Well welcome all to the truth on the guy you all know as Dj Tempo, where better to start on this delve into his personal life, past, ambitions & goals that the past... So here we go

The Beginning...

Dj Tempo, aka, Lee Jennings, arrived on the 18th May 1982. He lived in a small estate in the Medway Towns, South East Kent and grew up in a typical working class family, His mother was a housewife and father a plasterer (Aswell as being a full time criminal but we'll come back to "him" later).

School(s)...

By the age of 7-8 Lee (Tempo) was already diving head first into his michivious side & before long got himself permanently excluded from Juniour School. By this time Lee and his mother had moved & had no contact with his original father, who as said before due to his career choices, spent most of his time ironing shirts at Her Majesty's pleasure. This however didn't bother Lee or his mother as by now he had a good caring step father & his mother, a good partner.  Slightly fastforwarding Lee eventually ended up in another Junior / Pre Secondary school, yet despite his past mischivious, actions decided to bring them back up by putting his hand through a door window in the middle of the school day! After 48 hours spent in hospital Lee was back at school and eventually ended up in secondary (God help them). Secondary was not a smooth ride for Lee, as he was slightly behind in his lessons from not paying attention at school prior to secondary. However despite the problems & bullying he encountered he went on to gain a small handfull of GCSE's.

Moving on now from school & Lee aged 16 decided to leave his parents house & set up his own little home, whilst here Lee decided to take up college to improve his overall goal of joining the Army (As if school wasn't bad enough!). Whilst at college Lee gained all the know how on how to set up & use a PC, how to build one and how to improve personal skills which he gained from a short side line course with the Princes Trust Volunteers. Eventually Lee left college with the skills he wanted & started applying to the Army.

Now the Army was something Lee always wanted to do from being a young lad and playing "soldiers" with his ex serviceman grandfather who himself had served in The Royal Life Guards & toured Cyprus in the early 60's. One hurdle stopped Lee twice though when applying and that was his fitness & general "attitude" so after a period of self employment and work hear and there Lee decided to give the Army one last try (3rd time lucky?). When Lee arrived at Pirbright Recruit Selection Centre his nerves where running wild, he didn't want to let himself down and most importantly he didn't want to let his family down so he gave it all he had and after 3 medicals, 3 one and a half mile runs & countless sit ups Lee finally left pirbright as a Recruit not as a civilian & couldn't wait to start his new life in the RAMC.

The Army...

Lee, by now aged 18 began basic training in Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Stransall, York which is where he learnt to tie his boots, iron his clothes and polish a turd. The 4 week basic training course was one of Tempo's most memorable (and exhausting) occasions & here he made a lot of lifelong friends. Although the details are sketchy Lee did a full advanced first aid course, became an NBC instructor & passed out from basic training as a trade ready Private!

The next part wasn't enjoyable at all, infact Lee hated it. Lesson after lesson preceded the basic training and hours were spent in the classroom learning all aspects of his trade as a Combat Medical Technician. Though not all lessons where in the classroom, some consisted of weapon training where he would fire live ammunition on an open range to improve eventual battle performance, discipline and fitness training; combined by running 4 miles in full kit with a large rucksack weighing in at 30lbs, this included rifle and helmet. Lee eventually became a qualified CMT and was a battle ready soldier. For the first time in his life Lee knew he had achieved something he had wanted to do since a young age & he couldn't have felt prouder than he did when he was homeward bound to see his family.

Turmoil...

Soon after Lee got home orders where posted through his door & the orders were... Prepare for War! Lee was a bit concerned by this but in all wasn't too phased. After all he had been in the army now for 3 years and was ready as ever for the call and was smiling on the inside now that call had finally come. Lee was pulled into full on training again, camping out in Thetford Forest in the middle of Winter, full on marches and runs for distances of 8 miles together with other friends from the same unit as he was based. Then the fatefull day happened, the day that ended Lee's career in his tracks! During an 8 mile run / Jog / March a young lady (who's name we cannot mention), dropped from exhaustion infront of the battle ready private & subsequently due to the close proximity of the two he stumbled over her & severly damaged his knee. This eventually led to him being medically discharged from the Army...indefinately, or as he saw it & still describes it as being "Tossed aside like a used johnny"

From this point Lee began a fast downward spiral, from losing his job in the Army to losing his grandmother infront of him. Lee started to spiral into a state of depression, even his relationship began to crumble (A girl which he had met at college). Debts began to pile up and Lee ended up signing bits of paper for a living *(Also known as Job seekers allowance). Soon it all became too much and Lee just said ENOUGH! He decided to leave his homeland & move 400 miles west, into Wales.

Now whilst in Wales things began to run smoothly again, that is until he began getting abuse from the local neighbour hood "Chavs" who began smashing the windows of his house, threatening him with violence & damaging his property in other "creative" manners. At this time Lee was living in a small town in Swansea called Blaen-Y-Maes well known to the locals as "The Bronx" and due to Lee obviously being of english heritage he became the victim of racist abuse and taunting. Again Lee decided enough was enough and decided to move 5 miles from the area to a much nicer part; where he spent a good couple of years, met two very good friends (which he still holds much respect for) & had good neighbours. During this time Lee began his personal fitness regime again after letting himself go slightly. He began by applying to a local credit company & financing a high performance mountain bike which they agreed to. Lee was for a short time, happy with life. Things where soon to change!

Tragedy strikes again...

On the afternoon of April 4th 2004 Lee decided to take his bike for a test run, all went well and he returned home early evening for a short break before going back out to nip to the local Pizza Hut! After an hour or two, Lee took his place back on the small uncomfortable sports saddle & began riding at a steady speed down hill. He soon began to realise something wasn't right with the handlebars but couldn't put his finger on it so, for the time being decided to leave it be. BIG MISTAKE! In Swansea there is a locally known hill titled "Mount Pleasant" (anyone from Swansea reading this will be familiar with it) far from being a hill though, this "hill" lives upto its name and more closely resembles a mountain. Halfway down the mount and Lee fealt it necessary to apply the breaks as he was riding on a main road and travelling at above comfortable speeds. Lee soon realised the earlier problem with the handlebars... The brake handle for the rear brake had a large crack in it & as soon as Lee began to apply pressure, it snapped clean away and was left dangling useless from the bar! Travelling at an excess of 30+mph Lee in his attempts to prevent a collision, placed the heal of his shoe against the rear wheel. This in turn caused the rear wheel to swing side to side, bouncing each time off the side of the kerb. There were cars still whistling past his right hand side and against his better judgement Lee applied pressure to his one working break... The front one!

Lee suddenly realised what a mistake he had made as the bike flipped, throwing him head first into the cold hard pavement, the bike landing hard against his back, Lee tumbled 6-8 foot down the hill, his unprotected head and arms / legs grinding along the stone wall and the rough pavement below. After a short period of unconsciousness Lee slowly rose to his feet & stumbled to the police station at the base of the hill. Here he informed the police of the accident and before long found himself in A&E with a broken wrist, severe head injuries and severe lacerations. Despite these injuries though and due to the incompetence of the Welsh NHS Service Lee was sent home the same evening, bleeding heavily & with severe head ache from the not at first apparent concussion he had incurred.

Despite these injuries though nothing could prepare Lee for the hard blow he received only a short time after. One evening when sat infront of the TV enjoying a can of beer & a sandwhich, Lee recieved "The Call" and it's a call he's never able to forget. The kind that anyone in the same situation wouldnt forget. It was his mother telling Lee that his step father had died suddenly and unexpectedly, something which Lee has always remembered. The man that had taken his lazy, incompetent Father's place and had taken it so perfectly; proved eventually to be a loving, caring "Father" rather than just plain old step father. The man that taught Lee how to "be a man" had been ripped from Lee's family & had left his Mother without a partner... his brother and sisters without a father. This is the main kick that prompted Lee to take his initial hobby of DJ'ing into a full time musical talent & persued it all the way, despite the turmoil between him and his partner. His eventual homelessnes & everything inbetween.

A new beginning?

Despite all the problems Lee had in his life, in 2008 he managed to complete a signing to Welsh record label Dance Jam Music, this in turn gave Lee the confidence to pursue his musical talent further and shortly after the signing he released his first website "djtempo.co.uk". This was at the time hosted by two people he had came to know online and through instant messaging clients. Sadly within months the site dried out as did the friendship between Lee & his host, this led to the closure of his website which at the time was only a small issue, as shortly after Lee opened his first Record Label "Tempo Records" to this day the label still runs & is still run by Lee. Now we begin the present!

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All work by Dj Tempo / Lee Jennings is done in memory of his father the one man he will always be thankfull to & will always remember, rock on. RIP