grown from originally taking place in a 300 capacity venue to tour all corners of the globe. For someone who’s been to Brazil, Argentina, Liverpool, Miami, back to the UK, and then on to Dubai and finally Australia, all in under a month, Yousef is grounded, focusing his label on promoting ‘artists’ rather then ‘tracks’, keeping the punters of Circus central to it’s operation, and is still critical of his first Australian performance.
“I was lucky enough to win a mix tape comp in the defunct Muzik magazine,” he recalls. “It led to a lot of doors being opened for me and residencies at Ministry of Sound, Renaissance and Cream. I eventually won ‘Best New DJ’ at the world dance music awards Muzik put on each year. Since then I’ve been traveling the world and making music. As Cream was winding down I was going to do my own night with them but they closed. I got a call from one of my best friends (Richard McGinnis, co owner of Chibuku) who suggested I house the night at Masque (theatre, in Liverpool). I thought about it and rejected offers of residencies from a lot of other major UK clubs to start Circus with Richard. It’s been a great success. It went from zero to hero in less than a year, hosting the coveted Radio One Essential Mix, having the best line ups in the UK and even won UK Club of the Year last year. It’s been quite a ride which has taken the club to Miami, New York, Ibiza, a tent at Creamfields and now Sydney.”
A Liverpudlian of Egyptian parentage, Yousef admits Liverpool is the home of the most horrible style of music around, so-called ‘Scouse-House’. “A scouser is a term for a person from Liverpool. Scouse being the local dish (a stew really). Scouse house, unfortunately, is the worst form of dance music known to man. It’s pop trance with very cheesy, late 80s house tracks cut over the top. It’s shit. It’s very popular. It’s really odd to see the local lads, who are quite rough and tuff, by their own admission, singing away to the cheesy pop vocals of some dance crap.” Luckily, Yousef steered away from the ‘Scouser’ scene, and his residency at Cream was like a homecoming, that helped establish his name at the club he used to attend. “It was a wonderful feeling becoming part of the history of a club I loved so much, a real honour. Although I’d been DJing for years I really grew and matured as a DJ while resident at the club”.
Yousef acknowledges that when his residency at Cream came to a close he was lucky to use his fame to help establish a new home and develop Circus into UK Club of the Year. “The fact that in July 2002 I was stuck with no home for Circus and I got on the phone to my mates for the next 4 or 5 lineups made things happen”, he recalls. Ever since, Circus has attracted the biggest names in dance music. Names like Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, Sneak, Derrick Carter and Laurent Garnier, as well as rare UK performances by Onoinz and Joeski. “I sit on both sides of the fence now and have a good understanding of what it takes to make a night successful”, he says.
The 3rd birthday of Circus saw Yousef give everyone name tags so he could put a ‘face to the names’ he knew from the Circus online chat rooms. “It was the 3rd birthday and I decided it was time we knew everybody’s names as I seem to know a lot of them from the chat room. So I had some stickers made with the Circus logo on, the number 3 and room for a name. Myself and some of our staff went around on the birthday, thanked people for coming, asked their name and gave them a name tag. It worked really well.” Even though this may seem an unusual practice at a club, it was just part of the program of Circus. “Part of the idea of Circus is to have a welcoming attitude”, says Yousef. “The people who have paid to get in, waited in line and have been excited all week are our VIPs. I even drew a huge VIP on the middle of the dancefloor once to let people know how much we felt about them. There is no ‘us and them’ in Circus.”
Yousef also uses Circus to showcase some young talents of his label, Carioca Records. The label doesn’t have massive ambitions, rather just to develop music as opposed to exploiting singles. The label is “small but solid”, to quote the man behind it. “I concentrate on a few artists instead of from track to track. I’m pushing DJs and producers Alex Wolfenden and Lee Mortimer right now, they are both super talented. I also work with more established artists like Onionz while always finding a home for my music too.”
Yousef describes the style of music he plays and produces at the moment as “very clubby stuff, always with a view on the funk, but nowhere near funky house. It’s quite tough, electronic, sometimes moody, sometimes quirky, sometimes party, but not lately though. Good energy house and funkier techno”. Which seems quite diverse, but not unexpected from a man with eclectic music taste. “I love all music”, he muses, “in a normal day I listen to classical, jazz, pop, techno, 80s funk, The Beatles, house, my own stuff, I love it all. I love Prince, Dr Dre, Sting, Paul Weller, anything with a good heart”. He still regards seeing Carl Cox and the Prodigy as his biggest inspirations, declaring “Carl is without doubt the worlds greatest DJ EVER and the Prodigy are the greatest dance act EVER – even though now they have outgrown that tag”.
Having such a wide balanced music taste helps Yousef adapt to crowds and has no preference in playing clubs or festivals. “I like both,” he says, “I like playing different music, different tempos, I like slow sleazy beats as much as I like jackin’ techno”. What about his most memorable experiences behind the decks? “I’m lucky enough to say there have been so many. The Essential Mix at Circus was an achievement, I hosted it too. Space for Carl Cox this summer in Ibiza and last summer, where I played for 7 hours on the new terrace, and the Exit Festival in Serbia last summer too. Closing the whole festival at 6am on a Monday morning to 25,000 people. Amazing!” However, he doesn’t have such fond memories of Sydney’s Field Day a few years ago. “That gig”, he begins, “although fun, and not forgetting it was my first Australian gig, didn’t go well. I was still paying records then (now all CD). As it was such a windy day my records were getting literally blown off the turntables while they played, making things very difficult. In fairness they did try and sort things out but it didn’t get much better. It made it impossible to settle and to mix”.
To say Yousef has come a long way is an understatement. From young raver to successful DJ, producer and promoter, he is quick to point out that it didn’t happen overnight. “I’ve been DJing since I was 16, I’ll be 31 on Good Friday”. But he does let spill his secret. “I enjoy it, simple. I know I’m lucky, I’m one of a rare few and have been graced with a blessed life and I make the most of it. I don’t get wasted (too often), stay fit and try to stay focused and therefore happy”. Yet with so much accomplished to date, what can we expect in the future from Yousef? “More music, many more gigs and tours, more remixes, and a move to London. Oh yeah, and a trip to Oz..!”
Yousef tours Australia this April:
Sat Apr 8 – Tank, Sydney
Sat Apr 15 – Platform 1, Melbourne
Sun Apr 16 – Innercity, Perth
