24/06/2021
A few years ago, I reluctantly stumbled into a taxi on my way to work after a night out, hungover of course. The taxi driver asked me “work, is it?” I replied yes, he responded “yeah, life’s a bitch.” He told me all about his life as a DJ and how his son, Ronnie, had followed in his footsteps.
Both Ronnie and his son, Ronnie, have spent their years producing and playing music around Scotland. His son has toured around the country and brought world renowned DJ's to play at clubs like Tunnels and UNIT 51, warming up the decks alongside Yungruzt and IDA for the club night 'Let It Bleed', and has recently started up a DJ Academy in Aberdeen with James ID. Two generations of music, and R.P Senior has made a return to share his own journey through music.
R.P Senior, previously known as Ronnie Pacitti, began to DJ around 1991. He bagged various smaller events like after parties in barns and beaches, sometimes forests. The first proper gig was at Craigmyle in 1991, and by the end of ‘92 he was approached by the promoters of Skank.
“They told me they wanted me on board as one of their residents, and of course I was happy to go with it. I continued as a Skank resident right up until its demise. In all the time I was at Skank, I watched so many young up and coming local DJs make their mark. People like Allan Strath, Linz McWilliam, Paul Kirton, Paul Kristay and Simon Smith to name a few.”
In 1995 he started up his own record store, followed by a club called “Bliss” with Simon Smith. Bliss was first hosted at Craigmyle, which then moved to Eagles, and is now known as Espionage. “We moved Bliss there and I became a resident. We used to book a lot of DJs for the venue, the back door would lead onto my record shop. After the club, the DJ would go to his room and refresh, then head over to the shop for the afterparty. They were legendary.”
After selling half of the record shop to his then business partner, he continued to gig up until 2000, “but my heart wasn’t in it. I’ve recently watched my son build his name up as a DJ and producer which has inspired me to start putting mixes together again.”
Ronnie Pacitti uploaded his dad’s mix onto Facebook as it was flooded with high validation from the young and the nostalgic. The post stated:
"I was fortunate enough to D'j in some amazing clubs with some amazing D'j's (international & local) all through the 90's. I've been out of the music scene for a very long time, however having watched my son make some substantial inroads in D'jing and production, it’s hard not to be inspired so I've decided to blow the dust off the old wheels of steel and create the odd mix here and there.
The first one has nothing to do with any of the clubs I gigged in. I decided to go back before that and clubbed together a mass of tunes I used to hear in the multitude of clubs and raves I visited as a punter rather than a D'j. The tracks are all from 1989 to 1991 and the mix floats back and forth through a few different genres. If you went clubbing back then and frequented places like Fever, The Hoochie and the early days of the Craigmyle not to mention the many Raves we found ourselves at, then hopefully you'll enjoy this mix. It has 82 tracks and lasts over 5 hours. Please feel free to enjoy."
The megamix from R.P Senior is a whopping five hours in length, featuring classics from the notorious club scene in the 90s. The mix is called ‘The Time of Our Lives’ and takes us on a journey of tunes from the beginning of the rave era in Scotland, quite arguably the best and the unbeatable.