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Judge Jules | |
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![]() Judge Jules at Pulse FM, 12 December 2003 |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Julius O'Riordan |
Born | 26 October 1966 |
Origin | London, United Kingdom |
Genres | Trance |
Occupations | Club DJ, radio DJ |
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, London) is a British dance music DJ and producer, known for his DJ activities and popular radio show which achieved global success.
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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 studied law. During his time at university, Jules started hosting small parties where he was the DJ. Due to his field of study, the stage name of "Judge Jules" was born. He graduated from the LSE with Lower Second Class Honours. He speaks near fluent Spanish.[citation needed].
Judge Jules began DJing professionally back in 1987. He was quickly hired by the then-pirate radio station Kiss FM. He has been on Radio 1 since 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 infamous 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 ten-minute mix featuring several dance tracks and acappellas 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 6 Music. His show attracts a wide audience from around the world due to Radio 1's online internet connections and the Sirius Satellite Radio network out in the US and Canada. Through the radio show, he is responsible for launching many popular trance tunes and acts in the UK, and is a pioneer for commercial contemporary dance music. Many people send their unreleased tracks to him. According to his own website, he receives between 250-300 promos per week.[1] His Radio 1 show is produced by independent production company Somethin' Else.
Judge Jules presented his last show on Radio 1 on 30 March 2012.
He also has an internationally-syndicated radio show called "The Global Warm Up" (also produced by Somethin' Else)[2] which can be heard across the US, Russia, Europe and the Middle East.
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.
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.
Judge Jules has a regular club night in Ibiza at the club Eden called Judgement Sundays, advertised as "San Antonio's busiest night". The night runs for the entire summer season, starting in June and running through mid September, and as well as DJing at this night he also promotes it. Jules 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.
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)[3] 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,[4] and a series called Ibiza Uncovered.[5] 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 chauffered 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".
In 2009 Judge Jules started supporting the UK charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer joining the Breakthrough Running Club as the club DJ.[6]
In 2008 Jules has worked with designers to produce his own clothing range 'Heroes and Villains'.[7]
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This section of a biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2007) |
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. He met Amanda around 1992 and they married in March 1998 in Camden with much of it covered in the British press. Their son Jake was born in June 1999 and daughter Phoebe was born in September 2004.
When I look at my life,
I think how others might see me
When I look in the mirror,
I'm pleased... of what I'm seeing,
Material faces, I've got enough,
I can't really ....,
I've had it tough,
But it's this one thing, one ...
That's missing in my life,
I need some one,
Without love, I have nothing (4)
Nothing without love
That's all I can make out of it, hope it's of some help.