Judge Jules

Judge Jules

Julius O'Riordan in 2015
Background information
Birth name Julius O'Riordan
Born (1966-10-26) 26 October 1966
Origin London, United Kingdom
Genres Trance
Occupation(s) Club DJ, radio DJ, entertainment lawyer
Instruments DJ
Associated acts Hi-Gate, Angelic, VPL and several other (see below)
Website JudgeJules.net

Judge Jules (born Julius O'Riordan, 26 October 1966) is a British dance music DJ, producer and entertainment lawyer. Known for his DJ activities, music production and popular radio show which achieved global success. He was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World by DJ Magazine in 1995.[1]

Education

Jules was educated at Highgate Wood Secondary School, a state school in Highgate Wood in North London and University College School, an independent school for boys in Hampstead (also in North London), followed by the London School of Economics (LSE), where he earned a degree in law.[2] During his time at university, Jules started hosting small parties where he was the DJ and also earned the nickname "Judge Jules" due to his field of study.

DJ career and radio shows

Judge Jules began DJing professionally back in 1987. He was quickly hired by the then-pirate radio station Kiss (UK radio station). He began his show with Radio 1 in October 1997. When he first arrived, his show went out between 17:00 and 19:00 on Saturday evenings, ahead of Danny Rampling's show. From 31 July 2004, after the departure of Seb Fontaine from the station, his show was moved to between 19:00 and 21:00 on Saturday nights, ahead of Tim Westwood. The show was widely advertised as, "The UK's Saturday Warmup", or "The Weekend Warm-Up". One of the most famous jingles used on the show during this time described it as, "The Sound Of Saturday Night". The show kept this slot until September 2007.

During those years, his music policy ranged from playing commercial to underground tracks, and much in between. The first segment of the show were taken by the Cut-Up Boys, who did a five or ten-minute mix featuring several dance tracks and a cappella tracks playing simultaneously. The rest of the first hour was generally taken up by house music and the second hour featured trance music, although if they were broadcasting the show outside the studio, the music might vary.

In September 2007, the show was moved to 01:00 to 03:00 every Saturday morning. Because of Jules' DJ commitments on Friday evenings, his show was now pre-recorded instead of being broadcast live. From September 2008, the show was moved forward by 2 hours to 23:00 to 01:00 every Friday evening. The reason for the move was the departure of Dave Pearce, whose Dance Anthems show was moved to BBC Radio 6 Music. His show attracted a wide audience from around the world due to Radio 1's online internet connections and the Sirius Satellite Radio network in the United States and Canada. Through the radio show, he was responsible for launching many popular trance tunes and acts in the UK, and was a pioneer for commercial contemporary dance music. Many people send their unreleased tracks to him. According to his own website, during the time when his show was being produced, he received between 250-300 promos per week.[3] His Radio 1 show was produced by independent production company Somethin' Else.

Judge Jules presented his last show on Radio 1 on 30 March 2012.

The Judge also often plays the Saxophone and recorded the Sax on the theme tune for the 1990s TV show, This Morning. He also plays Sax on the Skiddle Manchester Radio Advert

He also has an internationally syndicated radio show called "The Global Warm Up" (also produced by Somethin' Else)[4] which can be heard across the US, Russia, Europe (including RTÉ 2fm) and the Middle East or via Podcast.[5]

Jules produces his own music – his wife has appeared on a few of these. She provided vocals for the group Angelic, which was a grouping between Judge Jules and Darren Tate. They had two hits, "It's My Turn" in 2000 and "Can't Keep Me Silent" in 2001. In 2005, she appeared once more on the track "Without Love", which was by Judge Jules himself. This track was eventually released, with remixes, on the Maelstrom Records label in 2007. Jules has also released two albums via this label, "Proven Worldwide" in 2006 and "Bring The Noise" in 2009. Elsewhere, he has collaborated several times with Paul Masterson under the Hi-Gate name.

Jules is a lifelong and passionate follower of football. He supports Arsenal FC and was asked to remix the Premier League's official anthem in 2005.

In January 2010 Jules played a Royal National Institute for the Deaf promotional event for M&C Saatchi. He is set to play the South West Four Weekender on 28 August 2010 on Clapham Common, London.

In 2012, Jules signed with Paul Van Dyk's label VANDIT Records, releasing "The Attack" and "Give Me A Reason".

Work as a journalist

Jules was a contributor to the UK-based black music magazine Soul Underground between 1988–1990. He contributed both as 'Judge Jules' and as 'The Dark Knight', using the anonymity of this identity to provide 'inside information' on the music scene.

Judgement Fridays & Judgement Sundays

Judge Jules has a regular club night in Ibiza it started out as Judgement Sundays at Eden night club, in 2013 this became Judgement Fridays. In 2014 Eden nightclub was rebranded "Gatecrasher" and Judgement Fridays moved over the road to Es Paradis and combined with the Fiesta del Agua (water party). In 2015 the "Gatecrasher" brand had disappeared from Eden and the nightclub was re-launched with a new logo, this also saw the return of Judge Jules's night, now branded "Judgement". Previously advertised as "San Antonio's busiest night" and later advertised as "San Antonio's most legendary night". The night runs for most of the summer season, generally starting in June and running through mid September, and as well as DJing at this night he also promotes it. In 2014 it was announced Jules would host "Judgement" night at BCM club in Mallorca, where he would play at some but not all of the nights.. Jules currently has a second home in Ibiza, he used to own a share in the restaurant Kazbah on the island but has since sold his interest in this.

TV appearances

Judge Jules at 'The Gallery'. Turnmills – Friday 22 September 2006

Judge Jules has also made a couple of TV appearances. Firstly the BBC's Top Gear show, in the 1990s, road testing In-Car Entertainment (ICE) systems. He gave a short interview on Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show (11 April 2000)[6] and featured on the Richard and Judy Show in 2003 with his counterpart Paul Masterson and singer/DJ Boy George promoting their Hi-Gate album, on which Boy George made a cameo singing contribution.

Judge Jules also appeared on the BBC's Top of the Pops show (2000) with Paul Masterson, to perform the single "Pitchin'", off their album Hi-Gate. Judge Jules also appeared in a UK series called Superstar DJs,[7] and a series called Ibiza Uncovered.[8] He had his own short series Spin Cities on Play UK. In addition to this, Judge Jules has appeared twice on UK Channel Five's 5th Gear in 2005 and 2009. In 2005 he was filmed while at the Global Gathering dance music festival where he was interviewed in a Bentley, and again by the same presenter in 2009 whilst being chauffeured in an Aston Marton to a gig in Bournemouth. He also appeared on Channel Five's "The Gadget Show" reviewing various DJ equipment including a remote hand held Dj-ing device known as a "pacemaker".

Charity work

In 2009 Judge Jules started supporting the UK charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer joining the Breakthrough Running Club as the club DJ.[9]

Clothing range

In 2008 Jules has worked with designers to produce his own clothing range 'Heroes and Villains'.[10]

Production aliases

Discography

Albums

DJ compilations (DJ mixes of Judge Jules)

Accolades

1995

1998

1999

2000

2001

2006

Personal life

He has lived in North London for the majority of his life, now settled in the Highgate area with his wife Amanda, their son Jake and daughter Phoebe. Jules has a villa in Ibiza and during the summer months he and his family split their time between there and North London. His father, Shaun O'Riordan, starred as Eddie Larkin in the popular sitcom The Larkins which aired on British television between 1958 and 1960. Jules is the nephew of celebrity chef Rick Stein.

References

  1. ↑ Gregory, Andy. "The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002". 2002. Psychology Press, London, England, 4th edition, page 267. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Celebrities tell us about their first year at university". The Guardian. 14 August 2008.
  3. ↑ Judgejules.net
  4. ↑ www.somethinelse.com Somethinelse.com
  5. ↑ Global Warm Up Podcast
  6. ↑ Epguides.com
  7. ↑ Superstar DJs
  8. ↑ Ibiza Uncovered
  9. ↑ Breakthrough.org.uk
  10. ↑ Designerwear.co.uk
  11. ↑ J&T Project on Soundcloud.com
  12. ↑ Gregory, Andy. "The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002". 2002. Psychology Press, London, England, 4th edition, page 267. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Aba Shanti-I		 DJ Magazine Number 1 DJ
1995 		Succeeded by
Carl Cox
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