Whilst in Japan this summer with 55DSL I was asked to be interviewed by the cult youth culture magazine WARP. When it came out this month, the only words that I had been written in English in the interview were ‘The Southport Soul Weekender’. Last weekend the legendary festival came around once again to my home turf.

5000 party people came from all over the globe to make their pilgrimage to the quiet seaside town of Southport… and come to, in my opinion, one of the best music festivals in the World…Forget tents and chemical toilets its a slightly more civilized affair, with the holiday camp challets and indoor dancefloors keeping out the rain. Spread over 3 days and 3 nights SPW (as its known to its veterans) doesn’t stop for air, some of the best DJ’s go on at 6am and the challet parties keep the music (and madness) flowing on into Monday.

The line-up was insane (as ever) with the the international talent of Karizma, Jose James, De La Soul, Giles Peterson, Jazzanova with Ben Westbeech, Norman Jay, Moodyman, Mark Evans and the Muthafunkaz, Terry Hunter and soul legend Gloria Scott are to name just a selection of the SPW 42 line up… the list of talent goes on and on.

Friday was the night for me… the performance by Brooklyn based jazz singer Jose James was smooth and wooed the crowd with his soulful, drum and base and jazz infusions… here’s a face to keep your eyes on with a sound that raises you two inches from the floor.

Dixon also raised the bar later that night (or earlier the next morning depending how you see it) and was hot on everyone’s lips after his intense performance in the Beat Bar. The dancers (including me) were still in the zone at 8am as he played out a deep blend of Berlin Techno and New York Disco grooves.

The rest of the weekend was random, very sociable and totally fun… and took a week and more to get over.