International DJ with roots in Norfolk youth work to drop fifth album
BCee, or Steve Jefroy, a drum and base DJ based in Palgrave near Diss. PHOTO: ROSSUMEDIA - Credit: Archant
He is the music success story from Norfolk you have never heard of.
DJ BCee, Steven Jefroy, started out his successful career as a drum and bass artist in Diss, Norfolk. Pictured by Diss Mere. PHOTO: Sophie Smith - Credit: Archant
BCee, otherwise known as Steve Jefroy, returned from a tour of Australia in October, has hundreds of thousands of listeners on Spotify and Youtube, and is just about to drop his fifth album, Shouting About Nothing, since starting out in 2001.
Yet the root of BCee's success lies in a small youth centre in the Norfolk town of Diss.
The Thetford-born father-of-two said: 'My career into doing DJing as a job started off at Diss Youth Centre when they wanted someone to teach DJing.
'They'd had a quote for around £6,000 I think. I was working on a farm in Bressingham but I could DJ, so as a bit of a joke I said I'll do it for half. I was 19, so when they said yes that was more than I earnt in a month!
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'I ended up being a youth worker for Diss Youth Services for a few years then in 2001 I had my first actual release come out and I've been tinkering with music ever since. For seven years I ran Kadesh Education in Diss, which was run out of what used to be DC3.'
Founding his own label Spearhead in 2005, BCee has continued to help young people by signing the likes of fellow drum and bass acts Hybrid Minds and Dexcell .
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In 2017 the manufacturing and production of his fourth album, Northpoint, was crowdfunded by more than £10,000. BCee said: 'I hadn't written any music for a couple of years then did this crowdfunding thing and I just kept going. Because I wasn't writing without an album in mind I've made loads of tracks that are heavily influenced by music I used to listen to.
'A lot of the time I want to write music for people who don't actually like drum and bass who might go, 'I didn't realise this is drum and bass, I like this'. In this album there's a bit of that but it's a lot more geared to the dance floor.'
The 10th birthday party Spearhead Records, founded by Steve Jefroy in Palgrave. PHOTO: Ben Donoghue - Credit: Archant
The 42-year-old has now settled in Palgrave, where he runs the Spearhead. He said: 'It's where my family are, I've raised my kids here. When you look at London it's so flipping expensive you can't afford the same sort of lifestyle you live in here. Who doesn't want to live just outside Diss?'
Shouting About Nothing is out on March 1, with a launch at The Pickle Factory in London on March 2, and a night at OPEN Norwich on May 10.
BCee, or Steve Jefroy, a drum and base DJ at one of his nights. PHOTO: Spearhead Records - Credit: Archant
