Most of us look forward to our mid-40s as a good opportunity to get involved in gardening, build a shed and finally escape the oppressive burden of things like fashion and popular culture. Not so for world-renowned beat-dropper Judge Jules, who’s headlining a high-profile show in the capital this month at the ripe old age of 43. For the uninitiated, Jules is the man who spent the ’90s orchestrating the sweaty thrashing of the Ibiza clubbing scene, while he continued to hoover up awards for his DJing well into the last decade. He may have been a bit quiet for a while, but his first appearance in the capital in 10 years is shaping up to be yet another career milestone.
What do you remember from the last time you were in the city?
If I told you it was something in a hotel, that wouldn’t really narrow it down very much, would it? It was a while ago, we’re going back probably 10 years.
Abu Dhabi’s not exactly on your regular circuit. What’s the weirdest country you’ve found yourself performing in?
Even in the more sort of third world countries, there are always wealthy people and little scenes in the most bizarre places. Cairo is somewhere you wouldn’t think is massively on the map as far as dance music is concerned, but it’s actually been really good the times I’ve been there.
How much longer do you plan on doing what you’re doing?
I think it has to be as long as you remain relevant, really. And if you cease to be relevant it’ll be pretty apparent very quickly. Both the work and the crowds are, thankfully, still there in abundance for me. So I don’t know. I’m not the oldest DJ out there by a long way, but I’m certainly not the youngest, either. The whole buzz, which is very personal, really hasn’t waned at all. But when it does it’s time to call a halt.
Have you found yourself getting caught up in any relaxing middle-aged pursuits?
I’ve got two small-ish kids, and that’s something that completely changes everything. Bringing them up as decent people is important to me. But no, I haven’t suddenly found myself liking opera.
Could you build a shed?
No, most definitely not. No, I haven’t found myself with the Reader’s Digest Book of DIY.
Are there any career ambitions that you’ve yet to fulfil?
I’d like to have done some acting. My dad was an actor and TV director, so it would’ve been nice to have done a bit of acting. But the reality is there isn’t enough time to do more than one currently does. DJing isn’t just turning up and playing tracks – there’s probably 15 hours of homework to do each week. Anybody who’s half scraped the surface of DJing is aware of that. Each week I get sent between 500 and 700 tracks as promos, and that’s just in my area of music. There’s a phenomenal amount of music to stay abreast of, so you really do need to put in the man hours.
What time do DJs get up in the morning?
You could either be one of these DJs who gets up at 1pm every day, or, as in my case, you just learn to have a very flexible body clock. In the summer months I do every Sunday in Ibiza and most Mondays in Majorca. I’ll finish playing at 5am or 6am, and get to bed an hour or so later. But the longer you’ve been doing it, the easier it is to adjust. I’m not necessarily saying that it’s good for your body, but it’s a reality.
Have you ever encountered any really weird fans?
There’s a lot of loonies out there. Especially being on the radio. The BBC has a dedicated department dealing in investigating strange people. There are people who have literally followed me to every gig over a huge geographical spread. You can be racing up the motorway from location A to location B, being driven as fast as you possibly could and mysteriously that person has already got to the second gig. And loads of weird emails. Message boards and forums are a lovely cloak of anonymity for lunatics to hide behind.
DJ Judge Jules is supported by DJ Thristan, DJ Sabrina Terence and DJ Jay J. Tickets start at Dhs150 per person from www.timeouttickets.com. Thursday, September 16. Le Royal Méridien (02 674 2020).
