Guinness World Record Attempt: Longest Club DJ Session - Part 3

9am, June 12

It's early in the morning on a public holiday; a cold and grey winter's day and downtown Melbourne is deserted except for a small crowd milling around a white trapezoidal building that appeared in Federation Square during the week. Inside, DJ Promo has just embarked on the 100 hour journey that will see him become the new Guinness World Record holder for the longest club DJ session.

With only minutes to go DJ Promo was restless, making last minute preparations, checking his watch and exhibiting a mixture of nerves and excitement. He admitted that he didn't sleep well and was "completely nervous". At 9am on the dot and with a cheer from the crowd, DJ Promo kicked his set off with Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express.

Dancing alongside and providing encouragement was DJ Promo's long-time friend and fellow DJ, Pedro Gomes who had flown in from the UK as a surprise – well what was supposed to be a surprise until a friend who didn't comprehend the 'don't tell anyone' concept of surprises spilled the beans. Pedro Gomes admitted that his friend was nervous, "he's very nervous, very excited at the same time", but had total confidence in DJ Promo being able to last the full 100 hours, "I've got no doubts about it. If there's anyone in the world who can do it, it's this man."

1pm, June 12

Four hours into his set, DJ Promo is looking relaxed and is clearly enjoying himself. The crowd is a mixture of friends, supporters and serious clubbers. Many bemused passers-by have stopped to watch, a few even venturing inside to dance for a while. In accordance with the Guinness World Record rules, there are two members of the Red Cross on hand. Earlier they admitted that they weren’t fans of electronic dance music but were now tapping their feet to the music and enjoying themselves.

Later tonight, Federation Square will be jumping as football fans emerge from the MCG after the Melbourne vs. Collingwood game and as soccer fans arrive to brave the cold to watch the Australia vs. Japan world cup match on the big screen. Through all of this DJ Promo will keep spinning his records.

1pm, June 13

DJ Promo has been going strong for 28 hours and certainly doesn't look like someone who's stayed up all night. The audience is a mixture of office workers on their lunch-breaks and kids on school excursions. While some are just watching, quite a few of the kids are strutting their stuff on the dance floor and chatting to DJ Promo about the art of being a DJ and how hard it is to go without sleep.

5pm, June 13

At the 32 hour mark, as Melbourne's office workers begin to head home for the evening, DJ Promo looks the antithesis of  the archetypal club DJ - tucking into a healthy salad roll. The dancefloor is filled with a mixture of teenagers and seasoned clubbers and when the teenagers disappear off to the suburbs to watch their nightly instalment of Neighbours, the clubbers continue dancing and are joined occasionally by one of the Red Cross medics.

 

 

1pm, June 14

DJ Promo has now done 52 hours at the decks, he's nearly two-thirds of the way to the existing world record and is over half-way towards his target of 100 hours. It's a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne and there's a crowd of people who have dropped by to check out the action – people in suits, school children, university students and the faithful group of supporters who have been keeping DJ Promo company.

A group of teenage girls who had been dancing happily left just as Matt put on a Kylie song for them but this cleared the area for liberal sprinklings of baby powder on the floor as some dancers gave a demonstration of the 'Melbourne Shuffle'.

6pm, June 14

The after work crowd has arrived to join the afternoon crowd that have lingered and while some are content just to watch, many are inside dancing their socks off. DJ Promo has completed 57 hours and is expecting a support contingent to arrive from Sydney to help him through his third night with out sleep, the night he had been expecting would be most difficult.

During the afternoon, researchers from the University of South Australia arrived to see how DJ Promo is going. DJ Promo has agreed to undergo some testing as part of their research into sleep deprivation. He's been wearing a movement detection wristband the whole time and has been doing a simple reaction time test and completing questions about tiredness and health every eight hours.

10pm, June 14

There's no sign of the crowd dissipating, the dance floor is jumping and even a few people who are on their way home from the Australian Ballet's performance of Giselle at the Arts Centre have stopped to watch for a while. Tomorrow's the big day when at 9pm, the existing record is broken, then it's one more sleepless night for DJ Promo until he reaches 100 hours at 1pm on Friday.

5pm, June 15

With only four hours to go until the existing record is broken, DJ Promo is doing it tough, he's so close but still so far away. After some helpful advice from the Red Cross paramedic, DJ Promo has a bit to eat and drink and makes it through the tough patch with the encouragement of his supporters. As he gets closer to 9pm, adrenaline keeps him going and he brightens up considerably, especially when most of the crowd come inside to escape from the rain.

9pm, June 15

He did it! As a huge cheer erupts from the crowd at 9pm, DJ Promo looks up in amazement at the level of support and encouragement he has received. He turned the music down a bit and thanked his friends and supporters for helping him on his journey and encouraged people to donate to the two charities he is raising money for, the Big Issue and Challenge. After that, the music was turned up again and the dancing continued.

Sometime after midnight, June 16

It seems that the effects of sleep deprivation finally won and DJ Promo pulled the plug on getting to the 100 hour mark. When he eventually wakes up he can be proud of his phenomenal achievement in breaking the existing record and extending it by three hours.

 Previous article: Part 1 of the interview with DJ Promo.

Previous article: Part 2 of the interview with DJ Promo.

 

 Hi Guys, justy wondering how Matt has gone with his attempt to break the record? Did he get to the 84 hours? How is his attempt going? I was the first aider for Red Cross on the first day with Lydia. Please pass on my 'Hello' and bestg wishes to Matt. Thanks heaps, Anne.

Anne Balinsky, June 15, 2006 8:20

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