On Sat 20th April, it’s Record Store Day in the UK. Here at Bullitt, we’re proud to host a dedicated vinyl wall in the lobby that sells fine selections from East Belfast’s Sound Advice store. We also present The Vinyl Sessions every Friday and Saturday from 4 to 8pm, where DJ Ghost goes on a journey across soul, dub, indie, rock n roll, psyche, disco and more.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter to us whether you play records or digital or whatever – lots of our DJs play digital and play amazing music. But we thought it’d be nice to find out more about Ghost’s love for wax, and our own Jonny Carberry pinged him some questions.
JC: Ghost in this interview we’re going to chat about your love for records and for DJing. But let’s rewind (do a spin back, even!) – when did you first catch the bug for listening to and buying records? Tell us about some records from that time. Are they still important to you?
Ghost: Now I don’t want to be giving away me age here, but my first love for listening to music was tuning into the Beatles as a kid – they gave me the bug, they got me into rhythm & blues and the Motown sound with their covers of Little Richard, Richie Barrett, The Cookies, Larry Williams, Smokey Robinson, this kicked open the door for me…
I started going to the record fairs after this to buy these records on 45s and played them endlessly. The B sides or ‘flip side’ as it were, equally stood up to the A side, so this became an obsessive hobby that has never left me until this present day.
JC: Lots of people will know you as a DJ from your long-running residency in The Spaniard and also in recent years from your afternoon vinyl sessions in Bullitt. How did you get into DJing and what do you think makes a great DJ?
Ghost: I got into DJing by pure fluke. I lived in Ealing, West London and worked in a bar called The Spinning Wheel, they had a resident DJ that had left for reasons unknown and I happened to say to management I could cover this lad tonight. I had two small flight cases of rockabilly, r&b, surf and 60s beat – I passed the audition that night, and started doing nights from there on really.
I think what makes a decent DJ is improvising and rolling with the journey, seeing where it takes you next, what track will compliment what’s being played, how the people react to these sounds. When you get somebody coming up and asking ‘what’s this, where can I source it?. Having the natter, not just asking for silly horrid requests for the sake of it, actually purely interested in what’s being played live on the moment – this to me is what makes a good DJ, being in that motion…
JC: Let’s talk about formats: what do you like about 7 inches versus 12? What are the good and not so good things about being a ‘vinyl DJ’?
Ghost: Well for me the 7”/45s or 33”/long players (which I own thousands of) have their own unique advantages. The sound quality can vary between the two formats, pushing the 45s to having the big whole warm bottom-end sound and charm due to its wider grooves. But then it boils down to personal preference really, like an album of obscure underground disco or a funk or rocksteady compilation album on 33” pressed on decent wax maybe appeals to the enthusiast equally as much. I love them both – it depends what you are digging for, really. I personally love a good soul-seeking compilation album as it happens, compared to only just looking for the 45s…
JC: It’s Record Store Day on Sat 20th April – some people think it’s naff, others love it – what’s your take? Do you enjoy working in a record shop yourself? Also, what have been your best and worst experiences in a record shop as a punter?
Ghost: It’s Record Store Day once again, I always got hit by it one way or another cause there were titles I only ever bought on tape or cd format because the record was discontinued, and I still wanted to hear the album.
For example, I waited ages to get the soundtrack of Get Carter – it came out on green vinyl a few years ago. It hadn’t seen the light of day since the late 90s when it was reissued for the first time, then 20 odd years later it finally got a another release on RSD. That Roy Budd theme tune blew me mind on first listen: the scene with Caine on the train heading down to Newcastle, what a lethal intro to any movie or soundtrack. 
Record Store Day in all fairness has got a decent selection of blues, funk, soul, reggae, and psych – it’s all there for the taking if you don’t already have it or you are searching for the obscure.
I helped out with me pal in Voodoo Soup for a spell – I enjoyed doing that, getting to put out music from every genre and influencing the younger folk with what I thought was a decent record or artist to start with, whether it was Jimi Hendrix or some dub record or hip-hop artist. Listen to this, buy it if you like it, the choice is all yours…
JC: You have a young family: do you think records will be an important part of your kids’ lives as they grow up? Or is having almost the entire history of music on your phone more powerful?
Ghost: Records are all my daughter knows and sees really, cause that’s all there is in our house. There is a bluetooth speaker also which sometimes gets the treatment but we have a wax room – it’s where we boogie. Stella loves a good dance to a record, she’s into Elvis or as she calls him ‘shook up’. My wee lad Syd is only 6 months old so he’s only interested in the plastic record sleeve covers – I think they will definitely grow up listening to vinyl, it’s rather visual in our gaff and it’s always playing. The iPhone or YouTube also get rocked up, so if there’s something new to listen to, if it’s on the groove it gets bought on wax.
JC: Finally, can you share 5 records that you currently play out (and care about!) at Bullitt? What do you enjoy about Bullitt in particular, apart from seeing me twice a week? 🙂
Ohh yes it’s definitely seeing you twice a week J selecta, without a doubt👻
It’s the hustle of the bar when I arrive, people coming down to hear some tuneage. You’ll see familiar faces, pals swinging by for the natter, it’s all happening at the Bullitt at weekends. It’s a busy venue all walks of life calling in for a chill, bevy or to party and there’s records on the ready to keep the evening flowing. What’s there not to like folks…
Top 5!
Gotan Project – Triptico
First heard this on that movie The Bourne Identity 20 odds years ago, I immediately went out and bought it. I recently purchased the 10” version again in Paris in a little record shop in Bastille for a couple of Euro, winner…
Bill Withers – Still Bill
Grew up listening to Withers – watching him play ‘Use Me’ on The Old Grey Whistle Test show, that sent me places. That was the first taste of him, what a songsmith and groove he really was. Died at the start of lockdown – all the records got a listen to once again, not a bad one amongst them, a king of the lyric and melodies from heaven.
Matthew Halsall – An Ever Changing View
Digging this lad from Manchester. Came across him on the Giles Peterson show, ordered him up immediately. This is up there with the best of modern British jazz, the boy is on the pulse… trumpet, flute, tabla, fender rhodes piano, it’s all on this record here.
The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde
First stubbled across them by chance in 1992 in a record shop in Birmingham when I was over seeing me cousin Daz, the lad was blasting ‘Passin me by’ track ultra-loud. I was out the night before, this record just resonated with me, I bought it there & then on the spot – thank you friend for introducing this record to me, it still gets played out.
Rahill – Fables (feat Beck)
Heard this play in a cocktail bar in Liverpool last year, had to go get this record.
I love her vibe and voice, the debut album ‘Flowers at your Feet’ is a killer, check out ‘Gone Astray’, ‘I Smile for E’ if you happen to listen or pick this record up, insanely cool this album. She is also a DJ, both live and radio.
You can catch Ghost and his wonderfully eclectic Vinyl Sessions at Bullitt every Friday and Saturday 4pm to 8pm, with JC taking over and through the night. Free as always, and with love for the music.
