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Every DJ has that one gig that they still talk about at parties: their Most Memorable Gig! This edition we go back to 2003 with UK-DJ and producer Paul Sparkes. “Sound pummeled every atom in my molecular structure.”
“Let me take you back to 2003. These were the days before the growth of social media, there was no digital DJing. I was put on an El Al flight to Tel Aviv at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam. I’d been booked to play at the annual Halloween celebrations. This turned out to be a unique and unforgettable experience. The most memorable gigs are ones tinged with the unknown, nervousness, some humor, and the feeling of swimming just slightly out of your depth. This was one such occasion. Let me tell you more about it.”
Trance was big
“Haoman 17 was a huge brand back then. This club propelled Tiësto into global superstar status. Trance was big at that time. UK magazines like MixMag and DJMag were giving the venue lots of coverage. My set was being recorded live for radio, and I did an interview with national newspaper Maariv the day before.”
Exciting
“Playing abroad was quite new for me then. Even getting on a plane with a box of records was a novelty around 2001 and 2002. I’d played a bit in America and Scandinavia, so it was exciting to visit the Middle East for the first time.”
Disco nap
“I remember being quite nervous about this gig. I felt under pressure to be a headline DJ, where there is expectation to meet. Others on the line-up were my friend Gideon Berger and Keren Hartzion. I was quite tired from the 5-hour flight from Amsterdam, so when I arrived in Tel Aviv, I tried to take a disco nap. Instead, I kept getting off the bed and flicking nervously through my records. Haoman 17’s reputation as a trance club made me nervous as I was primarily a house DJ. I felt I’d done the trance sound in the late 90s, playing tracks by System F and Armin van Buuren, but I had shifted to dark drums and tribal percussion by 2003.”
Thumping
“I ordered two taxis to come to the hotel just in case one didn’t show up. I jumped into the first one and paid the other off with a few shekels when it arrived. I also remember vividly seeing the line outside the club and feeling fear. From inside you could hear the dull ‘doof doof doof’ thumping. Something instinctively made me want to run, but there was no turning back. Security thrust me to the front of the line and into furnace like heat inside the venue.”
Cavernous
“The club was cavernous, sound pummeled every atom in my molecular structure, shaking me to the core. The lights were incredible too, just adding to the atmosphere. I took over the decks at 4am. People go out late in Tel Aviv, so the party was still warming up. It was the loudest club I’d ever heard. In fact, it was so loud you did not need monitors. I could simply mix off the main system!”
Adrenalin hit
“The energy was genuinely frightening. I do remember needing to really concentrate on which records were coming next, to focus on building my set slowly, rather than just reaching for the biggest tunes in my box. The adrenaline hit was vast and almost overwhelming.”
Centre of a hurricane
“About 30 mins into the set, it honestly was like being in the center of a hurricane, the eye of the storm. Sweat dripping off the roof onto the decks and people climbing into the DJ booth. I remember having a “conversation” with a girl who later turned out to be deaf.” (laughs) “People waved their shirts in the air; it was like nothing I’d seen before in my life.”
Breaking my flow
“I needed a lot of water as the heat kept rising but getting to the bathroom is always tricky in such a full club. I didn’t dare leave the decks for a second for fear of getting lost in the club, as well as breaking my flow.”
Out of body experience
“I often think the best gigs are an out of body experience. This was certainly one of them. Time flew by – I’d played for 3 hours but it felt like 45 mins. I could easily have played for 6 or even 7 hours. There were moments when the build-up was intense, riding that ultimate musical wave that comes quite rarely. That feeling where the air is knocked out of your lungs by the energy of 1200 people in front of you going nuts.”
Quite akward
“I was signing lots of autographs, which still seems strange for a DJ. I’m a fairly unassuming person so the attention was quite awkward really. I wasn’t prepared for it. Back in the hotel it took hours to come down. I gave up on sleeping and headed to the beach at 8 AM to release the adrenaline and make my brain relax. I remember sending a text to my mum and said the show had been good and I was safe, and I laughed when she simply replied in her understated way “That’s nice”.” (laughs)
“Before I finally went to sleep, I put the vinyls back into their correct sleeves as the record boxes were a mess after such a hectic show. How could these small 12inch pieces of plastic be responsible for such emotions, such gigantic sound waves, such a positive effect on people?”
Who is Paul Sparkes?
Paul Sparkes has been immersed in the world of electronic dance music for over 25 years. This British DJ has clocked up some serious air miles by performing in the US, Israel, India, Germany, Dubai, Russia, Bahrain, Finland, Croatia, Belgium, Bonaire and a slew of other exotic destinations.
Armed with the latest cutting- edge music, Paul Sparkes has rocked the cream of the world ‘s clubs including Pacha New York, SXSW Austin, Rise Boston, Ministry of Sound London, Club d’Anvers Belgium, Blue Marlin Ibiza and more. Closer to home, Paul Sparkes was resident DJ and promoter of Floorplay, a monthly night that for over 11 years took place at the legendary Club NL in Amsterdam.
As a producer Paul Sparkes has released on renowned labels such as San Francisco ́s Loöq Records, Omid 16B́s Sexonwax label, NYC’s seminal Nervous Records, UK’s Baroque Recordings and Ray Okpara ́s AMA records. Paul Sparkes has also signed tracks to Under No Illusion Recordings and Slovakia’s Seta Recordings, Paolo Martini’s Polar Noise Records from Italy and Horatio’s Natural Rhythm recordings out of Romania. 2020 saw him release on Collective Machine’s label with a two tracker, and Paul Sparkes’s debut release on Dave Seaman’s Seledaor Recordings is out now.
Paul Sparkes is also resident DJ of Amsterdam’s floating Wattrworld festival, playing on tall ships every month alongside Sasha, Patrice Baumel, 16 Bit Lolitas and many more. Paul Sparkes continues with the same hard work, commitment, enjoyment and passion for his music as he did a quarter of a century ago.
