Party Professional

28-year-old British boy, Jared McCulloch, has been responsible for many firsts in Qatar. He was the first to introduce an international DJ to the scene; the first to arrange desert & pool parties, and most recently, the organiser of Dohas first music festival Big Day out. orna Ballout catches up with him to discuss mega music moments...
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GLAM
You maintain a few positions in Doha? Yes, Im a DJ which is my passion and also CEO of Global DJs & Finland Advertising. As a DJ, Ive spun all over the globe...Miami, Los Angeles, UK and some parts of Asia. As an events organiser, Im responsible for hosting large scale events with A-list DJs and music artists. Ive had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the biz and have recently started an artist management/booking agency (AfterDarkAM) which consists of booking DJs & Artists around the world but primarily in the Middle East. Sounds great hows it all going so far? It is going really well some people would say I kicked off the music scene here in terms of clubbing, parties etc. I did my first event in 2006 and have done over 100 so far with people including Tiesto, David Guetta, Bryan Adams to name a few... It seems like the music scene has come a long way since 2006... Before 2006, there was no scene at all. Over the years I have built this with the help of Paul Mendez and Sam World. I was the first to bring an International DJ to Qatar, the first to host large scale dance events, the first to do pool parties, desert parties and the first to host an international music festival. I always strive to bring the best and do my best for the scene in Qatar by offering new and exciting events. Have you always envisioned working in the music scene since you were a child? I have wanted to be a DJ since I was 13 and everything else kind of evolved from that. What events, big acts, can Qatar look forward to this year? I cant really say, it would be a spoiler but we have to massive shows penned in for the end of the year. Is there anything in particular you think Qatar is missing in terms of entertainment, and that youre planning on introducing? Qatar is missing a lot to be honest but Im certain that everything will fall into place with time. We plan to introduce many new concepts as we do every year but I really cant give too much away! Who is your personal favourite artist? It has to be Tiesto. I have known him since 1998 it has been amazing watching him start out as a small DJ and ending up as the greatest ever

SPOTLIGHT

famous friends: Jared hanging out with one of his biggest DJ icons Tiesto.
DJ. He is such an inspiration and has never changed since day one never forgetting where he started. He has done many firsts in the DJ industry and sells out everywhere he goes. You must meet a lot of famous people and attend amazing events what has been the biggest highlight? One of the biggest was when I did David Guetta in April 2010; I got a phone call from Valentino Rossi who wanted to come down and hang out at the event I thought it was great partying with Guetta & Rossi that night! You DJ at 7 in La Cigale on Thursday evenings what advice can you give to budding DJs? Be yourself, work hard, respect other DJs no matter what level they are at and of course practice makes perfect. I would also suggest that if you are buying equipment, always get industry standard gear that most DJs use; for example CDJ 2000s or 1000s and learn how to DJ without the use of computers before you start using one because thats a big no in my book.
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