Steps' Lee Latchford-Evans might just be the busiest chap in pop. Not content with completing an arena tour, promoting new single A Hundred Years of Winter, becoming a father to baby Leo and announcing a headline Mighty Hoopla slot for next summer, he's only gone and added the role of DJ to his ever-growing CV.
Now if anyone knows their way around a pop banger, it's our Lee. Having released 25 years' worth of bops alongside Claire Richards, Ian 'H' Watkins, Lisa Scott-Lee and Faye Tozer-Smith, he's a veteran at this point.
So it makes total sense that he's set to hit the decks and serve some '90s nostalgia at The Clapham Grand Christmas Party at London's Clapham Grand next week.
On Friday December 17th Lee will join S Club All Stars, TeTe Bang, the lads behind the Right Back At Ya! podcast and more for the ultimate festive soirée; and we caught up with him for a chat about what we can expect.
Chatting about his set, Lee told us, "I’m quite serious when I put my mind to something; I don’t just want to smile for the camera and pretend. I want to get involved and learn how to do it.
"I got taught how to mix tracks a while back and I took to it quite quickly. I was quite surprised. I think doing dance for many years, being in the music industry and going through the recording process helped. To DJ, you need an ear for the beat and how the songs will blend.
"I’m really happy to be doing this DJ slot at Clapham Grand and to be playing those tracks from the nineties and noughties. It’s my era; it’s when Steps were first around."
"I'll be playing songs from all the acts I used to be performing on stage with; everyone from Britney Spears to Five and S Club. All those huge hits. It'll be great."
Mate, we love NOTHING more than a proper nineties anthem. Sign us up.
What tunes are guaranteed to get Lee on the dancefloor, then?
"I loved a bit of Dario G and Baby D," he says. "That kind of music. Not full-on trance, but commercial dance. Tracks like Naked in the Rain by Blue Pearl."
And as if that wasn't enough to be getting on with, Steps have just announced their headline slot at next year's Mighty Hoopla festival.
Hitting London's Brockwell Park on Friday 3rd June 2022 alongside Anastacia, Natalie Imbruglia, Jamelia and more, the band will be celebrating 25 years in pop and have some big plans in the works.
Asked what Steps fans can expect from the milestone, Lee told us, "We have a summer tour and, if you've seen the tour just gone, there'll be bits of that in there.
"We'll be balancing the old with the new; that's what everybody wants. It's lovely to have the nostalgia, but we have a whole new fanbase coming along now too. It blows my mind to say we've been around for 25 years. I'd have said 25 minutes on the audition day.
"We've got a very strong, very loyal fanbase. Without them, we wouldn't be here.
"When we release our new music, they want the physical copies. They want the CDs, the tapes and the records. We've got to do some more of that for the 25 years.
"Maybe a new album. We haven't spoken about a new album yet, but it would be great to do one. We [use social media] to ask fans what they want, get their opinions and cater to that as closely as we can.
"We'll do that next year; throw some feelers out there. We know we've got the summer shows, but we'll ask if there's something else we can do. Some more icing on the cake to celebrate the 25 years."
YES to a new album. YES to vinyl reissues. YES to more shows.
Cheers, Lee.
Tickets for The Clapham Grand Christmas Party with Lee, S Club United, Right Back At Ya and loads more on Friday December 17th are available now.
Tickets for Mighty Hoopla 2022 with Steps, Sugababes, Jessie Ware and more are also on sale right now. Go, go, go.