JOCKEY JOURNAL: D.O.D

Manchester-born stadium destroyer D.O.D is all about the drop. Layering baile funk techno beats into screeching EDM bangers and building samples, hooks and breakdowns to rupturing effect, you can watch his impressively worked hour-long live DJ set on DJ Mag TV.

Having toured with Steve Aoki in Europe and appeared at events such as Tomorrowland and Life In Color in Australia, he's well-and-truly established on the international scene, while tunes on Dim Mak, a Beatport Electro House No.1 ('More Cowbell') and last year's 'BANANAS' ensured his music has been getting hammered too. As you'd imagine, he's an extremely busy man, especially recently, so we wanted to hear all about it...

Cream, Amnesia, Ibiza
“Cream at Amnesia in Ibiza will always have a special place in my heart. It’s what got me into dance music. I used to steal my brother’s CDs when I was younger, one of them being a double-CD recorded live at Cream, Ibiza. I was only about 11-years-old but it completely changed my perspective of dance music. I knew from then on that DJing was what I wanted to do. The crowd noise in the background really gave you the feeling that you were right there, and I still remember standing in my bedroom, arms wide open as if I were the onstage DJ. It had always been my dream to play Cream at Amnesia in Ibiza, and last September I was lucky enough to play the closing party to a sold-out crowd, something I’ll never forget.”

Miami Airport
“I love this photo. I think it really captures exactly how Laidback Luke and I were feeling that day. We had just landed in Miami Airport, having played in Minneapolis the night before. This was on Luke’s Musically Driven USA bus tour, which he had very kindly invited me to be a part of. We were super excited and in a fun mood after getting off the plane. All of the shows up to that night had been incredible, and Miami proved to be equally amazing. At this point Luke and I had really got to know each other after being on the road for three weeks. He’s a super nice, hard-working guy who has done a lot for my career. Not forgetting Luke’s tour manager, Gillie, what a guy he is!”

Life In Color, Melbourne, Australia
“This was a last-minute show that I did last year in front of 8,000 people. It was my first time in Australia and I absolutely loved it. The promoters, DJs and everyone involved in the event from the start were great people. One of the DJs, David Solano, I still speak to on a regular basis, and I met up with him in Miami last year — super cool guy! Life in Color is a great concept. The crowd basically gets covered in paint from the stage. Big cannons, guns etc all firing paint, the kids go crazy!”

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Getting a bitch slap here off Ronald McDonald in Amsterdam. I was actually pretty hyped on this trip, back in September last year. I had just signed exclusively to Mixmash Records and had also signed to a new management team. It was all very exciting!”

Papaya, Pag Island, Croatia
“A couple of years back I was brought through the DJ ranks in the UK with Eddie Halliwell. He’s played a huge part in my career as a DJ and is a very good friend. Eddie invited me to play his Fire It Up stage at Papaya in Croatia. It was on an outdoor stage by the sea with a hyped-up, sun-kissed crowd. I bottled out of doing the bungee jump next to the DJ booth though, after the person before me jumped and ended up being suspended upside down for 10 minutes because of a power cut!”

‘BANANAS’ Music Video, Manchester
“It’s always a pleasure to be back in my hometown, Manchester. The first club I ever went to was Sankeys Soap when I was just 15-years-old, before the renovations took place, back when it was a real rave cave. I really did love going to Sankeys as a punter and was lucky enough to get to play there on numerous occasions before it closed last year. This photo captures the day just right. We tried to keep a low budget on the music video to my single ‘BANANAS’ on Mixmash Records. The final result was pretty cool to be honest, the two girls in the photo are friends of mine and yes... that is me in the banana suit!”