It's funky, the beats make you dance, lyrics get a reaction

I started playing professionally during my final year in Trinity College, which would be about three years ago. I studied theology, to develop my brain a bit, but DJing was what I always wanted to do. I spent a year in Philadelphia before I went to college, spending time getting into mixing and scratching - I loved it!

Usually DJs starting out send demos all over the place - to radio stations, other DJs playing professionally and to independent promoters who run particular nights at a nightclub - because they hire the DJ, not the club owner. My first ever gig was at The Kitchen. Another DJ who had a night there asked me to come in and warm up for her, and that one slot got me a lot of gigs.

I've been playing RiRa on Tuesdays for about three years, but other than that I prefer not to do a weekly residency. I do an awful lot of one-offs all around the country, which actually means more work for me, and reaching more people; besides, doing the same gig gets repetitive and boring.

I also need the time to spend on my own work. I've had a couple of singles out. At the moment I've a new 12-inch EP, Good Wool Hunting. It's out on a label owned by a DJ, Johnny Moy, Influx Records. The label is about two years old: it does hip-hop, but its ethos is: we'll release anything that's good.

I think I've been into hip-hop all my life. LL Cool J was a big favourite, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys. These days - well, what do I like this week? Roots, Manoeuvre, Quanum, new school breaks stuff. Hip-hop nowadays is quite an amalgamation of stuff, with influences everywhere from techno to jungle.

My typical day would actually start at about nine in the morning. I've a studio in my house so I head in there, check the post - I usually get sent a few records - then if I've a gig that night I'd do a bit of preparation. I'd get a list of records together and if I'm working on any new stuff myself I'd see how it fits in.

I'd put everything in some order, but it's not too strict. I'd usually start out slowish and build up to the end with the more in-your-face stuff.

At the moment I'm working with a rapper from Limerick, MC Poetic. He comes up at the weekends and we've been pretty busy recording song and preparing live shows. We did our first gig at Homelands, in Butlins, the other week, which wasbrilliant.

Rap these days is generally less political and more introspective, about the self. MC Poetic's stuff is pretty abstract, sort of holistic - New Age meets hip-hop, with a Limerick accent! Afternoons I might be working on a jingle, or else I do my own stuff. If I've a gig on, I pack up my records and my headphones, get to the club just before it opens, and switch the on button.

There have been so many changes in hip-hop in the last five years. It was all about the rapper there for a while, but the sexism and gangsta stuff has taken a back seat. It's back in the hands of people who are very creative, more like jazz and less sensational, more rooted in what hip-hop really is.

As long as it's funky, the beats make you dance, and the lyrics create a reaction, it's hip-hop, and I like it.

The greatest hip-hop travesty of all times would probably be Vanilla Ice - and the Run DMC Christmas song!

Being able to produce and play music for a living is a privilege. These days people come more and more because there is a particular DJ playing.

People would certainly come to gigs around the country because it was me, which is a certain amount of recognition and it's great when you feel there's someone out there who likes what you do. The one thing I don't like about it is the work politics, but there's politics in every job.

In an interview with Jackie Bourke

DJ Wool's 12-inch EP, Good Wool Hunting, is out now on Influx Records.