My friend Paul Anderson, who has died aged 63 of a heart condition, was a teacher of children with behavioural difficulties. He also had a parallel existence as a DJ specialising in house music.
In the classroom Paul showed a deep understanding of how to develop a rapport with institution-averse teenagers, and had a knack of keeping them engaged.
Behind the turntable he was the principal organiser of a DJ collective known as tVC, which was integral to the free party scene in Kent in the 1990s, organising all-night raves in the countryside and commandeering pieces of public land.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne to Sheila (nee Greaves), a nurse, and William, a shipyard worker, Paul went to Hebburn comprehensive school and then to Kent University, where he studied English and film. He graduated in 1989, after which he did a variety of jobs, including working at Canterbury Wholefoods, a vegetarian health food shop.
In 2002 he switched to teaching, first as a tutor at Kent Adult Education College in Sittingbourne, followed by Westwood Alternative Curriculum Centre in Margate, Skills Gateway in Chatham and then Nacro Chatham, where he worked while doing teacher training at Canterbury Christ Church University.
From 2012 to 2016 he was a functional skills tutor at Manchester College on the Isle of Sheppey, before moving to Maidstone Skill Centre in a similar role.
Paul had started DJing in Newcastle, playing mainly chart music in clubs such as Downbeat, Dingwalls and Rockshots. As a student in Kent he had regular nights playing a mix of reggae, hip-hop and grunge at the Rutherford bar in Canterbury.
Later, after moving to Whitstable, he did weekly benefit gigs at the Whitstable Labour Club, where I booked him, playing American hardcore and thrash and raising funds for the Animal Liberation Front, Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd. After that, in the early 90s, he discovered deep house, which became his signature sound from then on.
He also played regularly at the East Kent pub, Whitstable, and the Penny theatre in Canterbury, as well as all over Kent and sometimes in London. His final residency, only months before he died, was at the Coach and Horses, Whitstable, where there is a plaque commemorating his association with the venue.
Paul’s love for DJing was a manifestation not just of his commitment to music but of his great talent for bringing people together, whether in a field, on the dancefloor, around the dinner table or down the pub. He was kind, open-hearted and generous with his time.
In 2017 he was forced to give up teaching after his eyes began to fail, and the following year he was registered as partially sighted. However, he never gave up being a DJ, and despite the difficulties he encountered with his eyesight, managed to keep going with the use of a large font on his computer, a magnifying glass and a white stick. He played his last set at a party at a friend’s house only three hours before he died.
He is survived by his partner, Clare Tindall, his mother and a brother, Colin.
