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We Caught Up with Bugged Out Weekender's DJ Competition Alumni

Past winners Neffa-T, Juma MC and Aphix reflect on the competition.

For the last three years, Bugged Out has been giving up-and-coming DJs a chance to perform alongside more established acts at its annual festival, the Bugged Out Weekender. Through the festival's DJ competition, one talented selector can win a slot on the main stage at the Butlin's resorts where the Weekender is hosted. For many past winners of the competition it's been a breakthrough of sorts, helping them on their way to even bigger things. Past entrants have included Hannah Wants, Keysound singee Aphix and Juma MC, who's hosted for BBC Radio 1 DJ B.Traits. As the competition approaches its fourth year, THUMP checked in with three former champions to hear their memories of the night and what they've been up to since.

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Neffa-T

I started DJing five years ago, when I was 17, mostly beginning with UK garage and dubstep. It just got to the point that I was so into the music that I wanted to do something more than passively listen to it, so I went to Maplins and bought the crappiest setup with my savings.

I met Ali, who I perform with, in Bournemouth. He was a friendly guy and said he MC'd so I booked him for my clubnight and we got on really well and things went from there. We ended up doing a mixtape, which he submitted to Bugged Out as part of their competition.

Bugged Out Weekender was one of the biggest events I'd DJ'd at that time, especially in terms of its lineup: that year featured Hudson Mohawke, Melé, Eats Everything and Oneman. It felt really ahead of its time. I remember I practised the set quite a bit beforehand. When it came to actually DJing I was shattered because I'd partied too much - I just about had enough in me to get through it in the end though.

It was there I met Fish, who heard my set and offered me a residency on his radio station, Rood FM. Since then we've stayed in contact and played each other's clubnights. At the moment I'm working on a mix for [BBC 1Xtra DJ] Monki.

Juma MC

I got into drum and bass in about 98/99. Before that I was mostly listening to hip hop and writing bedroom raps. I first started MCing after going out to raves in Bath when I was 16. I pestered the promoters for ages to give me a chance to host until eventually they relented and I've been MCing ever since.

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I met Neffa-T when I moved to Bournemouth, and we made a mixtape together. We came across the Bugged Out weekender, which we both wanted to go to, and saw there was a DJ competition and thought 'Yeah, why not?'

We got asked to come and perform, which was great. A bunch of our friends came down as well to support us. It was really fun on the night and didn't feel like a competition. I got to open for Redlight, one of my favourite producers as well.

I think it was a pivotal moment for me. Back then I was juggling my MCing and my day job, which was hectic. I got booked for a couple shows in Bristol around the same time as B.Traits and following that I got a call from her asking if I'd be interested in joining her on tour. That was my first time working closely with an artist. The next year me and Neffa-T got to play more festivals abroad thanks to Bugged Out's connections.

Aphix

I went to university in Bournemouth and it all kicked off there. Most of my friends became involved in the running of clubnights so I cut my teeth as a DJ playing there.

I went to the first Bugged Out Weekender, that was the year that my friend Olly [Neffa-T] entered and won the competition. The following year I thought I'd give it a go myself. I really rated the format of the competition. It's not a popularity contest, it's not about who can get the most Facebook likes, it's judged by people who really know their stuff, which I appreciated. When you're really into DJing and it's what you love doing, the last thing you want to be doing is bothering people and spamming people to try get them to recognise you. But also I think you want to be appreciated because of your talent first and foremost.

I hadn't been playing anything on the scale of the Bugged Out main stage before, and the sound system was unbelievable. When you're DJing at university, a lot of the time your audience is made up of friends, so it was definitely a confidence boost to know that it's not only your mates that like what you do.

I started producing about two years ago and sending stuff out about 18 months ago. I sent over some tracks to Blackdown, who drops a lot of dubs on his Rinse show, and he liked my stuff. One of my tracks ended up on this year's Keysound compilation, I was pretty chuffed as I never thought I'd be on a label as big as Keysound.

You can find more details about how to enter this year's Bugged Out competition here. The closing date is December 7th.