Larne’s DJ Fergie ‘taking stock’ during coronavirus pandemic

The former Co Antrim resident, who grew up in Larne under the name Robert Ferguson, was living it large as a resident DJ in the famous Hakkasan night club on the Las Vegas strip, after his music career took him around the world.

A DJ since he was 14, Fergie became one of the first true superstars of the genre; a BBC Radio 1 presenter for over four years, a Mixmag columnist, an award-winning producer and remixer, a record label owner, and an electronic dance music pioneer.

A new chapter in his incredible story began back in 2012, when he left Europe and headed for a new home, the hedonistic party capital of the world: the City of Lights’, Las Vegas.

As with the majority of other areas in the United States, Las Vegas has dramatically changed over the last eight months during the global pandemic.

Speaking to this newspaper, Fergie said: “The Covid pandemic has had a massive impact on my life and it has been the same for everyone in Vegas. To be honest I would go as far as to say that my life has been completely turned on its head.

“By the end of the year I would have done 235 performances in Vegas. All have been cancelled and it looks like the clubs won’t be opening until at least the middle of 2021, if we are lucky, so by that time the number of my gigs cancelled will have reached 349.

“That’s just my gigs in Vegas. All my other gigs around the world have also been cancelled. The last time I played was at Hakkasan on March 12. After my gig I was told that the clubs had to shut down and that all DJ contracts were now cancelled.

“There has been limited support in terms of loans and money given from the government, but nothing comes close to what we have lost. This was set to be my biggest year financially since I started DJing at 14 and it has ended up being the worst from that stand point, but I have to say that on a more personal level there have been a number of positive outcomes for me from the whole lockdown situation.”

Detailing the impact the pandemic has had on life in Las Vegas, he continued: “Vegas is the party capital of the world- the world’s biggest adult playground.

“Tight restrictions on social distancing and gatherings limited to small groups has put a stop to any partying. It makes it impossible to have any sort of large scale entertainment, never mind having 6,000 people each week in the mega clubs I play like Omnia and Hakkasan with the crowd going crazy hugging each other.

“Everywhere, especially the nightclubs have all been forced to shut down and stop working. There is no light at the end of the tunnel at the moment with regards to the clubs opening. They probably will not open until mid 2021.

“A lot of hope is being placed on finding a vaccine, which may give Vegas a fighting chance. But even with that we are a few years away from getting back to some sort of the old world normality.

“For example ,they have just opened a state of the art Las Vegas Raiders Stadium at a cost of 2 Billion Dollars, but they have stated that no fans are allowed to attend matches for this year and next. But I have no doubt that Vegas will recover from this, it will be a long haul and maybe things will look and feel a bit different, but yes Vegas will be back stronger than ever.”

Despite his superstar status, Fergie has remained humble. The Covid pandemic has led to some major changes in his life, something he openly discussed with other reporter.

Fergie explained: “I would say it is important to enjoy your friends you have around you and your family. The last eight months have been great to show people that we need to spend more quality time with our crew and to look after our health.

“It is has been a very hard time for many people around the world, but it is also an opportunity to step back and take a look at the life we have built for ourselves, what parts of that life do we actually enjoy doing, or are we just working our asses off and only enjoying life when we get a chance for a break from work which is very much what my life was like.

“The lockdown forced me to stop and take stock. People would always say to me, ‘You’re living the dream,’ but the lockdown helped me to see that I wanted a different way of living.

“In my situation, my wife, Ellie and I both found ourselves out of work with no way of generating any income for the foreseeable future.

“After doing a lot of talking and soul searching we decided that we would sell everything, our new house that we had built and had been living in for just a year, my studio set up, anything that we didn’t really need with the idea of living a much simpler life, of finding out what things are important to us and trying new things.

“We have been very fortunate in that Ellie has been able to go back to school and retrain in Nutrition and Health and I have decided to find out what school is all about. I have a lot of time to make up as I wasn’t there very much when I was younger. While I am waiting for the clubs to reopen I have enrolled on the GED (General Education Development) (GCSE).”

Even though he is almost 5,000 miles away from the area he grew up in, Fergie has been impressed by the dedicated service provided by the volunteers at the Factory Community Forum during the lockdown.

Praising their efforts, Fergie added: “With regards to how it has been affecting folk back home in Larne, I would like to personally say a huge thank you to Garth McConnell and the Factory Community Group because throughout the lockdown they have been very active in the local neighbourhood making sure vulnerable adults, my own parents included, and those self-isolating have been well looked after with food parcels and deliveries and running errands.

“As things have become a bit more relaxed the community group continue to make themselves available to those who still might need help adjusting to the changing situation. It has been a great time for the Factory Group to once again show what a great community we have.”

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