WMC Diary – Day 6 and home..

Well, after the Shocklee brothers erm.. ‘insistence’ that I’m there (Hank: “You be there, you be there!” as we strolled through the WMC lobby – lol!) My only destination on Saturday afternoon had to be poolside at the Miami Beach Hotel – the WMC venue. After pretty much a whole week of four to the floor house and techno poolside, I was happily surprised to hear the beautiful bass of an all-afternoon dubstep show; highlights for me were Mala (original dub warrior for sure) and Skream (totally, totally brilliant), as well as the first-ever live performance by the Shocklee brother’s Bomb Squad, playing live dubstep themselves; I loved it. Hooked up with Alex (of label2net), who I met pretty much every day throughout the conference, and Ray (aka Fatso Brown) and we spent the afternoon drinking Budweiser and laughing in the 28 degrees heat; great great way to finish the conference.

Finally caught a cab to the Ultra Music Festival; a mental dance festival right in the middle of the city; I’ve never been to a festival surrounded by skyscrapers before, and it was a surreal and excellent experience. I hooked up with my old raving friend Steve, who moved to the states some years ago, and who I haven’t seen in years and years – oh the wonders of Facebook! Caught Carl Cox, Goldie (again) and Underworld among others, but for me it was really about wandering around and catching up with Steve(and his girlfriend Ashlie), absorbing the atmosphere..

The next morning, I headed for home; Miami > Ft Lauderdale (1 hour) > New York (3 hours) (gutted I couldn’t meet up with my old mate Alex Church in NYC, and didn’t have his phone number to tell him!! doh!) > and finally from New York to London (7 hours), to Shropshire (3 hours).Now I think I’ll sleep for a week, and talk about this for months. What an experience; only time will tell how it affects my music; it can only move me on; I’ve learnt so much. I’ve met so many great people, swapped tips and opinions on all aspects of the industry, so I’d like to say thanks to everyone I met; I received nothing but welcome wherever I went; you guys made it a really worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

I’ll do everything I can to do it all again next year, for sure.