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Eddy Says
Eddy Says: Start the way you mean to carry on
By Eddy Temple-Morris | Published on Monday 22 March 2010
Last week, I had to get up at a soul crushing 4.30am to make the Gatwick red-eye flight to Barcelona, and then endure another three hours on a coach to get to the principality of Andorra, the infamous tax haven atop The Pyrenees, and now officially the home of the Big Snow Festival.
The coach trip was made that much more fun by travelling with Mickey Slim, one of those infectiously funny DJ characters who had most of us in paroxysms. It was also interesting to meet Eddie Halliwell, who’d flown in from Cork, having had zero sleep from the gig the night before – that horrible DJ-booth-to-check-in journey I had in Ibiza a few times. He played the Big Snow and then flew straight onto San Francisco, again with zero sleep. Jesus, who said DJing was an easy life?!
The early start was worth it. My early arrival in Arinsal meant I actually got kitted out and made it up the mountain for three or four runs before the lift shut down for the day. Chris Stereo:Type, by this point, had become the first casualty of the weekend, whacking his head so hard that he ended up in hospital getting checked up for a brain haemorrhage (he’s fine, thank the gods).
I got my first serious air during one of my snowboarding runs – the photographer from Loaded Magazine got a shot that I’ll hopefully be able to share with you soon. Andorra is a fabulous place to learn to snowboard or ski, or for intermediates like me. And it was so nice going to a bar and buying a four pint round for six euros, when in Tignes that same round would have cost 44 fucking euros!
Unfortunately, by the time I arrived I’d already missed my new chum Calvin Harris and older chums Anne Savage, Matrix + Futurebound and Zinc. But I did run into Kiss FM and BRIT Award busting legend Brandon Block, which made my day. I also met the very nice Wickaman and the utterly gorgeous Phil Brookes, who comes across like a naughtier, street-er, version of Kaiser Saucy of The Loose Cannons. It’s like they were separated at birth, with one sent to posh Battersea and the other to somewhere like Bethnal Green. I hope our paths cross again.
One of the early highlights of the trip was watching the joke video that Stereo:Type made for YouTube, comparing and contrasting the palatial luxury hotel they were given in Moscow to the Spanish gig the next day, where the promoter didn’t even bother booking them a room and just drove them to the airport and dumped them there instead. The resulting hilarity (you must check it out) made a lot of people in the UK laugh, but unfortunately the Spanish race, as a whole, have had a serious sense of humour failure and the duo are now getting death threats daily in relation to the video.
My two favourite threats so far are these:
“Stereo:Type, come to Spain, I kill you”
“Stereo:Type, you are dead to me, fuck you, fuck your music, fuck your arse, suck my bitch”.
In actual fact, Stereo:Type were the best DJs at Big Snow by a mile. Nobody but 2ManyDJs can touch them, and ver Type have the scratching dimension that Steph and Dave don’t.
I played a gig on the mountain on day two, with Gaz Pendulum and MC Jakes. The advertised El Hornet and Verse were in Vancouver, so my drinking buddy from the first big Pendulum tour, Gaz, showed up. My heart was happy but my kidneys were audibly screaming: “Please God no, not Gaz”.
Actually, Gaz played the best set I’ve ever seen him do, Jakes was his usual reliable self and the crowd, lubed up with cheap alcohol combined with high altitude, went crazy. Literally the happiest snow festival crowd I’ve ever seen. Around 50 skiers came snaking down the hill at the crown of Gaz’s set, carrying flaming torches. It was a moment. Reminded me of Secret Garden Party.
I played again, after Gaz, and had an amazing time before we all headed down to El Cau, the club venue down in Arinsal near our hotels for another dose of dance and drinky-poos. I do love the whole balance of these trips: extreme physical exertion combined with liver bashing alcohol abuse and the sociability that comes with it.
Whatever happened, I was up at 8am every day to get up the mountain, usually leaving my cohorts asleep in their hotels. My view is that you can get shit faced pretty much any time you want to, but when can you snowboard down a mountain? So, I really try to make the most of it, working hard and playing hard. The mountain air is very good for blasting off the old cobwebs from the inevitable shots and beers the night before.
Later in the trip, I ran into Leeroy Thornhill. It was lovely to catch up with him for the first time since being on tour with The Prodigy. He showed me footage of his mate, Jamie, who managed to so beautifully cock up a 20 foot high jump, and somehow land it on his back some rib-crushing 50 feet away from where he took off at terminal velocity. I almost cracked a rib laughing from sheer schadenfreude.
Leeroy was playing at El Cau later with myself and Stereo:Type. People had come from far and wide to see us. Well, actually, more to see Stereo:Type, whose mountain conquering set had spread through the Andorran grapevine to other resorts.
I had a disaster that night. My friends and colleagues Chris and Lee, from Universal Talent, took me for a double fondue – the classic Swiss one and a raclette. I discovered in the process that it is possible to overdose on cheese. The results are horrible. It was as if someone had stuffed a hand grenade up my arse. The gig was very difficult, but still, I got up the next day at eight and went up the mountain to shake off the cobwebs.
On the last night I saw Eggsy from GLC play his best ever gig with Adam MC-ing, plus the revolting Dirty Sanchez boys doing what they do best.
Even with my exploding arse, the festival was a roaring success. All who came had a brilliant time, saw some quality music and had an extraordinarily good time, while The Big Snow established itself as a wonderful boutique festival in a place where anyone can afford to go and have a great time. Next year’s festival is already in planning stage and it’ll be even better.
Much love,
eddy X
