I’ve never been to Carnival before, so I’m really extra excited about this weekend. I’ve been warming up with Blaise’s special mix, learning all the lingo, dance moves, etc., and yesterday, to make my preparation even more complete, I went round to carnival legend Gaz Mayall’s house.

For those of you who don’t know, and this includes me until about 48 hours ago, Gaz is the founder of London’s longest running club night Gaz’s Rockin Blues, which started in 1979. He also DJs and plays with his band the The Trojans. But this guy is much more than a DJ, he was born with real musical pedigree as the eldest son of Blues legend John Mayall. Gaz formed a bond with real skinheads in the 60’s – like the guys in This Is England but not racist – and his love and knowledge of reggae has only grown since then.

I caught up with him at his flat to have a look at his mammoth record collection, watch him water his plants, and listen to his revolutionary plans for this years carnival.

After we visited the yard where Gaz’s stage will be at this years Carnival he told me he has been at every Carnival since 1963. This year I will be joining him, it’s going to be big.