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May
2005
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'Get Down at Bar Rumba, London' May kicked off midway through the long Bank Holiday weekend, and my five consecutive nights of DJing were throwing up quite a variety of different types of gigs. Following my regular spots at G’s in Bicester and The Bridge in Oxford, and a hyper guest slot at Bar Rumba in London, Sunday 1st saw me return to 52 Degrees North in Banbury, where I’d last played on Boxing Day. Promoters Beano Brown, Kilbz and the rest of The Urban Collective Crew had clearly put the work in, as the place was packed with a lively and mixed crowd, and my hour’s set from the pulpit, (the club’s a converted church!) appeared to hit the right spot. Bank Holiday Sundays generally bring some of the liveliest clubbing nights in the calendar, and I jetted back to Oxford immediately after my set, where there was a fair bit of guest DJ action on offer – Trevor Nelson at The Studio, Fergie at The Park End Club, and Danny Rampling at The Bridge, where I’d DJed the previous night.
'MD with Danny Rampling' I’ve caught more than enough Trevor sets in my time, thanks, and Fergie ain’t really my cup of tea, so I opted to catch some of Rampling’s soulful house fare. The night was another Sweet promotion put on by my DJ mate Kieran Hayes, and the upstairs level was nicely buzzing. I had a quick chat with Rampling, who’s a very nice fella, and who’s always got time to talk and be friendly – moody, anal ‘superstar’ DJs take note! On walking back to my car, a jeep suddenly pulled up to the kerb, the window came down, and a rough Northern Irish accent asked, ‘’Scuse me mate, do you know where I can find the Park End Club?’ Turned out to be Fergie, lost and late for his set. As it was already 2.20am, and the club closed at 3, I didn’t go much on the chances of the promoter being too impressed! I pointed him in the right direction, and he asked if I wanted to come in as his guest. He didn’t seem too chufffed when I told him I’d just come away from the Rampling night. Bank Holiday Monday itself involved another trek up to Manchester to play the Vodka Island night at Tiger Tiger, just as buzzing as it always is.I very rarely DJ five nights in a row, and by the time I rolled in close to 5am, the ongoing chain of the late nights was starting to take its toll! Fortunately, a marathon sleep session on Tuesday soon got me back on track. G’s in Bicester was much quieter than usual on Thursday 5th – maybe the election was keeping them at home. Strange – I’ve had the G’s crowd down as many things, but never a bunch of voters!
'MD at Route' I had an appointment with a bunch of blonde Essex girls on Friday 6th! This was my second visit to Route in Colchester, a night that’s been running strong for a good couple of years - quite an achievement in a town where there’s so much mainstream nightlife competition. The night was busy, but the crowd certainly made me work! It took a few twists and turns in direction to find the right vibe. At one point I dropped Elephant Man, and everyone just stopped and stared at me with blank expressions. I soon fixed things, though, and the party in the DJ box courtesy of the lively residents certainly brightened up the last half-hour! Saturday 7th saw another late-night return to Atlantas in Northampton, a spot I’ve played now played several times. The vibes were pretty much as they always are – lively and on-point. On Monday 9th, I made another long road trip to Newcastle to play the Vodka Island party at Tiger Tiger.
'MD at Vodka Island, Newcastle' Same deal here. This time, I at least had the luxury of a few hours’ kip at my hotel before heading home on Tuesday morning – the last time, I’d had to drive back virtually straight away to get to Heathrow in time for my flight to the States. Next stops – Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Check back for updates soon! I set off on my third mini DJing tour of Australia on Wednesday 11th, also incorporating my debut in New Zealand. (And apologies in advance for the length of the accounts – but you can’t go halfway round the world and not have plenty of stories to tell!) I was kinda late catching the Aussie bug, but from my first visit, it was clear why the place is so popular with Brits. The urban music scene there is healthy and thriving, too. The trip was neatly timed to coincide with my birthday. It also took into account the fact that Parveen is still away working on her college course, so it’s not like I’d be missing time with her at home. Again, the schedule was hardcore, and the statistics put it into perspective; six cities in three countries with three different time zones in nine days; a flight a day for eight consecutive days, equating to a total of 52 hours in the skies; somewhere around 28,000 miles covered. Michael Palin and Phileas Fogg, fall back! I’d opted for Malaysia Airlines again, following a good experience with them in ’04. I had to accept long ago, however, that I am officially the World’s Unluckiest Person when it comes to seating allocation on planes. It’s 100 per cent guaranteed if there’s a screaming kid on the flight, it’s in my row. I took my seat on Wednesday, and sure enough, there it was – the Problem Child from Hell! I was travelling out and back via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To fly to Australia in one go is just too damn much in the inhuman conditions of cattle class, so one-night stopovers are the only way. Touchdown was early in the morning on Thursday 12th May – my birthday. But my body was still on London time, so it didn’t yet count! The journey in from distant KL International Airport took well over 90 minutes. The sticky humidity was almost intolerable, and I was told later that it’s got significantly more extreme since the Asian Tsunami at Christmas, and the knock-on quirks it’s caused to the region’s weather. I spent the day sleeping off the fatigue, followed by a quick swim – something that only ever happens in hotels! After a meal in the bar while a group of three cute Malaysian girls sang karaoke favourites from the stage – something I’ve seen in every other hotel I’ve stayed at in Asia – I was collected by KL promoter Bastien.
'Zouk exterior' On the agenda was Zouk, one of the most impressive clubs in the world; a massive purpose-built venue with a floodlit white stone facade that wouldn’t look out of place in Ibiza. Ghetto Heaven is their regular Thursday hip hop/ R&B night, and the mass of assembled heads all trying to blag their way on to the guest list was a sign of what to expect. The place was packed, the crowd up for it, and the music selection tight. I ended the night interviewing Joe, rapper with 2 Phatt, Malaysia’s number one hip hop crew for my forthcoming DVD. Friday drew around all too quickly, and involved a painful 7am departure back to the airport on the first of eight consecutive days where I had to take a flight. This one was an eight-hour daytime haul to Sydney, (another screaming child, more selfish arseholes…) Touchdown in Sydney was around 8pm, where promoter Len collected me and took me into the city. Tonight’s gig was at The Hunter, a venue I’d played on my first Oz visit in 2003. The night was nicely busy, and the mixed crowd divided between typical pop R&B girlies, and more adventurous types. I finished my set with Lethal B’s ‘Pow’, which met with mixed reactions – clearly not something the Aussies had heard before. Good to catch up briefly with my mate DJ D, Australia’s hottest female DJ, who was dancing with her buddies, plus Ecko, one of the DMC Mixing Champs from the region.
'MD & DJ D at The Hunter, Sydney' My body clock was shot to pieces by Saturday, and I headed back to Sydney Airport not really sure what planet I was on. On the cards was a short flight to Melbourne – a blessing after two days of long-hauls. The flight was with Virgin Blue, (Branson strikes again!), Australia’s answer to UK budget airlines like Easyjet, but a hell of a lot more efficient. After a meal with promoter Clarence, (relocated from Paris,) and DJ Kaz (from Senegal,) it was off to the show at the Wayside Hotel - more a street corner pub-type spot than a bona-fide hotel, and with one of those intimate house party feels as a result, Sydney and Melbourne are distinctly different in many ways, and one of them is the clubbing schedule; Melbournians go out much later, so it was way past 1am by the time it was busy.
'Wayside Hotel' Things were just as much fun, with a heavy bias towards reggae dancehall – the only spot in town that plays it. I recorded the whole thing, and we’ll be posting the mix up on the site for all to hear very soon - keep an eye on the front page. On Sunday morning, I headed back to Sydney, with a night off on the cards. I hooked up with local DJ Phat with whom I’d been corresponding by e-mail, and we headed to Bondi Beach for a bite to eat and a good chat. By Monday 16th, a pattern had established itself whereby two sleep sessions per day were becoming vital in order to continue functioning. My body clock must have been left behind somewhere over Asia, as I was getting much better naps in the afternoons than I was able to manage at night, consistently waking between 5 and 7am local time, and infuriatingly unable to get back to sleep. New Zealand’s customs and immigration process is famously harsh, and I got a predicted grilling from a couple of officials after crossing the Tasman Sea to Auckland on Monday. Mainly, they were suspicious to know why I was only visiting for 24 hours, something that had clearly flagged me as a potential drug runner. Eventually I convinced them that my intentions were good, and I went through to be picked up by Marvin, owner of Suede Lounge Bar, where I was due to play my debut NZ gig that night.
'MD, Definate & Bling at Suede' Auckland felt like home – it pissed down throughout. That, and the fact that it was Monday, seemingly kept a lot of potential punters away from Suede. Those that stuck around for the late-night lock-in were clearly enjoying themselves, though. I was out of Auckland by Tuesday afternoon, sadly with no time to go up the famous Sky Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world. The day involved a return trek to Oz, this time for another night off to be spent chilling at the International Beach Resort on Gold Coast/ Surfers Paradise. The morning’s news, (besides Kylie Minogue’s breast cancer – what breasts??,) had carried stories of the freak typhoon which had devastated much of Western Australia the previous day, so I counted myself lucky to be staying on the right side of the continent!
'MD at Surfers Paradise'
Surfers Paradise is virtually a spitting image of South Beach Miami, and I loved the place from the start. Rolling, breaking waves, miles of golden sand, and hotels, bars and restaurants everywhere. Hardly a great gastronomic experience, though; burgers, pizza and fish and chips seem to be the staple diet of just about every menu! The final leg of the Oz experience was on Wednesday 18th, involving a flight, (number 7 and counting!) back down to Sydney. I was then picked up by a guy from the interestingly-named Fannys nightclub in Newcastle, for the two and a half-hour drive back up the New South Wales coast. Not only is the city named after its North East England counterpart, so are many of the outlying districts – Jesmond, Wallsend, etc. It was another rainy night, which might have kept
the Fannys crowd away. It didn’t seem to affect things, though,
with a healthy turnout of mainly students in attendance. It’s
always difficult knowing quite what to drop in overseas locations.
The urban club scene is so reliant on whatever tunes are big on
radio and MTV in the region, and when it comes to revivals, you’re
never sure what tunes have been bangers in the past, so it’s
pretty much a case of finding your way as you go. Thursday and Friday were swallowed up by the long gradual trek back home – Newcastle to Sydney, a night’s stopover in Kuala Lumpur, and finally touchdown at Heathrow on Friday evening, to the pleasing sight of the wife waiting to pick me up and cook me some good food! First assignment back in the UK was a welcome return to The Apartment in Swindon on Saturday, another musically satisfying session. The first week back was spent still waking between 5 and 7am, (UK time now!), battling with a B&S deadline, and wading through the mountain of new 12-inches, CDs and MP3s that had arrived. I played my final Vodka Island party of the season on Monday 23rd, this time at Tiger Tiger in Leeds. Being student-based, these take a break through the Summer. I’ve had some enjoyable nights so far, and look forward to getting back into things from September onwards.
'MD with DJ Jazzy Jeff 2'
There aren’t many other DJs that would get me to a club specially to see them perform on my night off … but the legendary Jazzy Jeff is one! On Wednesday 25th, I linked with Brunel Rooms Swindon DJs Jada Funk and Chris Tempo to check the master in action in Reading, alongside Mad Skillz on the mic. He was truly spellbinding, performing entirely off of Final Scratch, (see the Chat Forum thread on ‘Vinyl Vs. CD’ for more on this!), and chopping through an obscene amount of breaks during his two-hour set. Now, THAT’S a real DJ! And so for the third time in a row, the month ended with a big Bank Holiday Weekend in the UK. I was due to be playing Brighton on the Friday, but the night got disappointingly cancelled a week before due to flagging numbers. That left Saturday at The Sanctuary in Middlesbrough, for the Funkbase R&B/ hip hop night run by North East top dog DNO. I’d taken the night off from my regular end-of-month Saturday at The Bridge in Oxford to accommodate. Numbers were light owing to the high-profile opening of the Luminar-owned Lava & Ignite that weekend, but those that attended were quality, and I spent much of my set spinning dancehall back to back with DNO. After the four-hour trek home on Sunday, I got roped into mowing the lawn by the wife, (not very gangsta, right?!), before we both set off for that night’s clubbing action in Birmingham. The city’s nightlife scene has been plagued with gun-related problems in recent times, with virtually all urban music events being shut down. This one, however, was at the upmarket Libertys, out of the city centre on the Hagley Road. It was another presentation from the rapidly expanding Cosmic UK organisation, and saw DJ Spoony headlining, alongside Birmingham heavyweight Big John. (We were once apparently both checking the same girl at the same time, even though we don’t actually know each other!) In my previous job writing for a trade magazine, I got to meet the then-owner of Libertys in 1994, and he gave me a lifetime membership to the club. I never actually used it, and tonight was the first time I’d set foot in the place in 11 years.
'Salzburg' May wrapped up with me taking Parveen on a surprise overnight visit to Salzburg, Austria, on Bank Holiday Monday. Our first anniversary is now imminent, plus Parveen’s always wanted to see the place … being half-Austrian probably has something to do with it. It’s a beautiful city, and it’s actually the first place I ever DJed outside of the UK; local radio jock DJ Rene hooked me up at a spot called Stadwerk Orange back in 1997. A bit of detective work revealed it’s still there, but it’s now changed its name to Revolution Café. The visit also involved passing by the world headquarters of Red Bull in the Salzburg province. It felt like a bit of a spiritual pilgrimage visiting the place that’s home to a brew that’s kept me alert on many a long late-night journey home! And that was May… Diary Archive 2007 2006 2005
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