‘I regard that time as an apprenticeship,’ he says now.

From there, however, his gradual rise began. In 1988 he played his first foreign gig at the now-defunct Richters in Amsterdam, kickstarting a global reputation that now runs from Brazil to Singapore , from Reykjavik to Auckland, New Zealand. These days his DJ diary is booked solid six months in advance and he often headlines on the summer’s international festival circuit. Clarke’s reputation was sealed at the start of the 1990s when he produced a series of EPs with the collective name ‘Red’. Signed to de-Construction he received rave reviews for his 1996 debut album ‘Archive 1’ which dabbled in breakbeat and electronica, a novelty for the puritanical techno scene of the time. Clarke, then as now, has no time for techno purism. ‘The so-called intelligensia of the scene have done nothing but hold it back,’ he snorts dismissively, ‘The trainspotters who don’t actually dance to it have created a misleading impression of techno for the public. It’s like when you used to go into techno record shops and they’d look at you like a piece of shit if you didn’t know about it. All those shops are closed now’’

By the millennium many first generation techno DJs had fallen by the wayside, drifting off up blind allies and sub-genres, but Clarke’s sets, his extraordinary mixing skills mashing up techno, electro, ghetto-tek, hip hop and even 1980s new wave numbers, remained in constant demand. He put out a number of mix CDs including 2001’s first ‘World Service’ set which showcased his dual love for electro and techno. He also signed to Skint Records, celebrating the event at Hove Dog Track by presenting the prize for a race entitled ‘The Dave Clarke Inaugural Techno Dash’. This union resulted in ‘Devil’s Advocate’ in 2004, an album that reeked of dark gothic energy laced with hip hop’s surly funk, and featured Chicks On Speed, DJ Rush and the MC Mr Lif. Clarke toured the world performing live to promote the album, as well as doing a session for his only DJ hero, John Peel. ’Some pretty heavy shit shook me up badly at the beginning of this year,’ Dave Clarke concludes, ‘but music helped me through, Music has always brought me through, even in times when I’ve had nothing. Music has given me everything and I feel I have to give everything back. I don’t know what I’d do without it, it’s in my blood and bones, the only constant throughout the whole of my life.’

From Tones On Tail to Die Warzau, from Anthony Rother to the Sisters of Mercy, from Terence Fixmer’s crunching techno to the filthy ‘booty’ sound of Detroit, Clarke is still as enthused as a kid about it all. Back in his Merc we’re nearing his home and he slams a series of CDs into the car-stereo by everyone from fresh-faced guitar heroes Louis IV to ‘80s New York punk funkers Silicone Soul. ‘I have an unbridled passion for this,’ he enthuses boyishly, ‘Yes, I suppose I’ve never grown up. I hope so.’

Long may it be so.

Thomas H Green