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January
2006
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As with hangovers and comedowns, there’s a price to pay for enjoying the December party season. It’s called January – never a DJ’s favourite month. At least not those that are stuck to endure it in the cold, miserable UK! Years of experience have taught me to expect a bleak time at the start of a new year, as clubbers get both their wallets and heads back together. Sure enough, the diary was looking decidely dry, with just my Thursday sessions at G’s Bicester for the first couple of weeks. This left me with a few days to relax, an appealing prospect at the tail-end of a full-on and exhausting year. The novelty quickly wore off, however, and after a couple of days I was pining to be right back in the thick of it again! I made the best of things by putting some overseas travel plans in place, including my next trips to Ibiza and Australia, which certainly helped ease the blues. I walked to G’s on Thursday 5th. At only ten minutes from my front door it’s no great hardship, and it enabled me the rare luxury of having a few drinks as I played. I’ve now taken to playing totally off CD there, with my entire night’s music compressed into one portable wallet. But don’t worry, vinyl fans – this is the only gig I’ll be playing without my trusted slabs of black plastic!
'MD at G's, Bicester' A gig-free Saturday allowed Mrs. D and myself to catch on some socialising. By the second weekend, we were ready for our annual European short break, which we generally take to brighten up such a boring month. Previous destinations have included Barcelona and Venice. This year, we opted for Nice. Admittedly, January’s not the best time of year to indulge in the Cote D’Azur’s Mediterranean climate, but it still sure as hell beat England! Another Friday night off turned out to be useful, as we had to rise at the inhumanly early time of 4am on Saturday 14th to make our 7am flight. It allowed us a full day of activity, at least, which included an excursion to see the yachts, hotels and casinos of Monte Carlo, and me to fantasise about a superstar DJ lifestyle. Bizarrely, the Christmas trees and decorations were still up everywhere. It seems France doesn’t stop celebrating the festive season until amost the end of January.
'Monaco Ville harbour' I put in a midweek visit to London on Wednesday 18th, primarily to have another meeting about my book, ‘Tales From The Flipside’. I’m unable to make any announcement about it just yet, but things are moving forward towards it getting published. As soon as there’s any more to reveal, this site is where you’ll hear about it first! On Thursday 19th, I did a phone interview with Three 6 Mafia for Touch magazine. The answers I enjoyed the most were to the question ‘what would you do with your last 15 minutes on Earth?’ While Juicy J remarked he’d spend it in church, DJ Paul said he’d kill somebody he didn’t like. Word up! The feature is for the 15th anniversary edition of Touch, which drops in March. For the same issue, I was also asked to write about my ten favourite tracks of the past 15 years. The mag will reveal the full list, but it was essential to start with Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s ‘They Reminisce Over You’, Biggie and Da Brat’s ‘Da B Side’ and Raphael Saadiq & Q Tip’s ‘Get Involved’. Bona fide classics!
'MD on the decks' I know nothing about football and care even less, but I knew the opportunity to play at the plush Purple nightclub, located on Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge ground, would be a good experience. Parveen came along for the ride on Friday 20th, and sure enough, the club was highly impressive, with the beautiful people-type crowd you’d expect. I’d requested an early slot, as I was flying to the US the following day, and spent the first part dropping some soulful 90s revivals that I don’t often get the chance to rinse. By 1am, we were lodged at Parveen’s folks’ house in Middlesex, always conveniently located for Heathrow Airport. And free, too! On Saturday lunchtime I flew out of Terminal 3 on a United flight to JFK, New York. On the agenda was my gig that night in Manhattan, followed by a quick trip to Boston, a place I fancied taking a look at. The schedule was a mismatch of flights. I’d got the United one cheap as part of my BMI Diamond Club membership. I’d then booked an internal with AA to Boston, and, by sheer fluke, managed to find an Aer Lingus one-way from Boston to London, via a stop-off in Shannon, Ireland, for no more than £91 including tax. My kind of rate!
'The mean streets of Manhattan' Flying into New York is one thing. The act of actually getting into Manhattan seems to get harder with every trip. After mammoth queues at passport control and customs, the airport bus plodded its way through Queens at a snail’s pace, and when I finally got to The Hotel Pennsylvania, right opposite Penn Station, there was interminable queuing at reception just to get my room key. This left me with no time for my planned disco nap before heading to Go Go on West 19th Street for the night’s gig, a party for Blues & Soul magazine staged by the city’s nightlife kingpin Kenny Summit. The combination of being overtired, underfed, and happily indulging in the Grey Goose vodka and champagne that was being pushed my way meant I sadly got drunk very quick, and paid the price for it all through the following day. You’d think I’d have learned by now, right?! Anyway, I kept things soulful and funky to suit the cool surroundings, and a short way into my set, DJ Drastic, the founder member of the Coalition DJ Network, passed through to party, catch up on things, and muse on the subsequent DJ’s choice of tune selection. Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’?
'MD & DJ Drastic at Go Go, New York' Rock & Soul Records, Manhattan’s finest source of urban music vinyl, is unfortunately closed on Sundays, so I missed out on this trip. I did visit Fat Beats, however, which is the best second choice. In the evening, I headed back to JFK airport for my American Eagle flight up to Boston, and got settled into the very cool European boutique-style Milner Hotel. I’d considered hitting some bars or clubs, but in the end, good sense prevailed, and I got in a solid night’s sleep instead.
'Boston in January!' When I pulled back the curtains on Monday morning, I was shocked to find the city blanketed in deep snow and ice. It turned out to be exactly a year since a similar freak blizzard hit the area, and history was repeating itself. I proceeded with my original plan for sightseeing, however, ending up the only customer on a trolley bus tour of the city. Boston’s a great place with a wealth of history, and a visit comes highly recommended. After a generous meal in an Irish pub, and a quick sight of the bar used to film the TV show ‘Cheers’, it was back to Logan Airport for the overnighter home. It’s only occasionally I get to play two gigs on the same night. It’s not actually very practical. Playing two spots in the same town, (with the exception of London,) isn’t really good business. Playing two spots quite a way apart, meanwhile, usually involves spinning an early set at one and a late set at the other, with the peak-time of the night spent bombing down some motorway. I had one such night on the agenda for Friday 27th, however … until Michelle, promoter of the Obsession jam in Brighton called early evening to say she was cancelling the event. Apparently, it was snowing on the South Coast, and she feared this would prevent punters from wanting to go out. Being most peoples’ first payday since before Christmas, and first real opportunity to go out clubbing since New Year’s Eve, I was inclined to disagree. Either way, this just left me with my hour’s set for Bring The Noise at The Brunel Rooms in Swindon. Chris Goldfinger was billed to headline, but there was no sign of him, and chatting to fellow DJs Sweets, GK and Shinobi, it was clear they were none the wiser, either. What I didn’t realise was that Skinnyman had been booked to perform in The Amphi, so I spent an hour after my set absorbing his show. I love this guy’s output. He’s a skilled lyricist with some meaningful points to put across, but he’s also a complete joker. I caught up with him for a quick catch-up chat before heading home.
'Skinnyman performs'
It was my brother-in-law’s birthday on the 27th, so to celebrate, he and his mate Aaron joined me for my Bridge session in Oxford on Saturday, with me volunteering staying sober as designated driver. I’ve been playing The Bridge for five years or more, so I pretty much know the crowd inside out. One of the most useful elements is being able to use the place as a testing ground for new tunes. Ne-Yo, Nelly and Mary J Blige went down well, while the dancehall re-working of T Pain exploded.
'Shamim & Aaron at The Bridge'
… and that was the end of January! Diary Archive 2007 2006 2005
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