Calvin Harris has said the “traumatic” experience of working in an Annan fish factory made him the man he is today.
The Dumfries music superstar worked at the town’s former Pinney’s plant for a year after leaving school at 17.
His said the daily routine of dealing with “slop” and “banter” with staff was what he needed to make the transition to adulthood.
The LA-based DJ said: “I worked in Annan for a year when I was 17 in a fish factory. It served me well. I had a number of roles. We made ready meals. I sent prawns over to the other side. I cooked the prawns.
“Another thing I did was mini-fillets, where you get a big mix of what can only be described as slop.
“You’d put it in the top of the machine and it came out in oblong shapes, then you put them on a baking tray and in an oven and they’re never seen again.
“It was absolute banter every day. It turned me into a man. That’s what it did. Humbling.”
It was his first job out of school at what was “a traumatic time” because all his friends had gone to university and he stayed behind to make music in his bedroom.
It turned out to be Adam Wiles’s best decision. As Calvin Harris, his home-made first album, 2007’s I Created Disco, led him on a journey that has so far netted him two No1 albums and 10 No1 singles in the UK, as well as global success.
He has had two No1s with Rihanna, including We Found Love, has dated Taylor Swift and Rita Ora, and is worth £230million.
Once smelling of fish, Calvin, 37, has come up smelling of roses.
Annie Lennox also found fame in the Eurythmics after working in a fish farm in her home city of Aberdeen.
She said: “I didn’t want to sign on, as a lot of musicians at the time had to.”
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