All about this artist
Biography:
Born Julius O'Riordan, 26 October 1965, London, England. The golden years for UK dance music in the 90s saw the rise of a whole host of highly paid superstar DJs. By the end of the decade, Judge Jules had established himself as of the UK's DJing jet set.
Born Julius O'Riordan, he was given the Judge prefix by Norman Jay during the mid-80s house/rare groove scene, at which time he was studying law at the London School Of Economics. He proved exceedingly useful when police raided parties, confusing officers in legal jargon while his friends extinguished their herbal cigarettes.
Together with Jay (nicknamed Shake And Finger Pop, while Jules was Family Funktion) they performed at about 30 warehouse parties between 1984 and 1987. He earned a living from buying up rare house records on trips to America and bringing them back to England to sell at exorbitant prices.
As house turned to acid house, he remained a prominent figure in the rave scene, playing at many of the larger events like Evolution, Sunrise and World Dance, after which he earned his first remixing credits. The clients included Soft House Company, Fat Men, Big Audio Dynamite and, bizarrely, the Stranglers.
In 1991, Jules re-aquatinted himself with an old school-friend, Rollo. They set up a studio together, and learned to produce and engineer properly, an aspect they'd previously bluffed their way through. A studio was slowly established in the basement of his house, before he teamed up with ex-reggae drummer Michael Skins.
By remixing a devastating version of M People's "Excited" in 1992 the team was established, with guesting musicians such as guitarist Miles Kayne adding to the musical melting pot. Having set up Tomahawk Records, Jules went on to record his own work under a variety of monikers, including Datman (licensed to ffrr Records), the All Stars ("Wanna Get Funky", which sampled Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar) and 290 North ("Footsteps"), as well as guest appearances from ex-KLF singer Maxine Hardy (Icon's "I Can Make You Feel So Good") and ex-O'Jays singer Ronnie Canada ("Heading For Self-Destruction").
Other remixes during this period included T-Empo's handbag house classic "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", Melanie Williams ("Everyday Thing"), B. T. Express ("Express"), Jeanie Tracy ("Is This Love"), Our Tribe ("Love Come Home"), plus the big money-spinners Doop ("Doop") and Reel 2 Real ("I Like To Move It").
At one point Jules could practically write his own cheque for remixing engagements, being offered at least 10 a week. In the late 90s Jules diversified to become one of the head A&R men for Manifesto Records. He also began recording a highly popular show for BBC Radio 1 and, in the early years of the new millennium, moved into television work.
He remains one of the world's most in-demand DJs.
