James Priestley

When where you happiest?Possibly the summer of 2003 when the party never ended; the glory days of Shoreditch and our second season of Secretsundaze…¬ special times. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?‘Hope you are well’ (at the start of every email) and ‘Nicely’ (at the end of friendly emails / conversations)! What are your most treasured possessions? My Westwood coat a.k.a. dressing gown, my Passport and my flat. What is the trait you most deplore in others?Fakeness – people who aren’t genuine. How do you relax?Playing this game it’s hard to, so the only way I can properly unwind is by getting out of the country (not DJing obviously), usually to Umbria to my girlfriend’s Mum’s house or to my Dad’s in the Luberon, Southern France. You go to a fancy dress party - what outfit would you wear?Wowsers! Inspector Gadget perhaps – I’m not so good at fancy dress. What is your favourite book?I’ve never been a big reader of fictional books, I never seem to find the time (blah, blah, blah) but I often come back to Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton’s ‘Last Night a DJ Saved My Life’ which is essentially a thorough history of dance music and a constant source of inspiration. Bill has played for us in the past - in fact, I went to his wedding party too and he very kindly wrote the foreword for our first Secretsundaze compilation.

If you could go back or forward in time where would you go and why?  Baia de Angeli Club, Italy, summer 1977 to listen to who has become one of my favourite DJs, Daniele Baldelli forming his craft. This club was quite unlike anything that had come before, a ridiculously silky venue with terraces, swimming pools and a glass DJ booth that travelled up and down between the different floors in the club while the DJ played… sick. It was here and subsequently at the Cosmic Club that Baldelli and his cohort Mozart pretty much single-handedly created the sounds / genres mixing up the likes of Cerrone and Fela Kuti over an array of Germanic motoric sounds and diverse world music. Grace Jones was almost a regular and the whole thing predated what occurred in New York at The Paradise Garage by 3 years... amazing scenes. What single thing would improve the quality of your life?More shelving. You throw a party and can invite 3 special guests either alive or dead - who and why?John Cleese (as Basil Fawlty), George Clinton & Larry David - for the sheer comedy of the situation.

You can catch James as Somewhere’s special guest this New Years Eve @ Henry’s on the Haymarket. Tickets are available from the venue plus full details are available at www.somewhere4u.co.uk