“My goal is to share my artistic creations with everyone. That’s simply what I’m about,” begins John ‘00’ Fleming. It’s a mission that’s led to his first solo artist album, Nine Lives, and a return to Australia for the J00F Editions tour.

First to the album: it’s something almost 20 years in the making. Nine Lives is, for the first time ever, pure unadulterated J00F from go to whoa. Zero collaboration. Zero outside input. But why such a long wait?

“I don’t like to work as many other DJs do with teams of writers and engineers. To me, it’s not a factory and I refuse to do that,” he says steadfastly. “When I write a track in my head I’m the only one who can truly see it, and when I create I’m often going to dark, weird places. No one can know these places and ideas apart from me. Digging those ideas out when I’m alone in the studio is what gives me the real buzz; it’s just me with my sleeves rolled up.

“To me, that is what being an artist is and they are the ones who last the longest. Yes, I could go and employ someone to write tracks but it isn’t me. And that goes for anyone, not only those in electronic dance music.”

His plain-spoken honesty stretches beyond the realm of producing, too. “My goal has never been to be number one DJ in the world, not to be a pop star, not to earn millions of pounds,” he goes on. “If it was I’d have this team of people surrounding me. My goal is to stay to true to myself while sharing my artistic creations with everyone else. I do apologise that it sometimes takes so long but I do hope it has been worth the wait.”

J00F Editions, John says, is about the music for music lovers. Not the guest list, the pyrotechnics, the stage dancers, and definitely not the DJ’s ego – which he argues has largely overshadowed the scene.

“The concept was a difficult one for promoters to initially swallow because it’s the opposite of what they’ve been conditioned to over the last ten years, with the big television screens, fireworks and fluffed-up show. I’ve gone right, get rid of all that and let’s move the DJ booth off the stage. Let’s keep it dark, with really long sets and minimal distraction, let’s play it on a rocking sound system which recaptures dance’s essence back onto the music.