HENRY Gunter grew up listening to Fatboy Slim but never dreamed he would one day appear on the same festival line-up as the Brighton superstar DJ.

Yet the University of Sussex student, who goes by the stage name HenryJ, will be spinning tunes a day after headliner Norman Cook at Wild Life festival on Saturday after winning a competition.

Henry came out on top of a 32-strong shortlist in a contest that was judged by The Argus as well as other local media sources.

He will perform on the Kopperberg Urban Forest Stage at the festival which was established by electronic music acts Rudimental and Disclosure in 2015. The event is held at Shoreham Airport.

Henry, 21, said he was “overwhelmed” by the news and “had to read the email back to myself a few times”.

He added: “I thought I had no chance of winning because when I looked at the line-up on that stage I didn’t think my style fitted in with the other acts. I went my own way – I didn’t conform to what I thought they wanted.”

The star-studded Wild Life bill includes rappers Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, pop singer Jess Glynne and Uckfield-based soul singer Rag ’n’ Bone Man.

Henry only started DJing this time last year after attending a workshop on the university’s campus.

He said: “I thought ‘I need to get into this’. I definitely got the bug – I haven’t felt like that about anything else before. I usually get bored with stuff really quickly.”

The Shoreham-born sociology student lived in Brighton until he was five when his family moved to Devon.

He came back to Brighton for university and began to visit venues such as Mono and Patterns, where he now has a DJ residency at the club night Midnight Funk Association.

He said: “I knew Brighton was a really outgoing city and a really cool place to be. I don’t think the nightlife factored into my decision but I’m glad I came here.”

Henry has a show on University Radio Falmer, the University of Sussex’s student-run radio station.

He said: “The uni spent loads of money on professional decks and I have my own decks too. Most days I’ll have a go on them and I spend loads of time finding new music.”

He said he had been a fan of Fatboy Slim for a while and listened to him a lot at school and college.

Henry plans to keep DJing even after he moves to Australia for a year’s study.

He said: “If anything could happen there it would be amazing but at the moment I’m just enjoying where I am.”

lFor more information about Wild Life Festival visit: wildlifefestival.com.