June 29, Well the summer’s here and nobody’s complaining
Current mood: crazy
Category: Music

Well the summer's here and nobody's complaining. Well actually, in the UK plenty of folk are. It's been the wettest June on record, which I guess keeps the Mediterranean resorts in business. For me the resort season is now in full swing, and the first gig covered by this instalment took me to Tenerife for the first of 7 summer 2007 visits to Tramps in Playa Las Americas.

No other city in the world has as many airports as London. Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and London City are all reasonably convenient for me. Gatwick is not, but sadly it's where the majority of British Airways' flights to resort destinations leave from. With a 6pm departure, the only option was to travel by train from Kings Cross Thameslink, a journey of 45 minutes, which compares very favourably to a possible two hours stuck in rush hour traffic.

My flight from Gatwick landed on time into one of the island's two airports, Tenerife South. Tramps is owned by two Lebanese brothers, and one of then (Karim) was there to meet me. When I'm playing resort gigs I generally stay in a hotel located a bit away from all the craziness, and they'd put me into a small boutique 5 star golf hotel, in the hills ten minutes outside Playa Las Americas. I don't play golf, and probably won't ever be able to - the lower back problems caused by 20+ years of dj'ing in a stooping posture make playing the game out of the question. My chiropractor sees lots of golfers, as well as dj's, dentists and hairdressers, all of whom have to stoop to work (so to speak.)

I slept before dj'ing, and arrived at the club half an hour before my set, laptop in hand. I couldn't get the wi-fi in the hotel to work, so I hooked my computer up to one of the venue's ADSL lines to download emails and tracks. Then it was onto the decks in a very busy club. The Tenerife season is a little shorter than in Ibiza and Mallorca, and doesn't really get going til July and August, but Tramps was very busy. The decks are located right in the midst of the crowd, the way I like it best…

Last summer BA had a conveniently timed lunchtime flight back to London, but this year they've dropped the service, so I travelled with Flyglobespan back to London Stansted. They're predominantly a Scottish low cost airline, but do a couple of flights out of London as well. We arrived into Stansted on time at 5pm.

I'd been due to play a festival in Northern Finland on Friday 22nd, which would have been a difficult and lengthy journey to say the least, taking probably 12 hours by plane and car from Tenerife. I'd played the same (open air) event two years ago and it was excellent, but late in the day the local government announced severe noise output restrictions at the event after midnight (when I was due to dj.) There seemed little point travelling all that way only to have my music virtually inaudible. Many festivals (such as Global Gathering) have strict decibel controlled noise output controls enforced by local councils, but the Finnish dictat seemed harsher than most.

So I took the night off and spent it with my two small children Jake and Phoebe, whilst my wife Amanda travelled to Ibiza, where she goes every other weekend outside the school holiday period (when the family are on-island for the whole time.) Jake and I stayed up and watched South Park via a website that allows you to download all the episodes on demand.

The following day (Sat 23rd) I tried to balance spending time with Jake and Phoebe with doing all the necessary preparation for my Radio 1 show later that night. We went to Yo Sushi, which has a revolving conveyor belt of food. It was difficult stopping 2 year old Phoebe from grabbing at everything and knocking the food off the belt, but at the same time it kept her very occupied.

After my Radio 1 show I had club gigs in Stroud and Coventry, before heading to Stansted for a 6am Easyjet flight to Ibiza. The first gig was smaller and had a really good atmosphere. In Coventry nothing I could do seemed able to keep people in the club, and it cleared dramatically during my 90 minutes behind the decks. It wasn't as if I was playing one of my more underground sets, but people just didn't seem to get what I was doing. It was disheartening, and an experience I'm not at all used to. According to Pete there were a couple of fights in the club, which might explain the exodus.

Although I'd purchased Easyjet's "Speedy boarding" option and had a front row extra legroom seat, I struggled to sleep for more than half an hour on the 6am flight down to Ibiza, so plugged in my i-Pod and cranked up some Café Del Mar chill out compilations- perfect for slightly drunken and sleep starved Sunday mornings. I recently bought the largest capacity 80gig video i-Pod and have barely used even 20% of its memory, so large is its built-in hard disk.

Alongside Amanda, my manager Charlie was staying at our house in Ibiza with his wife and 2 year old daughter Louisa, and we hired a caterer to cook at our house on Sunday lunchtime. She put together an excellent Moroccan themed three course meal, which I knocked back before sleeping for the rest of the day.

Judgement Sundays Ibiza has always been busy, but the numbers this year have gone through the roof. The first week felt like maybe it was a statistical blip. The second, maybe a stroke of luck, but by Sunday 24th June (week 3) it was clear that this year is going to be just crazy. This year the night has two new residents, Micky Slim and Sander Van Doorn, and it was Sander's first appearance of 2007. I'd like to think that I've got a readily identifiable sound- the dj's I've got most respect for are those whose musical identity is clear from the moment you walk into a club. The legendary Tony De Vit was a case in point. Even if you didn't know who was behind the decks, you could identify that it was TDV within minutes of entering. SVD (no connection) is another dj who's defined by his unique sound. Having given their first Ibiza appearances to the likes of Tiesto, Armin, Ferry and Eddie Halliwell, it's good to know that JS is still spotting world class dj's ages before anyone else does.

I played two sets, in the main and back room, doing my trancey and funky stuff respectively, with Frankie Dettori and his wife Catherine close by for most of the night, alongside Amanda. At 6.30am we headed for home.

After a night off in Ibiza, at 10am on Tue 26th Amanda and I flew back to London, in my case for only two hours, before setting off again, this time to Ayia Napa in Cyprus. It would prove to be an 'interesting' night, to say the least.

Landing into Larnaca Airport Cyprus at nearly 1am on Tue night/Weds morning, I spent an hour in my hotel, before setting off for the club at 2.30am. Outside the venue I posed for nearly a hundred photos, mainly with UK and Irish tourists. Wherever possible I try to oblige in this department, although I can't say that I look too pretty in holiday snaps! The promoter (Craig) asked me to delay ten minutes beyond my allotted kick off time before starting in the main room. No problem- I posed for more pictures.

As I got behind the decks a friend of Craig's, who claimed to have met me before, drunkenly and aggressively asked why I was so late starting. I tried to point out that I'd been upstairs posing for photos for half an hour, but he continued to berate me for being late, telling me that I'd 'nearly caused a riot'. I don't know what he was doing in the booth, or what his job was, but he kept interrupting me mid-mix throughout my set, pouring himself large drinks from my bottle of vodka.

To explain what happened next, I should put a dj set into the context of any performance. Whether you're a musician, stand up comedian, actor or dj, you need to know where your set is going, and how it will end. You build things up to a (hopefully) frantic and crowd-responsive final conclusion.

20 minutes before I was due to finish, I politely asked the drunken guy in the booth to find the next dj, in advance of handing over deck duties to him. Ten minutes later I asked the same question, then once again five minutes later. Nobody showed up. As my last record was drawing to a close I explained that I was finishing (to the same drunken guy), but still no further dj turned up. I'd played the biggest tune in my box as the final track, and musically didn't have anywhere further to go.

With the record ended and the crowd cheering I finally turned round to the same drunken guy, and asked him what I should do? His response (and I quote) was "why don't you fuck off and put on a mix cd". I don't want to go into detail, but I responded violently, which is totally out of character (but was the result of severe provocation.) The crowd saw it all.

What a disappointing end to an otherwise excellent night. I don't think I've ever been spoken to so rudely whilst doing a set, but I still regret my reaction.

More next week…

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June 21, I’ve lost a friend.
Current mood: sad
Category: Music

This week's report takes a detour from the regular format of describing what I did over a given 7 day period. At the risk of sounding too emotional, I've lost a friend. Maybe it's melodramatic to wax lyrical about the departure of your favourite club, but I'm sure that Monday night's fire at Gatecrasher in Sheffield will have struck a nerve with legions of UK clubbers.

Just as I was having a meeting at Eden in Ibiza discussing the unprecedented success of this year's Judgement Sundays season, a phone call came through from my management in London. Gatecrasher in Sheffield was on fire. Later I'd discover that it had virtually burned to the ground.

I can't overstate the personal importance of Gatecrasher, both as the club I most looked forward to playing, and to my career as a whole. I've been their most regular and long-standing dj, playing at the night's evolution through three different venues, the Arches, the Adelphi, and finally their permanent home at the Republic (later know as Crasher 1, or simply 'Gatecrasher') in Sheffield.

Every dj will tell you that each club's crowd demands its own individual level of musical familiarity or otherwise. All djs prefer those locations where clubbers place their trust in whoever's playing, being fully open minded to whatever the dj throws at them. No trance club had a more musically accepting dancefloor than Gatecrasher- I played there over 100 times, including my fortnightly residency around the 2000 period.

The memories are too many to mention, poignant occasions being when the crowd sang me 'happy birthday' in unison on two consecutive years, and the time when a power cut meant that the music stopped around 1am, yet nobody left for many hours, singing and chanting in place of the soundsystem.

There were personal downsides too, with my comments about glowsticks being misinterpreted by the press and carving a wedge with a section of the 'Crasher Kids'.

Thankfully the GC management are adamant that it will be rebuilt, but until Crasher opens its doors again, there'll be a gaping hole in many clubbers' lives. One of their last trance nights was the Judgement Sundays UK event in May, so the memories are very fresh.

On a different note, you might have noticed via the site's homepage that I've set a remix competition. I've got a new vocal track, the long awaited follow up to 'So Special' with Michael Woods, entitled "Lonely tonight". We're looking for a remix to be released as part of the package. The initial email interest has been massive- if you're a music maker and want to have a go please get in touch via jules@judgejules.net

Onto the djing outings covered by this instalment, and it was another six nights in a row, which has become the norm over the summer months. On Weds June 13th I travelled for the second week in succession to Newquay for Summerbreak, an event set up especially for students who've recently finished exams. After the 280 mile car journey from London I had an immediate TV interview with MTV. Having slept most of the way until pulling up outside "Tall Trees" in Newquay, I was very concerned that post-sleep my breath wreaked, and I didn't have any mints or gum in the car. I hope my breath paranoia didn't affect my answers, but the interviewer must have wondered why on earth I couldn't maintain direct eye contact, studiously directing my answers (and therefore my breath) 90 degrees in a different direction. For the second time in 8 days the Summerbreak party was absolutely rammed, and (more importantly) people screamed loud and long.

Having taken six 250 mile plus car journeys in the previous ten days, my driver Pete must have felt that our (much shorter) journey to Bournemouth on Thu 14th was like a walk in the park. I still managed some shut eye - Pete and I get on very well and have worked together for the best part of 10 years, but I'm not the most exciting guy once the passenger seat gets reclined.

It was an unusual trip- my first visit to Bournemouth for anyone apart from Slinky since Pete has driven me. I'd been booked to play a house set- something I consider as an occasional hobby as opposed to my core musical area. Because I spin some housey stuff at the beginning of my Radio 1 show it's useful to have the odd opportunity to test the tracks out in front of a live audience. However, in truth I'm a trance/upbeat dj, and it's important to avoid confusing the marketplace. For this reason my management always ask promoters to include "house set" in very large letters on any publicity on these sort of occasions. The night was promoted by Miss Moneypenny's, and was absolutely rammed, despite taking place on a Thursday. Before my set I was photographed with two guys from the 'Survivor' tv series, which I've never watched. Reality shows have zero appeal to me, although I'm clearly in the minority on this one. Perhaps I think this way because my life's a soap opera anyway.

On Friday night I played in Newcastle for the first time since Easter of 2006. I don't know why there haven't been more recent occasions- probably because the city's number 1 dance venue (Digital) has only just started putting on trancey nights. The weather on the car trip up from London couldn't have been worse- it rained torrentially for over 250 miles, slowing down the journey time dramatically. I never like being late for gigs (and it's quite a rarity), but there was no alternative in the circumstances.

Pete and I rushed into Digital ten minutes after I was due to start, and I took over on the decks from Randy Katana. As a venue I loved the place but felt that it was way too dark, which stood in the way of my connection with the crowd. Because I'd arrived late, I didn't feel that I was in a position to ask the lighting guy to brighten things up. Under normal circumstances I would have arrived a minimum half hour before my set and introduced myself to both the management and lighting operative. Next time I'll allow even greater time to get to Newcastle on a Friday night (and ironically, I'll probably get there before the club even opens.) The venue was fantastic, and Digital have now taken over the legendary Zapp Club in Brighton to create a 'South' version.

For the second time in a month, on Saturday 16th I played three gigs in the same night, which requires more than a little pacing oneself. Alongside Pete, I travelled with my missus Amanda, and after leaving my Radio 1 show, first port of call was the Escape into the park festival in Swansea Wales. EITP must surely be blessed with the luckiest weather in the UK festival history. The law of averages dictates that every British festival will have at least one muddy wash-out every 3-4 years, yet EITP has never suffered such a fate. It's lucky, because their main stage is open air on a grassy slope.

This year round I played in the enclosed Godskitchen Arena, immediately after Eddie Halliwell. Eddie's girlfriend Helen was there, and Amanda and Helen chewed the fat whilst I took over for the final set of an event that ends at 11pm. I much preferred playing in the indoor God's Kitchen tent, as opposed to the outdoor main arena, and the GK marquee was actually far busier. Normally I'd always prefer the outdoors, but sometimes the expression 'main arena' attracts a crowd who aren't necessarily the musical aficionados at an event. The Godskitchen brand drew in a huge crowd who knew exactly what they wanted… a trancey experience with the odd anthem occasionally thrown in. The atmosphere was awesome.

Playing the final set at a major festival has many obvious advantages- primarily that the crowd go home with your tunes ringing in their ears. The downside is that one gets caught up in traffic mayhem on the way out. Despite having our car ready and revved up the minute I finished, Amanda Pete and I got caught in crawling traffic en route to my next stop off, an official after party in a Swansea city centre nightclub. The jammed evening schedule only allowed a 1 hour set, shorter than I'd normally play, but the promoters were keen to have me along all the same. 1 hour sets don't allow any scope for musical builds or a kindof 'peaks and valleys' approach- it's straight for the jugular all the way.

Our last Saturday night stop was The Syndicate in Bristol, the year old sister club to its northern namesake in Blackpool, and it was very busy. June can be an unpredictable month- on the one hand you've got the positive pressure of students finishing their exams. On the other, it's the start of the holiday season, with both the financial and human drain that Mediterranean travel brings. However, my last two weekends have been exceptionally busy for the time of year. I struggle to find original verbs to describe great club nights, generally using 'rocked'. Suffice to say the Syndicate did just that.

Pete and Amanda then dropped me at Birmingham Airport, where I caught a First Choice charter flight to Ibiza. I generally try to catch an Ibiza charter flight from the nearest regional airport to my last Saturday night gig, but the only departure from Bristol didn't go til 9am, meaning that I would have had to wait 5 hours in Departures, very starved of sleep.

The energy of Ibiza Airport hits you the moment you step through Passport Control - it's unlike arriving at any other Mediterranean destination. Whether it's the youthful funky complexion of folk arriving, or the pent up anticipation of party heads landing on La Isla Blanca, it's one of the most surreal aspects of the Ibiza experience. Travelling with only hand baggage, I collected the car and headed back to my house on the island, where I slept all day.

Plenty of R&R is called for, as Judgement Sundays is a long night for me. It starts with a meal with all the dj's at 9pm, followed by 'pre-party' sets at Kanya Bar and Bar M between 10.30 and midnight, culminating in two separate sets in the club running up to the 7am curfew into the early morning Spanish sunshine. At dinner I met new 2007 JS back room resident Micky Slim for the first time, a dj whose time has most definitely come in the past 12 months. Other dj's on the night were Lisa Lashes and Simon 'Dogzilla' Patterson, and once again JS continued its trend of smashing it on the busyness front. More importantly, the atmosphere was outstanding. I've already received an outpouring of emails about how good the opening party was, and week 2 continued things in fine JS style. You can check out the pictures via the Gallery section of the site.

The last outing covered by this instalment was the first of my fortnightly Mondays at BCM in Mallorca. BCM is my longest standing gig- I can't tell you exactly, but I'm fairly certain I first played there in 1993. On their office wall they've got a photo of me from back then, looking every bit the geek- with longer hair and John Lennon glasses. I'm not saying that my modern-day image is anything to be proud of, but you should have seen me back then…

BCM is located in the English resort of Magaluf, more noted for its Full English breakfasts than fine Spanish cuisine, but after a lot of research we've managed to find an excellent local restaurant (Pardo's) located just a few minutes away from the club. They do an awesome plate of 'mariscos calientes'- a piled high stack of local seafood that's guaranteed to leave my belly looking less than flat for the set that follows. After consuming at least 10 cubic metres of sea life we hit BCM, which was very busy for relatively early in the season. The normal football banter in the office was followed by a 2.30 til 4am set. Musically BCM is more commercial than Ibiza, but the one-off bootlegs that I'm constantly being sent take care of this requirement, whilst ensuring that I still play a set containing tunes that are unique to me. The crowd were raucous right til the end, although once I'd finished I headed back to my hotel in the Mallorcan city of Palma fairly quickly. Off the back of 6 days on the trot dj'ing I needed the rest.

More next week…

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June 12, Pacing yourself counts for everything
Current mood: awake
Category: Music

..> ..>

..> ..> The period covered by this report contained six consecutive night's dj'iing. Pacing yourself counts for everything, and for the UK element of the gigs, the car journeys were long. My road manager Pete can't enjoy this, but I actually prefer long drives for the better sleeping opportunities they provide. Round 1 on Tue June 5th was a trip to Newquay in Cornwall- round trip mileage 570. I was tired from the sleep starved previous weekend, and my cocoon of pillows padded me from all directions as I dozed zombie-like during the trip from London. "Summerbreak" stage parties for students who've just finished their exams. Although I graduated from university nearly 20 years ago, I was still having nightmares about failing my exams until quite recently (I actually passed them), so I can fully connect with the pent up explosion when exam time comes to an end. I was lucky enough to do a degree that was wholly exam based. This allowed me to be quite lazy during the academic year (focusing on dj'ing), buckling down for 6 weeks before exam time. The Summerbreak party at Tall Trees in Newquay was very rammed, and the crowd extremely loud. Having spent the early part of the 300 mile car journey from London going through promos in i-Tunes on my laptop, I slept for the remainder of the journey West. I've got an uncle, aunt and three cousins in Cornwall, and it would have been nice to pay them a visit, but with six consecutive nights' dj'ing a flying visit was all that was possible. On Wednesday I played the 'Mixology' corporate party at Old Billingsgate Market in London. Although I'm a Londoner born and bred, it's not a part of town I've visited often. Situated on the edge of the City of London in an area with virtually no bars or residential accommodation, one wouldn't visit unless you worked in the many financial institutions located nearby. The decks were low, and I felt sorry for the dj on before me, Groove Armada's Andy Cato, as he's 6ft 8 tall, and found himself dj'ing at almost knee height during his set. I'm 6ft 2, so it was easier on my (still lanky) frame. I don't do many corporate events, but one of the greatest joys of this job is playing so many different styles of club and parties, particularly during the six nights covered by this instalment. Playing to a baying student mob one night and then to a more subdued black tie event the following kept things interesting. As did my outing on Thursday June 7th. At 8.30am I set off for Heathrow Airport en route to Qatar in the Middle East. Their national airline (Qatar Airways) sponsors the Sky News weather bulletin, and makes the bold claim that it's the 'five star airline'. I doff my cap to them- it was the best long haul business class I've travelled in. So much better than BA, who seem to have quietly removed 'the world's favourite airline' as their catch phrase. I landed into Qatar at 9pm, and had dinner with some friends (Andy and Angela) who'd driven over the border from Saudi Arabia, where they work as ex-pats. Our hotel (the Movenpick) had an unlimited seafood buffet, and I managed to eat five lobsters, to looks of increasing disdain from the waiting staff, as I piled yet more seafood onto my plate. The event was open air in the desert, close to the Saudi border, in one of the most gorgeous and surreal locations I've ever dj'd. Even at night it was over 30 degrees, and the party was sold out to over 2000 capacity, with a mixture of locals and ex-pats. As I arrived an mc announced "Judge Jules has entered the desert" to a round of cheering. I only hope that the photos I took on the evening go some way towards documenting a memorable night. One that I hope will be repeated sooner rather than later. Finishing my set at 3am, I opted for a 7am flight straight home, sleeping on the plane, which was a good call considering how outstanding Qatar airways' seats were. Later that night Pete and I drove to Carlisle in Cumbria, the longest car journey we take on our UK travels (330 miles.) Pete would have been lying if he said that he was looking forward to such a long trip, but things even themselves out over the course of the year and there are plenty of shorter journeys. The club in Carlisle was leisure chain owned, in a block containing a snooker and bingo hall as well. I've never played bingo, and don't feel that I've missed out on something in my life in that dept. Sometimes chain owned venues can feel a bit lacking in personality décor wise, but Terminal One had a cool flavour to it, and the crowd were responsive. Saturday 9th contained two gigs, the first at the Syndicate Superclub in Blackpool. After finishing my Radio 1 show in London at 9pm, Pete and I set off up the M40 motorway, having taken heed of the warnings that the M1 was shut for the night. There was a huge queue outside as we arrived for my midnight set, and the club enjoyed its busiest night of the year so far. Its revolving dancefloor wasn't working, which I've gotta say I was pleased about. It's difficult playing to a crowd that keeps moving, making the job of gauging dancefloor reaction much more complicated. With over 3000 people in attendance there was plenty of reaction, and since the club has one of the UK's best resident dj's (Dj Fubar) my job taking over was an easy one. Next port of call on Saturday night was Passion in Coalville Leicestershire, a trance institution that I've not played for more than 18 months. I span the final set on a night that also contained JFK and Marco V on the bill. Passion was absolutely rammed- I love the venue and the crowd, and will be badgering my manager Charlie to put more frequent dates in the diary. Owing to a mix up with his manager, Marco V had left his cds behind at Passion. His next port of call the following day was the Judgement Sundays opening party in Ibiza, although we were travelling on different flights. Marco's manager Jay asked me to take his cd's over to Ibiza, which meant checking them in, as I had no further room in my hand luggage, and the one piece carry-on rule is inflexibly enforced at all British airports. No dj likes checking in his or her records, and most can tell horror stories about losing precious tracks to dishonest baggage handlers, but I had no choice. Playing my last track in Passion at 5am, I caught a 7.30 charter flight to Ibiza with MyTravel from nearby East Midlands Airport. Thankfully Marco's cd's came through without any problems on the carousel in Ibiza, and I drove to my house on the island around 11am. My wife Amanda had travelled to Ibiza for the Judgement Sundays opening party on Friday, alongside a big bunch of friends. Not only was our house totally full with guests, they'd rented two neighbouring houses as well. Three members of the 15-strong party were celebrating birthdays (Amanda included) and we hired in caterers for a barbeque at our place. Then I set off for the first of the two Judgement Sundays "pre parties" I play in San Antonio, first at Kanya and secondly at Bar M. It was immediately obvious that we were going to have a rammed opening party. In fact it went further- Eden enjoyed by far the busiest opening in JS's 8 year history. We now have three rooms operating, with the inception this year of the White Room upstairs in Eden. Main room dj's joining me on the night were Vicky Devine, Matt Hardwick and Marco V. As I do every week, I span a main room set plus a funky back room selection of tunes, finishing when the club closed at 7am. Once again the atmosphere was out of this world, with a number of changes and modifications to Eden, including the permanent relocation of the dj booths in two rooms, and a complete redecoration of the club. Celebs in the house included England/Middlesbrough footballer Stuart Downing and British design legend Paul Smith. If you've not been to Judgement Sundays before, I promise you're going to love it! In the early part of the season my trips to Ibiza are fairly short 36 or 48 hour flying visits, and I met Roger Sanchez in the petrol station as I filled my car to go back to the airport. All part and parcel of life on La Isla Blanca…. More next week…

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June 3, All will be revealed....
Current mood: crazy
Category: Music

The Bank Holiday weekend covered by the initial part of this instalment was one of contrasts. The first couple of days were relatively close to London and therefore stress free. However the Bank Holiday Sunday was far from this way... All will be revealed.

'Dirty Little Funkers' promote nights in a 50 mile radius around Birmingham, and both my outings on Friday May 26th were for them. The first was to Confessions in Banbury, in the north of Oxfordshire. I must confess that the gig was my only quiet one of an otherwise heaving weekend. I recently chatted with Swedish house mafia dj Axwell, and we agreed that the odd quiet gig is good for any dj. It keeps you humble, and reminds you of the inevitable struggle to make it early in your career, which invariably involves playing many nights that are less than full. The main lesson is to try very hard regardless of crowd numbers- that's what I did in Banbury. Consistency is the key to longevity, and it's something I always strive for. Equally, it's why I'm always keen to receive email feedback (good or bad) regarding my sets.

The next stop off was 45 miles to the west of Birmingham, at Fusion in Telford. The venue had cool lighting, the crowd was bang in your face, and it was a great deal busier than our first port of call. I'd refreshed myself with a 45 minute power nap in between gigs. It's the only way I manage to play more than once in a night- I reckon that for every one minute of disco nap you get three minute's worth of extra energy when you wake up (for me anyway.) It always takes at least 30-40 minutes to shake off the adrenaline of the previous gig before I manage to get to sleep, but in-car rest is a must. The musical requirements at Fusion were far more banging, which also served to wake me up.

On Bank Holiday weekends it's increasingly the Sunday nights that have become the big party occasion. For this reason I only had one outing on Saturday May 27th, to Banus in the South Coast Town of Weymouth. During the day Amanda, Jake, Phoebe and I had driven into Chinatown for trolley service dim sum, which is a must if you haven't tried it. Then I headed to Radio 1 for my show, before Pete and I set off to Weymouth.

It was my third time in the venue. Although the crowd was lively and the club space carefully created, the decks were too far from the dancefloor on my previous visits, perched way up towards the ceiling. This time round the promoters had taken heed of feedback and moved the booth downstairs in the midst of the crowd. As a result I felt far more connection with the dancefloor and really enjoyed myself. The only downside was that a girl clubber stole my drink whilst my back was turned. I knew she'd done it, but I couldn't be bothered to argue- she seemed very drunk anyway. The promoters had requested a 1-3am set, but the following day was long to say the least. My management negotiated it earlier at 12-2am. I had to be up at 8 the next morning (a few hours later), so there wouldn't be much sleep on the agenda.

From leaving my front door to arriving back home again the following morning, my itinerary on Bank Holiday Sunday 27th May would last 23 hours non-stop, taking in Holland, Leeds and London. I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 4 for my 10am flight to Amsterdam, and had breakfast at the Caviar House seafood bar. Subsistence eating whilst away from home on one's travels is fully tax deductible, but I wonder what the Inland Revenue think when "Caviar House" appears in my tax return. Caviar House do an awesome seafood platter that's so much healthier than in-flight catering.

Despite being early on a Sunday morning my KLM flight to Amsterdam Schipol was packed to the last seat, and we touched down on time after a 45 minute journey over the North Sea. On board a flight the Dam one spends more time taxiing and waiting to take off than actually in the air. Having left a torrentially raining London, it was a relief arriving into a cloudy but dry Holland- I was playing an open air event, so the weather mattered a lot.

'Dance Tour' are putting on 9 different huge free parties in various Dutch cities, financed by local government and sponsorship. Mine was in the Southern city of Breda, birthplace of Tiesto. Before starting my set the promoters asked whether their concept would work in the UK. I don't think that local authority support would be the problem, however securing corporate sponsorship might prove more tricky. Although the youth market is elusive and difficult to target, sponsors have traditionally been very nervous about supporting dance events because of the drugs association. Personally I think this is ridiculous, as I've always refused to accept that there are any more drugs present at dance events than at other youth orientated gatherings. I hope the concept succeeds in the UK.

After being driven 100km from Amsterdam Airport to Breda I played in front of roughly 20,000 people in an open air car park- no complaints there then… I dj'd in between Bart Claessen and Marco V, the first of three consecutive occasions I'd play alongside Marco on the Bank holiday Sunday. Although there was quite a safe margin of error, with a flight four hours after my set, I left Breda immediately after finishing on stage.

At Schipol Airport I ate some very over-priced sashimi at the sushi bar, alongside a glass of hot sake, which tasted wrong out of a plastic glass. At 9pm I boarded a KLM Cityhopper flight back to Leeds Bradford, en route to the Gatecrasher Summer Soundsystem at Lotherton Hall in Leeds. I use the term 'summer' in the loosest sense of the word. Despite being almost June, it was 8 degrees outside and raining.

After a six year absence, the return of GCSS is yet another proof of the resurgence of dancemusic. Sold out to 10,000 capacity, I knew in advance that I'd enjoy myself. However the first half hour of my set was blighted with technical difficulties. The sound crew hadn't wired the dj booth monitor speakers correctly, meaning that there was a 1 second sound delay. For the benefit of those who don't dj, this makes it almost impossible to mix. Surrounded by a huge audience, festivals are the best possible forum of exposure for any dj. Likewise, if there's a significant problem, a poor set will be witnessed by a big crowd. I was the fifth dj playing in the main room, yet no-one else had reported the problem to the sound technician, which I couldn't understand. Within minutes of pointing it out they correctly wired the monitor speakers and it was fixed. This left me with less than an hour to relax, perform and express myself (at the risk of sounding pretentious…) GCSS was an excellent event, and a welcome return back to the festival scene. For the second time in a few hours I left the decks in the care of Marco V, who'd flown on a different flight from Holland.

My final outing on Bank Holiday Sunday (and the first time I've played three gigs on the same night in years) was the last UK Judgement Sundays event at Heaven in London. The weather during the 200 mile car ride was dreadful, as it rained torrentially from beginning to end. I'd wanted to sleep throughout the journey, but the hammering rain made shut-eye difficult.

We arrived at Heaven 10 minutes before the first of my two sets in the club. Although I live and was raised in London, most of my recent dj'ing in the capital has been concentrated in a small handful of locations. I haven't spun in Heaven for over five years, and it's a great venue, full of different arenas and with a fantastic vista over the dancefloor from the booth in the main room. The atmosphere amongst the big crowd was awesome, and after spinning trancey tunes in the main arena I played a house set to a smaller crowd in an upstairs room, finishing at 6am.

By 7am I was back home in North London, 23 hours after leaving out. My two small kids and missus were just getting up as I turned the key in the lock. At 7pm on Monday 28th we flew to Ibiza as a family, alongside my brother and sister in law. I was playing the Eden opening on Friday June 1st, but the rest of the 5 days was vacation time, during the week where Ibiza's summer season gets into full swing. We lay in the sun, ate at some of the island's long list of great restaurants, went out on a boat, and generally chilled out. This time of year is probably my busiest, so a few days' relaxation was much appreciated. With each passing day we watched Ibiza get busier. Even though the weather in May is generally excellent, most tourists don't arrive until the clubs open their doors in early June. The island has plenty more to offer than legendary nightlife, but that's the main attraction for most visitors.

At the end of last summer I suggested a long list of changes and refurbishments to Eden, and I'm pleased to say that they did everything I recommended. This included total redecoration of the main room, moving dj dj booth in both rooms, installation of a megatron smoke machine, and a brand new soundsystem. Some people complain about admission and drinks prices in Ibiza clubs, but there's no question that the owners reinvest substantial sums in their venues during the winter months. Every Ibiza venue is a labour of love and much more than just a business.

The Eden opening on Fri June 1st combined a UK and Spanish dj line up, with Tall Paul, Trophy Twins and myself making up the British element. The club was packed as I played from 3 til 4.30, pretty much the main slot in an Ibiza club, where the crowds arrive (and stay) late. I wasn't able to hang around after my set, as Amanda, Jake, Phoebe and myself had to set off for Ibiza airport at 8.30am. When you know you've only got a few hours sleep window it's always much harder to drift off, but I managed two hours before we set off for our flight home. The two new Ibiza motorways are now open (Eivissa-San Antonio and Airport-Eivissa), reducing our journey time to the airport to 20 minutes. To construct more than 20 miles of brand new motorway in less than 18 months is a remarkable achievement that's symbolic of the new Spain- a country that's said adios to its 'manana' mentality.

My next dj destination was Coloursfest in Glasgow on Sat 2nd. I could have taken a direct charter flight up to Scotland, but that would have involved Amanda travelling on her own back to London with the two kids- quite a handful. We flew together with Easyjet to Stansted, on a full flight that seemed to consist entirely of families with kids returning from the half term break and Page 3 girls, who'd obviously been on a big photoshoot in Ibiza. At Stansted I said goodbye to my family and was driven over to Heathrow for a flight to Glasgow. In the BA business lounge I downloaded as many new music promos as time allowed. Most music promotion is now web based, and download speed counts for everything. With the lack of business travellers on a Saturday, the wireless networks at Heathrow were much faster than normal.

On the same weekend last year I did an identical itinerary (Ibiza Friday & Coloursfest Saturday) with my Radio1 show coming live from the event. Live R1 shows are all about balancing the need to think about the listeners back home getting ready for Saturday night, juggled with an energetic representation of the event you're coming from. With this in mind I broadcast the first hour from a studio truck, and did the second in front of a wildly enthusiastic open air crowd. The Glaswegian clubbers' chant is "here we fucking go", screamed over every track. With the dancefloor covered by ambient mics I needed to broadcast a 'colourful language' warning to listeners before going out on stage.

Finishing the broadcast at 9pm, I headed back to my hotel for a sleep until my next set. With only a couple of hours sleep the previous night in Ibiza, it was the only way to survive quite a punishing itinerary. I woke at 2am, in time for spinning the closing set in the main room from 2.30 til 4am. The main arena must have held at least 80% of the 10,000 crowd, and very few left before my final encore record, Genix's excellent reinterpretation of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers' 'Waiting for'. Sharing the accolade with Northern Ireland, Glasgow's clubbers are the loudest anywhere in the world. What a Saturday night…

The final outing covered by this instalment was the last UK & Ireland Judgement Sundays event before our opening party in Ibiza next Sunday. It took place in the Music Factory Carlow, an hour south of Dublin in Ireland. Having flown back to London to spend the day with Amanda and my two small kids (where we had a barbeque in fabulous weather) I flew to Dublin at 9pm, meeting up with my manager Charlie at the other end, who'd inexplicably flown on a different departure. The promoter Sean Brennan is bringing Northern Ireland's Planet Love south of the border in the summer, so the 1000 capacity music factory was quite a small event by comparison to the 15 - 20,000 he expects there. When travelling through Ireland one should never be fooled by the excellent network of motorways and dual carriageways surrounding Dublin. There's always a small road through a congested (but quaint) Irish village around the corner. Entering Carlow we passed a brown tourist attraction road sign pointing one towards the 'Gordon Bennett route', which Charlie and I found amusing. I've no idea what it was…

The Music Factory was packed, and the Judgement Sundays banners had been packed, adorning every wall of the venue. On the decks before me was new JS 007 resident Sander Van Doorn, playing slightly harder than his trademark sound, to accommodate the banging Irish crowd. I continued through to the 2am curfew, with the club packed til the end, as it was an Irish Bank Holiday weekend.

This week is exceptionally busy, with only one night off between now and the Judgement Sundays opening party in Ibiza on June 10th. I'm certainly not complaining…

More next week.

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May 24, Last week saw me playing my final US tour
Current mood: amused
Category: Music

Last week saw me playing my final US tour until after the conclusion of the Ibiza season in mid-September. During the summer it's impossible to play in the US on a Saturday night and get back to Ibiza in time for my Sunday night Judgement party- time differences just don't allow. After hitting Dubai this week and Qatar during the first week of June, that will spell the conclusion of all long-haul touring until the White Isle puts its dancefloor to bed for another year in September. On the one hand I'm pleased to be rooted to Europe for the next three months. On the other, variety of locations and lack of routine keep dj'ing incredibly exciting.

On Friday 18th I hit Zurich in Switzerland, a city I've played four times. My brother Sam asked if he could come- he's not joined me on a dj jaunt for ages, and I was only too happy to say yes. There's only so much I can say in this piece before I overstep the mark into the unduly personal, but suffice to say that after a drink fuelled night my brother can be a loose cannon. Thankfully he's mellowed with age.

We flew with Swissair to Zurich on the last flight out of Heathrow. Regardless of destination, Friday night flights are always busy, yet ours was half empty. I felt obliged to ask a flight attendant why- apparently it was a Swiss public holiday, meaning that there were no business travellers (except me, if I can be described as such.)

We landed into Zurich at 10pm, to be collected by Oxa Club resident dj Dave 202. Since I wasn't playing til 1.30 I chilled in the hotel for a while, whist Dave kindly drove (first time visitor) Sam on a whistle stop tour of the city. Those quiet hotel room moments are a good opportunity to get up to speed with emails. I need to spend at least two hours a day to avoid falling behind. Most time-consuming is my spam file - Apple's Spam Detection software claims to be self teaching, yet it still requires tedious manual nit-picking to pull out emails that have incorrectly wound up as Spam. There was less preparation required for my Radio 1 show than normal, as the following day I was doing a special from the station's 'One Big Weekend' festival, with lots of ad-libbed interviews with on the day guests.

In the Oxa office before my set I met Brazilian trance dj Fabio Stein for the first time. I was one of the first champions of his sound, so it was good to put a face to the name (so to speak.) Fabio is Italian-Brazilian and chatted with Dave 202 in Italian (one of the three Swiss national languages.) This wasn't a problem, as my fluent Spanish means I can understand Italian reasonably comfortably. The set (at one of Oxa's periodic 'Trance nights') went down very well.

The following morning Sam and I flew direct from Zurich to Manchester for Radio 1's 'One Big Weekend' in nearby Preston. Landing at 1pm, we collected our passes at the gate to the event before retiring to the hotel to catch the first half of the FA Cup Final between Man Utd and Chelsea. As an Arsenal supporter, I can't say I really gave a damn who won, but Sam had placed some crazy accumulator bet on a combination of first half score, first goalscorer and final outcome. From a £5 investment he stood to earn roughly £300, but by half time his money was safely in the bookies' back pocket. We were only able to watch the first half before heading to OBW.

My two contributions were a 5-6pm set on the outdoor dance stage and a live radio show from the broadcast truck. Following Groove Armada, I couldn't believe it as my camera broke after taking just 7 pictures of the event. If you've got any from the day, please can you forward some jpegs to jules@judgejules.net. Although I was a little tired after the night in Zurich, and had knocked back a couple of drinks during the football, there's nothing to bring one back to life like a huge crowd in the open air. The event as a whole was very lucky with weather. On the 40 mile journey from Manchester Airport to Preston it had bucketed down in true monsoon style, yet OBW was dry and sunny. The crowd were fully responsive.

My radio show took place from a BBC broadcast truck, used to stage every type of live events, mainly sporting and music related. Although they're huge and modern branded from the outside, the studio element is tiny, and over the course of the two hour show I (quite literally) squeezed in interviews with fellow presenters Jo Whiley, Fern & Reggie and Scott Mills, asking them about their One Big Weekend experiences.

After finishing at 9pm we struggled to find my brother Sam, who was drunk to say the least when we eventually located him. My next set was at Good Greef's official OBW after-party at 53 Degrees in Preston, playing at 1.30. This left plenty of time from a pre-set siesta, after working out the bare bones of what I'd play (leaving plenty of room for improvisation according to the mood of the night.)

After two hours sleep my manager Charlie, Pete and I set off for the venue. Sam was sound asleep and un-wakeable, so we left him at the hotel til after the gig. It was no surprise to see the event sold out, and live Essential mixes give one the opportunity to use the mic, which isn't justified in any other situation. The very mention 'you're live on Radio 1' sends the crowd nuts, and it was a rocking aural adventure (or something like that.)

After my set at 3.30 we collected Sam from the hotel, where he was far more lucid than earlier. By 6am I was back in London with Amanda and my two small kids.

I had Sun-Mon-Tue night off, working during the day in the studio with a live trumpet player, overdubbing a few of my new tracks, including 'Laid Bare'. I also did a new photo shoot for publicity use. Every now and then all djs need new headshots for flyers and pr purposes. I'm not the most photogenic guy in the world, and the ratio of crap snaps( to decent takes will no doubt be huge…

On Wednesday night I was forced to miss a (largely) student gig in Liverpool. My missus Amanda had been taken ill, and we couldn't find a babysitter to look after Jake and Phoebe. I don't take the decision to cancel gigs lightly, and it's something I've seldom done, but there was no choice. I'm well aware that folk spend a large chunk of their weekly disposable income to see dj's such as myself, and I take my responsibilities very seriously. It was particularly disappointing letting the promoter know at only 6 hours notice.

By Thursday there had been time to arrange cover on the domestic front, as I had to fly to Dubai, where I play bi-annually for Conception Events. For my first occasion on that route BA was operating a 747, and the solitude and quiet of the upper deck is very calming. For each long haul flight I set myself specific work objectives before sleep can enter the equation. On the trip to Dubai this involved listening to 100 new promos pre-loaded into i-Tunes on my laptop, getting up to speed with emails, and writing this report up to the Dubai section. All that took nearly four hours, allowing me two further hours of shut eye.

Sometimes I'm recognised by cabin crew, but it wasn't the case as I raced towards the exit from the upper deck, charging other passengers out the way. A flight attendant asked me what the rush was. It was simple- it was 11pm as they opened the doors, and I was due on the turntables two hours later, at 1am in downtown Dubai.

With only hand baggage I came through immigration from plane doors opening to Arrivals in less than ten minutes. The promoter David collected me, and my 'Global Warm Up' radio show was on air in his car. This is my other show, and goes out in 20 different countries, including the USA, Russia, South Africa, plus many locations in the Middle East.

A couple of good friends who live and work in Saudi Arabia had come over to Dubai for the night. I'm not sure whether my music or the opportunity to drink was the main temptation- I know which one I'd go for if I lived in completely dry Saudi. After I arrived at the hotel we had a brief drink in its piano bar. I was playing in the club downstairs, so everything was conveniently located.

I'm intrigued by ex-pat life in Saudi Arabia, where western workers live in guarded compounds in the midst of a society that's very far from life back home. I can see some of the attraction- Petrol is less than 10p a litre and diesel only 2p, plus accommodation is provided for nothing and there's no tax to pay. We would have got further discussing Saudi ex-pat life, but we were sat right next to a bar singer and pianist duo. They were loudly going through a litany of standards from 'Unbreak my heart' to 'Lady in red', right into our ears. Being a hotel bar-room or lobby musician must surely be one of the world's most lonely and soul destroying jobs, as the conclusion of each track generates the saddest tinkling of applause, yet enthusiasm has to be maintained at all times. "You're a fantastic audience tonight". Yeah right.

This was my fifth performance for Conception, and it's been full on every occasion. The Dubai weekend falls on Thursday and Friday, so Thursday night is equivalent to a Western Saturday. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see so many folk in the house on the biggest party night of the week. Although the Dubai crowd is a little more commercial than back home, the pay off is that one will never spin to a more cosmopolitan mix of nationalities, with every corner of the globe represented and dressed up for the night. The atmosphere was excellent for my 1-3am set, the one downside being that I would get only three hours sleep before heading back to airport. With a near 7 hour flight in either direction, I was only in Dubai for ten hours. It was a bank holiday weekend in the UK, so I had numerous further dj outings to attend to. In common with most brief overseas dj trips I went to the location without any local currency. Although I carry some emergency Pounds and Euros in my pocket, I try to avoid rip off airport Exchange Bureaux. UK airports are particularly bad in this department- their rates are a joke- my advice is to change your money before you get to the airport.

More next week…

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May 21, I go to the US 5-6 times per year.
Current mood: creative
Category: Music

I go to the US 5-6 times per year. Career-wise it would be better to hit the States more often, but I'm rationed in the amount of pre-recorded Radio 1 shows I can do, and R1's my number 1 priority. With the limited amount of visits I've tried to focus on the larger American cities. Los Angeles (the #2 city population-wise) is well and truly cracked. New York has proved more difficult, because the police keep shutting down the leading dance clubs just as I've built a solid head of steam. Thankfully the legendary concert venue Webster Hall has now appeared on the horizon as a weekly dance location, and this was our first port of call as Amanda and I set off for NYC on Friday May 11th.

We wanted a whole day shopping in Manhattan, so booked ourselves onto the first BA flight out of Heathrow, at 8.55am. There was a choice of two departures, into JFK or Newark Airport. Although JFK is the more famous, Newark has much shorter immigration queues and a speedier journey time into NYC, plus a great Manhattan skyline view as you come in to land.

From touching down on the tarmac at Newark to plonking our bags on the bed in the Soho Grand Hotel took just 70 minutes. First port of call was the jewellery stores on Canal Street, near to our hotel (although it's spelled 'jewelry' in American English.) The stone recently fell out of of Amanda's engagement ring, nowhere to be found and probably hoovered up by our cleaner . The low Dollar-Pound exchange rate made buying a replacement in the US a sensible option. We found a new 1 carat ring, and then went to a backstreet Chinese jewellery workshop where they resized it, cutting and soldering the ring with a naked flame Bunson burner.

The rest of the day was spent hitting the stores on the Downtown section of Broadway, accompanied by my US music manager Mark Davenport. The pace of Manhattan is second to none. Even London seems quite slow by comparison.

Like all successful music venues, Webster Hall gets intensively used, and rock band Lincoln Park were playing there earlier same night. After a siesta to recover from the 5 hour time difference, Amanda and I set off for the venue, but when we arrived the roadies were still de-rigging from the Lincoln Park show. Webster Hall has a number of different rooms and dancefloors, but mine was still not open until the mass of speaker cabinets had been removed to the fleet of trucks outside.

Los Angeles and New York have the largest British ex-pat populations in the US, and we had a big group of friends on the guest list, some American and some British. One always feels so much more comfortable with a hint of 'home from home'. My US agent (Matt from Brooklyn based AM Only) was in the house, looking after the vodka requirements, and doing a very good job of it. The atmosphere was excellent, as I was followed by my AM Only stablemate Dj Irene, who's got a crazy Mohican hairstyle and tunes to match. Irene's from LA, and we asked her what she thought of Paris Hilton's forthcoming jail sentence for driving whilst banned and under the influence. Nobody in the US seems very sympathetic to Paris' plight.

After having lunch with some American friends who'd just become parents for the first time, we headed back to Newark Airport, for our flight to Dallas Texas. I've always got stuff to do on my laptop, so occupying myself on flights is never an issue. However those travelling on US domestic flights without something to occupy themselves need not worry. Enter 'Sky Mall', the inflight mail order shopping magazine that's in the seat-back pocket of all US carriers. It's laugh out loud hilarious, with some of the most unimagineable junk, all available for shipping to the 52 US states. Amanda was very tempted to order the 'World's smallest remote control helicopter' or the 'fully functioning life-size voice activated R2-D2'. If we had a pet we would surely have reserved the Greek antiquity style 'cat drinking fountain.'

It was my fourth visit to Dallas, and the Boutique Hotel phenomenon has set in right across the United States. Gone are the days of dull monolithic chain hotels with bland businessman appeal. We stayed in the extremely funky Zaza hotel, making a room service order from a list of dishes that would have graced the World's finest tables. In the US there seems to be a large chasm between brilliant high end dining and fast food, with very little in between, which might explain the American obesity crisis. Thankfully I'm able to afford to eat well in the States, and I've never been disappointed.

Sensibly feeling the need to pace herself, Amanda opted to stay back in the hotel during the gig, although her definition of 'pacing' is open to question- she watched $50 of in-room movie porn and drank the mini bar dry.

Meanwhile I dj'd at Venom in Dallas. The American custom is for guest dj's to play longer sets, generally in excess of 3 hours, but my musical style is very intense and goes straight for the jugular. So I requested two hours, and the atmosphere was off the hook (to use a US expression that I still don't understand the origin of.) Some US venues can be a little on the dark side, which doesn't work for showman dj's like me. Venom was perfectly lit, with the crowd up close and in yer face -the way it works best for my style of performance.

Smiling a lot I headed back to the hotel, and the following day we set off for Buffalo in upstate New York. When taking on the booking I'd imagined that there would be a direct flight. Dallas Fort Worth airport is one of American Airlines' two biggest hubs, but they seem to offer departures to just about everywhere else in mainland USA except Buffalo. There weren't even any convenient connecting flights. We had to change planes and airlines, re-checking in at Detroit. I love visiting America, the only downside being the debilitating time difference. After 6 or 7pm you're exhausted, and sleeping in advance of the gig becomes a necessity. Because of our two flights this wasn't possible in Buffalo, and the promoters took us to a great steak house before my set.

He'd already checked us into our room, and when we got up there and put our bags down I found that one window was missing curtains. Doing a late night job and constantly fighting body clock disorientation, this didn't work. If I was to list the hotel attributes that are most important to me, reliable blackout curtains would feature very prominently. We therefore changed our room straight way, asking the night receptionist to inform anyone who called of the room change.

Clearly they failed to do this, as after 2 hours we'd still had no communication from the club owner. I checked the club's website from our room, but the phone number wasn't working. Eventually it was all resolved and we found one another, leaving me playing at 1am, very late for a Sunday night. Of course Sunday isn't the biggest clubbing night going, and the venue had never opened before on a Sun. It was a small but very up-for-it crowd, as Amanda and I pranced around in the booth for the final instalment of my last US trip until after the summer.

The following day Amanda and I flew back to New York JFK with budget airline Jet Blue. To my knowledge they're the only airline in the world featuring seat-back live tv, a full 30 channels. Roughly a year ago one of their planes developed a technical fault over metropolitan Los Angeles which was covered on national tv, and the passengers were able to watch it from their seats, which must have been the most terrifying moment of their lives. Our flight was totally uneventful, and the novelty of live tv kept me off my laptop for once.

We checked our bags into a JFK airport hotel with the surliest receptionist I've ever encountered, and caught a cab back into Manhattan to do some further shopping, which necessitated buying a new suitcase from the Tumi store in Prince St Soho. When it comes to weather, late spring or early autumn are the best seasons to visit NYC. In the winter it's oppressively cold and windy, and mid summer has near 100% humidity. The Manhattan sunshine was glorious, as we popped back into the city for our two hour visit.

Then we flew back to London with BA, sampling their new business class seats for the first time. Although BA was the first airline to install flat beds across its fleet, previously the seats were way too narrow for a comfortable night's rest. Because of the relatively short flight time, BA allows business and first class passengers to dine in the airport before boarding, which maximises on rest. On board I tried to watch the excellent British movie 'Venus', but fell asleep midway through.

Tuesday 15th of May was a rest night back in London, and we all went to bed very early. One thing about having small children is that there's never a guaranteed good night's sleep, and as if to punish us for being away for three nights, both Jake and Phoebe woke repeatedly through the night. Then our house alarm went off at 3am due to a fault. I was running on empty anyway, and the single day's opportunity to catch up was lost, as I was playing in Hamburg Germany on Wednesday 16th.

I flew with BA to Germany around 6pm, and avoided drinking any alcohol on the plane for fear of tiring myself out. It wasn't til around 11pm at dinner when I had my first drink, which was the most sensible course of action. The following day was a German bank holiday to celebrate Ascension Day, and the club was located in the heart of the famous red light and clubbing district. The venue held roughly 500 and I'd been booked to play a house set, which went down well, as did the bottle of Grey Goose vodka supplied by the promoters. I'm lucky enough to travel extensively, but my visits to Germany have counted less than ten during roughly 20 years of dj'ing. This year I'll be playing Germany on three separate occasions, the next two being large festivals, so hopefully these will serve as a springboard for more Teutonic spinning. Apart from my Irish roots I'm quarter German, so it would be great to play there more often.

That's about it for this week… More to be covered in the next instalment.

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May 11, When you fly that much, seat quality and legroom counts for a lot...
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Music

This instalment starts in the second half of a week that took in 25,000 miles of flying. When you fly that much, seat quality and legroom counts for a lot, especially on long haul trips. Some of you out there would no doubt find them quite boring, but there are various very anal websites out there to help frequent flyers choose their airlines. Seatguru.com has maps of seating configurations for every airline and every model of plane they fly.

On Wednesday 2nd May I flew with China Airlines for the first time, to Beijing. Before setting off for Heathrow Seatguru made worrying reading. Although they're updating their planes slowly towards larger seats, China Airlines' business class had the smallest legroom I've ever experienced on a long haul flight. Since I was flying overnight on a two day London-Beijing-Singapore-London itinerary, where most of my sleep would be on the various planes, I was far from amused. Over the course of the ten hour flight I got no more than an hour's shut eye en route to the Chinese capital. I'm 6ft 2 tall, which didn't help.

Via my Asian booking agent I'd requested that the local Beijing promoter take me to a market to buy some stuff to take home. The Chinese currency (RMB) is maintained artificially low by the Chinese Government to help their exports. This makes local prices very cheap if you arrive armed with Pounds or Euros- even more so with a local to haggle on your behalf. For less than £100 I came away with a whole suitcase full of clothing, bags, wallets and underwear. God only knows how much we would have bought if my missus had been along for the trip.

If China Airlines disappointed, then my Beijing Hotel was the complete opposite. A huge funky spar room with amazing Asian fusion cuisine on the room service menu. I ordered some late lunch, quickly checked my emails, and then slept from 5 till 11pm. This would be my longest single stint of shut eye on the trip.

With each of my five visits to mainland China I've witnessed the dance scene grow, and the crowds' musical understanding get better and better. From lighting to décor to soundsystems, no Chinese club I've played has had any expense spared. I played from midnight til 2am, starting in a more tribal vein and progressing to the trancey material. It was a week-long Chinese holiday, so despite being a Thursday clubbers were there in abundance.

Arriving back at my hotel room at 2.30am after my set, I had to set off for Beijing airport at 6. With my body clock rooted in UK time it felt like an early evening nap so sleep deprivation wasn't too much of a problem, but I don't know about you- I always find it difficult getting to sleep when I know there's only a small amount of shut eye time available.

My 6 hour Singapore Airlines flight down to Singapore took off at 8.45am. Presumably because of the national Chinese holiday, I was the only passenger in business class, so the flight attendants shut all the window blinds and let me sleep, although very strong turbulence during the first few hours made shutting down difficult.

I landed into sweltering and humid Singapore at 3pm, briefly checked into my hotel, and then headed to one of my favourite shopping spots, the Far East Plaza Mall. On my previous visit I went to Far East Plaza with Eddie Halliwell, who shuddered at some of the loud t-shirts I came away with. This time round it wasn't much different, although small Asian sizes meant that I couldn't buy every item that took my fancy.

Then it was back to bed at the hotel for a few hours before my gig that night at the Ministry Of Sound Singapore. En route to the MoS I was wearing flip flops, and the promoter told me that these were banned in the club. Whilst he wasn't saying I couldn't wear them, it would make life easier with the management if I adhered to the dress code. Since my hotel was only 1 minute from the venue I was more than happy to oblige, and in reality a pair of sneakers makes one jump around more excitedly in the booth. The MoS was busy with a mix of ex-pats and Asian locals, and I took plenty of pictures to include in the 'Gallery' section of the site. Singapore was the first Asian country to develop a strong dance scene, and it's good to see such passion for the music in a nation that's almost entirely drug free.

After my set it was a case of déjà vu, as I had to survive on less than three hours sleep before setting off for Singapore Changi airport en route back to London. Going against the clock, most major Asian cities (ie Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore) have early Saturday morning UK departures, allowing me to arrive back in London mid-afternoon in time for my Radio 1 show. None of the flights are quick- the Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 took 13 hours to cover the journey. I slept for five hours and prepared my R1 show for the rest.

The weekend of Saturday May 5th was a public holiday, and generally speaking the Sunday night is the bigger party occasion. After my Radio 1 show I played an Oxford University ball at Brasenose College. It was out of the regular college ball season, taking place shortly before exam time- apparently it's a centuries old tradition. My uncle's a professor at another Oxford College, so I'm familiar with the city and its uni balls, but playing to a crowd in black tie is still a rare exception to the rule. I span more familiar tunes than normal, which generated a loud dancefloor reaction.

Bank Holiday Sunday 6th was the second of three UK Judgement Sundays warm up parties, at Crasher 1 in Sheffield. It's my favourite venue in the country, so I was naturally very happy when the JS date was booked in. I've avoided the temptation of hawking JS 'tour nights' here there and everywhere, where a few banners get slung up and the vibe is far from authentic. By choosing three distinctly different UK clubbing regions, using just JS dj's, and only hosting three Sunday events we've tried to provide the flavour without selling out the name.

The atmosphere was truly caustic, as I played both a main room trance set and a funky set in the upstairs house arena. Despite my long-standing association with Gatecrasher it was my first set in the second room, with the crowd up close and in yer face- just the way it works best. The third and final UK Judgement Sundays event takes place at Heaven in London on Bank Holiday Sunday 27th, then it's over to Ibiza…

Although I frequently play five consecutive nights during the summer months, the week covered by this chapter was the first time in a while it's reached that degree of insanity. The saving grace was that my final gig instalment was very close to home, at Herts University in Hatfield, a 15 mile hop up the A1(M) motorway from home in North London. Once again I was surprised to see such a strong turn-out so close to university exams. During my uni days I was dj'ing constantly for most of the year, and had to buckle down and do nothing socially immediately before exam time. No doubt other students are more sensible, spreading the workload more evenly throughout the year, leaving themselves able to enjoy the occasional night out even this close to exams. The crowd were loud and responsive, which was pretty much a necessity by that point, as my tank was running on empty and the adrenaline of the dancefloor was all that kept me going.

I'm now off to the US for three gigs on the East Coast. More about that next week…

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5th April 2007, When I was growing up, my Dad worked away from home a lot
Category: Music

The weekend covered by this instalment saw me being away from home throughout. I'm not sure whether Amanda and my two littleuns rub their hands with glee at the prospect of my being out of the house, or miss me. I'd hope the latter. When I was growing up, my Dad worked away from home a lot, and also did long stints of late nights. I don't think I came out of it any worse - it was all I ever knew, and I hope that's their attitude. Looking around me, of course there are plenty of other dj's with small kids, but definitely a lower proportion than in other lines of work.

With a national UK peak time radio show, it's important to get out and about to every UK region over the course of each year. Live performances are a great way of building loyalty and radio show awareness. However, it's almost two years since I was last in Jersey on the Channel Islands, somewhere I should have got back to sooner. One of my oldest schoolfriends lives there, and it would have been an ideal opportunity to catch up. Unfortunately my visit coincided with the start of the Easter Holidays and he was away. However, travelling alone and meeting new people is hardly alien to me.

I flew from Heathrow to Jersey with BMI on Friday March 30th. BMI have only just reinstated air links from Heathrow after more than five year's absence- Gatwick was the only previous choice when flying from London to Jersey. Most airline business lounges offer the choice of work or play. You can either plug your laptop up to a personal desk/worstation, or relax with a drink in a sofa or armchair. When travelling alone I always go for the work option, but all of the 20+ desks in the BMI lounge were occupied. Just about every business lounge has wi-fi, so I could download emails and tracks, but it was a pain having to perch my laptop (ironically) on my lap sat in an armchair.

We landed into Jersey around 9pm, and I slept in my hotel room til 11. The hotel and club were only four doors apart, and with every second of sleep counting it was much appreciated. Through my window I could hear the distant rumble of a car ferry disembarking, reminding me that I was on an island. As a part time resident of another island (Ibiza), I'm aware of the logistical difficulties that islands face- virtually every single product has to be imported by sea or air.

At 11.30 I walked the few paces over to the club in lashing rain. With half an hour before my set, I got talking to a few folk in the venue. With only a couple of months to go before the start of the season, the subject of Ibiza inevitably came up. There are no direct flights from Jersey, yet lots of islanders make the pilgrimage. They're forced to transfer via Gatwick, making the journey last almost a whole day. There are many pluses and minuses to living in a fairly isolated community like Jersey. Outsiders can't buy property on the island until they've lived in Jersey for fifteen years (unless they're millionaires and can buy their way in early.) This preserves a sense of identity and community spirit (or so I'm told…)

The gig was very busy, and I was warned that the local police strictly enforce the 2am curfew. With this in mind I stopped the music at 1.50, making two encore speeches with a couple of final records. My end of night speeches are patchy to say the least. I always go for a bit of humour, but trying to make a drunken crowd laugh on a frequently distorted mic should probably be left to stand up comedians.

By 3am I was asleep, but was forced to be up at 7.30 for a journey to Glasgow via Heathrow. There weren't many connection choices enabling me to get to Glasgow with sufficient time to do my Radio 1 show from BBC Glasgow, and even then I was forced to change airlines and re check-in at Heathrow.

There are virtually no business travellers on Saturdays, so the BA business lounge was all but empty. With no-one using it, the wi-fi broadband speed was the fastest I've experienced in Terminal One. I don't fully understand how things work, but clearly the more laptops are connected-up the slower the whole process becomes. With virtually all music promotion now being done as download links, broadband speed means a lot to dj's. The difference between an 1meg and 8meg connection can spell hours more download time. I managed to download roughly 50 of the day's promo links during a two hour layover in Heathrow.

I checked into a Glasgow hotel room at 2pm and turned on the tv to watch the Liverpool-Arsenal game, switching it off almost immediately as I recoiled in horror at the score. With my radio show to present a few hours later, 4-1 defeat wasn't good for the karma. Turning off the tv and pretending it had never happened seemed like the sensible thing to do.

Over the course of my 10 years at Radio 1 I've occasionally presented the show from other BBC facilities. These have included Belfast, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff. However, Saturday 31st was my first visit to BBC Glasgow, which will be my last to that site, as the BBC's moving to a new location on the banks of the River Clyde next month. Normally speaking in London I arrive roughly an hour before my show, but it seemed wise to get there much earlier to familiarise oneself with the equipment. In the event it wasn't different from what I've used before, and the show went smoothly.

I had two gigs on the Saturday night, Inside Out in Glasgow and Room At The Top in Bathgate. Although they're only 40 odd miles apart, there's little conflict between the respective crowds. I knew that the Arches would be busy as promoter Simon Foy had been a guest on the R1 show. He told me that it had virtually sold out- they'd kept back the final 150 tickets for last minute sale on the door, which would be snapped up almost as soon as it opened.

Ask any dj who spins there- Inside Out has one of the best club atmospheres in the world, and its strength in this department has never waned. I was playing between hotly tipped IO resident Barry Connell and Italian legend Mauro Picotto (spinning an 'old and new' set.) Mauro's recent sound is slower and more tekky than his classic productions from 97-2000, but there's no reason why the two shouldn't work together with his experienced programming. Because I had a second gig I didn't get to hear Mauro, but Barry Connell was impressive. He'll be playing this summer in Ibiza for Judgement Sundays, and having heard his set on Saturday, I wish it was more than once.

RATT in Bathgate was equally busy. My set got off to a shaky start as a CDJ1000 cd turntable completely refused to work, but that was quickly rectified. Having spent over 3 years spinning on CDJ's, I've very rarely experienced any problems. I'd imagine that the biggest vulnerability would be people spilling drinks on them. Having played last week on CDJs outdoors in Miami in the pouring rain with no problems, they seem to be able to deal with spillages, but sticky alcoholic drinks ruin mixers, vinyl turntables, and most other nightclub electronic equipment they come into contact with. I should stress that it wasn't me who screwed up the deck at the RATT!

Once again the Scottish atmosphere kicked big time, as I span from 2 til 3.30am. By the end of my set I quite fancied a wee kip on the journey back to Glasgow (I'm trying to sound Scottish here), but Simon Foy collected me in his Suburu Impreza. These race-tuned cars have such hard sporty suspension that sleeping was out of the question. I felt like an omelette in a pan as we drove back to the hotel….

The following day I flew back down to Stansted, where I met Amanda, Jake and Phoebe to fly down to Cornwall for a two day break. I've got lots of family there, including my uncle Rick Stein. Staying with my aunt Jill, we rented a car and visited Cornwall's amazing beaches and its most famous tourist attraction, The Eden Project. This lottery assisted site cost £120 million, and is every bit worth the money. They've recreated tropical and temperate climates in two separate sci-fi like 'biospheres', in which all the plants from these regions of the world are grown. It's difficult to explain in detail, but a must-see if you're in Britain's South West.

The weather was gorgeous during our two day stay, as we ate in many of my uncle and aunt's eateries, including 'The Seafood Restaurant', 'Rick Stein's Café' and their fish and chip shop. Feeling fat but happy, we headed back to London on Tuesday night (April 3rd) as I started gearing myself up for the extended Easter weekend, one of the biggest in the annual clubbing calendar.

More about that next week…

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14th April 2007, At the risk of sounding typically ill-informed
Category: Music

At the risk of sounding typically ill-informed (and less godly than I should), I'm not sure how the dates of Lunar religious festivals are determined. Who makes the decision regarding when Easter (and the key dates of other religions) take place? Please put me out of my misery and let me know… jules@judgejules.net if you can spare the time.

Because the date of the Easter holiday fluctuates over a six week period (I think), it always catches me by surprise. If I was more diligent, and looked at my dj bookings diary more than a fortnight in advance, I wouldn't be caught out. However, I reckon it's more important to focus on the gigs that are immediately forthcoming, and try to perform to the best of your ability at what's on the near horizon. That's my theory anyway…

After coming home from a break with my family in Cornwall, the five day Easter dj spell kicked off with a journey to Leeds on Thu April 5th. Although I only visit my dad on about one in every three trips to the region, the fact that he lives near the city gives me a strong affinity with the area. In a moment of honesty every football fanatic will admit to having a couple of other favourite teams, other than their own. Because of the family connection, Leeds United is definitely one of mine. I've also got lots of Leeds-based mates. The promoters of the night I was playing (Club Space) were very generous in accommodating them all on the guest list.

Pete and I drove to visit our friends Jon and Rebecca in the Leeds suburb of Pudsey, before travelling to the club, arriving half an hour before my 12.30am set. By midnight it was already one-in one-out at Club Space. It was so busy that my 12 guests all wanted to stand in the dj booth, the least crowded spot. On the one hand I don't mind playing in a crowded dj console- it reminds me of the roots of my career in raves. Back then you could barely see the decks for smoke and booth invaders. On the other hand, it looks a little unprofessional. Whilst I never want to turn any mates out, it's important to be taken seriously. So I compromised, letting half of them in - we all enjoyed a very packed evening. On the only Thursday night of the year immediately preceding a public holiday it was bound to be busy, but the turnout surpassed all expectations.

On Good Friday night I flew to Edinburgh en route to a gig in nearby Kircaldy (pronounced Kircoddy.) I'm tied to BA by frequent flyer allegiance, and the onboard service is good, but British Airways' punctuality seems to get worse every time I fly with them. In theory I'd have an hour to chill out in an Edinburgh Airport hotel before being collected and driven to the gig. However, after an hour long flight delay my driver was already waiting outside the hotel as I checked in. He was in a huge stretch American Navigator 4x4, dwarfing me as I travelled alone in the back. Doing a mere 5 miles to the gallon it must have had a fuel tank the size of a 747.

I arrived into the gig 15 minutes late for a two hour set, which wasn't too bad given the flight delay. On the floor underneath the dj position was a loose board, almost like a loft opening, which moved dangerously to a near vertical position every time I stood on it. I didn't want too appear like a prima dona, but guaranteed I would have fallen down the manhole in the booth had I not requested that someone cover it up. Once it was done I could relax, and enjoyed the Scottish atmosphere.

Whilst I was playing a clubber handed me a beer. It was a nice gesture, but I'm always cautious about accepting drinks from strangers. A few years back someone spiked a drink that I was handed, leaving me reticent to accept anything from someone I don't know. However, I pretended to take a few sips so as not to appear rude.

Perhaps I'm dwelling too long on the trivia regarding an otherwise good gig, but hey ho, that's what this piece is all about… A little bit later a girl shook my hand so hard that I felt the bones crunching. She dug a ring into my finger, drawing blood. Having asked for the manhole to be covered up, the resident dj must have been tired of my demands as I requested a plaster. All clubs have a first aid cabinet, and theirs contained garish bright blue plasters, which helped me stem the blood from a gaping wound.

After my set I headed back to Edinburgh Airport Hilton. I flew back to London the following morning, where I met up with my 7 year old son Jake to watch Arsenal lose their first match at the Emirates Stadium, against West Ham. Not a good start to the day.

Following my Radio 1 show, at 9pm, my driver Pete and I set off for Newquay in Cornwall. Easter is a time of mass exodus to the traditional British holiday resorts, and the influx into Cornwall made Newquay a perfect choice of Saturday night outing (April 7th.) Although I sleep for the majority of our longer car journeys, I'm well aware that Pete has certain long drives that he prefers over others. At night, trips through miles of countryside are far more boring for than drives passing numerous towns and cities. The visit down to Cornwall passes virtually nowhere that's heavily inhabited, and I naturally feel obliged to ask Pete if everything has been ok after our more tedious road ventures. Apparently the roads were virtually empty on our 280 mile trip to the scenic South West.

Tall Trees in Newquay was busy and had a bouncy atmosphere. They'd provided me with a 1.5 litre optic bottle of Smirnoff vodka, which clearly I couldn't drink by myself. I spread it amongst friends who'd come along for the night, and naturally they didn't complain. In fact, a couple who'd come down for night described the look of horror amongst their 70-something fellow hotel guests, as they stumbled deliriously into breakfast the following morning, still smelling of vodka. As for me, by that stage I was back home in London. Saturday night roads are always quiet, and I slept all the way back.

Sunday evening contained two ports of call, Shrewsbury and Blackpool. My first set was quite an early one (10.30 - midnight), and it's only fair to play at this sort of time if an early set has been well publicised. Unfortunately there had been a mix up, and the club management found out about my early arrival at the last minute. The gig in Shrewsbury only approached capacity during the last third of my set. Easter Sunday is a huge night in the party calendar, although I'm not sure whether the bunny girl outfits I saw over the weekend are likely to catch on during other parts of the year. As I left the club in Shrewsbury there was a large queue at the door, and I tried to avoid being spotted as I took a leak in the gutter before crashing out en route to Blackpool. Classy.

2007 marks the eighth season of my Judgement Sundays night in Ibiza. However it's been five years since any pre-summer UK warm up events took place. This year we're doing three - on each of the UK bank holiday Sundays in advance of the summer, plus one in Ireland in June. As the UK's largest dance club, Blackpool's Syndicate was the obvious choice to kick things off. Also on the bill were Ibiza co-residents Lisa Lashes and Vicky Devine.

The Syndicate was absolutely rammed as I played 2 til 3.30 in the main room, followed by a shorter set in the smaller house room. A set of 2007 flyers with Ibiza line ups was distributed for the first time. In my (humble) opinion this year has JS Ibiza's strongest dj line ups, week-in week-out. Loads of you have been emailing me to say how much you're looking forward to the Ibiza summer season. You ain't kidding!

The next UK Judgement Sundays event takes place at Crasher 1 in Sheffied on Bank Holiday Sunday May 6th, followed by another on the last Sunday in May at London's Heaven. If the Blackpool night is anything to go by, these should definitely be dates for your diary.

Ironically, immediately after leaving Blackpool Pete drove me to London Stansted Airport, where I met with Amanda, Jake and Phoebe and flew to Ibiza for a five day break. Having last visited the island in February, when the sunny skies hit 25c, we naturally had high hopes for good weather. We wouldn't be in luck.

It doesn't matter what time of year you choose to visit, the temperature in Ibiza is always roughly 10c higher than in the UK, and the island enjoys over 300 sunny days per year. Our trip was part of the remaining 65. Whilst the UK and Northern Europe was basking in glorious summer-like conditions, it rained every day during our stay in the Balearics. Whilst we've got a house in Ibiza with UK tv and all the creature comforts of home, there's not much do when the sun doesn't shine. I've no longer got a restaurant on the island, which occupied a lot of Easter time for the past couple of years. There's only so much time that can be spent in watching kids' tv before you get bored out of your mind. I've now seen every episode of Dora the explorer.

Anyway - I'm now back in the UK for another weekend's clubbing adventures. More about that next week…

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