A resident DJ at Fat Sam’s in Dundee has quit after 33 years on the decks.
Craig Douris has been spinning discs at the iconic venue – more recently known as Club Tropicana – since he was just 16.
Now aged 49, Craig – whose day job is a teacher at Grange Primary School in Monifieth – has stepped down to pursue other interests.
He had his last performance on Saturday night.
Craig told The Courier: “It came to a point where it felt like I needed to move on and do other things.
“I’m fairly busy and have been running multiple jobs.
“I have been on the 80s floor of the club for a while now and playing music that’s not really to my tastes.
“I thought it was time to try out new projects.”
Craig got his first gig at the South Ward Road club by chance.
He said: “I had already started to perform, working as a mobile DJ and helping a colleague with some pub contracts.
“My sister Elaine was the manageress at Fat Sam’s and called me one Saturday night in a panic because the usual DJ had called in sick and she couldn’t get anyone else to help out.
“I didn’t have the biggest record collection but I took what I had and went to cover.
“From then on I was helping out every Friday and Saturday night.
Performing every weekend since 1996
“Dave Calikes came back to DJ and Elaine asked him if he could teach me how to mix.
“I was pretty much his apprentice and would do some warm-ups for him as well as cover if he was unavailable.
“Sadly he passed in 1996 and from then on I’ve played every weekend.”
Craig says his early gigs came when clubbing was enjoying a boom in popularity.
He said: “The house days were my favourite. The club changed hands and it just grew.
“Some weekends the club held up to 3,000 people.
“The explosion of the rave and dance scene made Fat Sam’s the place to be.
“There were people dancing on the speakers, the entire room was sweating. It was a great time.”
Craig also had the chance to play alongside some big names during his time as a DJ.
He said: “I’ve performed at club nights with Boy George and K-Klass, those nights were always one big party.
“I’ve also DJed with Mike McDonald who organises Dundee Dance Event and gave Hannah Laing a hand when she performed as DJ Coco.
“I’ve met so many great people over the years.”
With his time at Club Tropicana at an end, Craig is looking to the future.
He said: “The club changed hands around eight years ago and it’s an entirely different theme.
“80s music just doesn’t tend to my passion so I felt the time was right.
“I do have some things lined up that I can’t really speak about, but the future is exciting.”
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