DJ set from Kevin Rowland

Kevin Rowland '“ of Dexys, and Dexys Midnight Runners before that '“ offers a DJ set at St Paul's Worthing on Friday, March 10.
Kevin RowlandKevin Rowland
Kevin Rowland

The date comes under the venue’s brand-new party brand, Club Atom – a series of party events at St Paul’s Worthing throughout 2017.

It comes billed as “much more than simply a club night.” Instead, it offers “its members and ticket-holders the chance to spend an evening in the company of music’s major players,” kicking off with Kevin.

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“I am doing this more and more,” says Kevin. “I turn up. It will be set up. I will bring my CDs and I will get people to dance. I have always fancied doing it, but I didn’t know if I could do it until ten years ago when I got the opportunity. It’s just something really good to do.

“I have complete freedom. I play anything whatsoever. It’s not really about showing who I am, though probably that happens. My whole approach is just to get people dancing and keep them there. There is a skill to that. There is a way you do it. You build it up properly. You start off; you get them tapping their feet and then you go for something that is very danceable. You don’t want to lose them.”

Kevin has only “lost” them once, ten years or so ago when he played a London club twice within three months, either side of the introduction of the smoking ban. The second time, things were going well after six or seven tracks – and then suddenly the audience disappeared for a fag.

“But things have moved on since then!”

You can expect non-stop music. There won’t be any chat from Kevin in between. He’s most definitely not into reminiscences and nostalgia. Dexys Midnight Runners became Dexys five years ago – and Kevin prides himself on the now-ness of their success.

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“We dropped the Midnight Runners but kept the Dexys to show it is us, but we don’t do the revival circuit. We don’t do the nostalgia tours. We don’t do that at all. We plough our own furrow. We have had two top-20 albums in the last five years. It is all new material. It is totally instinctive that we do that, and it works for us. I am not interested in being a revival act. That’s not what we are about.

“Last year we had a top-ten album and in 2012, it was number 13. It was massive. Five-star reviews for live shows and albums. That’s the new stuff, the stuff we are interested in.

“I am just an artist. You have got to keep moving on. I am just not interested in the revival stuff. I hate that. The work that we have been doing now has been massive, and it is very different. It’s more satisfying. I am happy with what we did in the 80s, but that was then.

“I don’t play the revival circuit. We don’t do the revival tours and shows. We get a great audience, and I love that.

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“To be honest, it is really gratifying. If someone comes up to me and says ‘I was too young to remember the early stuff, but I love what you are doing now’, that’s really great. I want people to love the new stuff. I am an artist. I do my best to make music now and get it out there now. All the rest is just behind you.”

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