IT will be the first house night in the history of the Parr Hall.

And who better to get the 120-year-old venue bouncing than a Grammy-nominated pioneer of the scene?

Thanks to Warrington DJs Josh Butler and James Glover, Todd Terry will be hitting the decks on Saturday, April 15.

Josh, from Stockton Heath, and James, a Great Sankey resident, started coming up with the idea for a house night at the concert hall after meeting up with Todd at Cafe Mambo in Ibiza.

Todd also recently collaborated with Josh on a track for his record label called Origins and agreed to appear on a documentary he is making.

“We’ll be working together a lot more,” said Todd, who found fame in 1995 when his remix of Everything But The Girl’s Missing became a worldwide smash.

“Josh has just got a good head on his shoulders and really knows how to arrange music and keep it simple. He just gets it.

“We’ve kept in touch and since then we’ve been seeing each other in Ibiza and London.

“I introduced him to my friends, he introduced me to his crew and then he played my party in Amsterdam which really brought us close together as he was filming stuff for his documentary and there was a good vibe.

“It reminded me of when I was that age and meeting new people and making records with people. It becomes a family thing.”

Todd grew up listening to European dance music records in Brooklyn in the 1980s and started experimenting with music himself after convincing some friends to show him how it was done.

The 49-year-old added: “A couple of friends in my neighbourhood would DJ at parties. Back then the DJ would simply play a record, wait until it ends and then play another record.

“Then they got a mixer and it was like a whole new life. Now you could mix two records together.

“That’s how I got into it. I learned from them little by little by going to their house every other day.”

Despite being totally immersed in the Brooklyn scene, Todd struggled to get a break until he was discovered on the other side of the Atlantic.

He made a name for himself in 1988 in England cutting underground tracks like A Day In The Life, Weekend and Can You Party under monikers such as the Todd Terry Project, House Of Gypsies and Royal House.

Todd, known for using samples that blend the sounds of disco, the Chicago sound and hip-hop, said: “In New York my music was played in the clubs but I couldn’t get any real radio play in the US.

“So when I started getting attention in the UK that was an enormous deal for me.”

In the mid 90s, the Ministry of Sound’s UK label released A Day In The Life, a collection of Todd Terry tracks. The exposure led to a deal with Mercury Records allowing him to work with his favourite singers and performers.

The first release Keep On Jumpin’, featuring Martha Wash and Jocelyn Brown, became a top 10 UK hit and the follow-up, Somethin’ Goin’ On was a top five UK hit.

Since then Todd has worked with the likes of Annie Lennox, George Michael, Cher, Janet Jackson and Bjork as a remix artist.

Todd added: “I did enjoy that because these were big stars. I did a mix for the Rolling Stones and even though I’d talk to one of the guys here and there I was still involved with a huge band.”

Those opportunities, of course, paved the way for his collaboration with Everything But The Girl.

The remix of Missing topped the US Billboard top 40 as well as the charts in Canada, Denmark and Italy. It reached number three in the UK.

Todd added: “I just knew it was a great song. I always liked to do alternative records on the side with house beats.

“It bridges the gap between the two styles because a lot of the alternative records have a melody that fits well with house. It has the same feel.

“If it’s too poppy it doesn’t often work but I knew it could work with Missing. House DJs and rock stars have the same kind of power.

“Seeing it go to number one and becoming the most popular record at that particular time was a good push for me especially since it was a different kind of record.

“It wasn’t a house record. It was an alternative, pop, club banger so it hit a lot of different areas.”

Todd still does around 70 shows a year. He will mostly be in the UK, Spain and Italy for 2017 but he said the life of a DJ is not as glamorous as it is sounds.

He said: “It’s hard to think about going on a trip with your family or anything like that because there aren’t enough gaps.

“And sometimes it’s three or four days sitting around waiting for the next gig.

“I try to work on records but sometimes you’re in these places where there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do.

“Right now I’m in Wales but there’s nothing to do here until Friday and Saturday.

“But the club is the dream, the club is the life. That’s what you get there for. You want that moment.”

So what is it like to be considered a pioneer of the house scene?

“That’s a great place to be but I’m still learning like everyone else,” Todd added.

“I was just lucky in the era when it was really booming and people were excited about the sound.”

  •  Todd Terry is at Parr Hall on April 15. There will also be sets by Josh Butler, James Glover and Barry May and Mike Wood. Visit pyramidparrhall.com or call 442345.