Tom Stephan DJ Diary
House DJ Tom Stephan tracked his weekend's gigs for us, as he touched down in Singapore and China.
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Thursday June 29
I'm flying from Tokyo to Singapore after a few days of serious retail therapy.
Tokyo must be the most dangerous place in the world for shopping.
You can spend days wandering around the shops in Harajuku and Aoyama and checking out the ultra trendy Japanese kids (and acting like one!- see pic).
Of course I was actually here for work. I played Saturday night at the Shangri-La party at Ageha.
This is one of the most amazing clubs in the world and it was really exciting to be back again.
I recorded my set tonight for the second instalment of Radio Chumbo- my monthly podcast.
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Friday June 30
Tonight I'm back at Singapore's legendary Zouk.
The design of the club was inspired by the owner's yearly trips to Ibiza and has a real Pacha feel about it.
It's made up of three separate clubs and the VIP bar contains some serious modern art - Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring originals – it's like no other
club I know of.
And if the sound system wasn't good enough before, they've had a refurb since my last visit and got NYC sound designer Gary Stewart (he did Sound Factory and Vinyl) to design one for them.
He's a perfectionist to say the least, and insisted on having the DJ booth built to his specifications and shipped over!
And his dedication comes through crystal clear on the dancefloor.
My newest forthcoming release on ChumboMundo 'Be My Dog' sounded amazing in that room and I was thrilled with the great response it got.
What could have been a perfect night was tainted only by the fact that, thanks to the time difference, I was competing with the World Cup.
Fortunately the TV monitors weren't too far from the dancefloor but I was very aware that I was fighting a losing battle.
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Saturday July 1
This is my first trip to China. Last week I was at the Kandi Club in Beijing, which was a great gig, but unfortunately I was in and out and didn't get to see any of the city.
Tonight I'm in Shanghai at Club Bon Bon. I'm really on a winning streak with these clubs.
Bon Bon is a brand new club with a kick ass Function 1 soundsystem.
But sadly there was no football within sight of the dancefloor, so consequently there weren't many people on it!
Bloody football! I know I'll probably lose my British citizenship for saying that but I'm NOT happy!
Things picked up a bit after game but I felt like the night didn't have a fair chance.
I'm off now for a few days and am heading out into Shanghai, camera around my neck, map in hand, to see the sights, and eat some daring foods, drink bubble tea, hang out and relax.
Anything but watch football!