Here we’ve got a true British dance icon, one who’ll be out here soon for Trance Energy. Then, standing there next to him we’ve got an infamous BBC Radio 1 host, and over there it’s an Ibiza club promoter. Also in the room, an A&R manager, TV show host, producer and remixer extraoirdinaire who’s about to drop another artist album, a clothing designer… actually, you know what? They’re all the same person, and his name is Judge Jules. Read on and you’ll begin to wonder if the multi-tasking trance legend is actually a race of very talented clones… inthemix’s drumrunner does some investigating.

Mr Jules, you’ve got so many projects on the go at once. How are you doing it, and what do you get up to in your down time… if you get any!

(Laughing) the huge challenge is doing all the things that I do decently enough. I mean the most recent thing I’ve added to my arsenal, for want of a better description, is my clothing range Heroes & Villains. It was launched with a range of just t-shirts, so expanding that and kind of improving upon it and learning from the experience is a big thing. Ibiza Judgment Sundays, which is my Ibiza club night, is in its 10th year in 2009, it has long been one of the big established nights in Ibiza and that takes a lot of time. There’s enough stuff to occupy me 24/7.

You’ve also got a new artist album ready to go, Bring The Noise.

Yeah, it’s the third artist album I’ve had and I guess the initial reviews have been good. The objective of this artist album is to try to do something that sounds good as the sum of it’s parts, rather than the individual elements. Though clearly the individual elements you try your best on.

Do you have some kind of magic time-travel machine to manage all these projects?

You just need to be fairly organised. At the risk of sounding more like an accountant than a DJ, effective time management is really important. The physical process of working out the DJ side of things is time consuming enough by itself. I mean, I get sent 500 promos a week, minimum, all of which need to be listened to, and by a process of distillation narrowed down to the ones that work. And then of course there’s the Radio 1 show to be put together, and a second weekly radio show that I do as well, so yeah [it’s] just organisation!

Receiving and listening to 500 promos a week, sourcing tracks for two radio shows and your DJ sets, do you find there’s a lot of crossover or is there enough good material to spread out over all the platforms?

The club sets and the radio shows are largely the same, I probably aim to find 20 to 30 good new records a week. As long as I’ve got that, it’s ok. But also, particularly from the radio perspective, because I’ve got one of the most listened to dance shows in the world you’ve got to take your responsibility for promoting music quite seriously. Trying to separate the wood from the trees is important, and differentiating between the tracks you’re going to play maybe once on the show, and those that you really want to push over 4 or 5 weeks. Your radio play can have a potentially significant impact on the way that track kind of fares throughout the dance world.

You’ve probably got the perfect test platform, during your club sets?

I try, because I’ve got two small kids and I’m married I try to split my work 50/50 between the UK and abroad. The UK remains very strong, dance-wise. It’s kind of a level playing field and it’s a very good testing ground for things. Whereas sometimes when you go abroad you’re playing to a more unfamiliar audience. Therefore whilst you do your best, if you’re in a place you’ve not played before, to an extent you’re testing the water rather than using the dancefloor as a thoroughly reliable litmus paper.

You’ve been to Australia so many times you’re practically a local. How do we rate on the ‘reliable litmus paper’ scale?

I think Australia, and most DJs will tell you this, is one of the best places to go. Not just because it’s a great destination in its own right, but because you’ve got the dance infra-structure. You’ve got DJs coming through left right and centre, all the major cities have got decent nightclub scenes, [and] there’s more and more producers making music. And, of course, young Australians per capita tend to travel a lot as well. So all those factors make it a very, very strong place to come and visit.

It’s not long now until you’re back here for Trance Energy. Are you excited?

I can’t wait to see you all actually! Despite the fact that I’ve been there well over 20 times, I haven’t been now for about two years, which is my single longest gap of not going down-under. I’m really fucking stoked about it.

You can catch Judge Jules on the Trance Energy tour this April, proudly presented by inthemix!

Thu 9 Apr – Sydney, Hordern Pavilion & Surrounds
Fri 10 Apr – Melbourne, Calder Park Thunderdome
Sat 11 Apr – Brisbane, Riverstage.
Sun 12 Apr – Perth, Belvoir Amphitheatre