It’s official. UK DJs have it easy! So, you’re in London and have a gig in Scotland. You and your friends jump in a car and all head off to the gig, then drive home and you’re back, safe and sound in your own bed as the sun rises. Or otherwise, arriving in most European cities means a single flight that takes less than 2 hours. Hell, it’s only 10 hours to America! Easy. You’d agree?

So it’s a Thursday in May. It’s getting cold back here in Australia. Another weekend is approaching fast. This weekend is another weekend of travel, gigs and of course, not much sleep. Which is probably a common theme amongst all DJs worldwide. It’s part of the fun. Rock and roll for the new millennia! But touring Australia is special. Being an Australian DJ is special. There is nowhere like it in the world; every place is uniquely in its own way, yet somehow still the same. You can travel hours and hours and hours, you’re still in Australia. Touring schedules are long and grueling, and with two to three gigs every weekend, you can play in most capital cities and major towns only a few times a times and have little time left over to do anything else. That’s without leaving even the country!

I’ve been lucky enough to be doing it for 15 years continuously, and I’ve only had about two months off in that entire time. The busiest time ever for me was in Sydney for the Olympics. 14 nights of DJing straight! Seriously, I didn’t see the sun for 2 weeks.

Some weekends, when you have a lot of flying to do, you envy the UK and European DJs! You think about how different it is traveling to the different nations; it only takes an hour on the plane, and you’re in an entirely different country. Apart from New Zealand, the closest country to Oz is six to eight hours away! When I was in the UK I was lucky enough to do a bit of touring with other DJs, and the fact you can drive to a different country with a bunch of mates is awesome. Touring Australia is always about flying, and most of the time it’s solo.

The only exception to this is when you’re touring with a bunch of artists and DJs for a festival. I remember one particular festival tour, we were leaving Adelaide for Perth, and the whole plane was artists, rock and dance, and the whole plane was from the tour. Hilariously, after a big afterparty the night before the entire plane was in sunglasses (it was 8am) with a lingering smell of, well… touring. There were roadie, DJs and well known international acts all lying on the floor around the departure gates, it was pure rock n’ roll carnage! I’d recommend touring with festivals, they bring lots and lots of stories…

Any UK or European DJ who has toured Australia knows how different the traveling schedule can be here. There’s a lot of flying, with connecting flights and waiting around at airports, then there may also be a lot of driving after the flying, if you’re not playing in a capital city. One weekend I had a gig in Cairns one night, and a gig in Broome the next – from the far north east to the far north west. Now, you can’t just fly across the top of the country, not on the same day anyway. So you have to fly south to Brisbane or Sydney (2-3 hours), then fly to Perth (4-5 hours) then fly up to Broome (about 3 hours). I did 13 hours of flying (and waiting at airports) in between those 2 gigs from 6am to 7pm. And then back again the next day. I worked out the amount of kilometers that I did that weekend, and I think it worked out that I could have flown to LA and back in a 36-hour period with gigs in between.

Now don’t get me wrong, if it sounds like I’m complaining. I love the life of a DJ. I live for it. I thank my lucky stars every day that I am fortunate enough to be in the position I am in. If I don’t fly for two consecutive weeks, I get Qantas Club withdrawal. I love travel. I live for that too. But sometimes it’s a love/hate relationship with sleep deprivation, loneliness and getting very, very lost (both literally and figuratively). That is, until you put on the first record. Then you remember why you’re there. What you love. And all else – tiredness, insanity and airport boredom melt away.

For international readers, you might be asking what the gigs are actually like? Well, probably very similar all around the country but some of my very ‘Australian’ experiences include – people crowd surfing with a “Bundy and coke” in their hands (not spilling a bit, now this is a skill). Most Australians are wonderfully friendly where ever you go and don’t ask for Cold Chisel songs anymore. We are way past that now, which is a relief. Last weekend was a fairly usual weekend for me – two gigs in two very different parts of Australia. Atherton (2 hours inland of Cairns) and Maitland (near Newcastle in NSW). The weekend started on Friday at 5am when I left home, and ended on Sunday 9pm when I arrived back. It was drive, fly, drive, sleep, play, sleep, drive, fly, drive, sleep, play, sleep, drive, fly, drive, sleep… It’s loads of fun, sometimes tough, and sometimes the travel hurts, but I haven’t even left the country. There isn’t even anything extra like photo shoots or press interviewsas there isn’t even time. Your one and only goal is to get to the next gig.

The thing about my situation is, there’s is probably only a dozen or so DJs across all the dance genres in Australia who are lucky enough to have this sort of touring schedule week after week. It’s an exclusive club, and they are the only people who can understand how simultaneously wonderful, daunting, tiring, crazy and totally awesome being a full time touring DJ in Oz actually is. International DJs get a small glimpse into the wonderful places and people that Australia has to offer, but really they’ll never know. All corners of this country that have fallen in love with dance, and the strength of the support from a true Aussie fan – rave gear on, beer in hand, or shuffling in high heels! Love it.

Have you shown your support for your favourite Aussie DJ yet? Don’t forget to vote in the Sony inthemix50!