Smokin Joe Mekhael: Together In Electrifying Dreams

It was at around this point last year that Smokin Joe Mekhael began to hallucinate. Over 50 sleepless hours into his ill-fated attempt to set a new mark for the longest DJ set ever played, “the most electrifying man in dance music today” hadn't scrutinised the rules closely enough to realise that he was allowed two hours of disco nap time for every 24 he played.

“It got really, really intense,” Mekhael told theMusic.com.au last year, not long after he'd come out the other side of the madness. “I started to get some brighter colours, distortions in my visions – that progressed to people's faces warping on the dancefloor, I had a lot of problems with my depth perception.”

So signing up for four hours of witness duties as Smokin Joe had his second crack at the title (more on that later) isn't entirely altruistic. Sure, I wanted to help ratify his attempt at a Guinness World Record for being the first person to DJ for seven days straight, but by coming on board at the crucial 52 to 56 hour mark on Tuesday 18 December, I secretly hoped I'd walk in to find Joe seeing through space and time.

“Not at all,” says Joe just before 9pm, without the barest hint of speaking in tongues. “Because I learnt from my mistakes, I didn't stay up that long to the point of collapse. I took my first break at 36 hours, had two hours sleep, and I feel fresh as a daisy.”

***

Smokin Joe's 'home' until this Sunday afternoon is the DJ Booth of the Empire Hotel in Kings Cross, and he's done his best to fit it out to his own specifications. Off to the side of the booth sits the dirty old two-seater lounge where he takes his rest breaks, a suitcase, an empty esky, and a 5 litre water filter.  

Back in the booth, the monitor has been removed because it was getting in the way of his Twitter computer set-up; a “fluid” timetable of rest breaks maps out all 168 hours of his schedule; a massive stash of healthy foods sits to the left of his DJ console; and inspirational quotes from the likes of Buddha, Walt Disney, Audrey Hepburn and the Dalai Lama are posted on every bit of spare space.

There's also the iconic photo of Joe standing up on the booth as he was 'breaking the record' of 120 hours and 19 minutes on the night of Wednesday 21 December, 2011. He eventually clocked off believing the title was his after 132 hours, but announced in May this year that Guinness had just ratified the achievement of Austrian DJ Rene Brunner, who'd racked up a robust 150 hours in a Californian DJ booth in October 2011.

Then came Brisbane's DJ Hertz, who clocked 152 hours at the controls in May but is yet to be officially recognised by Guinness.

“I've spoken to Hertz on a few different occasions,” says Joe between mixes of a deep, dark, and driving progressive techno selection that includes tuneage from underground heroes like D-Nox & Beckers, Suncontrolspecies, and the Presslaboys. (He's almost apologetic when he cues up David Guetta and Akon's Nosy Neighbour a few tracks later).

“We both copped a bit of flak from each other's fans – people would say 'that Smokin Joe is an idiot', or 'Hertz tried to steal your spotlight', but we have a real mutual respect for each other because we know how difficult this is.”

Not that he expects Hertz to fly south and high five him this week. “I don't think we have that much respect!”

***

Joe admits that “there's a lot less hype” this year, and it certainly doesn't feel like you're in the middle of history being made at the Empire tonight. There's no heaving dancefloor, no hands in the air, no lasers – it feels more like a family barbeque, Joe slaving away at the hotplate as various onlookers stop by to shoot the shit throughout the night.

A former DJ colleague from Candy's Apartment and his partner, Joe's newly acquired DJ protégé, local DJ John Glover's wife, and even a Stafford Brother pop in, all signaling their arrival with Joe's trademark “Woooooo!” cry which he answers like some sort of clubbing equivalent of the outback “cooey!”

My fellow witness Adrian reckons he's been there for 18 hours of Joe's set so far. He arrives with a fresh batch of groceries for the esky not long after I do, having done the 4-8am slot this morning, gone straight to work, had a quick meal at home with his missus, and come back to do it all over again. Adrian put the latest batch of quotes up in the booth when Joe took his kip time this morning, and you get the feeling he's as much a part of his DJ colleague's attempt as the man himself.

Like any barbeque, the tales get taller as the hours roll on. Joe details what is probably best described as a 'mid-set tryst' at 5am on Day 4 last year, with a girl who his wingman swore was from Geordie Shore (“No idea – I've still never seen the show!”).

Five Resch's down and even I'm feeling a bit chatty, suggesting to Joe that he'd have to mix even less if he pitched his tracks down from his preferred 130bpm, and perhaps he should look into Richie Hawtin's Twitter DJ software so he doesn't have to manually tweet every song title as it's played.

***

It's 11:55pm. “Is this a nightclub?” asks a slightly aggressive, neck-tattooed hard-nut from Newcastle as his two lady friends use the bathroom. “We want to dance.”

“Well there's a bar over there and a DJ here, what do you reckon?” snaps a two-and-a-bit days old Smokin Joe, before pointing them in the direction of Goon Tuesdays at Scruffy Murphy's in the city. A dapper gent in top hat and suit then comes in to enquire about Joe's health, accompanied by three girls who provide the night's first hint of a dancefloor.

My four hours of witness duty is drawing to an end. “Is this what the entire 56 hours has been like?” I ask Joe, as it dawns on us that he's hit the dance music pun-worthy 33 1/3 percent mark of his world record attempt?

“It is pretty much how it rolls, but I expect it to pick up a notch tomorrow and going into the weekend because [of] everyone finishing work for the year, Christmas parties, etcetera,” Joe says.

When I ask about the slightly incongruous message of support from the Australian Coptic Movement Association posted behind him, the Egyptian-born DJ dishes up some perspective. “In the end I'm doing something pretty ridiculous – I'm just playing music for an exorbitant amount of time,” he offers. “There are people dying all over the world, but I'm just trying to really put out a positive message of love and peace and freedom.

“And that's not cheesy rhetoric. I really feel like I'm putting those vibrations out there and it's come back to me in the way that people have helped me and people have responded.”

***

I pose for the obligatory 56 hour photo with Joe and his giant digital timepiece, say my goodbyes to his entourage, and am halfway out the door before I realise I've forgotten something and turn around.

“Woooooo!”

If all goes to plan, Smokin Joe Mekhael will claim the Guinness World Record for Longest Marathon Club DJ-ing at 10pm this Saturday 22 December, and pass the 168 hour mark at 4pm on Sunday 23 December.

***

BREAKING: From Smokin Joe Mekhael's Instagram feed at 11:10am Wednesday morning.

“#worldrecord7daydjset We just lost all power and the fire department evacuated everyone in the building except me because of a smoke machine that went nuts. But that doesn't matter, I count that time between 66:45 and 66:50 as an official break as is my right. I'm not going anywhere! You will have to kill me to stop me! #makeyourdreamsreality #wooooooo”