He started spinning tunes as a teenager and jetted all over the world DJing at some of the biggest clubs on the planet, but then in 2011 Richard Murray walked away from it all.

The graphic designer from Enfield says: “I was getting married and we had a recession on, so there were less gigs.

“I had left my job by this point and was in my mid-30s and thought do I want to be going on five-hour flights for £200 and be wiped out if we had kids, so everything pointed in the same direction to get back into design.“ But now the 37-year-old has returned to the bright lights, taking over the reigns as head resident DJ at Pacha London, which celebrates its 12th birthday next year.

He says: “It was too good to turn down. It’s nice. I play once a month in London, no flights, no jet-lag, I just get the Tube down, and go in and play the first two and last two hours.“ He adds: “I didn’t think I had missed it until I started playing again. I love warming up when it’s empty with nobody on the dancefloor. It’s great because you look at the empty room and by the end of the night the room’s full and the people are jumping. That’s why you do it.“ It all started for Richard when he was a glass collector in a club in his home town of Carlisle and the bosses used to let him jump on the decks when it was quiet. From there he made a small name for himself and carried on DJing when he went to university in Manchester.

But it was when he moved to Enfield for his first job and met clubland supremo Matt Stuart that things really took off.

“I was selling my TV, and a Scouser came round to buy it. He was northern, so we had a few beers and games of pool and a laugh.

“His name was Matt Stuart and at the time he was working for Underwater Records, and we talked football and music.

“Six months later Matt got a job at Ministry of Sound and they wanted to set up a brand to rival Hed Kandi and he came up with Housexy. He phoned me up one afternoon and said they were launching and he wanted me to do the warm up.

“It snowballed from there. I played every two or three months for the brand, then it started going global and I was playing in Tokyo, the Philippines and the Middle East.“ Richard says Matt also helped him avoid getting sucked into the drugs culture that often goes hand-in-hand with DJing.

“Growing up you experimented, but I was a bit nervous about it all. I got a lot of strength from Matt.“ He adds: “I have been in clubs where DJs have taken too much of something and are just shouting and not listening to the crowd, it was really cringing. But there’s 1,001 people who want to do what we do and people will be shown the door.“ These days Matt is happy to go home to wife Joanne who is expecting their first baby in February.

“Yeah I’m looking forward to seeing how he or she will get on with music,“ he says.

Richard Murray’s next gig at Pacha, Terminus Place, SW1, will be on December 21. Details: pachalondon.com