Viral You Tube videos, Glastonbury sets and playing at Beat Herder Festival wraps up Blackpool musician Dave Clough's 'happy ever after'

“I’m not fussed about fame or money,” said the Blackpool raised 54-year-old, “if it all ended now, I’ve already achieved so much. It’s my happy ever after.”

He’s notched up too many gigs to mention, now meets friends from the world of music at Glastonbury, every year, and says playing in front of thousands is like going home.

In the decade of the noughties, Dave was couch surfing and struggling to keep to the run-of-the-mill nine to five lifestyle. Underneath it all he desperately wanted to turn his music passion into something much more.

He’d been with Preston band Tin Gods for seven years and learned his stage discipline playing live to pub crowds. That was in the late nineties but by 2007 he was ready for a change and decided to get back to his Acid House dance music roots. He started playing seriously again, putting together his own sequences.

But it wasn’t until 2012 when he got his big break.

He’d joined friends at the new Rejuvenation Club in Leeds and they invited him to a party the following week.

Dave, who now lives in Cheshire with partner Caroline Jamieson, explained: "They said to bring a bottle and a gift but I couldn’t do either of those – but what I was able to do was put some music together.

"I had a week to do it so I chose five of my favourite songs, transcribed them by ear and played it at the party."

The spine-tingling classic house music mash-up was an instant hit with his mates who videoed it and uploaded to You Tube.

"Before I went to bed there were 200 hits,” said Dave who goes under the stage name of Davos, “and by the time I woke up the next day there had been 110,000 views, I couldn’t believe it.

"Seeing its success was an odd feeling. Homelessness embeds worthlessness in you and I didn’t believe it. My inbox was filling up with requests from people who wanted to work with me. I had imposter syndrome, it was half joy, half fear.”

The video had gone viral and Dave instantly had some of the biggest names in dance music knocking on his door, offering to represent him. He chose to work with DJ Andy Carroll from Liverpool’s iconic Cream and music producer Anthony Donnelly. Key moments in those early days included playing big clubs such as Bowlers and Street Rave in Glasgow.

Everything he performs includes backing tracks but Dave’s uniqueness comes from his ability to play the piano parts live. It’s a rarity which sets him aside from the rest.

His first Glastonbury date was 2013 and he’s performed every year since. Last month he played alongside K Klass in front of thousands of music lovers and says “theres not really any words for it, it is absolutely brilliant.”

This weekend Dave will be at Ribble Valley’s Beat Herder Festival. He used to go as a punter and finds it surreal that he now performs instead. He says it is one of the only ‘pure’ festivals left. “It’s one of Lancashire’s jewels in the crown.”

You Tube which went viral is courtesy of Vicky Lewis.