When I think of the Guiness Book of Records I usually think of pointless things such as “longest fingernails”, “most consecutive days without a shower”, “longest hot air ballon ride ” or “most ever pet hamsters lined up end to end underwater”. I didn’t think there are many related to dance music, until now. Well in fact there still aren’t many related to dance music but this one is, ok? We often hear of DJs playing marathon sets of 5, 6, or 7 hours thinking ‘Wow that must take a lot!’ Well what about 10 hours? 30? 50? 84???? How could anyone possibly contemplate DJing for 84 hours? Well that is the current Guiness World Record for the Longest DJ Set, and DJ Promo from the UK not only thinks he can break the record, but keep going until he reaches 100 hours! ITM decided to catch up with DJ Promo and find the man behind the madness…

Firstly, what inspired you to attempt this new record?
Are you clinically insane? Were you thinking ‘84 hours? Pfft that’s soft!’?

The inspiration came from years of being the last man standing, playing set after set, hour after hour and realising that the longer the set, the more I enjoyed myself. My friends and I often joked about breaking the world record and that we would battle each other to do so. I never thought that much about really doing it until I got to Melbourne. The idea was always there, though. As for being clinically insane, no: besides the hoofs, I’m as sane as all the other trees in the broom cupboard. I think 84 hours was a massive set length and I don’t think breaking it will be easy, but what I really can’t stand is basic one or two hour sets. I can DJ for an hour standing on one leg!

When did you decide you wanted to have a go at it? How long has this been in the making?

The dream’s been there for years now, but the decision to contact Guinness World Records (GWR) and register happened over here during a meeting with Ronnit Sternfein at the offices of Beat magazine. It’s strange how clearly I remember it. We’d had lunch and were discussing the campaign for the second ‘The Drum Is God!’ party at Two Floors Up. I was locked in to play on both floors and then go straight into recovery until the close of the venue. I was scheduled for 10 hours, I think, and was saying how I wanted to break the record. I suggested doing it very publicly for charity and Ronnit suggested doing it along the lines of the “Band In The Bubble” event, but making it “DJ In The Bubble”. That was it: I left her office, and decided to register. I didn’t actually send in my application for a few months. I didn’t tell anyone and, to be honest, forgot all about it myself until I received confirmation my registration had been accepted. That was January last year.

Have you spoken to the previous record holder, Genix, about the upcoming attempt? Did he give you any advice or tips?

No, not yet – for no other reason than we’ve pushed it to the back burner, time after time, as the scale of the project is SO big that it was of little importance compared to the urgency of other things that needed to be dealt with. I do intend to contact both Genix and Martin Boss (the previous record holder), not only to congratulate them for such an achievement but also to inform them of my attempt and ask for some advice.

How was this event organised? There are quite a few ‘rules’ you need to follow, did you and the Guinness World Record people come up with them together?

The organisation of this event is huge. It’s non-stop work, seven days a week, 350-plus e-mails a day and paperwork EVERYWHERE!!! There is a structure to the event’s planning but, with only two of us running it, it has been extremely draining and tense. First, we needed the location. To book the location, we needed insurance. To get insurance, we needed a location and a confirmed date. And so on. That was before we even had a design, builder, sponsorship campaign, media campaign, training regime, sound system, artwork, website, staff, catering… the list is endless. This is a huge event, but comprises thousands of small elements. The rules come directly from GWR but, whilst we’ve had to question one or two of them, they’re essentially as GWR first stipulated them.

You must take a 15 minute break every eight hours. What will you do in those breaks? Who will be playing the music then?

During the 15 minute breaks, I’ll change clothes, change the needles on the decks and have a quick ride on an exercise bike to get my blood flow going. I’ll have a masseur and an acupuncturist there at certain times and I have a stretching routine. I have numerous interviews scheduled for during those breaks and, in the run-up to the event, we’re assuming the number of media partners will increase exponentially. We have a host/presenter for the entire show; Kane Harrison, who’s great. We were all out together last weekend, getting to know each other, having a laugh and discussing his role in the event. Kane will not only launch the event (with a special celebrity guest TBA), but he’ll also talk to the audience during those 15 minute breaks. Plus, on day one (Monday June the 12th), he’ll be presenting the Street Socceroos’ penalty shoot-out competition adjacent to the Vertex in Fed. Sq.

One of the rules states that only two turntables can be used. I guess this means you won’t be doing any three deck wizardry. Are you disappointed?

Tee-hee!! This was my first question to GWR. I don’t think the rules really accommodate club DJs and our capabilities. I had wanted to have four decks and a couple of CD players but, after questioning GWR, found that I can only use two decks and two CD players. So, whilst I never planned to mix on six decks at the same time, I should be able to squeeze out a few three or four deck mixes. I’m not very comfortable on CD decks, but I’ll give it a go.

You are originally from the UK and have DJ’d at many successful international clubs such as Ministry of Sound, but chose to attempt this here in Melbourne. Why?

I’m here with my girlfriend who’s from Melbourne. It’s the right time in my life to do this. Federation Square is an awesome location to host this event and I’m privileged to have their support – and very enthusiastic support it is, too!

My record collection has slowly built up over the past couple of years but I would need a substantial loan to attempt this. Do you have enough records to go through with this yet? Have you been buying any tunes specifically for the event, or produced anything new?

I don’t have enough records to play the set that I’m planning yet but I’m getting new stuff every week, so I will do by the time of the event. I’ve been buying a lot of secondhand vinyl, as there are loads of old favourites I really want to play but don’t have here in Australia. I’ll be producing and tweaking stuff for the event and have lots of friends sending me their demos, too, some of which I’ll be remixing. Should be a monster track listing!!

On a similar note, no piece of music can be replayed within four hours. Do you think you will be playing any tunes more than once?

My intention is NOT to play anything twice. So I guess I should take bids from people as to when I play ‘Flaunt It’, because I can’t wait to get that one out of the way!!!

Do you have anything special planned for the set? Will you try and keep a flow going like a normal DJ set or will that be out the window after 2 days?

Hell, yeah!! I’ve planned the set in eight-hour segments. I have to take into consideration increased footfall periods such as morning and evening rush hours, lunchtimes and, of course, the screening of the World Cup matches. During those times, I’ll play more commercial sounds. I’m trying to theme each of the eight-hour segments to include homages to labels and places that have influenced house music. To play a Detroit set and a Chicago set, a tech set and a techno set, a prog set and a tribal set is obvious. But I also want to play a Dutch set with labels like Fresh Fruit, Work and producers like Olav Basoski. To represent French house with labels like Roule and producers like Thomas Bangaltier would also be great. To then tie that in with those nations’ appearances in the World Cup would be an awesome thing. That’s how I’m thinking about my set. I just wish I had access to the vinyl I have in London!! The ad lib bit will be the last 16 hours. From breaking the current 84-hour record to reaching my 100-hour target, I’ll be playing a load of my personal favourites. I’ll try to make every track huge, old and new, just great tracks. In fact, 100 hours almost isn’t enough!!

You have been working with a former kickboxing champion in preparation. What kind of training have you been going through? Any particular mental or physical techniques that have helped get you ready?

A lot of people ask me how I train to stay awake for over four days and whether I try skipping sleep altogether or reducing the amount of sleep I’m having in the run-up. The fact of the matter is that sleep deprivation actually weakens the body, so I’m deliberately not doing that during the run-up. My training involves strengthening my body so that when I am deprived of sleep during the attempt, I’ll have more core strength to fall back on. I’ve been pushing some very heavy weights, very heavy indeed. My legs are the main focus of my training, as I’ll be standing up for the full 100 hours. I’ve also been strengthening my lower back and shoulders. I’ve done very little work on my arms, but they’re used in all the shoulder work anyway. Mental preparation doesn’t exist. The frenetic pace of this operation doesn’t allow me to give it too much thought and my biggest fear is not being able to sleep the night before and actually starting the attempt tired instead of well-rested.

I sometimes struggle to beat-match for one hour, let alone 100! How long do you think you will actually be able to mix “properly” before the old cross-fader slam sets in?

I honestly can’t answer that. I’ll try my best and that’s all I can do. I hope my mixing will hold up as much as I hope my legs and ears will. I normally get better as my set progresses but I’ve never DJ’d for anywhere near this length of time before. I know that after two or three days without sleep I can usually mix fine, but that’s not after DJing continuously for two to three days, let alone four days plus. We’ll just have to wait and see.

You recently played a gig here at a night called ‘Interview’. Have you been keeping up with many regular gigs or have they mostly been put on the backburner while you prepare for the record attempt?

I try to play all the gigs where people book me, but I’m not actively seeking gigs. Soon I won’t be able to play at all as all of my records will be organised into sets for the attempt that can’t be disturbed. ‘Interview’ was great but I won’t be playing many more gigs prior to the actual event. There is a big fundraiser for the event taking place at Altitude on June 2nd which should be awesome and that’ll be my last gig before the main event.

You are trying to raise funds for charity with this event. What made you decide to do that and not just reap in the personal glory and accolades that will surely come? Did you approach them with your idea or did they come to you?

Doing this to raise money for charity was there right from the beginning. This is a world record: it’s much bigger than just me alone and without the public’s participation it won’t even qualify. In the GWR rules it states that a “dancing audience must be present at all times, even if it is just one person”. That means that every single person who turns up and dances is as much a part of the world record as I am – it simply couldn’t happen without them. That means the event must draw an audience to qualify and, therefore, we’re targeting an audience who’ll willingly give up their time to come down and support the event. Hopefully, that audience will also willingly give up some cash as it’s all being done for a good cause. I approached both charities myself and asked them to be beneficiaries.

Tell us more about the actual charities themselves you are working with, ‘The Big Issue’ and ‘Challenge’. Why did you choose those two in particular? Have you had personal experiences with them?

The ‘Big Issue’ helps the homeless and long-term unemployed take their first steps to self-reliance. It’s essentially a current affairs magazine that’s sold around the globe by marginalised people, who then keep a percentage of the cover price for themselves. The magazine provides support for its vendors but its fundraising is limited to the money it can generate through sales of the publication itself. Whilst ‘The Big Issue’ does receive some private donations, it doesn’t receive an overwhelming amount. I think what they do is awesome and homelessness is a subject many people have no grasp of. I can only imagine how hard it must be to live on the streets with no money and no idea where the next meal is coming from. Can you imagine how hard it must be to live like that every day? Homelessness is a real problem that urgently needs society’s attention and I hope our event will go some way to elevating it in the public’s consciousness.

‘Challenge’, meanwhile, supports children with cancer and life-threatening blood-disorders. Its goal isn’t to find a cure, but instead it endeavours to improve the quality of life of the children living with it, along with their families. The charity, which receives no government funding, organises fun events and activities and you only have to read the ‘Challenge’ magazine to see how much joy they bring to so many people. I’ve lost my mother, my father, my grandmother and two aunts to cancer. It’s heartbreaking to think of children going through the same pain that cancer can cause.

Both charities are managed and staffed by amazing people who work very hard to support the people they’re helping and I’m thrilled they’ve agreed to be beneficiaries of this event.

The attempt will be taking place in a temporary club being built especially for the event. Did you have any input in the design?

No. My original design was very functional but nothing more than a giant shoe box. Our architects, FMSA, have taken the practical requirements of my original design (DJ area, dance floor) and thrown the rest away. Thank goodness for that! Their designs, ideas and total enthusiasm and support of this project are incredible. They’re a wonderful company that thinks “green” and have become the bench mark for every other company involved in the project. I have been present and intrinsically involved in every meeting discussing our venue, The Vertex, but I can take no credit whatsoever for its conception. I was worried about budget constraints and tried to keep things simple, but FMSA thought so far outside the box it took us weeks before we found anyone who was actually capable of building it. My input is purely to discuss the placement of what needs to go inside the Vertex, its functionality in accordance with the ethos of the event, the audio and visual requirements and compliance with GWR and Fed. Sq. rules and regulations.

Most mainstream media here would seem to regard dance music events such as ‘Two Tribes’ and clubbing as places where kids go to get high on drugs and overdose in dark alleys. You are being quite adamant in your no-drugs policy on this attempt, and will be lobbying for drug testing on future record attempts. What is the reasoning behind that? How do you feel about the drug association with dance music?

This is the industry in which I’ve chosen to work, and in which I wish to continue to work. Clubbers take drugs, fact, but so do lawyers, police officers and politicians. Even royalty have been known to take drugs. But it’s always clubbers that take the stick for it. With this event, we can demonstrate that you don’t need to take drugs to enjoy going clubbing. The clubbing industry has a chance to come together and do something positive. I believe I can DJ for 100 hours and set a new Guinness World Record. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but what kind of challenge would it be if I used amphetamines? How much of a positive image would it give then? If long distance runners aren’t allowed to take drugs to assist them in setting a world record, why should I? Surely if I can DJ for 100 hours without drugs, people can go clubbing for one night without drugs? The drug association with dance music is the same as with most music – as well as art and the movie industry. And I hate it when people assume that you can’t have one without the other.

You will be required to have at least one person dancing at all times. I guess this puts you under more pressure to not lose the crowd?? How will you feel if the last person dancing sits down at 83 hours 58 minutes? Or 99 hours in???

Of course I would be disappointed but, so long as people come along and enjoy themselves and we raise some awareness and money for these two wonderful charities, then we still would have achieved something. Maybe people will try going clubbing without taking drugs one night. Maybe other promoters will try and make an event of theirs a charity fundraising event. We do have back-up plans, though, in case there’s a low attendance. But if you’re going to aim high, sometimes you have to take risks.

Once it is over, what will be the first thing you want to do?

Once it’s OVER over, as in after all the interviews and the after parties, I’ll be having a shower, a massage and some much-needed sleep. I’ll be surprised if I make it through the massage without napping to be honest!

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions, any last comments?

You’re very welcome. The more people who know about this, the more people will come along and join in. And the more people come along, the more people might put their hands in their pockets and donate to the charities. If anyone would like to help, please e-mail your details to info@mattpromo.com and put “I’d like to help” in the subject line.

DJ Promo will be attempting the Guinness World Record on Monday the 12th of June at ‘The Vertex’ in Federation Square, Melbourne. Check the what’s on section for more details!