Tour Diary: Jubei's To Have & Have Not Tour

Earlier this year, Metalheadz maestro, Jubei embarked on a three month tour supporting the release of his high octane LP, To Have & Have Not. Taking in countries like Japan, China, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand the tour played host to a multitude of unforgettable gigs in cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. Now back on home ground, the drum & bass dynamo is once again visiting Farringdon this weekend alongside the Metalheadz clan to help toast his label mate Lenzman’s debut album, Looking At The Stars. With Jubei himself taking a little time out of his busy schedule to reflect on the three month trip, we caught up with him to reminisce about those stand-out moments, starting things off with Japan… Japan was amazing. It was my actually my second time DJing out there – I toured there with Clipz, Taili and Allied Force for Emcee Recordings back in 2005 – but it’s still such an interesting place to visit. Everything about it is so inviting; the culture, the food, the shops, the clubs and of course, the people. I was even lucky enough to visit some temples whilst I was there too. It has a very strong scene and has done for many years now, for example; in Tokyo there are three main d&b promoters, each with three different takes across three different venues so there’s no one stepping on each other’s toes and it means they can accommodate various styles and satisfy the different needs of the scene – but that’s just in Tokyo. Over in Osaka, Hiroshima, Sapporo there scene tends to evolve around just one night and one promoter. Overall it’s great atmosphere, because they really appreciate seeing people from the UK, or anywhere else, as they understand you have to travel a long way to play them the best music you possibly can. They are really appreciative even though, it should really be me thanking them for bringing me over there! A stand out moment for me was when I played for the Hangover crew in Tokyo. I remember coming out of the elevator on the 7th floor and walking into the dance floor with people chanting my name and clapping, it was crazy. I felt like some kind of pop star. You don't get that over here. People see you and try to act like they don't see you, I felt a bit embarrassed by it all but it was pretty cool. Then when I was in Hiroshima the crew took me to the Itsukushima shrine and I saw the sun go down behind the mountains. It was beautiful. We also took a cable cart up to the top of a mountain where a monk visited to be at peace. It was pretty hairy, really old and very unstable, we were pretty high up at one point and I wasn't that comfortable but nervously laughed it off! I guess when you travel, you have to try and see as much as possible. I know some people who just sit in the hotel, do the gig, stay in the hotel and then fly on to their next show. Sometimes it’s hard though, when I was in Sapporo there was about 10 foot of snow everywhere so it meant getting around was difficult. The crew took me up to this TV tower to see the city from above and all I saw was a few building lights and just tonnes of snow… Sightseeing is something I do during my downtime periods because I don’t really produce music whilst I’m away. I mean, I have Logic on my computer but I prefer my studio set up back at home – I really missed it at points during the tour. China was amazing. I played in Hong Kong on my birthday – another amazing city. Whilst I was DJing they asked me to stop the music and brought out a cake with candles and the whole place sang Happy Birthday to me. Actually, the promoter put his own sound system in the venue and ended up cranking it up so much that the police came and tried to shut it down. We ended up having to comply for a bit until they left but then wacked it back up as soon as they were gone. It was such a sick party but I ended up missing my flight the next day because I got lost in Hong Kong airport… I managed to get on the next flight by the skin of my teeth which meant I made it to Singapore in time to literally drop my bags at the hotel and go straight to the gig and play. These guys also had a birthday cake ready for me at the entrance to the club. Again, another awesome venue and promoters – those guys really took care of me. Tours have their stressful moments though. There’s always a few times where I would finish a set, go to the hotel, shower and then leave for the airport straight away so I could fly onto the next city or country. That’s all part of it though and there are some top moments that make up for it; visiting the great wall of China in Bejing, visiting the Southern Alps and Arthurs Pass in New Zealand, boat trips around Sydney harbour, celebrating my birthday in Hong Kong and going wine tasting in Waiheke Island. Looking back, if there’s anything I would take from the whole experience then it would be that the whole tour was a lesson that hard work does pay off.