Just for the Record Part Eight

In June 2006, DJ Promo, who played at famous UK superclub Ministry of Sound and a host of international venues will attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the longest DJ session in history. His mission: to smash the existing record of 84 hours by a full 16 hours, raising the bar to a new total of 100 hours live, continuous mixing. That's four-and-a-half days at the decks, without sleep or, more importantly, illegal stimulants, and all to raise vital funds for charity. This is his story.

Chapter Eight: New Year, New Beginning

2006 started well, with two important - and inspirational - meetings: one with FMSA, one with Fed Square. I also started preparing my marathon set by launching a weekly warm-up session at Tilt, the Russell Street venue I manage in my ever-decreasing spare time. And I categorised my collection by playing my vinyl in the company of friend Captain Obvious, a.k.a. Joel Mitchell, and his ever-zealous DJ ears.

Photographer Andrew Boyle, responsible for many of the front covers of Inpress magazine, joined us in Fed Square in early January to take some press shots for our publicity campaign. We borrowed 17 record boxes from Matt at Vinyl Warning for the shoot: the number I'll need to carry all the records needed for my 100-hour set. Then he masterminded a second photo shoot at Hunts gym, with me in training mode (see the pictures in my gallery).

Numerous major challenges still needed to be addressed at this stage, including staffing and security requirements, raising a small fortune in sponsorship money and ensuring we'd made adequate provision for any conceivable disasters and/or emergencies. An operating schedule still had to be written, too, which would form the blueprint for running the entire event.

The gym took a new turn, as my training partner Sam and I increased our cardiovascular exercise with the introduction of Thai boxing and some fairly extreme abdominal work. All my weights went up (again) and the remedial massage from Tony the Hulk continue to be excruciating even with increased stretching and increased intake of Glutamine! Tags

• dj promo
• matt solo