Ghana in West Africa is where it all began for DJ Von DeHeer who takes inspiration from the nation's cosmopolitan music scene where traditional drum beats merge with modern sounds. Highlife, is a prime example of this, a musical genre that originates in Ghana, it fuses African rhythms with Western melodies.
DJ Von DeHeer's love and appreciation of both classic and cutting-edge music dates back to his childhood. From the age of 10 he was placed in charge of handling the tracks at the regular house parties his parents used to throw. Even at a young age, he wasn't afraid to mix things up and would play a wide range of tracks from Motown, Highlife, Pop and Rock that surprised, impressed and delighted guests.
DJ Von DeHeer's flair for entertaining developed when he was still at school. He remembers taking to the stage with a classmate at a talent show to perform The Girl Is Mine by Michael Jackson featuring Paul McCartney. Needless to say, they tore the house down and won first prize.
Living in Islington London, DJ Von DeHeer's musical exploration continued and he found an affinity for different genres at different stages in his life. The first wave was Rare Groove, then he got into Ragga, Hip Hop and Rap, Jungle, Garage, Drum and Base and finally House music. It was in Islington that Von DeHeer began hanging out with the Freak FM crew and became a fully-fledged raver.
At rave events while DJ Von DeHeer's friends got lost in dancing, he would spend the night at the DJ booth watching the skills at play. He paid close attention to the way DJs would toy with records to create certain sounds - pushing and pulling vinyls and twisting the spindle in the centre to change the pitch momentarily. Von DeHeer likes to compare the way DJs spin vinyls to frying pancakes and the sound produced the sweet aroma.
For years Von DeHeer kept his talent among friends but was finally persuaded onto the professional scene by DJ Roxy in 2017. As one of London's top DJ with years of experience Roxy was able to show Von DeHeer the ropes. He shadowed Roxy at numerous gigs in London including Bunga Bunga in Battersea, Goat in Chelsea, Beaufort House in Chelsea, The Chelsea Lodge, Maggie's in Chelsea, Fogg's in Mayfair to name a few. With his rare talent and deep knowledge of the music scene he's an undiscovered gem set to take the world by storm.
DJ Von DeHeer describes his sound as a fusion of house music, techno, afro beats, indie rock and hip hop. He knows how to choose tracks that energise the dancefloor and blends them seamlessly from one to the next. A DJ Von DeHeer set is uplifting, melodic, and avant-garde.
