ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

A local DJ, Will Markham known to most people as DJ Karnter is currently attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the longest ever DJ marathon, which is taking place at DJ Bargains Ltd in the City Arcade. To break the record DJ Karnter will be hoping to complete a set lasting 101 hours.

This record is said to be the most attempted world record, so I grabbed a quick chat with DJ Karnter to ask him what made him different from the rest and how he was planning on breaking the record that so many others have tried and failed:

How and when did you get involved in DJing?

Well I’ve been DJing for about nine years now. I used to be a runner and a cyclist and I was training quite hard because I wanted to start competing with big teams. But then I got hit by a car quite badly but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me really because I took up the clubbing thirst. Then I started working on the decks and I just found it a great form of relaxation.

Where do you usually DJ?

Predominantly I DJ in Austria, Italy and Slovenia. In Slovenia there are some brilliant clubs and in Austria I had my own residency and had my own bar out there. Back in the UK I DJed at Glastonbury this year: that was different but good fun.

The festivals I’ve DJed at before overseas have been predominantly for electronic music but this was everything. So you got rockers coming in to have a look at what you do and I sort of had to adapt my style. I ended up mixing songs that they were familiar with like Jim Morrison and the likes of the Rolling Stones. It turned out quite well and I actually played for three nights at Glastonbury.

What made you do this and why?

The funny thing is that I’ve always wanted a world record because my father holds one you see. He holds the world record for the fastest dog trainer in the world. He once trained 140 dogs in six hours and 55 minutes, all for charity. So I wanted to follow in his footsteps really.

My main struggle now is not tiredness. Tiredness is not really an issue it’s more my mental state. It’s the confusion of what’s real and what’s not. Last night I was hearing phones ringing but oh well there you go. I don’t think until you experience not sleeping for so long that you get the idea of it.

There’s a psychology behind it about eating food. You see I can’t eat too much food or eat starchy or high protein foods. Staying awake for so long is massively about the foods you eat. And the shop hasn’t closed so people have been wandering in and out which has kept me going, it’s just in the early hours when the staff here and the adjudicator start falling asleep that I find it most difficult.

You’re raising money for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Charity but why this charity in particular?

Well you see I went to a special school for six and a half years. Music’s always been a big thing for me. I mean I can’t write emails or anything and today people don’t want to talk they just want emails to be sent. I’m a very up-front and outgoing person, I’ll talk to anybody. But the world’s just being shut-off from people like my self who it takes three hours to write an email.

And so it was looking at that sort-of thing, looking at what I can do to help people in that situation and raise awareness. And then I looked at Nordoff Robbins music therapy helping children and adults with special needs. It’s something I would like to do myself and I look at the charity and think it’s just wonderful, their concept is just perfect.

Over four and a half days of mixing, do you think you’ll get bored of what you’re doing and of what you’re playing?

I’m really going to shoot myself in the foot here but yes. I’m already sick of the sight of these decks. I do sometimes think I don’t want to see another of these vinyl things again but saying that I still love the music.

So are there any plans to try and break another world record after this or is it back to the clubs for you after this?

Hopefully I’ll go back into the DJing side of things and back into the front line of it. My wife would kill me if I said yes to do another world record because of the stress and not seeing her for four days and the 18 months preparation for it. There are many crazy ideas out there and you never know what will work, so I don’t really know if I’ll try and break another world record.