THERE is a major irony that the man whose music has proved to be the salvation for many a DJ trying to keep the party going won’t be touching his back catalogue as his own career behind the decks takes off.

But then Kevin Rowland has never been a man to take the easy route.

The Dexys' frontman will be in Blackburn next Friday playing at the recently-opened Loop bar and he’s quick to point out he won’t be just doing a DJ set.

“There are a few misconceptions about my show which need to be put to bed, “ he said. “It’s not a DJ set it’s a DJ show.

“I have a microphone set up and I do at least two live vocals during the set and sometimes I might do more. You might even get some spontaneous singing at the end of the track.”

With Dexys, Kevin was responsible for one of the classic songs of the Eighties in Come on Eileen.

But he is swift to dispel any hopes fans may have that a DJ set will be taken up by him playing his own material.

“No, I won’t be doing that,” he said. “I just think that would be uncool.”

Instead his audiences will be treated to songs from the Sixties through to the present day

“There is so much to be discovered,” he said. “That’s why there are some new things in there plus remixes of old stuff which are great,

“Often I’ll play things that people may not have heard before but I’m not trying to teach them, I’m not trying to be deliberately esoteric or trying to educate them by going ‘have you heard this?’

“I’m just there with some amazing records and I want them to hear it.”

The idea of singing to a number of tracks during the evening was inspired by a group of Swedish DJs, Club Killers.

“They are friends of mine and when I went over to see them in Stockholm they were doing a lot of freestyling over the records.

“Initially I started off just playing records but then I thought, ‘do you know what, let’s get a microphone’. I thought I can sing so why not do that?

“What I have done of late is a song from the last Dexys’ album Let The Record Show, Grazing in The Grass. I have the backing track of that and do a lead vocal over that.

“So it’s as much of a performance as a DJ set. Yes I’ll get them dancing and keep them there, that’s my aim but it’s not just that. It’s not enough. I want to entertain them.”

As the DJ dates keep coming in Kevin has begun to develop his own theories on a DJ show.

“I think DJ-ing isn’t so much about what you play as when you play it.” he said. “The order in which you play things has a massive bearing on the night.

“You can lose an audience if you are not careful.

“I don’t just turn up with my records. I think about it for a few days before and I’ll see what’s what. I do have a rough idea of what I’m going to play but at the same time you have to be open to what’s going on on that dancefloor.

“I learned this with Dexys, you had to pace a set really.

“So you try to pace it. I won’t play three songs of exactly the same groove but I may well play three of a similar groove. That won’t destroy the mood, that will keep the mood going.

“Often three records will be enough then you change the mood. But if the mood is going so well and everyone is really grooving, you would be silly to change the mood then. You try and build it a little more, you build to its peak and then you shift it.”

As a result Kevin believes that a good DJ cannot get away with a standard set.

“I know when I do a show the music is going to be good but it’s not a given that you’ll grab the audience and keep them. That’s what I’m really getting into.”

Kevin is clearly enjoying his DJ shows so where does that leave Dexys?

“DJ-ing is what I’m doing at the moment,” he said.

“I’m just having a little break at the moment. I’ve worked really hard with Dexys for the last five or six years and done two albums and a lot of shows and that went great. And I want to return to it. no question. But I’m just enjoying doing this at the moment.

“I treat DJ-ing like a job. I treat it professionally and I want to be on top of my game. That’s what I do.

“Each morning is an adventure. Last weekend I was in Ramsgate, I can’t remember ever having been in Ramsgate, at least for a long long time.

“I just got the train down there , got picked up, played and had a good time. It was great.”

Kevin Rowland, Loop, Blackburn, Friday, June 9. Tickets are £10 on the door