One of the proud and over worked owners of Subculture, Downtown (aka Simon Hendl) has been in the DJ game since 95 when a nasty turntable habit began to drag him away from a career in medicine.

After graduating Otago Med in 98, his musical addiction flared up into a full-time occupation. In 2000 he failed to return from a 2 week DJ tour to Queenstown and has been a resident ever since!

His current schedule sees him play regularly in Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, often with his kick-ass sunshine MCs Killa Puha, Switch and P-Digsss.

As happy jamming solo as with his awesome lyricists, Downtown's selections reflect a passion for a wide variety of music, but a typical set will often take the party from reggae, dub, dancehall, funk, soul, underground hiphop and breaks to ragga junglism and back again.

Citing NZ legend Manuel Bundy as the reason for hitting the turntables 12 years ago, Downtown's solid skills, funky selection and uncanny ear for a musical mix have earned numerous accolades including best mixtape at the BNet awards in 2002, satisfied dancefloors, and the respect of the NZ music community.

A lazy but occasionally devastating producer, DTB has been taking his sweet time since buying his first sampler in 1998, but his small discography of some 20 tunes includes some lethal bootlegs such as the 1998 Billie Jean/New York tribute NYC Movin which made Tune of the Month in UK mags iDJ & Mixmag, and some tasty originals like As Of Lately with P-Digsss on vox. Keep your ears peeled in 07 for more deadly bootleg business and some long overdue collaborations with the Sunshine MCs.

Always happy to school young punks at table tennis or talk music and shit over a drop of his widely feared Chilli Tequila, this laid back and painfully polite brother has made a big contribution to DJ culture in this country, and his Friday night Sunshine Jams are another damn good reason to visit subculture.