JUDGE JULES IS READY TO HOLD COURT

DANCE music legend Judge Jules admits he will be wearing his sensible hat when he returns to Scotland next month to play Colourfest at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena.

For the Londoner’s first visit to our shores is one he will never forget.

He said: “On my first DJ visit to Glasgow in my early 20s I got so very wasted.

“I lost my records, my mobile phone and I woke up 12 hours after my set in a house party in Motherwell without knowing how I’d got there, with a couple of girls protecting me from having my eyebrows shaved.

“I never got the records or mobile phone back, and was always a little bit more sensible on visits to Scotland ever since.”

The 48-year-old, real name Julius O’Riordan, seems to have learned his lesson from the early days.

Since then he has built up a reputation as a trance pioneer through his producing and DJ work, and of course as a successful music lawyer – it’s no accident his stage name is Judge Jules.

But does he prefer one aspect of his career over another?

“It would be impossible to prefer anything to performing in front of a large crowd,” he explained

“Producing records is an integral part of what any DJ does.

“And of course a huge part of my sets, in fact the vast majority consists of playing both my own productions and my own mash up, and remixed versions of other people’s tracks.

“So the two are tied into the same whole but the thrill of performing in front of people chanting and dancing in your direction is the ultimate drug – one I’ve been lucky to enjoy for many years.”

Perhaps the reason why Judge Jules has had a long career in the music business is his passion for both djing and producing, and it seems he would agree.

He said: “I don’t think you can fool anybody, you can’t fake it.

“I absolutely love what I do and pour everything into it – my heart and soul.

“These days I might be a music lawyer during the week and just DJ at weekends but it’s still a job that takes a massive amount of background work.

“For every two hour performance, there are multiple hours of preparation and it’s that hard work in the background and that genuine, impossible-to-fake enthusiasm during my performances that have given me longevity.”

With a career that has spanned two decades, it is no surprise that the former Radio 1 DJ has seen a lot and of course experienced some utterly bizarre moments.

He explained: “In the many years I’ve been a DJ I’ve experienced the full litany of different bad experiences, although these type of things are quite rare.