A FRIEND took Ethan Wighton backstage at a festival in Port Macquarie, when he left he'd somehow locked in a gig with Australian DJ heavyweight Will Sparks.
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Known as DJ Big Wheelz, Wighton bought himself a set of DJ decks after a workshop at Camp Quality.
Surprised at how quickly he picked it up, he's followed his talent and now produces his own house and dance music - the only difference is that the cleverly named DJ does it from a wheelchair.
A fatty tumour on his spine caused his spinal cord to split at the age of seven, he's had more than 25 operations to drain as much of the tumour as possible and has had rods put in from the age of four.
"You're just sitting down at the end of the day," Wighton said.
"When I was a baby whenever my mum and dad picked me up I'd just scream and I was really slow to start walking.
"They did some tests and MRI's and picked it up, when I was two-and-a-half I had a surgery to try to drain as much as they could but because it's not cancerous they couldn't really kill it."
The Tamworth local is set to play alongside Will Sparks and DJ Tigerlilly at Tamworth show Lunar Light.
He hopes to make a career out of it.
"DJ-ing can take you all over the world if you're good at it," he said.
"It will be a wild night once it gets into it but it will be really fun."
It all came about after Sparks shared Wighton's music on his Instagram account.
When I was a baby whenever my mum and dad picked me up I'd just scream and I was really slow to start walking.
- Ethan Wighton
His sound is funky house music that's easy to dance to - and it's more technical than one might think.
Big Wheelz throws in a bit of bootleg in his sets, mixing popular songs and RnB.
"It's about mixing the songs to get the timing right so it doesn't sound clunky, people probably don't notice after a while but the popular songs get people going and so does RnB," he said.
"It really depends who's there and what they like to listen to."
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At age 16, Wighton went to Camp Quality with his younger brother who was diagnosed with leukaemia, he said.
"They picked me up to take me out of the home and spend more time with people who had disabilities and that sort of background," he said.
"From there I made a mix and people just told me to keep at it."
It was there that he learned to DJ with Dave Goode from the PotBellez and Goode was blown away by how quickly Wighton picked up the art.
His next DJ run-in was when Bombs Away performed at The Albert.
And, he'll be back again for Lunar Light on April 13 alongside Will Sparks, DJ Tigerlilly, Mashd N Kutcher, Nick Skitz and more.
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
