Continuing to travel here, there and everywhere to DJ is also keeping me extremely occupied, as is making plenty of new music. Thanks to the hectic lifestyle, healthy living and hitting the gym like a man possessed I’ve managed to lose 2 stone (14 kgs), which I’m very proud of. We only get one life, so my philosophy is to fill each day to the brim.

I’ll get to the gig-orientated portion of this instalment in a moment, but there’s one more key bit of news from my solar system. Around a year ago we decided to set the wheels in motion for a new record label. I’d always wanted to start a label, but, owing to complicated politics whilst I was at the BBC, it seemed wise to hold back. However, it’s happening now in the shape of “Junkster”, and our first release is from Irish producer “Dashka”, which will be hitting the download stores in late April. If you’ve got any unsigned material that you’d like to put forward for consideration, please email Tristan D at Tristan@judgejules.net or of course jules@judgejules.net

Also, whilst I have your attention, we’ll be announcing the line-ups for Judgement Sundays Ibiza 2013 very soon. Our opening party is taking place on Sunday 16^th June and we’re excited about another epic season ahead. Keep checking www.judgementsundays.co.uk for updates.

Right then… We start this report on Thursday February 7^th in London Heathrow’s Terminal 3, as my wife Amanda and I set off for Australia. It’s been just under 3 years since I last went Down Under. It was always difficult to tie an Oz tour in with BBC commitments, as touring Oz generally requires two weekends and a minimum of 10 days away. We flew Malaysia Airlines on an Airbus A380, or, for those of you who aren’t aviation geeks, the new double decker ‘super jumbo’. I was pleased that Malaysia Airlines have just joint the One World frequent flyer alliance. This is great news for BA regular flyers like me, as one can now collect plenty of miles for a long haul trip with Malaysian.

We arrived into Brisbane with very little time to spare before the first gig, feeling rather peckish. Brisbane is an awesome city for atmosphere and food but there was only time to hit the closest available restaurant to our hotel, a Korean barbeque. Although I’ve been to Korea twice, it was only my second ever taste of the BBQ side of Korean cuisine. It set the tone for the rest of the visit, as we tried to find a Korean restaurant in every Aussie city. (I didn’t realise it but, according to the web, London has over 75 Korean BBQs).

After dinner, we headed to “Family”, a club that I’ve played before and is always a winner. The event was a Judgement Sundays tour and I was joined on the decks by Swiss/American DJ Sean Tyas. I enjoyed the gig so much that I forgot about the 11 hour time difference, not feeling remotely drowsy.

The next day, February 9^th, Amanda and I flew one hour south to Sydney, where we’d base ourselves for the vacation element of the trip. Sydney is one of my favorite cities and somewhere I’ve travelled to over 30 times. The infrastructure is fantastic, partly thanks to developments created for the Olympics of 2000. The gig that night was once again a Judgement show, this time at “Space” nightclub, not to be confused with Space Ibiza. The club was busy and we had plenty of friends in attendance, which was a welcome excuse to turn up at the venue early. Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel overlooking Sydney harbor and zonked out.

The next day, Sunday February 10^th, we flew to Adelaide, a petite city with a bunch of nice beaches at one’s fingertips. We took a tram to one of them to soak up some Australian summer sun. The gig that night was in a small outdoor section of the HQ Complex. As it was a smaller gig, my travelling companion Sean Tyas and I played our set back-to-back. Back to back sets offer a completely different challenge and dynamic, as one can never predict exactly what your cohort is going to do next, and the crowd generally loves the energy and chaotic nature of it all.

The following morning, Amanda and I returned to Sydney, where we spent the next 5 days on vacation. Sydney has so much to offer that we could have spent months on end without ever getting bored. However, it was soon time to continue the tour: next stop Melbourne. It’s another of my favorite cities in the world. Whereas Sydney feels more modern, built up and international, Melbourne has a low-rise European style café culture and charm about it. We managed a few hours in the blazing 30 degree sunshine at St Kilda beach, but it was generally a shame that we couldn’t spend more time there.

That night I played “Room 680”, an awesome club with a fantastic sound system. Even better, we knew plenty of people in attendance. A nice thing about not playing somewhere for a while is how new and fresh everything feels. Arriving back into the hotel post-gig with a big smile on my face, it was soon wiped off as I caught the end of Arsenal’s home FA cup fixture against Blackburn. Arsenal lost, to North London’s great embarrassment.

Our final Aussie stop was on Sunday February 17^th, as we touched down in Perth, (kind of) en route back to London. Perth has a Mediterranean climate and crystal blue skies, a combo that’s great for one’s karma. Heading almost straight to the gig, I was bowled over by the amount of Irish in attendance. It seemed like almost every person I spoke to in Perth was from Ireland.

The economic situation in the Emerald Isle has seen many young people leave its shores over the past couple of years. Whereas a generation ago this would have been to the UK and the United States, Australia, as the only English speaking country with a booming economy, has become destination of choice for many young Irish seeking better prospects.

The gig was at the appropriately named “Court” and was open air, a novelty one couldn’t fail to enjoy. A great end to our Australian tour, it was pleasing to bring Judgement Sundays to Oz. Even though we were Down Under for almost two weeks, it didn’t feel remotely long enough. I’m itching to head back.

Following my touchdown from Australia, I bounced straight back into to the legal world in London, working 3 solid days before returning to the road. The next outing was on Saturday February 23^rd in Culemborg, Holland. Although Holland bred some of the world’s biggest Trance artists, it has very little in the way of Trance events. Therefore, it was great to be asked to head over and spin for fellow DJ & friend Johan Gielen. Unfortunately he wasn’t feeling too well, but still managed to put on an appearance at the “Crystal Venue”.

The next day I flew to Ibiza via London City on BA’s twice-weekly direct service. I was unsure how BA’s new out-of-season winter service would perform, but my flight saw me sitting next to music industry legend David Levy, who takes the BA service weekly. He reported that it’s always packed. The trip to Ibiza was to work on pre-season JS stuff with the island-based team who are already putting the wheels in motion for another awesome season at Eden. What are your plans for the summer? Hit me up on Twitter as @realjudgejules with the hash tag #summer2013

The next outing was on Sunday March 3^rd to Birmingham for a charity event in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. They’re a charity I’ve worked a lot with over the years, having first become associated with T.C.T. when they were Arsenal FC’s official charity a few seasons back. The gig at Chameleon also involved a fashion show by Birmingham-based students.

On Thursday March 7^th it was my wedding anniversary with my wife Amanda. She’s come to terms with my job requiring me to jet off on certain big occasions, so we decided to celebrate with a party for friends and family on the Sunday instead.

Since I’ve got Irish heritage I’m probably well qualified to comment, but ‘mad as a bunch of frogs’ best describes an Irish crowd. I flew over to Ireland to play “The Bentley” in Galway. There are never any half measures in Ireland (literally and figuratively) and I had a typically manic time.

The following night I played “Hush” in Coatbridge, Scotland. The gig was noisy and very much Trance-orientated, with producer/DJ Garry Heaney spinning before me. After a few drinks with Garry and the crew I headed back to my hotel at Edinburgh Airport. On short-hop visits I tend to opt for Airport hotels, as it makes checking-in and jumping aboard flights the following day easier, since one’s brain doesn’t tend to function at its best the morning after a gig.

On Friday March 15^th I headed to Finland to play one of the legendary Scandinavian party cruises on board a giant car ferry between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia. Unlike the “Monday Bar” cruises, where the boat is booked exclusively for ticketed clubbers, the boat was also was a general use Ferry also carrying some regular passengers. As a result, midway through my set a 7 or 8 year old boy wondered onto the dancefloor of the “rave” area of the boat, looking confused, and then starting dancing. It seemed a bit surreal to say the least. The event was sold out and packed with people who’d come to hear banging dancemusic on a ship. To those who were expecting a peaceful nighttime crossing from country A to country B, I’m sorry! The event was fantastic and I caught up with Chicane and Alex Kunnari, amongst other friends.

On Saturday 16^th I flew to Northern Ireland, on the eve of St Patrick’s Day. In the past it would have been unusual to play a Paddy’s day event in the North, but times have moved on, and the celebration of St Paddy’s day (or the decision not to celebrate) no longer seems to be a ‘which side of the fence are you on’ facet of the sectarian divide, just an excuse to party and have a day off work. The gig was a Judgement event at Heaven nightclub in Cookstown. I was joined on the decks by Simon Patterson and DJ Mog, amongst others. Northern Ireland (or ‘Norn Iron’ as it’s often spelled by locals) never lets you down. After so many Judgement Sundays pre-season events I’m itching to get to the White Island on June 16^th.

Remember you can drop me an email anytime on jules@judgejules.net

I reply to each and every one received. Hope you have a great week, see you next time…

We start this instalment at Heathrow Terminal 3 on Wednesday 5th December 2012. Being a code share flight with BA, I had a few minutes to spend in T3’s new business lounge which offers all necessary creature comforts for a frequent traveller. My Finnair flight to Helsinki was packed, and I settled in for the 3-hour hop with an iPad, book and laptop. I’ve played the Finnish independence day celebrations for the past 4 years- at the same time twelve months ago Finland had unusually little snow, but on this occasion the dusting was back to its usual Scandinavian standard. It freaks one out how fast people drive in the snow in Finland, their safety buoyed by the legal necessity to change from summer to metal studded winter car tyres in advance of the arrival of the white stuff.

The gig was in Hameenlinna, about an hour north of Helsinki. Promoter Kimmo AKA K-System is a good friend, and someone I’ve known for a long time. It took place in a different venue to the one I played last year, but the crowd were equally loud and up for it. The next day, Kimmo drove me back to Helsinki airport, where I checked into one of the best business lounges in Europe. The Finnair lounge in HEL has comfy daybeds, very risky if you’re as tired as I generally am the morning after the night before. Scandinavian countries make light work of snow and they have the plane de-icing procedure down to a well oiled system, where you’re de-iced en route to the runway at a holding point. It was another great trip to Finland, and safely de-iced, we flew home to London.

On Friday 7th I headed to Miami, not the Florida version, but Miami club in Inverness, Scotland. By this point, everywhere was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, which is always pleasing on the eye (but damaging on the pocket). I decided a few years ago that I’d rather spend the majority of the Christmas week as far from the UK as possible, so this was one of my last domestic gigs before heading to warmer climes.

The next day I had a crazy routing, taking me from Inverness to the Macedonian capital of Skopje, via Inverness-Gatwick-(by car)-Heathrow-Zagreb-Skopje.
Normally, I allow at least a 2 hour window when booking connecting flights, just to be safe. Unfortunately, a breakdown in communication between my management and the promoter meant that there was an unrealistically short connection time in Zagreb built into the itinerary. Snow in Croatia meant that my flight to Zagreb came into Heathrow three hours late.  There were no other connection possibilities, so bang went my gig in Skopje, and after 5 frustrating hours at Heathrow I trudged home, tunes in hand. My management are working on another date, and I’ll be back in Macedonia very soon. Sorry to those I let down.

The next outing was on Friday 14th to the most local gig to home for me, in the shape of The Gallery at Ministry of Sound’s Christmas party. I was on the line up with Markus Schulz & Richard Durand, so it was guaranteed to be a good one. The night saw me journey directly from one Christmas party to another, as my entertainment law firm Sheridans had their Christmas event on the same evening.  With the body challenge of two parties, I had to drink a couple of strong coffees before hitting the MoS decks. The Ministry was rammed, and it was a fantastic buzz as always… Following my set at 5am, my road manager Pete and I scuttled through the early morning city traffic home to North London.

Saturday 15th was a mammoth night, which involved a gig in the Midlands, and an early morning flight from Heathrow to Thailand via Oslo in Norway. Pete collected me from home around 9pm and we headed up to Ashby De La Zouch, probably one of the most unusual town names in the UK, sounding like it should be in Africa. The gig was a Cream UK tour event and the crowd were and louder than life. Unfortunately there was no time to hang around after my set, as the journey to Thailand would begin only hours later.

Christmas outside of the UK is a much more blissful option, and it made sense to combine a family holiday with a couple of gigs in-between. DJ travels aside, I don’t get much time for holidays during the year, and this was pretty much my solitary beach break of 2012. We flew via Oslo in Norway, as the flights were air miles redemption seats with Thai Airways and I’ve got plenty of miles to burn. The destination was Koh Samui, my favorite island in the region, which would serve as our base for the next 10 days.

The first gig of the trip was on the neighboring island of Phuket, somewhere we’ve also stayed various times. I played “Seduction”, which is the biggest and best club on the island. After a banging night and a pitifully small amount of sleep, it was nice to be able to fly home and be back with the family by 11am the next morning. After a couple of days chilling in Koh Samui, on Friday December 21st I set off for my second gig, in Singapore, which is about 2 hours from Samui by air. I’ve been on a major health kick recently and lost a stack of weight. However, with Asian food topping my list of favourites and Singapore perhaps the best culinary city in the world, the risks were all around me.  I played at Avalon, an outpost of the legendary Los Angeles venue of the same name, having stayed in an airport hotel at Changi airport, owing to an early flight back to Thailand the following morning. The club was a delight, and I only wish I could have stayed in Singapore a bit longer, but naturally I wanted to get back to Samui to wrap up the remainder of our holiday.

We flew back to the UK on Christmas day, and thanks to the time difference of flying east to west, we probably enjoyed the longest Christmas day on earth. Having said that, strapped in at 38,000ft, there was little chance of Santa paying a visit. Owing to historically strong headwinds, the flight from Bangkok to London took a whacking 14.5 hours, delaying the flight and depriving us of what limited Christmas day time we would be able to spend in London.

In-between the Christmas and New Year chaos, on Boxing Day I headed over to Ireland to play the legendary “Coach” in Banbridge. Boxing Day has always been a huge clubbing date in the calendar, and you couldn’t have squeezed another person in- it was a fantastic show. I posed for lots of pictures for clubbers, and it was only when the photographer emailed them over a few days later that I realised just how tired and jetlegged I looked.  After all, we’d returned from 10 days in Asia less than 24 hours earlier.  Hopefully my bouncing around at the crazy gig concealed my exhaustion.

The next day, I returned home to London to prepare for my New Years trip to South Africa. I set off on Sunday 30th from Heathrow T5 in a comfy BA flat bed seat on the 11 hour flight to Johannesburg. Arriving on New Years Eve, with friends all over the world in various different time zones, I received “Happy New year” texts throughout the day. Only a few weeks earlier, the venue and city of the first of my two gigs had changed from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein. Due to this last minute change, the gig was the quietest NYE I’ve done. The party was held in a game reserve and on the journey to the venue I could see the eyes of animals peering out of the darkness. It continued a surreal theme, as my Blomfontein hotel was located in the middle of the city’s zoo, and there was an elephant immediately outside my bedroom window.  Amazed, I tweeted a picture straight away.

The next day I headed over to Cape Town, where the tables were turned, and I had a fantastic outdoor festival gig at the Nelson Wine estate, about 60 kms north of the city. After the slight disappointment of the previous night, gig equilibrium was fully restored. I had a great time in South Africa and was wonderfully looked after. The next day I flew BA back home to LHR. Happy New Year, by the way.

January is traditionally a slower month in club land, but with the revolution of EDM in the USA, I flew over to the West Coast on Thursday 10th Jan for a 3 date mini tour. For readers in the USA, if you didn’t know already, I’ve recently joined the epic A State Of Sundays line up on Electric Area, Sirius XM radio every Sunday at 2pm PST. The show includes my weekly Tried & Tested countdown, plus a 30 minute live mix. You can also listen “on demand” by CLICKING HERE. My first port of call was Sutra in Orange County, about 40 miles outside of Los Angeles. The gig was part of a two day “Insomniac” team up – these are the guys who promote some of the biggest events in the US, such as Beyond Wonderland, Together As One, and the mighty EDC. The gig was nice and busy for an usually cold period in Southern California.

The next day I headed up to LA, where I met up with Tristan D, and friends Jon and Linda, grabbing a few pre-disco nap drinks in the Standard Downtown hotel bar. Unusually, it doubled up as a table tennis room, with about ten bright orange ping pong tables. Very strange. Later that evening we headed to the mighty “Exchange” in downtown LA. This was part 2 of my Insomniac double up, and the show was fantastic, with a very educated and up for it crowd. Let me give a big-up to #TrancefamilyLA for all your kind words, and coming along and showing your support!

On Saturday 13th I flew up to Seattle to play a club I haven’t spun at before, Foundation. Touching down in Washington State, not to be confused with DC, I headed out for a bite to eat and to do a bit of Sale shopping. I love Seattle, it’s always been one of my favorite cities to visit, with an abundance of stuff to see and do. Famously, it’s the home of Starbucks, and there is quite literally a Starbucks on every corner. The gig was full to capacity, and it was great to see some familiar faces in attendance.  As always, I had an amazing time in US, and I only wish it could have been longer. My US visa allows me to live permanently in America, something a number of my British DJ peers have recently decided to do.  My commitments in the UK make such a move impossible, but I can more than appreciate the appeal of the West Coast dream.

In a couple of weeks I head over to Australia for a mighty 2-week tour. It’s my first visit to Australia for a couple of years, and I’m so excited. I’ll be recording one of my Global Warm Up shows live from Australia, so if you haven’t subscribed already, CLICK HERE.

Happy New Year! More next time…

I’m under no illusion that, economically, 2012 has probably been the hardest year for the UK and Europe since the great depression of the 1930s. This can be both a curse and a blessing for clubs and festivals.  On the one hand, clubbing is relatively cheap escapism in a period when we need it most.  On the other, certainly in the UK, there’s been a tendency for clubbers to pick and choose ‘big’ weekends each month.  Whereas five years ago, folk would happily go out every weekend and go crazy, in many towns and cities clubbing outings have been reduced to a couple of times a month. Thankfully, I find myself booked for events constituting that ‘big’ weekend part of the calendar.  At the same time, more than ever, I’m mindful that people are investing a substantial part of their monthly disposable income on a night where I’m playing.  There’s more reason than ever to be consistent, and never let down those who have paid to see you.

With this in mind, I was alarmed to be tweeted by someone recently, claiming that they’d seen me DJ, and that I hadn’t mixed at all, simply playing a mix CD.  I’ve heard this rumour regarding other DJs and didn’t know whether it was true or not.  Suffice to say, I always mix and not once have I ever secretly slipped-on a mix CD.  I racked my brains trying to work out why they’d drawn this conclusion, and then the penny dropped.  About a year ago, I stopped mixing with CDs and started using a memory stick for my sets, after the launch of the Pioneer CDJ2000 turntable (which allows one to use CDs, SD cards or memory sticks).  With memory sticks, the mixing still has to be done, but the memory stick stays permanently plugged into the turntable’s USB port.  However, CDs need to be changed every track and taken out of the turntable.  I’m guessing that because the person who tweeted me didn’t see me removing anything from the decks each mix, they assumed I’d taken the ‘mix CD’ route.  To sum it up, no I didn’t. Not now, or ever!

My annual calendar has revolved around Ibiza for more years than I care to mention, and 2012 was no exception. The 15-week season flies by unbelievably quickly. It was another good season, 2012 being very much a case of “survival of the fittest” in one of the most competitive clubbing markets in the world. Our 13 year legacy puts Judgement Sundays in a solid position, but evolving the brand year-on-year is something we’re super-conscious of. During summer 2012 nearly 50,000 of you visited Judgement Sundays and I hope you enjoyed some of the new concepts we introduced. They included Full On Ferry, Fire It Up, Subculture and bundle of new production ideas, including the “boom box” LED set-up on our stage for the FOF events. If you came out to Ibiza this year and you have anything/anyone you’d like to see at Judgement in 2013, drop me a mail jules@judgejules.net. It’s always a pleasure to hear from ya…

In October 2012, I started my part-time career as an entertainment lawyer, working two days a week at Sheridans in the music department. Sheridans are one of the UK’s leading media and entertainment firms, and so far there has never been a dull moment in my day job (currently Tuesdays and Wednesdays).  Sheridans represent many household name acts, including a large number from the world of dance and EDM, and my legal skills and vast music experience are there to serve my peers. Behind this geeky set of glasses is a legal brain ready to leap out at you…

I’ll come back to more highlights of 2012, but let’s skip back to the beginning of November. On Friday 2^nd I made the 240 mile journey north west to Bangor in Wales. It was the first time I’d driven myself to a gig for at least 18 months, done because I was staying the weekend with my Dad in West Yorkshire and going to Old Trafford for Man Utd v Arsenal the following lunchtime.

I pepped myself up with a thermos of coffee and set off from Yorkshire, arriving with about half an hour to spare at “Elevate” at Embassy Club. The club was bouncing, and after concluding a noisy and vibrant set I took a sip of coffee, stuck a chewing gum in my mouth and humbly took the wheel again back to my Dad’s.  My previous visit to Bangor was for Radio 1’s “Big Weekend” just over a year prior. On that occasion, my friend Tristan D managed to get extremely car sick in the back of my (then new) Audi Q7. Thankfully, we managed to pull over and let him vomit, polluting the countryside and not the car. With that pleasant thought in mind, I took the corners nice and gently en route back to my Dad’s.

On Wednesday 7^th November, my road manager Pete and I drove up to Middlesbrough, somewhere we’d travelled to on many occasions over the years, but not so often in recent times. Some of my fondest memories are of “The Empire” days, where the after-parties were every bit as good as the club itself. With times having moved on, this time round I played a more student-orientated gig at Onyx Rooms. The club/bar was intimate and loud.  In fact, the sound system was simply stunning in its volume and intensity.  The resident DJ and I swapped mash-ups and the crowd reacted with typical student hype. Give me Middlesborough more often please!

2012 has been a great year for my music productions. Earlier this year I signed to Paul Van Dyk’s Vandit records. This has been a great move, as being a part of the Armada Music family has really given me a shot of inspiration in the studio. Paul Van Dyk recently named my track ‘The Attack’ as his Tune of 2012.  There’s a new two track EP forthcoming, featuring the thoroughly road-tested “Phenomenology” and “Fiber”. I’ve played some great festivals during 2012, which have served as a great platform for showcasing the new productions. With 2013 just around the corner, I have plenty more tunes in the pipeline, including one featuring the amazing vocals of Christina Novelli (singer of Concrete Angel).

Friday 9^th November marked the first of three consecutive weeks travelling up to Skegness for the annual “Summer Reunions”. Friday 9^th hosted the 2wenties reunion. These guys are part of the TUI group, AKA Thomson Holidays. We work very closely during the summer in Ibiza, and playing the reunions is something I always look forward to. I also host an in-flight radio for Thomson, so there’s a strong connection in that department as well. If you’ve heard the show, let me know: jules@judgejules.net. Normally speaking, Pete and I drive up to Skegness, but for this, the first of three Skegness weekends, I decided to catch the train (a two train connection itinerary). The second was surely the slowest, most rickety, ancient train in Britain.  Train travel may be an environmentally sound option, but it would have been quicker to walk.

The next morning, I headed home on an early train back to London, with a coffee in hand and a copy of The Sun and The Times for reading (the first for the sport, the second for gentle brain exercise.) After a day at home with the family, Pete collected me around 10:30pm for a relatively local gig in Milton Keynes, about 45 miles up the M1 motorway. I played “Lovin Life” at Revolution, an intimate club with a healthy queue outside upon arrival. I’ve DJd in MK fairly often throughout my career- its “grid” street layout feels remarkably like US major cities, due to Milton Keynes being a fairly new ‘planner’s concept’ town. The gig was great, the club had a vibrant atmosphere and thanks to the locality I was tucked up in my bed just 1 hour after leaving the decks. Rare bliss.

Reflecting further on 2012. All good things must come to an end, and this applied to my 15-year long show on BBC Radio 1. April 2012 marked the beginning/end of a substantial chapter in my life. My career on Radio 1 far exceeded my expectations as regards length and influence – when I joined the station in 1997 I never imagined I’d still be there in 2012. I loved every minute working for R1 and I understand that evolution and change are essential. My relationship with Radio 1 remains strong, as I co-manage one of their key dance DJs. Moving forward, I’m pleased to say that my current radio show “The Global Warm Up” is stronger than ever and you can take a listen to the latest episode by CLICKING HERE!

Friday 16^th November marked “Week 2” of my three consecutive weeks’ visit up to Skegness, on this occasion for The Big Reunion. Good friends and fellow Judgement Sundays residents The Squatters and Micky Slim were in attendance and, needless to say, it all got a bit chaotic (who stole my bottle of vodka… ?) The reunions really go to town on production and entertainments, featuring fire eaters, stunt bikes and plenty of pyro. Following my set, Pete and I hit the road back to London with smiles all round (and flashes before our eyes from the pyrotechnics).

Saturday 17^th November contained a gig that always whets my appetite when I see it in the diary. Lush at Kelly’s, Portrush, Northern Ireland is quite simply legendary. It’s one of the loudest and most exciting clubs in the world, with an atmosphere that blows DJs away. I arrived early for drinks with good friend and promoter Col Hamilton before my set. It’s always good to catch up with mates at Lush, one of the only clubs in the world that can compare to the “family” atmosphere of Judgement Sundays in Ibiza. Its loyal fan base dub it ‘the Mighty Lush’ and I certainly wouldn’t disagree.

Friday 23^rd marked my final visit to Skegness, and I must admit that by week three each year I’m ready to see the back of Butlins and chalets for another 12 months. Not because I don’t like the gigs (packed and loud), but on account of the roads that get you there (narrow, winding and occasionally petrifying.) Thankfully, I had the company of Radio 1’s Danny Howard in the car, as he was also on the bill that evening. We managed to chew the fat for the majority of the journey. On arrival, artists were confronted by a large box of Grey Goose Vodka. Bizarrely, I rarely drink, except when I’m DJing. So my tolerance is low and it’s pacing oneself is important to avoid any performance embarrassments. I took things easy and the place went off.  The “Big” reunion will be back in 2013, and so will I.

Whilst my DJ itinerary throughout December contains gigs in seven different countries, the Skegness commitments kept me rooted to domestic shores in November. On Saturday (24^th November), Pete and I headed up to Doncaster to play “Social”. It’s usually around two and a half hours up the M1 to Doncaster, but it’s fair to say that the weather was the worst we’d encountered on a road trip in many a year. It rained torrentially for the duration of the 170 mile journey.  There were flood warnings in place in over 100 parts of the UK and, even in a 4×4, conditions en route were hairy.  The appalling conditions somewhat took their toll on numbers – in fact the entire town centre was dead when we got there. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a fabulous venue with a great soundsystem and knowledgeable crowd.  Thanks to everyone who braved it out..

The next outing was to “Level 2” in Buxton on Friday 30^th November. I hadn’t played in Buxton since spinning at legendary Chuff Chuff parties over ten years earlier. Although, for the most part, the crowd I draw is largely under 25, there were loads of old faces from Gatecrasher Sheffield and Golden Manchester days (i.e. the late nineties) in attendance.  After taking two or three tracks to come to terms with the club’s in-built volume limiter, things got going in storming style. Most of the UK venues I play are the private businesses of passionate owners, as opposed to corporate ‘chain owned’ style nightclubs.  I was very well looked-after by the owner at Level 2, and it’s certainly one I hope to be re-invited to.

December is a busy spell of travelling for me.  In addition to a bevy of UK gigs, I’ll be playing in Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Finland, Macedonia and Ireland.  If you’re in the neighbourhood, come and say hi!

We start at the tail end of August, Sunday 26^th to be precise. Judgement Sundays Ibiza was now on the home straight of the 2012 season, with just 4 weeks to go. Michael Woods joined us for the first time in ages at Judgement Sundays. He’s a producer I’ve been supporting for many years, from all the way back in 1999 when he launched himself onto the scene under his alias “Warrior”. Since then he’s tweaked and developed his production style, yet keeping to his core musical values of emotional top lines and dirty bass. For the first time, on Sunday 26^th, we decided to move our “stage” concept to the ‘DJ booth’ end of the club, this time inserting a purpose built platform slightly in front of the original booth. As an exercise in staying fresh, keeping things laid out differently in the club throughout the season worked excellently. If you haven’t done already, check out the pictures via the “Gallery” section of the site.

In previous years, our weekly “Judgement Night” at BCM on the sister island of Mallorca took place on a Monday. Usually, I would hop directly from Ibiza over to Palma, but this year our events at BCM have been on a Tuesday, meaning I’ve had the opportunity to head back for 24 hours at home in the relative sanity of London. On Tuesday 28^th August I was joined by JS backroom DJs Micky Slim and The Squatters. The DJ booth at BCM is gigantic and we all managed to jam together on the 8 Pioneer CDJs and 2 mixers. The atmosphere at BCM is always wonderful, and playing a back-to-back set with a different DJ every week is a totally unique experience for me in an annual calendar of all things solo related.  It puts one’s experience as a DJ to the test, as you never know what’s coming next from your cohort.  Occasionally there are mistakes, but overall, the energy of the occasion rubs off on the crowd big-time.

After a couple of days’ recuperation at home in London, once again it was time to hit the road, or the sky for that matter. On Saturday 1^st September I headed over to County Donegal in Ireland for “Jumping Jacks”. Being half Irish, I love a trip to my spiritual home. If your geography isn’t quite up to scratch, County Donegal is in the north western tip of Ireland, close to the Northern Irish border. Many Irish towns have large hotels with clubs attached in the basement.  Upstairs at the hotel bar you’ll encounter a bunch of old men nursing pints of Guinness, whereas upon heading downstairs into the club it’s like entering a completely different world. I arrived into my hotel late on Saturday evening, having driven two hours over from Belfast Airport, the late hour meaning that a disco nap wasn’t going to happen. In the car I’d tried my best to nod off, as 5 minutes sleep buys you 15 mins awake (or so the theory goes). The gig was typically raucous, and the sound system extremely loud. Afterwards, without the luxury of any sleep, I headed straight back to Belfast Airport for a flight through to Ibiza.

As September hits, the temperature in Ibiza begins to drop slightly, which, from my perspective, is a relief. On Sunday the 2^nd we enjoyed another heaving Judgement Sundays, with a line up so long, we could barely fit all the names on the poster. In collaboration with Digital Society, Marco V joined us for the final time in 2012, and well and truly smashed it as always. It was also a first for Menno De Jong, who’s a producer I’ve been supporting for many years. With just about every DJ’s reputation now being forged off the back of his or her productions, it’s taken as a ‘given’ that a good producer will make an equally good DJ, and this normally rings true. Judgement Sundays was absolutely banging, and for the first time this season I stayed until the bitter end, exiting the club after the sun had already risen.

Tuesday 4^th September took me back over to Judgement Night at BCM. This time with Howard Donald, who’d played at JS Ibiza on the Sunday. After Eddie Halliwell played a blinder, Howard and I performed a very well received back to back DJ set together. Although better known for Take That (and fresh from playing the Olympics closing ceremony with the group), Howard is a very talented DJ and plays the kind of music you wouldn’t connect at all with Take That, i.e. underground EDM. I really enjoyed DJ’ing with Howard, but can’t imagine he’ll invite me to sing with him anytime soon…

The next outing covered by this instalment was to Scotland, Banff to be precise. I tend to leave London as late as possible when it comes to weekend gigs. I arrived into Scotland on the last flight on Saturday evening and had to head directly to my gig at Seafield Nightclub. The venue was one of the smaller ones I’ve played this year, and was packed wall-to-wall, extremely sweaty, with chanting galore. The next morning I flew back to London to connect through to Ibiza from London City. City airport has a 15 minute minimum check-in time.  I wish it was a luxury permitted at all airports.

On arrival in to Ibiza at 7:30pm I headed straight to my Judgement Sundays bar-based ‘pre parties’. First port of call was a sunset DJ set at Savannah on the legendary ‘sunset strip’. Late summer brings forward the sunset, from its peak of around 9.30 in June to closer to 8pm. Thankfully I arrived and jumped on the decks just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. Sunday 9^th September marked the final “Full On ferry” team-up with Judgement Sundays for 2012. The collab with Ferry Corsten has brought a wonderful twist to the season, and I sincerely hope we’ll be doing the same again in 2013. After leaving the club, I managed to catch up on some sleep, although getting small increments here and there isn’t the most satisfying way to fill your quota. Following a quick lunch at our normal Monday spot, Ca’n Pilot restaurant, I jumped on the 4pm Ryanair flight back to London, once again feeling very satisfied with the 2012 Ibiza season.

Tuesday 11^th September brought with it many memories of 11 years ago, when on that fateful day thousands of innocent people lost their lives. It’s one of those dates on which everybody remembers where they where when they got the news. For me, I was in Ibiza with my wife Amanda, glued to the TV for hours watching the horrendous events unfold.

Thankfully, September 11^th 2012 was a much more cheerful day, with the final party at BCM of the season, once again doing back-to-back DJ chores. MC Majestic has been a wonderful addition to our operation this year, and is one of the most talented MC’s I’ve ever encountered. He held together the final party, which put an excellent cap on another successful season in Magaluf.  As a resort, in the past 2-3 years I’ve witnessed Magaluf successfully shaking off the shackles of only appealing to a narrow younger age demographic, with the opening of numerous upmarket attractions including Nikki Beach, the Wave House, and Mallorca Rocks Hotel. Remaining at the centre of it all, BCM has had an amazing year.

From one closing party to another. 16^th September marked the end of the 2012 season for Judgement Sundays. It’s been another fantastic and memorable year, and we rounded it off in style. After his set, Eddie Halliwell crowd surfed from the very high stage. He’s a lot braver (and much lighter) than me. Other DJs on the night included Danny Howard, D.O.D, Jordan Suckley, Tristan D, Majestic, The Squatters and Alex Ellenger. Unfortunately, John O’Callaghan came down with an ear infection and couldn’t attend the closing party. Rest assured, he’ll be back with us in 2013. If you made it to Judgement Sundays in 2012, a big thank you for your support and we hope to see you again next year. We stayed at the club until the bitter end, and did our best to drink the VIP bar dry. Well, someone’s gotta do it. I’m truly humbled by the love that everyone has shown for what we do in Ibiza. We’re expanding our global operations for Judgement Sundays, so watch this space for details. You can check out full season long pictures and videos via www.judgementsundays.co.uk

It’s always the final flight of the Ibiza season that supplies the biggest headache.  I was travelling with a mountain of bags to bring home, landing into Gatwick, which is around 75 miles from my house. I don’t know why, but Gatwick is consistently the slowest airport delivering bags to the carousels- mine took nearly 40 minutes to come through. To top it all off, we managed to get a puncture on the M25 en route home. Despite Pete’s pit stop-style wheel change in the pouring rain, I made it back to the house at around 5:30am. Thank heavens it was the last Ibiza flight for a little while…

Friday 21^st September marked the beginning of the “freshers” period in my dairy, always a busy spell as new university terms begin. Performing to students is something I’ve taken always very seriously. Constantly evolving and showcasing what you do to a fresh audience is essential. On this occasion the gig was at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. The student union “Judgement” event came equipped with Ibiza style CO2 cannons, blasted into the crowd throughout the set. Waking up the following morning and stepping out of my hotel room into almost freezing conditions in Scotland was a harsh reminder that summer was well and truly over.

The next day I flew home, and had a few hours to chill and watch some footie before hitting the road once again to Northampton. Pete and I left around 9pm to head up to “Fever” a venue I’ve played many times before. Promoter Simon is always more than hospitable and the drinks didn’t stop coming. The only down side to the venue, is the slightly small DJ booth, which makes it difficult for friends to join me behind the decks, so on this occasion they had to take turns in rotation. We arrived home at around 5am. It felt strange not having to fly to Ibiza on the Sunday, but it was my daughter’s birthday, so the timing felt perfect.

The final gig covered by this instalment was surely one of the closest to home I’ve done in a while, other than the Ministry of Sound (which I’ll be doing in early October). Gigalum is located in Clapham, which, many of you will know, is where SW4 festival is located. Sunday 23^rd brought with it a record-breaking horrendous downpour of storms in the UK. From 6am onwards it didn’t stop. This concerned me slightly, as it might have affected people’s desire to go out, especially on a Sunday. Luckily, the crowd were tougher than I gave them credit for, and the venue was busy and equally noisy. It was an early evening affair, so I had the rare joy of playing a fantastic gig, but being home in bed by around midnight.

Finally Ladies and Gentleman, I’d like to thank everybody who came to see me at my gigs during Summer 2012. It’s been great fun, and if you didn’t make it along this summer, hopefully you’ll catch me during winter 2012/13. Keep checking my website for details on forthcoming gigs www.judgejules.net

Thanks for reading folks. More next time…

Summer 2012 began for me with the opening party of my weekly Ibiza club night “Judgement Sundays”, on June 10th. We’ve been running for 13 years now, and the anticipation for the opening party is just as nerve racking as it was back in 2000 when the doors opened for the first time. In the weeks running up to the opening, my brain activity clashes with my body’s desire for sleep. Detailed thoughts of every aspect of JS jump from one neutron to the other and back again. We’ve never settled for anything less than quality, and for 2012 I was keen to introduce some new elements to JS proceedings. For 6 dates during Summer 2012, Judgement Sundays has teamed up with Ferry Corsten’s Full On Ferry, which includes a breathtaking stage-based LED show. The concept involves creating a “boom box” effect on the stage, with the DJ being encased in multiple LED screens. Keeping things fresh is essential with any long term business, and the tie-in with FOF has been a fantastic success. Check out some of the pictures in the “Gallery” section of the site- I think you’ll agree that the LED boom box is pretty spectacular.

Summer 2012 has seen the ‘bar’ for Ibiza venues and DJ talent raised massively. We’ve recruited some awesome new residents for Judgement Sundays, including BBC Radio 1’s Danny Howard. Danny has become a real asset to Judgement Sundays throughout summer 2012 and we’re chuffed to have him as part of the gang.

Enough about Ibiza for the time being, and onto other bits and pieces. Some of you may have read that over the past 5 years I’ve been refreshing my legal qualifications. This was my game-plan for many years, and in early June my final law exam was done and dusted. From October I will be taking up a part-time position practising law at a top entertainment lawyers Sheridans, in addition to carrying on with my regular DJ and music production duties. Confidentiality prevents me from listing them, but suffice to say that Sheridans represent some of the biggest names in global music, including some huge individuals from the world of EDM/dance. They also cover other aspects of entertainment, including film, music, theatre and sport. I’ve learned a huge amount from my many years in the music business, which will hopefully position me as a strong and insightful advice giver… I plan to continue DJing for many future years as well.

On to ‘home turf’ DJ affairs. Generally, when summer kicks in, UK club appearances trade for foreign offerings. However, on Friday 22nd June I played the legendary Slinky at Voodoo Lounge in Southampton. Around 5 years ago, Slinky was one of my most regular gigs. Slinky’s former home, “The Opera House” Bournemouth was always a guaranteed outstanding night, and the UK’s South Coast still has an envied reputation off the back of that glorious era. Southampton lived up to Slinky’s iconic reputation and promoter Lee Haslam was in great spirits as always. It’s a shame that these days Slinky only stage roughly 5 shows per year, but they’re always up there with the very best.

One gig I was especially looking forward to after my exam period was Gatecrasher at The Gaudi Arena in Moscow, Russia on 23rd June. I’ve played the Gaudi before, and it’s a venue with so many dancefloors, nooks and crannies that one could never get bored. Being a large-scale Gatecrasher event alongside Paul Van Dyk, an outstanding experience was all but guaranteed. Pointing my camera at a very willing crowd, I grabbed some pictures, which are lodged for posterity in the “Gallery’ section of the site. I’d recently completed a remix of Armin Van Buuren’s ‘We’re here to make some noise’, which I dropped at a strategic moment in my set. When the bass kicked in after the breakdown, the crowd could probably be heard miles away, as they screamed in unison. Large-scale events in Russia are always something to look forward to, and later in this blog I’ll describe visiting Russia for the epic Global Gathering. The morning after involved a lengthy crack of dawn flight from Moscow to Ibiza via Palma, but needless to say it was worth every second.

The second of my weekly summer residencies is the longest standing Dj commitment of my career. The legendary BCM in Mallorca is a two level 8,000 capacity superclub with a world-class sound system, breathtaking light show and a ‘Who’s Who’ of the world’s top DJs stopping-by throughout the summer. For the previous few years we’d done Mondays at BCM, but for 2012 our Mallorca operations have moved to a Tuesday. In keeping with its mammoth capacity, BCM has a gigantic DJ booth, which includes eight Pioneer CDJ2000’s and two DJM800 Mixers; all linked together for ideal back 2 back DJ action. 2012 is the third year in succession where my BCM set has been entirely back2back with a different weekly guest. Amongst others, new BBC Radio 1 resident Danny Howard has been a regular behind the BCM 1s & 2s. The market in Mallorca is younger than Ibiza, requiring a slightly more commercial musical delivery, and the back2back sessions fit the bill perfectly. It’s been a market dominating season at BCM, and club manager Gordon Phillips’ antics never cease to amaze.

Back to home turf, in-between foreign excursions: At the tail end of June, the 30th, I played a Saturday night double header which consisted of the legendary Escape in Swansea and the Xstatic festival in Walton on Trent. The Escape is a long standing haunt for me. Promoter Big Al is a true legend and I’ve recently been supporting plenty of his releases including his latest track, “Trunk”. The Xstatic festival was sweaty and intense. Afterwards, my tour manager Pete was (as usual) not blessed with ample time between gigs. We arrived at The Escape with moments to spare. Both gigs hit the spot, and it was great to see plenty of familiar faces in attendance. The following day I took the slightly overpriced but very convenient BA flight from London City to Ibiza, getting me there just in time for Judgement Sundays pre parties.

Having previously only visited on one-off occasions, I’ve been a regular visitor to Cyprus in summer 2012. Castle Club in Ayia Napa is internationally recognized as the island’s best club, and Napa’s long-established musical heritage always attracts a crowd who know their tunes. Cyprus has always been somewhere I’ve enjoyed, personally because of the fantastic food, and professionally because the crowd are relentlessly up for it. On my third and final 2012 trip to Cyprus, on the last leg of my journey from London Heathrow I sat behind the president of Cyprus, alongside a Cypriot delegation returning from the Olympics opening ceremony. Every PA announcement from the captain and the cabin crew was preceded by ‘Mr president, ladies and gentlemen…’

Normally speaking during the summer, I base all my operations from Ibiza, where I have a second home. However, for summer 2012 I opted to return back to London for a couple of weeks in early August, sandwiched between two multi-week Ibiza stays. The timing wasn’t deliberately planned that way, but I felt lucky being back in London (and the UK in general) during the Olympics. It was a truly special time. I’m not one for phony and superficial patriotism, but the Olympics has been a huge unifying factor, coming exactly a year after the urban riots that did the country’s sense of identity so much harm.

Not exactly covering things in chronological order (in fact not at all), on Saturday 21st July I headed back over to Russia for the mighty Global Gathering in St Petersburg. Alongside Laidback Luke and a few others, we were ferried to the event by speedboat, as the sun set to the backdrop of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Russia’s weather is a pendulum between winter and summer. My previous trip had been snow-covered, with treacherous driving conditions. In July, things had gone full-circle, and the crowd were out in shorts and T-shirts. Tune of the night: 4 strings – The Other Side.

Finally we round things off with a trip to Scotland, to play the noisy Lorenzos in Dunfermline on 28th July. It’s a club I’ve played on a few occasions before; always a banker for a great atmosphere. The Scottish crowd certainly know how to have it, chanting and throwing things during eccentric moments of excitement. I can’t wait to return.

It’s been a fantastic summer so far, and I thank each and every one of you that have come to see me in Europe so far. Remember, you can find out where I’ll be spinning via my website www.judgejules.net

One final prompt, voting is in full swing for this year’s influential DJ Mag, Top 100 DJs poll. If you could spare a moment of your time to cast a vote in my favor, it’d be very much appreciated! You can vote simply and quickly via www.djmag.com/top100

More next time…

This season witnesses arguably our biggest line up to date, which promises to keep us ahead of the pack as the resort of San Antonio’s busiest night by far.  Enough of me trying to flog it to you, check it for yourself via our spanking new Judgement Sundays website, www.judgementsundays.co.uk!

The first outing covered by this report was to the famous Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheik on 16^th April. It was my first visit to Sharm – I’ve travelled to Egypt five times, but to Hurghada and Cairo only. Egypt holds a special place in my heart, as in 2002 I played one of the most memorable gigs of my career. It was a one off open-air show right at the foot of the pyramids of Giza; truly an amazing backdrop. I remember spinning Warrior – X to 2000 clubbers with the Sphinx in the background. Surely DJing doesn’t get more surreal and spectacular than that.

Flying into Sharm can be done one of two ways. You can either travel business class via Cairo or go direct with EasyJet. Bearing in mind that it’s a 5-hour flight from the UK, EasyJet wasn’t my first choice. However, I never want to spend more time away from home than necessary, so I decided to stop being a diva and plucked up the mental stamina for 5 hours of EasyJet legroom crampage. On arrival into Sharm I should have gone straight to sleep, considering that the next morning I was due to fly immediately back to the UK via Cairo after no sleep, but as usual, football managed to disrupt my life. I stayed awake to watch Arsenal before I hit the decks. The gig was open air within a vast complex and the crowd was bang up for it. I managed to capture a few pictures, which you can find in the ‘Gallery’ section of the site. Following my set, I had just enough time for an hour’s nap before it was time to head back to the airport. The one beauty about flying home via Cairo was the long haul Egyptair flat-bed seat from Cairo to Heathrow. Very much needed after 5 hours of EasyJet on the outbound, and I was out like a light the moment we left the ground.

On Monday 23^rd, my road manager Pete and I headed down to Bournemouth for a regular feature in my planner, and a gig that I always look forward to, at V club. It’s one of the most successful student events I do. The venue is a disused Church, which is visually spectacular and creates fantastic acoustics, designed, as it was, in an era before the invention of amps and speakers. There are certain gigs in the diary that never fail to meet expectations and V club is very much one of those. I’ve always loved Bournemouth, as the large student population makes it a great party town.

In 1997, when Princess Diana died I was DJing in Glasgow at the Tunnel. Just like 9/11, it’s one of those historical moments when you remember where you were at that precise time. On Friday 27^th April I played that very same club, which brought back plenty of memories. When it happened in ’97, I remember watching the events unfold on Sky News on a huge projected TV screen after the crowd had left and the lights were turned up, alongside other stunned staff members at The Tunnel.

Suffice to say that on this occasion at the Tunnel nothing as extreme happened. It was unusual not playing an Inside Out night, the brand that normally takes me to Glasgow, but since their downscaling of events I’ve been exploring one or two different avenues in my favourite British city outside of London. If there’s one thing the Scottish are good at it’s making a noise. Also, it seems to be a Scottish tradition to occasionally throw things at the DJ as a token of appreciation of a particularly good mix. A little strange, but if travelling around the world had shown me one thing, it’s to embrace each culture, however loopy.

Saturday 28^th was a double header. First it was up to Scarborough for a regular event hosted by The Squatters. I don’t often play a more housey orientated set, outside of my under-the-radar backroom offerings in Ibiza season, but The Squatters are fellow JS residents and their events are always on the money. I had a great time with boys, only wishing that there was more time to socialise after my set. We had to hit the road for the 1hr 30min journey to Burnley. There were plenty of people I knew at The Loft too, and it’s always nice to catch up with old friends. After a long night on the road it was the worst of all sleep scenarios for a DJ’s back.  A contorted sleep home in the passenger seat on the motorway.

The next outing was on Saturday 5^th May, to Skopje in Macedonia. It was also FA Cup Final day, and the promoter wasn’t in the best of moods as his team (Liverpool) were losing miserably. Fortunately he’d cheered up by the time his excellent party came around a few hours later. The event, a ‘white party’ at the Metropolis Arena, had around 5000 white-clad clubbers in attendance. I played after Germany’s Tom Novy, who I hadn’t seen around for quite a few years. The atmosphere was awesome, and made the four hour car journey that followed to the airport in the Greek city of Thessaloniki seem totally worthwhile. According to the promoter, the Greeks and the Macedonians have been arguing about use of the name ‘Macedonia’ for many years, and it is hindering Macedonian efforts to join the European Union.  Just to explain – Macedonia is both a country in its own right and a region of Greece.  At the airport in Greece I paid for some breakfast with Euros, wondering how much longer Euros would remain the Greek national currency.

The next day was May Day Bank Holiday Sunday in the UK, containing another double header. Both gigs were within 30 miles of each other, but neither conflicted with the other crowd-wise. Our first port of call was to the South Coast town of Eastbourne. Club Tonic is a venue I’d played before when it was known as ‘Function Rooms’. Pete and I arrived early enough to catch up with friends and pose for pictures etc. The club was loud and busy, and following my set we hit the road straight away to head over to Brighton’s H-Club. The trancey event was promoted by colleague and friend Tristan D. It’s nice to play a dark underground club with low ceilings and crowd very close-by. H-Club definitely ticked all those boxes. Also on the line-up was Corderoy, with whom I’ve just finished a track with called ‘Give Me A Reason’, forthcoming on Vandit as my next single. Following the demolition of a bottle of Grey Goose with Tristan and co, we hit the road back to London. Two great gigs and a smile from ear to ear.

On Wednesday 10^th May I was booked to play an event which I’ve done for most of the past few years. I travelled the 1-mile journey to the Emirates Stadium in London for the Arsenal end of season charity ball. Being an avid Arsenal fan, you can imagine how much this means to me. Not only getting to have dinner with all the players, but getting to DJ for them too. I played completely different music to what I’d normally spin, but did it for the love. Tristan D followed me on the decks and a very short stumble home followed.

Not many people travel from London to Los Angeles for a day, but when it comes to mad itineraries I’m a proud member of the crazy club. On Saturday 18^th May I hit LA to play the legendary Vanguard for Spundae. I’ve got a long association and relationship with Spundae and I always love playing in LA. TV Rock were on before me on the decks and plenty of LA based mates were in attendance. The next day, I had just enough time to visit the Beverly Center mall before bouncing back to LAX for my flight home to London.

On Friday 18^th May I played a student event at Brunel University. It was their end of term ball and everybody was in a party mood. I’m just finishing some law studies myself and I’m well and truly ready to throw those books out of the window, so I could empathise with how the crowd was feeling. The DJ on before me was Betamaxx and he combined his DJ set using Traktor with a fully integrated video show on a big screen behind the decks. This was a rare skill and was amazing to watch- it’s unusual to witness a DJ doing something completely different.

The next day I drove back to LHR once again. This time it was to head over to Helsinki, Finland to play a Cream Ibiza tour event at Circus. Jumping off the plane, I was keen to know where I could watch the Champions League final, but the promoter seemed to know much more about ice hockey. In the end, they had it on pay TV in my hotel room, in Finnish. The venue was huge and packed wall to wall. I had an awesome time and could have carried on playing well beyond when I was due to finish, but another DJ was on after me, and breaching DJ etiquette is not the done thing!

Every now and then you do something that takes away any confidence you have in your own mental state (well, I do anyway….) On Thursday 24^th May I was booked to play in Salou, Spain. I keep my passport in the same pocket in my backpack everywhere I travel, but somehow on my travels I managed to lose it. I only discovered this at the airport, and you can imagine my stress levels. There was nothing that could be done at such short notice and for the first time in my DJ career I had to cancel due to me misplacing my passport. Thankfully, a replacement has now arrived and another date for Salou is being slotted in the diary as we speak. Very sorry to anybody who was disappointed that night – I certainly was.

The final outing covered by this instalment was the London pre-party for Judgement Sundays 2012. It took place in conjunction with the Gallery at the legendary Ministry Of Sound. First up, I played a funky set in the ‘Pukka Up’ branded second room, and then it was all about the main room, alongside John O’Callaghan, Simon Patterson & Tristan D. The MoS was packed wall to wall and it was a moving prelude to Judgement Sundays Ibiza. I recorded my set, which is available by clicking on the ‘Mix Sets’ section of the site. You can also download mixes stretching back 10 years.

As I said in the opening paragraph to this report, I couldn’t be more excited for Judgement Sundays 2012. If you’re planning a visit to the white isle then let me know, I’d love to hear about your plans jules@judgejules.net. See ya there!

More next time…

It’s been the most amazing 15 years on Radio 1 and I’ve enjoyed some of the best memories of my life, especially the large scale outdoor events such as ‘One Big Weekend’, ‘Creamfields’, ‘Homelands’ and ‘Radio 1 in Ibiza’. I’d like to thank everybody involved in the show over the years. However, it’s by no means over for me as a broadcaster. I still present a weekly radio show and you can catch your weekly dose of sonic action via ‘The Global Warm Up’.  The GWU goes out to over 70 stations worldwide and is a two hour run down of the biggest tracks in my box. To listen to the Global Warm Up or to Subscribe to it as a weekly Podcast simply CLICK HERE. Just to snuff out any rumours- I’ll still be DJ’ing for a long time yet and the mighty Judgement Sundays Ibiza will be back with full force from 10^th June 2012!

I start this trip with a mild reference to the above-mentioned ‘Global Warm Up’. On Thursday 8^th March I flew to New York City on a brief 1-night stop over, en route to Arizona for a Friday night gig in Scottsdale. The reason for pausing in NYC was that Tristan D and I had a meeting on Friday morning at the Sirius XM HQ in the Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. Sirius XM is the biggest national radio network in North America and features two exclusive dance stations ‘Electric Area’ and ‘BPM’. The meeting was regarding scheduling the Global Warm Up on Sirius XM, which will be broadcast twice weekly from later this month. Tristan and I felt very “Wall Street”, heading to the upper floors of a New York skyscraper for a breakfast meeting. Later that day I headed across continental US to Scottsdale, Arizona, sister city to neighbouring Phoenix. On arrival I didn’t have much time to spare, as I’d caught the latest flight possible out of NYC to allow for shopping time. The gig was noisy and busy, and the venue was super classy. I took some pictures, which we’ll aim to get on the new site ASAP. (I hope you like its all-new redesign by the way…)

The next day (Sat 10^th March) I caught a one-hour hop over to Los Angeles on cheap-and-cheerful Southwest Airlines. With such a deeply entrenched dance culture, LA’s somewhere that’s very close to my heart and one of my favourite cities in the world to play. On this occasion it was a Judgement Ibiza event at the legendary Circus, just off Hollywood Boulevard. The visuals around the club were fantastic and I tried to capture the vibe in as many pics as possible. A keen ‘shirtless’ fan insisted on gatecrashing the stage on a few occasions, which made for an entertaining set. On the subject of ‘shirtless’, the dancers at Circus wear nothing other than small nipple cups, much to my wife’s horror (but my amusement).  I really enjoyed the gig, and the next day crammed in as much shopping as possible in the short time remaining. To top the trip off nicely, Jono from Above & Beyond was on the same British Airways flight home as Amanda and I.  A&B are amongst the fellow DJs that I’m closest to, and there was plenty to talk about en route back to London.

The next outing was on Thursday 15^th March to Stockholm, Sweden (amongst other locations). It was the ‘Monday Bar Cruise’ which travels from Stockholm to Helsinki and various other locations on the Baltic sea, depending on the specific event, all on board a gigantic car ferry. If you’re not up for a party then MBC definitely isn’t the trip for you. Imagine lying in your cabin and hearing so many different types of music at various BPMs coming from adjacent floors and cabins that they all blend in to one sea of thumping noise. Partygoers bring their own sound systems on board, and you’re talking nightclub-sized stacks of speakers that need to be wheeled in by trolley and piled into individual cabins. In addition to the in-cabin action, the ship housed four different dancefloors focusing on a range of music styles from trance through to extremely banging. I played after Eddie Halliwell, which meant I had to work hard to keep the momentum of the gyrating dance floor going, as Eddie’s always a tough act to follow. I had a rockin’ time and it was great to see so many DJ friends on board, including Eddie Halliwell and his brother Simon, Kutski, Markus Schulz, BK and The Tidy Boys. The following day it was back to London with a big smile and throbbing head.

The next outing was on Saturday 17^th March to Madrid. Mainland Spain is somewhere I’ve only played on a few occasions, as the core Spanish music style is usually techno. In the past 12 months though this seems to be changing, hence an arena event with a sizeable trance contingent on the bill. Amnesia Ibiza resident Brian Cross hit the decks before me and Marco V followed, both guys I know well, so I was in familiar company. The promoters put the DJs in the must amazing designer hotel called Puerta America. In over 100 nights a year of hotel stays there is always one hotel that sticks out over and above the rest.  Puerto America was the one for 2012.

The Big Snow festival is an event I’ve played a couple of times in the past, previously in Andorra, which involved flying to Barcelona and driving 4 hours up into the Pyranees. This year they changed location, and on Monday 26^th March I headed to Souze de’oulx in the Italian portion of the Alps. Souze is 90 mins’ drive away from Turin airport- much more manageable than Andorra.  I’d played the resort before, and last time brought the family for a bit of a ski holiday.  This occasion though, there was no time to hit the slopes. The event was intimate, packed and fantastic. On the way back to the airport I shared a mini bus with about 8 other DJ’s including Majestic and Kamuki, both of whom I’ve booked for the backroom of Judgement Sundays Ibiza this summer.

After a few days’ rest back home in London it was time to hit the sky once again, this time to the United States. On Friday 30^th I flew London – Miami to spin in Fort Lauderdale, which is around 10 miles north of MIA and pretty much adjoins its neighbouring city. I played at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which was a bit of an eye opener. I was under the impression that American casinos could only operate in Nevada.  Apparently not, as the Hard Rock felt every bit like a Vegas Casino, and its adjoining nightclub Gryphon was rammed and rocking.  I was so well looked-after by my hosts that I had two drinks constantly on the go during my set.

The next day I flew from Miami across the Caribbean Sea to the island of Grand Cayman, just south of Cuba. On the departure monitors at MIA I noticed a couple of flights to Cuba, which was news to me.  I thought it was illegal to travel directly from the United States to Cuba, so without my noticing, something must have changed.

If you know why please let me know: jules@judgejules.net .

The gig was part of a Ministry Of Sound tour and took place under the stars on the beach. Over the past couple of years I seem to have picked up the habit of swearing (in a nice way) to the crowd on the mic, just to gee them up. Not knowing that the Cayman Islands are of very strict Christian faith I screamed out the usual “What’s Up Mother Fuckers”, only to be immediately chastised by the promoter, as the Police were outside, unimpressed by my potty mouth. I’ll choose my words more carefully next time… Apart from that the gig was fantastic and the location was a first for me. I’d love to return in the near future and spend a bit more time on the island as it looked extremely beautiful. The next day I flew back to London via New York City.

Immediately on my return into London I met up with the family, and we headed straight to Ibiza for a few days. The timing was ideal, with Easter holidays and the need for some Judgement Sundays pre-season planning.  Our flight was delayed by five hours, and with two small children in tow, the experience at London City airport had ‘Hell’ written all over it.

Back in the UK, on Friday 6^th (beginning of the Easter weekend) I flew up to Aberdeen to play the Priory. It was an awesome venue set in an old church, which delivered a great atmosphere.  The following day I headed over to County Clare in Ireland to play at Queens club. With the bank holiday being so busy the gigs seemed to blend into one. Again the club was rammed and I always love a loud Irish crowd.

The next day I flew back to London for a mammoth night of Easter Sunday DJing. The first port of call was Wolverhampton for an early evening set at a daytime ‘beach’ party. If you’re unfamiliar with British geography, it should be pointed out that Wolverhampton is nowhere near the sea. However, the promoters had carted in plenty of sand for authenticity. The event was surreal but good fun.

The next stop was Preston. It turned out to be the ‘wild card’ gig of the night, an interesting outing that probably won’t be repeated in the near future. The final port of call was Sheffield for a ‘Back to 99’ Gatecrasher-style unofficial reunion. I don’t normally do ‘classics’ sets but Sheffield was one of my longest standing residencies back in the day, and my time at Gatecrasher holds a huge place in my heart. It was great to see so many familiar faces in attendance, still looking relatively fresh after more than 10 years’ passage of time. Due to a low-ceilinged DJ booth, I repeatedly smacked my head during my set. Whilst it must have looked quite funny from the dance floor, it hurt like hell. With so many memories, I could happily have carried on playing all night, and reluctantly handed over to the next DJ when my set time drew to a close.

We arrived home around 7am, where I was only able to sleep for a matter of hours before hitting the road again, or ‘air’ should I say, back to Ireland.  The Coach occupies legendary status amongst Northern Irish clubbers, and deservedly so.  Although they haven’t booked such a large volume of guest DJs in recent years, the place was packed for my visit.  The Northern Irish have an extra public holiday on Easter Tuesday, making for an extra night of partying.  It was an outstanding end to a strong Easter period.  Boy did I need a rest once it was all over.

Unfortunately a rest was not immediately forthcoming, as I flew back into Heathrow from Belfast and immediately transferred onto an Emirates departure to Dubai (Tue 10^th).  Although my gig in the UAE wasn’t until the Friday, Dubai is a guaranteed opportunity to kick off your shoes and grab some sun. I don’t know the stats, but surely there can’t be many places in the world with more sunny days and such consistent temperatures, even in winter months.

Having done my best to recover and grab some early nights in the three days running up to the gig at the XL Beach Club in the Habtoor Grand Hotel, it was all systems go on Friday 13^th in the open air on Jumeirah Beach.  My original 10pm set time was knocked back as the place took some time to fill up, but once it did things went off like a rocket in the open air.  My Ibiza pre-parties excepted, I probably play no more than 10 open air events per year, and there’s something tribal and primeval about dancing under the stars.  I returned to the UK a very happy guy, having been incredibly well looked-after by my hosts at XL Beach Club.  The place was heaving.

That’s it for this instalment… If you’re a regular reader of this column I’d love to hear from you, it’s always nice to know how many of you are reading my rants on clubland… jules@judgejules.net . More next time…

My New Year’s shenanigans started in Port Rush, Northern Ireland where I was playing the midnight call at the legendary Lush. I arrived into Northern Ireland with plenty of time to spare, and enjoyed a fabulous dinner with Lush promoter and friend Col Hamilton at the adjacent restaurant to the club.

Lush was absolutely rammed, as to be expected on New Year’s. 21st century club technology makes the visual experience of the midnight hour even more breathtaking. Lush is blessed with huge LED screens circling the exterior of the main dance floor, and the midnight countdown was very vivid throughout the club. The Northern Irish crowd is famously loud and NYE was no exception – the atmosphere really blew me away. Straight after my set I headed for Belfast Aldergrove airport, where I jumped on my “private jet” and flew directly to London Gatwick.

Usually, flying into London Gatwick on a private plane would be a little tricky as it’s the busiest single runway airport in the world, but thanks to the minimal air traffic we were able to land at LGW without ‘holding’ in the sky. Because the “private jet” was not quite up to Learjet speed, we landed into Gatwick late for my set at the Brixton academy. Luckily, the accommodating promoters switched the set times around, meaning that Dash Berlin played before me instead of afterwards. It threw me slightly, as I had not planned my tunes around a very late night dancefloor.

Brixton Academy was busier than ever for the ‘Full On Ferry’ event. I managed to get some amazing pictures, which are live on the site. Ferry joined me for a few back-to-back tracks behind the decks – it would have been nice to enjoy more social time before a set in my hometown, especially as there were so many friends in attendance, but time was very tight. Both new years gigs were utterly fantastic and I enjoyed every minute, especially the “private jet”.

January is a traditionally a quiet time in he club world, with many venues opting to close for the first couple of weeks of the month. It’s usually when annual refurbs get done.

My first DJ outing of 2012 was on 20th January to India, a great way to start the year. We headed directly to New Delhi from London Heathrow with BA. India has a varied climate between north an south, with the Himalayas in the north creating much colder temperatures. On arrival into Delhi, we noticed that a lot of flights had been diverted due to fog. Luckily, our BA 747 landed safely and on time. I’d slept the whole 7 hours from London to Delhi, and, feeling uncharacteristically refreshed after a night flight, we headed directly to the hotel.
5 star hotels in India have very strict security, due to the ongoing terrorist threat. For the first half day we need to venture outside the hotel complex. It was fantastically furnished with great restaurants, 8 in fact. We decided to have northern Indian cuisine for lunch and southern for dinner. My gig location, F-Club, was also situated within the hotel complex, which made it easy getting to the decks from the hotel room. India’s two ends of the social spectrum are very extreme contrasts – the rich are rich and the poor are extremely poor. As an overseas visitor, aspects of Indian life can be pretty heartbreaking, but India is a rapidly growing destination for dancemusic and a fascinating country that I’d strongly recommend you visit.
The next day we flew to Bangalore, embarking on a mammoth 6 hour drive west to the town of Coorg for gig number two. When my manager told me that I’d be taking on a 6-hour car journey during the trip, I kicked up a bit of a fuss. In actual fact, the drive took us through some of the most beautiful parts of India and opened my eyes to cultural experiences I’d never witnessed before. Amongst numerous other sights, we passed through small villages with cows in the road and elephants walking down the street. I’ll remember the journey for the rest of my life.

On arrival into Coorg we checked straight into the hotel for a freshen-up. That was just about all there was time for, as I was due on the decks pretty much straight away. I’d never driven so far to a gig before, and the quality of the show didn’t let me down. The Storm Festival was an open-air event with a fantastic turn out. I managed to get some great pictures, which are now live in the ‘Gallery’ section of the site.

Situated at over 6000 feet above sea level, our hotel in Coorg had the most amazing views, and it would have been nice to spend a bit longer there, but unfortunately we had to jump back in the car for the 6-hour drive back over to Bangalore. About midway we stopped at a road side café for a bite to eat. The food was probably the best Indian meal I’d ever tasted. For the Rupee equivalent of around £2 we got 5 courses of freshly cooked Indian vegetarian cuisine.

The final gig of this Indian mini tour took place on Sunday 22nd Jan in the city of Pune. Before the gig I managed to catch the Arsenal v Man United game live in our hotel room, and needless to say I wasn’t pleased with what I saw (Arsenal lost). Trying to put sporting calamity out of my mind, I headed to the gig, which was a smaller capacity event in a partially open-air club. The following day we drove for three hours and flew home from Mumbai, which is a sprawling city and a definite ‘must visit’ location. Roll on the next Indian trip.

The next DJ outing was on Friday 27th Jan for what would be probably be my last live event broadcast on Radio 1, in Hull City Hall. Radio 1 devoted the entire night to proceedings from Hull, and out in front of me was a very responsive crowd as I followed huge rising star Porter Robinson. It’s been a great spell for new music recently, and Hull was a perfect opportunity to squeeze in as many brand new tracks as possible. I’ve worked behind the decks at some amazing live event broadcasts over my 15 years on the station.

On Saturday 28th I headed north for a UK double header. The first port of call was Stockton for club Moka. I had to play a fairly early set in Stockton due to the journey time between the two locations. I had fun in Stockton and enjoyed a few friendly drinks with buddies before hitting the decks. There wasn’t much time to hang around post-set, and Pete and I winged-it straight to Rock’N’Rolla in Birmingham.

Micky Slim’s night has achieved fantastic success in the West Midlands, something that’s partly due to finding the coolest underground venues in town. The club couldn’t have been busier and I loved every minute. I played a slightly groovier set, but still managed to stick to my core style of trancey riffs and big breakdowns. I had a couple of drinks with Micky after my set then hit the road. Needless to say, it was sleep all the way home to London.

The next outing was the following weekend, on Feb 4th, to the legendary Slinky at the O2 Academy, formerly the Opera House. For the first time this winter, the south of England experienced bucket loads of snow over a 36-hour period, coming down particularly strongly on the night of the gig. It caused chaos to the UK’s roads and public transport system. Some DJs failed to make it down to Bournemouth, and for Pete and I it took nearly 4 hours, instead of the usual 2. Thankfully we made just about got there, and it was worth venturing out in the treacherous conditions. Although over 300 people who’d paid for tickets didn’t show up because of the weather, Slinky was still rammed. The Opera House holds some very special memories for me and I look forward to plenty more Slinky vibes soon. I would have liked to spend a bit more time at the venue after my set, but due to the challenging weather conditions we opted for hitting the road. It took us equally long to get home, but thankfully in one piece.

The next outing was a body clock killer, as we embarked on a two day trip to Las Vegas. Amanda joined me on the trip and we arrived into LV feeling reasonably relaxed after a bit of rest on the 9-hour flight from Heathrow to Phoenix. The 1-hour hop up from Phoenix to Vegas reminded me of a summer flight from the UK to Ibiza. It was full of very drunk loud people, many of them screaming at the top of their voices. It’s not without reason that Vegas gets described as the UK’s Ibiza.

There were plenty of mates who came along to Vegas for the show, and we spent the majority of the day leading up to the gig hanging out. The gig was busy – musically, Vegas is a bit more commercial than other US cities, due to it being a vacation destination, but the atmosphere always excels. The following day I had a meeting with the promoter about doing some pool parties in Vegas over the summer. This is where the action is at in Vegas during the summer months. Later that day Amanda and I flew directly back to London Heathrow with BA. It was the first time we’d flown directly back to London from Vegas, so not having to connect made a pleasant change.

The next outing was a midweek trip over to Ireland on Wednesday 15th Feb to play Rag Week at the University of Waterford. I flew directly to Dublin, and thanks to Ireland’s vastly improved road system, headed straight for the gig and made it in good time. Over the past 10 years Ireland has invested major money in its road infrastructure. Although the Irish economy isn’t in great shape now, I anticipate that the money that’s been invested should help things in the long term.

It was unusual to play a student gig at an unconventional point during the term. Normally speaking, student gigs only take place at the beginning or end of the academic year. I’d bought a new camera that day so that I could get some new pics for the site – check them out when you get a second. It was rammed, and there was no shortage of smiles. After the gig I was driven straight back to Dublin airport, where I spent the night in the airport hotel, before flying directly back to LHR the next morning.

On Friday 17th Feb, following my live Radio 1 show, I played the legendary Gallery at Ministry of Sound. I hadn’t played The Gallery since November, which meant plenty of friends vying to come along for the ride. In fact, it took two carloads to ferry everyone from Radio 1 to the club. Richard Durand was playing before me and the main room couldn’t have been busier. I’ve been beavering away in the studio recently, and the MoS was the perfect opportunity to road test the stuff I’ve been working on. I’ll have a new release every month on the Vandit label, so plenty to look forward to. Travelling as much as I do, playing a club just down the road from my front door was an unusual luxury, even if my friends were trying their hardest to get me drunk, and I can’t wait until my next visit in May.

Feel free to drop me an email about anything that’s on your mind, I reply to every one received jules@judgejules.net

More next time…

This instalment kicks off at the tail end of November, on Saturday 26th. It was a blustery night in the north east of England, containing a double header of gigs. The first port of call was Northallerton for a Koolwaters event. Pete and I arrived into Northallerton slightly unsure of our location and crept around the vicinity of the club looking for a parking space. When you park in unknown towns late at night, you tend to be selective about where you leave the car. This obviously aroused suspicion, as a few minutes later we were stopped by an unmarked police car, clearly viewing us as some kind of undesirables. Thankfully, as soon as they saw our innocent faces and sweet smiles, they let us go on our merry way with helpful directions to the venue. On arrival at the club there was a line stretching down the street and around the corner- always a good sign. The gig was great, and the DJ booth was fantastically situated -the perfect balance of not too near and not too far away from the dancefloor.

The next stop was just about a realistic driving distance, within the limited time allocated by my itinerary-ambitious manager. The drive from Northallerton to Scarborough was slightly unnerving due to the gale force winds and heavy rain en route. Really bad weather can sometimes take its toll on clubland, but thankfully the event is a long-standing 6-year success for its promoters, who are good mates. The Squatters are producers/DJs I’ve been supporting big-time over the past couple of years. Their musical style is a hybrid between wonky jacking electro house and trance. As fellow Judgement Sundays Ibiza residents, they really know how to tickle my musical taste buds. Unfortunately, due to my manager’s ambitious journey time calculations, we didn’t have much time to socialise when I arrived at Viva’s, but the set went very well. I can’t wait to see the guys back in Ibiza this Summer, I’m already getting excited…

It’s been one of the mildest autumns in recent European history. On Saturday 3rd December I headed for a Gatecrasher tour date at Kosmonaut in St Petersburg, Russia. I played this venue exactly one year earlier, and the difference in the weather was huge. I spoke to many folk on this Russian outing, none of whom could ever recall not seeing snow by December. It seems like we’ve gone from one extreme to the other.

En route to the gig, the driver had the car radio tuned into influential Russian dance station Radio Record, which was broadcasting live from the event. It’s always exciting to hear the live screams from he crowd before you’ve even arrived at the venue. Simon Patterson & The Thrillseaskers were also on the lineup and the arena couldn’t have been more jumping. Ironically, 36 hours later I was due to play 200 miles west in Finland. However, rather than hanging around in this corner of the globe, I decided to return home to London for the day in between, so I could spend a bit of extra time with the family. On Sunday 4th December I flew back from Russia to London via Helsinki. Strangely, even though they’re only 200 miles apart, Helsinki and St Petersburg have a 2 hour time difference. This means you land before you’ve even taken off.

Monday 5th December was the eve of Finland’s independence day, a significant party night in the Finnish calendar. In the boarding queue for the flight from London I bumped into Mark Knight. He wasn’t playing the same event but it was nice to catch up. That day saw the first snow Finland had received for winter 2011/2012, and, in keeping with many northern European countries, by law all cars have to switch to snow tyres for the winter season. The Scandinavians know how to deal with (and drive in) snow competently, unlike their friends across the North Sea. At the airport, I was met by promoter Kimmo Kapauchio (AKA K-System), who drove me the 100 kms north to Hameenlinna. The night took place in an old dance hall with a particularly thumping sound system, Kimmo’s own party called “Push Up”, running for 6 years. The atmosphere was fantastic, and on the way out I thanked Kimmo for the invitation. Early the following morning, I headed straight back to Helsinki airport en route to London for a couple of days in the studio, ahead of my South African mini tour at the weekend.

On Wednesday 7th December, I received some news that I knew would happen some day. After 14 years at BBC Radio 1, the station will be re-shuffling their Friday night dance output, meaning that I (amongst others) will be leaving the station in a few months’ time. The change will take effect from April 2012, and from then on I will be solely concentrating on my internationally syndicated radio show “The Global Warm Up”. You may have read about my plans to become an entertainment Lawyer. I have accepted a position in top London firm Sheridans, who represent some of the biggest names in music, including many huge dance acts. For the past 4 years I’ve been re-training as a lawyer part-time, and this has always been my long-term strategy. The main point I want to make clear is that (contrary to some emails and blogs) I’m NOT quitting DJing. I start with Sheridans in 2013, after which I’ll still be DJing, with their blessing. So for now it’s business as usual, and from April my Friday night gig diary will open up to areas I couldn’t reach before, because of my commitment to a live show. I would like to thank everybody for your support and kind words over the past month.

The next day, Amanda and I flew to South Africa for a 3 date mini tour. Flying to SA from the UK can only be done on night flights, and we travelled with BA from LHR, arriving into Johannesburg on the morning of Friday 9th December. The weather in Jo’Burg wasn’t as nice as expected, considering it was their summer, so we spent most of Friday chilling in our hotel room. Since hosting the 2010 World Cup, South Africa’s infrastructure has improved beyond all recognition. It proves just what a huge deal it is when a nation gets to host a World Cup or the Olympics.

That night I played Sky Raiders, a one-off party in a large aircraft hangar- we could see a whole bunch of private propeller planes from the DJs’ green room. The only downside was that the sound crew hadn’t installed CDJ2000s turntables, which have USB stick capability. Most DJs (who don’t play off laptops) now use memory sticks instead of CDs to spin their tracks. Prior to travelling, I had been told that all three South African venues had USB-compatible equipment. I therefore only brought a small quantity of CDs with me, leaving the majority back in London. The situation left me unable to play all the tracks I would have liked to, but I really enjoyed the gig nevertheless.

On Saturday 10th December we flew over to Cape Town to play Trinity nightclub. Cape Town is a great destination for doing touristy things. During the day we visited the jaw-dropping “Table Mountain”, which involves ascending in a cable car surrounded by the most dramatic scenery imaginable. The gig that night was fantastic, with a screaming crowd from start to finish, and lots of positive social media feedback over the following few days.

The next day we hit the Victoria & Albert shopping mall, before heading back to to Cape Town Airport to fly over to Durban for a Judgement Sundays event at Cuba Lounge, part of one of the giant football stadia built for the World Cup. Arriving into Durban a little delayed, we had to pretty much race straight to the gig (a daytime event). En route, the promoter told us a succession of horror stories about South Africa’s dangerous security situation (with carjackings etc) and how it had affected him personally. It put the wind up Amanda, but we were in a very safe part of the city centre. The venue was partially outdoors, which always makes for a special atmosphere. The gig was very rowdy and it was a great end to a fantastic South African mini tour. We spent the rest of the evening at some friends’ house, having a few drinks around their pool and letting off steam until 3am.

On Monday 12th, Amanda and I headed back to Johannesburg en route to London. Jo’Burg airport has improved massively since my last visit, and we did a little last minute shopping before boarding the flight. After such a hectic few days we both slept for the entirety of the 11 hour journey, not even stirring as our plane overflew Ibiza, as most South Africa-UK flights do. Pictures of the tour can be found in the “Gallery” section of the site.

On Saturday 17th Pete and I veered 180 degrees away from South Africa, driving from London to Hull. Promoters come and go, and it’s nice to see folk I’ve worked with for a long time staying strong and ultimately owning their own venue. Such has been the career path of Terry, who now owns “Stereo”. On arrival at the club, Terry took us upstairs to a small secondary room that wasn’t very busy. Terry was quick to explain that this wasn’t the main room and that downstairs was packed. He wasn’t kidding – the place was wall to wall and everyone was very much up for it. After my set I felt bad that I couldn’t hang around, but I was flying to Thailand at 8am from London (having finished in Hull at 3.)

Our trip to Thailand over the Christmas period was three quarters holiday and a quarter work-orientated. We stayed in Koh Samui, which neighbours the famous ‘full moon’ island of Koh Phangan. Former Kiss 100 DJ Graham Gold now lives on Koh Phangan, and on Wednesday 16th December we ventured over to see him. Accessible only via speedboat and ferry, we spent, an afternoon at Graham’s hilltop house in the middle of the Thai jungle. Even though I’ve been to Thailand at least 10 times, I’ve never been there on date coinciding with a full moon party- it’s an ambition I’m determined to fulfill one day. It was great to see Graham, and the following evening I flew from Koh Samui to Phuket to DJ (by chance, Graham was performing in another Phuket venue on the same night). The weather in different Thai islands varies massively, even though the distance between some is relatively short. In December Phuket is a much dryer, whereas Samui was in the midst of its rainy season. I played at Seduction in the resort of Patong, which was packed. After a few more days of doing relatively little by the pool in Samui, on Christmas day we flew back to London for our first UK Christmas dinner in a few years at the in-laws’.

More next time, including my final gigs of 2011.

Whatever you did this Christmas I hope you had a great one. If you have questions or anything to chew the fat about, please feel free to get in touch, it’s always nice to hear from you. jules@judgejules.net

Travelling with my Radio 1 producer Alex, it was an early start, as we were booked in to record a co-host show with Armin Van Buuren at 9:30am in his house in the town of Leiden. I set off for the airport at 5am for a 7am flight to AMS. It was a nice experience seeing Armin in his home environment – normally we only manage to catch-up at gigs on which we share the same bill. Armin was extremely hospitable, and after the co-host, Alex and I headed into the city to meet up with Tristan D.

At ADE, I was speaking on a panel called “Ibiza is… the new Ibiza”. Also on the bill were Mark Netto, who is the main booker and organizer behind Pacha Ibiza, Ben Turner (IMS organizer), and representatives of Amnesia and DC10 . At one point things got a little heated between some of the panelists and I, as we debated the justification behind Ibiza’s very steep club drinks prices. My argument was (and is) that if the clubs charged less money they’d actually sell more drinks. Simple economics and everybody wins.

After a catch-up with Big Nik from Ibiza in an Amsterdam coffee shop (where I didn’t partake… not my thing at all), I headed straight back to Schipol Airport for an evening flight to Manchester. My road manager Pete met me on arrival in to Manchester, and we headed straight for a gig at 53 degrees in Preston. Unfortunately the journey wasn’t long enough for a snooze, and after a brief spell catching up on emails we arrived before I’d even blinked. The event was promoted by “Taking Liberties”, who put on midweek student nights throughout the north of England. Following a loud gig, Pete and I headed back down to London, and after a near 24-hour day, needless to say I slept like a baby the whole way home.

The next outing was on Saturday 22nd October to Dunfermline in Scotland. It was a club I’d never played before, which always gets the mind ticking on how to approach an unfamiliar crowd. When we arrived I was ushered through a private entrance into a back stage room, so I had no idea how far we were from the crowd and the decks etc. I could hear the music but had no clue how busy it was, nor how the club was laid-out. After a few back stage drinks I was taken through to a packed venue with a jumping crowd – all systems go. A few hours later it was a sleep-free 6am flight, as I made part 1 of my journey to Los Angeles, via Amsterdam…

It was just as easy (and a lot cheaper) to travel from Edinburgh to Los Angeles via Amsterdam on KLM (as opposed to via London). I’m very lucky to be able to fly business class, but KLM is not the best airline – their seats are extremely uncomfortable. The only way to combat this and get decent rest was to bring a selection of pillows and cocoon myself into the seat. 11 hours later I landed in LAX, grabbed my hire car and headed for my hotel to meet up with my family (who had flown out a day earlier from London).

The first US DJ outing of the week was on my birthday, Wednesday 26th, in Orange County. OC is about an hour from LA, traffic permitting. Traffic did not ‘permit’, and it took almost two hours to cover the 35 mile journey to Anaheim. The Interstate 5 can be a horrendous freeway- it’s California’s version of the M25. Anaheim is mid way between Los Angeles and San Diego and is nicknamed the ‘armpit of California’, not because of the smell, but because it’s supposedly the hottest area of CA. The gig was at a fairly intimate venue, Heat @ Ultra Lounge. The benchmark for sound systems in US clubs is so much higher than the UK – I could feel the vibration from down the street.

The next gig was on Friday 28th, as I flew up to Las Vegas from LA. It’s amazing how many people from Los Angeles travel to Vegas for the weekend, with countless flights a day from LAX and a sardine-packed freeway for the length of the 200 mile route. I was booked to play a new club called Chateau, which is open air and directly under the Vegas mock-up of the Eifel tower. It’s always nice playing alfresco. Although Vegas gets quite cold in winter, the club had literally hundreds of stand-up gas heaters. I love Vegas and wish I could have hung-out longer, however Canada beckoned.

The next day, I flew up to Calgary in Canada for the final gig in this US mini tour. As an artist, Canadian immigration can be very painful. With a work visa that has to be collected on arrival, one can sometimes be waiting for up to 3 hours to see an immigration officer. They put you in huge line alongside students and families immigrating to Canada for the first time. For workers like me, who are coming and going within 24hrs, I think they should create a new system and have a separate line. Luckily, for the first time ever I didn’t have to wait too long and sailed straight through. The gig was at the BMO Centre in Calgary and very much a trance orientated event- just my thing. The crowd were fantastic and it would have been impossible not to have a good time. I’m trying to track down some pictures from the gig to put on the site, so if you where there then please whack them over jules@judgejules.net

Friday 4th November saw a long-awaited return to Gallery at London’s Ministry of Sound. With the chaos of the Summer, in recent months I hadn’t got to spin at my regular London gig as much as I’d have liked to. So I was very excited for Friday 4th. I finished my live Radio 1 show at 1am and headed straight down to the MoS. Gareth Emery was on before me and the club was the busiest I’ve seen it for a long time -wall-to-wall. I managed to catch the majority of Gareth’s set, which was faultless. Simon Patterson was on after me, and we left the club with big smiles all round. I recorded my set, which you can download it via the “Mix Sets” tab on the site.

Bonfire night was the next outing (if you’re not from the UK, Google it to appreciate the historical significance of the date, November 5th). Pete and I head up the M1 to Northampton for a regular haunt of mine, Fever. Traditionally I’d only done Fever on Fridays, but promoter Simon had suggested that I played on a couple of Saturdays. I’m glad I did, the club was rammed with a big line outside. Things rocked at Fever, and it was great to see the multiple fireworks displays as we headed up (and back down) the M1 motorway from London. Does anybody know when the annoying 50 MPH limit is going to be lifted and the roadworks finished on the M1? It goes for about 20 miles and is painful in the extreme, let me know… jules@judgejules.net

On Thursday 10th November it was back to Heathrow, en route to Dubai. I flew BA from T5, departing at 9:30pm on the Wednesday evening. The beauty of a night flight is the ability to get a semi-full night’s sleep and arrive relatively refreshed into your destination. With the UAE being 4 hours ahead of the UK, I landed at about 8am and headed straight for my hotel (The Atlantis). I dropped off my stuff and hit the Karama market- I had been sent on a mission by Amanda to find her a new bag. I’ve got plenty of friends in Dubai and went out for dinner and bars before the gig at Atlantis. With Dubai being relatively strict on nightlife, all of the clubs are within hotel complexes, making it very easy to get from your hotel room to the dj booth. The only down side is the strict “no drinking behind the decks” policy. Luckily, a friend kept providing me drinks just outside the booth. The club was busy, with a large expat crowd in attendance. The next day (Fri 11th) I had to dash straight back to London for my live BBC Radio 1 show.

Friday 11th was the first of three consecutive weeks of trips to Skegness for reunion parties. For those of you that aren’t familiar, ‘reunions’ are sold by the UK youth tour operators to clubbers during their summer holidays. The first of three was for Twenties’ Naughty Reunion. It’s surreal recognising so many of the faces you see at the resorts in the summer reunited in Skegness. We’re having one the mildest Novembers in history. I remember doing this exact same gig last year and there being a foot of snow on the ground.

The next day was a double header, taking in Blackburn and St Helens. The first port of call was St Helens, about 30 miles east of Liverpool, at “The Venue”. We arrived with about 20 minutes to spare and enough time for a quick drink with the promoter, before it was time to hit the decks. The next instalment was about an hour’s drive north, in Blackburn. Unfortunately, not enough time for a snooze, so Pete and I assumed our default position and discussed the day’s football results. The Blackburn show was at Warehouse One, a new venue with a corking sound system. It took me back to the early days of DJing with its basic raw feel. After a fantastic night on the road I rolled into the car and slept the entire way back to my front door in North London.

Friday 18th took in another long drive up to Skegness. Pete picked me up straight after my Radio 1 show and raced us to Skeg in great time. Week two of the reunions was the first of the “Big” reunions, completely sold out in advance. We skipped into Skegness with seconds to spare and I jumped straight on the decks, after Example, always a difficult act to follow. The atmosphere never fails and pictures will be posted on the site imminently. After a couple of interviews and downing a few drinks, Pete and I headed back to London.

More next time…