Simon Dunmore tells us about his recent adventures in Indonesia...

It is quite amazing just how much you can cram into 5 days…especially when 2 of those days were spent flying. Thursday afternoon I leave London, Heathrow for Jakarta. I land at 4pm the next afternoon and crawl from obscene congestion to my hotel. It takes 2 hours to go 20 miles and I arrive at my hotel fit to drop. I phone the office, pick up my emails and then grab a 90 minute disco nap before heading off to eat with the promoter (Christian) and our agent in Asia (Jonathan Yeo).

The restaurant is a sushi bar called Blowfish, the food is stunning and I discover that it has been voted one of the top 100 restaurants in Asia; justifiably I reckon. I then move across to the local hot spot 'Dragonfly', where we are hosting a launch party for Dragonfly In The House – our first album release in Indonesia. I have to admit that it is a tough crowd to play to, but we get there in the end. Christian is happy as he sells over 200 CDs in the club a week ahead of the release. Tara McDonald surprises me as she is in town...always good to see a familiar face.

Check out the pictures of the night right here.

I hit the sack at about 5.30 am and sleep for 8 hours. 30 minutes in the pool, a massage (no happy ending) and a sauna put me in a good mood. We leave at 6.30, have some more stunning food and then travel for 3 hours along another oversubscribed motorway to the next event. I am told that there is no speed limit in Indonesia....they have no need for one as there is way too much traffic for anyone to drive over 20mph.

Anyway, he hit Bandung at around midnight. Great club, packed and a great warm up from local DJ Melody. My first record is the new MTV remix of The Believers ‘Who Dares To Believe’...the crowd go nuts and it stays that way for the next 2 hours. I play until 4 when they drag me off the decks as we have to leave for the airport, our flight is at 7am and the airport is on the other side of Jakarta. I quickly work out that it took us 3 hours to get to Bandung and 2 hours to get from the airport to Jakarta....that means we have 2 hours to do what took us 5 hours earlier.

So I mentioned earlier that there is no speed limit in Indonesia. We literally tore past the traffic on the road...normally you overtake on the outside lane...but not here!!! I cowered in the back as we passed startled and equally terrified drivers of other vehicles on the inside, sometimes using the hard shoulder...sometimes nudging the car in front into another lane. It was bumper cars at 120 mph and my life flashed before me. I am not sure who put my itinerary together but this was an impossible journey to make. Christian and Jonathan in the back with me were both asleep...or perhaps they had both had heart attacks or were in a speed induced coma.  We get there. Christian wakes up and says “great, I told you my driver would get us here in time” as I collapse out of the car and kiss / hug the ground in sweet relief.

We then take a 2 hour flight to Bali. We are doing Defected In The House at a 3 day festival called Junction. I am driven to my own villa (which is pretty spectacular with my own pool), I see it and immediately forget about my encounter with Indonesia’s Lewis Hamilton wannabe. I take a quick skinny dip in my exclusive pool (even I feel nausea at the thought of me swimming with no trunks on but fuck it I bet you would all do the same) and then I take another extended disco nap.

That night is quite amazing. Great venue set just off the beach. Amazing grounds and club...check the pictures....it was packed by 11 and Danny Marquez was playing before me. He set it up nicely and the again the crowd really reacted positively, again I play The Believers first. Karizma asks who did it and said he would love to do a mix as well. Anyhow – and this is no lie – I’m playing ‘Church Lady’ and Dennis Ferrer walks into the DJ booth. I knew that he was in Bali but for him to wak in at that very moment was freaky. He was pissing himself, or as he would say, “laughing his friggin’ ass off!” The night got better when Osunlade and Cevin Fisher both came down to say hi! Karizma finished the night off and the crowd went insane when he played Bill Withers ‘Lovely Day’. I finally retired for the evening at 6 tequila shots past 5am.

I woke the next day. Had a great lunch and was driven to the airport by Jonathan, Christian, Anton and Lita. I thanked them all for their amazing hospitality and vowed to return next year!

2 days travelling. 3 cram packed amazing days...even the kamikaze suicide driver attempting to break the land speed record at night was forgiven!

Much love

Simon Dunmore