Interview: Anne Savage

But she's still made time for a home-coming gig at Blackburn’s Jazzy Kex nightclub next Saturday.

"I’m really looking to coming home,” said Anne, who now lives near Colchester, Essex.

“I don’t get to come back to Lancashire very often but it’s lovely when I do because all the old faces come out of the woodwork. All my family will come to the gig and if anyone out there remembers me and wants to come along to say hello that’d be brilliant.”

Anne still has strong links with her home town. The Jazzy Kex gig came about because Anne’s step-brother Mick used to co-run a pub with Steve, who now runs Jazzy Kex.

But as one of the world’s most in-demand house DJs Anne’s whirlwind lifestyle is a far cry from her younger days growing up in the Ribble Valley.

“I was born in Burnley and grew up in the Ribble Valley, attending Westholme School in Blackburn,” said Anne.

“I miss Lancashire a lot but my friends and family are still here, my mum lives in Whalley.

“Although some of the countryside around Essex is beautiful it’s not until I get onto the M65 and see the hills that I feel properly at home. There’s nothing quite like that sight. My sister rides horses competitively and when I’m home we always go riding in Simonstone, where she lives. I’m still a Lancashire girl at heart.”

Anne got into the music scene at a young age, playing lead guitar in a punk band to huge illegal raves at the height of the free party movement in the early nineties.

“My older sisters were into music so I just copied them at first,” said Anne.

“But I could play the guitar because my mum made us go to classical guitar lessons when we were young.

“When raves started in 1988 I got into that side of things. I had a short stint in a punk band called 53rd State and then I saw guys DJing and thought ‘I could do that’.”

Anne’s DJing career began in Accrington at a night called Alternative at Kerfew Klub. Before long her confidence grew and she had her first residency at Angels in Burnley where she played alongside heavyweights of the era, Carl Cox and Joey “Energy Flash” Beltram.

“My dad thought I was mad at the time,” said Anne.

“He thought ‘What’s she doing with her life?’ But then it all took off. When I was playing at Angels I got a bit of a local following, then I started playing further, I got an agent and it went from there.”

Anne moved to Leeds and to produce music as well as playing gigs. As her fame spread, international bookings soon came into the picture, and she became the first ever female DJ from the UK to play in Canada, headlining huge events such as Better Days and even DJing for the British High Commission in Ottawa.

Representing Britain in Ottawa is Anne’s proudest moment, she said.

“I’ve played festivals with more than 100,000 people in the crowd, but to be recognised as an artist representing your country did it for me,” she said.

“It’s only when I come home that what I’ve achieved gets put into perspective. Being home reminds me of when I was working for my dad on his shoe stall at Barrow in Furness. I had to put boxes of shoes into dozens for his wholesale shoe stalls, Shoe Valley, in Rossendale. As the youngest daughter I think my dad hoped I’d take over the family business”

“When I think about it, I realise I had the guts to break away and it paid off.”

Non dance fans may remember Anne for her appearance on TV show Faking It in 2001 where she had the challenge of turning 22-year-old cellist Sian Evans into a DJ in just one month.

“Although I’ve been in this business for years, doing Faking It was the only time I ever really got recognised on the street,” said Anne.

Anne reckons to be a successful DJ is about one thing - loving the music you play.

“I get asked how to make it as a DJ at lot,” she said.

“There’s no sure fire way of doing it but first and foremost you have to love every record. That’s how I did it anyway. I loved giving people a night to remember.”

Anne Savage plays Jazzy Kex, Blackburn, on Saturday, July 26. For tickets call 01254 693023.