Lanark DJ Jay signs record deal with American label

Sixteen-year-old Jay Gunning is currently studying for his Higher exams at St Aidan’s High School, but soon he will be heading to New York having signed a record deal with the label of house music legend CeCe Rogers, USB Records, in January.

And he hopes this will take him on a journey that will see him playing at the biggest clubs and music festivals across the globe.

Jay, of Mousebank Road, said: “I was down in Preston playing at a festival and just by chance I got talking to people from USB Records.

“After a couple of Skype calls, before I knew it I was in New York.

“ I don’t think I could quite believe what was happening, and I still don’t really.

“For my first video we shot some of it in Manhattan, some in Edinburgh and part of it down in New Lanark.

“After I finish my exams I will be going back over there, so it’s a very exciting time for me.”

Despite not being old enough to get into the nearby Hamilton Palace, Jay will soon be taking up a four week residency in the iconic Pacha nightclub in Sharm el Sheikh, in Egypt.

However, he hopes that this will be the first step to playing in house hotspots such as Ibiza.

He told the Gazette: “I’ll be playing at festivals in Scotland like T in the Park, Stereofunk and The Wickerman.

“But playing at Pacha is an incredible start.”

Jay’s DJ dreams began when he was 13 and got his first set of decks.

Since then he has been working on his own tracks and playing at a number of festivals. He continued: “My dad was really into a lot of house music when he was younger.

“He has really encouraged me and although my mum wasn’t sure about me moving in the beginning, she wants me to follow my dreams.”