TONY VEGAS
HIP HOP // TURNTABLIST// SCRATCH PERVERTS ·· UK

Titles held:
2001 DMC Team World Champion
1999 DMC Team World Champion
1999 Grandmaster Flash Award for Excellence
1999 UK DMC Champion
1998 ITF European Team Champion
1997 ITF Eastern Hemisphere Scratching Champion


In 1996, Tony returned from a friend's wedding in Las Vegas with a new identity - not because he was in hiding from the heavies at the Golden Dollar Casino, but because whilst away his friends had decided that he needed a catchier DJ name than DJ Tony... thus, Tony Vegas was born...

Tony Vegas caught the scratching bug in 1987 at the ripe old age of 15, practising on his brother's turns before buying his first set of Technics in '88.  

Five years later, Tony took time out from his full time job (at a solicitors) and Saturday job at Soul Jazz Records to travel around Canada and Europe.  When he returned to sunny Blighty, Vegas started working at the well known Soho record store, Mr Bongos and it was there that he re-established his love of dj'ing and came into contact with a group of guys who would later be collectively known as The Scratch Perverts.

1997 was a busy year for Vegas.  At the beginning of the year he put his entire record collection(!) into setting up 'Deal Real', a record store in Soho, London (a partnership he would be involved in until mid-1998).  In July '97 Vegas travelled to New York to compete in the Eastern Hemisphere heats of the ITF competition and returned as the new Eastern Hemisphere Scratching Champion (only just losing out on the world championship title later on in the year to DJ Babu of the Beat Junkies).  And towards the end of '97, Vegas initiated the setting up of the Scratch Perverts, led by his desire to bring together the best of the UK's dj's and to put UK turntablism on the map.

In 1999 Vegas wowed the crowd at the Shepherds Bush Empire and was crowned the UK DMC Champion.  This title took him to New York for the DMC World Championships - a satisfactory trip all round as Vegas returned home knowing he had come a close 2nd to DJ Craze in the individual finals, the Perverts had taken the World DMC Team title and Grandmaster Flash had personally awarded him the first ever Grandmaster Flash Award for Excellence!  

In between competing and DJ'ing all over the world, Vegas has managed to squeeze in guest appearances on various tracks and help create & look after his beautiful 3 year  old daughter, Jade!