With a return visit to Hang Dai in Dublin scheduled for Saturday 20 June, schooldays pals turned music industry movers and shakers Nick Halkes and Andy Smith, aka Reach Up Disco Wonderland, reveal some of their favourite international DJ travel memories.
Yellow, Tokyo, 1996
“There was a point where DJing in Tokyo was the coolest thing I could imagine. It’s still a pretty cool concept actually, ha ha. A couple of days before I played, I randomly strolled into a record store in Tokyo that had a sign saying, ‘Welcome to Tokyo, Nick Halkes’. That was a big surprise. I’d never experienced anything like that before. A brilliant party.” [Nick]
Beyond the Pale, County Wicklow, 2024
“The first Irish festival DJ date for Andy and I as Reach Up, and what a great one it was! Such an ace, up-for-it crowd who were enthusiastic from start to finish. I manage Irish artist Essiray [check out our recent interview here], who played also, so it was great to see her too. I headed out into the Irish countryside for a beautiful restorative walk the day after the festival. The calm after the storm! An excellent experience down in County Wicklow.” [Nick]
Bambu, Koh Phangan, Thailand, 2024
“This has got to be one of the maddest venues I’ve ever played at. It’s basically only accessible via longboat or by hiking through the jungle. It has amazing coastal views and their parties happen each Sunday during the season. Things start funky and housey, and become more pumping once night falls. I was so impressed with the vibe and the owner/resident DJ, Stevie Keys, that we decided to make a track together!” [Nick]
Space, Ibiza, Various
“I was fortunate to play Space several times before it closed and morphed into Hï. Reach Up hosted a room at Carl Cox’s residency for several summers on the bounce. Before that, back in the 90s, I’d played on the legendary open-air terrace. The dream there was dropping a track with a big breakdown and having a jet roar overhead as the beats kicked back in, ha ha.
“From memory, our room at Coxy’s nights would close at 4am and then we’d pile into the main room to catch Carl until it closed at 6 or 7am, or whenever. Sometimes the party would continue elsewhere afterwards. What a club and what a DJ!” [Nick]
Sue II Festival, Chile, 2004
“I once DJ’d at Sue II Festival in Chile and my dressing room was directly next to Blondie’s dressing room. I had to take a picture, which I have somewhere! Parallel Lines was the first album I ever bought, so it was all coming back around for me! [Andy]
New York, 1998
“In 1998, I played a guest DJ spot on Liquid Todd’s KROQ radio show in New York in a studio next to Howard Stern’s. I then went directly to see Kraftwerk live and afterwards caught Junior Vasquez at Twilo. That was quite a night! The last time Nick and I played Hang Dai, we just had a Guinness in the hotel bar post-set, but that was enjoyable too!” [Andy]
Decades, Washington DC, 1998
“I DJ’d at an open-air party at Decades Club in Washington DC with a view of the White House in close proximity behind me. At one point in the night I played Fight The Power by Public Enemy, which seemed the perfect track to play…’ [Andy]
Nick Halkes and Andy Smith bring their Reach Up Disco Wonderland to Hang Dai, Dublin, on 20 June. More information and tickets can be found here.