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Eddie, youﾒve just finished another storming year in Ibiza- do you think the island is enjoying a renewed popularity?

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I definitely think it is; this has been my fourth year in the Judgement Sundays residency. But the first time I ever set foot on the island was for my first year at Judgement Sundays. You obviously hear so many stories about the island and how popularity has gone up or down, but from my perspective itﾒs always been fantastic. Iﾒve been lucky to be able to play a few different club nights this year, including Cream; I also got to play for Radio1 over there, so this yearﾒs been a whole new experience. Iﾒm a bit gutted its over, as I never got to enjoy it to its fullest; all my mates used to spend a few days either side of the gigs on holiday, but I was always shooting off somewhere else!

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Somehow you also managed to find the time to release Judgement Euphoria in the summer as well, a triple cd also featuring Judge Jules and the Trophy Twins. How did that come about?

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Iﾒd been in discussion with Ministry for a while about putting it together, and it kept on getting put off, until eventually it was decided that a summer release could tie in with the Ibiza season and be a ﾑsoundtrackﾒ to Judgement Sundays. It allowed all the residents to come together to create a really varied album, musically.

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Your cd, CD2, is very techy at times with Umek and Anderson Noise amongst the artrists featured- is this something youﾒre trying to incorporate into your sets?

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To be honest, I never really see myself as going off in certain musical directions; I always like to be able to try new things and incorporate them into the mix. Iﾒm constantly buying records that I never get the chance to play- I buy them because I like them. With the Euphoria cd, we were trying to give each disc a different edge, but I prefer to DJ to a crowd. I usually try to keep it open ended; its good to have a bit of variety now and again!

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And the ﾑAltern8ﾒ section on your Radio 1 show, The Residency, is certainly not lacking in variety! Where did you get the idea for it?

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I always thought the radio show would give me a good platform from which to try new things. I was initially gobsmacked to be offered a Radio 1 show, and after I sat down to think about it, and think about all the different styles of music Iﾒd like to play on it, I came up with the idea for a section devoted to tunes I wouldnﾒt normally play in a club. You have to take into account that people are not only listening to your show live, but all during the week as well on the website media player. I squeeze these eight tunes into the first half hour of each show, hence the ﾑAltern8ﾒ name.

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Would you ever think of basing a whole set around it?

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Iﾒve played house sets before in the back room at Judgement Sundays, and for Garlands; if Iﾒm not flying off somewhere else, its nice to stick around and play something alternative for a change. Itﾒs alright now and again, but I wouldnﾒt want to mislead people into thinking thatﾒs what Iﾒve started playing out.

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You also got the chance the promote a new Pioneer mixer earlier this year..?

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Yeah, I was interested in the mixer (909) and had talked about it in the media, so a tour came about to help promote it. I had a good relationship with Pioneer to begin with, so the tour not only helped promote the new mixer, but also the CDJs. The idea we came up with was to piggy back two 909s using the session input on the mixers, so you had, in effect, four channels on two mixers for your CDJs. I had a special monitor made so that I could listen through one sets of headphones to both mixers; it broke one night, though, and I had to use two sets of headphones- everybody in the crowd was just wondering what the hell I was doing. I really enjoyed the tour however; it gave me the chance to be so creative with re-edits of tracks.

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Did you get the chance to play the new Pioneer DVJ (which enables DVD video to be scratched like a CDJ)?

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They have them in Godskitchen in Ice in the States, and thereﾒs a club in Blackpool that also have them. Iﾒm not sure how well theyﾒll take off, it seems to me you would have to do a lot of renovation to club layouts to make them work really well. A DJ canﾒt just turn up with DVDs and a few records and get scratching- I think youﾒd need a promotional tour or something for it to work fully. But Iﾒd be all for anything that allows DJs to be more creative.

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Is it easier to scratch with CDJs than with turntables?

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Iﾒd always request a minimum of one turntable, and while Iﾒm a big fan of CDJ technology, traditional turntables are what Iﾒve been brought up on. I feel more comfortable scratching with vinyl; the rhythms you get feel more natural because of the actual motion of the platter. If you started out on CDJs, and thatﾒs all youﾒve been playing for ten years, you would be able to scratch on vinyl, but the feeling of it would be different. Itﾒs the opposite for me; when things click, it is just the same as playing a deck, but I might not have as much time to muck around as when I was starting out.

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Do things start to wind down after the summer, or does Godskitchen represent one more date on a busy schedule?

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The touring is constant all through the year, but I always love to play anywhere in Ireland because the crowd are always so up for it. If youﾒre ever nervous going on stage, the crowd always make you feel at home. Last time I played in Dublin I ended up diving into the front of the crowd! I always feel I have a connection with the Irish crowd, and as long as that is there, who knows?