Lee Kavanagh still doesn't think he's got what it takes.

Never mind that his first dance tune has been played on the radio and no less than four record labels are looking at signing him.

Most people would be popping champagne corks left right and centre. But Lee doesn't see it that way: "I think I've got good ideas in my head, but they still need working at - I've only just started feeling positive and more confident," says the 23-year-old from Southend.

There's no doubt that his single, Circle, is a winner though. Within hours of being pressed, Essex FM's John Leech was playing it on his dance show: "I was on my way back from dropping it off, turned on the radio and he was playing it."

Vibe FM's Gringo put it at number one in his chart two weeks running, and Pete Tong has even played it. Not bad for someone who just "thought of a tune one day."

But life's hardly been a bunch of roses for Circle, hence Lee's uncertainty for what the future holds for it and his production name, Due South.

You see, Circle has in itself come round again. The Circle causing all the fuss at the moment is a re-mix of the Circle Lee initially produced with Louis Gaston back in September. Confused? Join the club.

"I sent it to a record company and it was with them for six months, then they dropped it because they said the promo had struggled," he attempted to explain.

But as luck would have it, Essex FM's top man Paul Chantler heard it and gave it round to all the Essex FM DJs to see what they thought.

By the time a new '99 - er - spin, had been put on Circle, everyone was ready to lap it up. Lee had got his break.

But so what? Another producer brings out another tune. Happens every day doesn't it? Perhaps it does, and in his relatively short producing career Lee has had enough knockbacks to know this is far from the big time. Nevertheless, his is more of an achievement than most.

He makes no secret of his dyslexia. It's what got him into music in the first place, and is probably why he has such a bent for knowing a tune: "At school I used to go to the school music class out of frustration and play the keyboard - it all stems back from then.

"Because I can play music and not read or write, I channel myself in that one direction."

At the moment that direction is pointing up. If Circle doesn't get signed his new tune, Necrum, will.

"The Low Sense label is the most keen - they said they want me to be their next project," Lee says, and anyway, if that doesn't come to anything there's a million other tunes in Lee's head.

One thing is for certain - before long every clubber will have heard a Lee Kavanagh tune, and maybe then he will realise he can cut the mustard.

Second time round - Lee Kavanagh's reworked his original tune after it had lain in the doldrums with a record company. Interest for the new piece is high

Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL Serving up a unique sound

Breakfast, dinner, and tea. Not the most obvious way to describe a new tune, but who can argue with the bloke who produced it?

Circle is, indeed, three servings of uplifting, meet-me-on-the-beach-at-sunrise trance house. It's the Cafe Del Mar-esque Spanish guitar that does it, and the samples that could be water lapping gently on the beach, or a roller blader skating off your snout.

You just can't work it out. That or where you've heard the African chant before, at least until you get home in some incoherent state one night and put on the Lion King for no particular reason.

So in a nutshell, this has enough familiar samples to have you guessing all the way to the record shop. Just don't eat it. Southend club news round-up

BAR CENTRAL

Southend's newest nightspot, Bar Central on Lucy Road, is having an identity crisis. Drinkers rammed the place to see Lucifire, and then promptly left after they got an eyeful, sparking a management re-think on club content.

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but the talk is of turning the place into another club with a rota of promoters putting nights on.

SAKS

Saks in Clifftown Road continues to lead the midweek club revolution with another new night. Moving On Up, which starts tonight, is the brainchild of Rob, who puts on Periphery with Neil Quinn, and you will hear everything from Bowie to Big Beat apparently.

If you were wondering what happened to Neil Quinn and Phil Lamb's night of breakbeat heaven, I Love What I'm Doing, it will be back on May 22 for one of only a few nights at Saks this year.

Neil said he was aiming for quality rather than quantity this year, so it could be one to remember. The pair are concentrating their efforts on London gigs as well.

GLOW

Pete Tong has been confirmed to play Glow in Lucy Road on its third birthday night. The official most powerful man in dance music (according to Musik magazine) will appear on May 15. Look out for a club page feature soon.

JACK OF CLUBS

The countdown to Freshly Squeezed has begun. The night of pure juicy house will launch at Jack of Clubs in Lucy Road on March 20, with Louis Gaston, Leigh Stone and me at the decks.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.