During this period, his employment included a low-paying job in a shoe shop; however, his musical ambitions were established at this stage of his life: "I used to tell people when I was working in a shoe shop that I would one day travel the world based on a career in music... I was that driven." Musical success began when he attained a DJ residency at the Brighton nightclub "Toppers", which rivalled a club night run by John Digweed (then known as DJ JD). Clarke later explained that he regarded the period "as an apprenticeship".