Dexter Jones

In this episode of The Dexter Jones Podcast, Dexter Jones sits down with Habs Akram, a pioneering VJ, visual artist, and live visual mixer who has helped shape how electronic music events, clubs, and festivals look for over 35 years.

Working alongside some of the biggest names in dance music, including Carl Cox, Habs has played a key role in bringing club visuals, live video mixing, and stage visuals into global electronic music culture, from underground London parties to Ibiza superclubs, Glastonbury, and world tours.

Often mistaken for “the lighting guy”, Habs explains what a VJ actually does, why visuals matter on the dance floor, and how live visual mixing can completely change the way music is experienced in clubs and festivals.

We dive into:

🔥 The moment Carl Cox told Habs: “Best visuals I’ve ever seen”
🎥 Why VJs are still misunderstood and undervalued in club culture
🌍 Touring the world with Nine Inch Nails and creating visuals used as lighting
🎬 How Habs’ work ended up in AI: Artificial Intelligence, directed by Steven Spielberg
🎪 The infamous Glastonbury “blag” that led to running the Pyramid Stage
🧠 Mixing visuals live, in real time, not pressing play
📱 The decade-long journey to building V4M, a live visual app that fits in your pocket
🎶 Why visuals should respond to music, not overpower it
🖤 The art of restraint, blackouts, and understanding the shape of sound

This episode is not just about visuals. It’s about timing, instinct, creativity, and what it really means to bring music to life on a dance floor.

If you’ve ever wondered how iconic nights actually come together behind the scenes, this one’s for you.

Chapters: 
00:00 Why I wanted Habs Akram on the podcast (VJ & visual pioneer)
02:14 VJ vs lighting engineer – what a VJ really does
03:01 How live visual mixing actually works in clubs and festivals
03:30 West London roots, early rave culture & clubbing history
04:01 Turning up to Slinky in a suit – learning the rave scene
06:53 From corporate AV to underground dance music visuals
07:51 The visual idea that was ahead of its time
10:02 Nine Inch Nails tour, Spielberg & breaking into world tours
25:38 Carl Cox’s compliment: “Best visuals I’ve ever seen”
28:40 Why Habs doesn’t rate AI visuals in dance music
50:28 V4M app explained – live visuals from your phone
1:05:15 Space Ibiza years & the golden era of club culture
1:14:00 The secret sauce: blackouts, timing & reading the drop
1:22:18 Last tune to end the night – closing moments

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Download the V4M APP 
www. https://visuals4music.com/

Info: https://www.facebook.com/Habsy.Akram

The System Is Broken: Why Dance Music Is Harder Than Ever | Jason FUBAR

In this episode of The Dexter Jones Podcast, I sit down with Jason FUBAR, a long-time DJ, promoter, and rave scene grafter who has lived every era of dance music culture first-hand.

Jason has been part of the scene for over 35 years. From the early rave days in Blackpool to superclubs, festivals, bars, the Royal Navy, Ibiza, Mallorca, and booking future superstars before they were even known, he’s seen the industry evolve from the inside.

This conversation is a reality check on why dance music feels broken right now.

We talk honestly about rising costs and shrinking margins, exclusivity deals, micro-venues versus mega clubs, and why promoters are being squeezed harder than ever. Jason also shares stories from running bars and festivals, touring internationally, and witnessing UK rave culture being built from the ground up.

This is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake.
It’s about the current reality, what has changed, and what still makes dance music special after 30+ years.

🎧 Take your time with this one.

We talk about:

■ Why it now costs more to make less money in dance music
■ Rising overheads, ticket pricing, and the real pressure promoters face
■ How exclusivity deals are damaging local scenes
■ Why small 200–300 capacity parties are making a comeback
■ Social media, trolling, and the abuse aimed at DJs and promoters
■ DJ culture then vs now, and why the scene feels different
■ Ibiza, BCM Mallorca, and the Balearic circuit
■ The Syndicate Blackpool and the superclub era
■ Why originality in music is disappearing
■ What still makes dance music worth fighting for

Chapters:

00:00 The System Is Broken: Why Dance Music Is Harder Than Ever
08:23 You Used to Spend a Quid to Make a Tenner
13:25 Starting Out DJing in the Early Rave Era (1991)
24:14 Joining the Royal Navy While DJing
33:29 English Drinking Culture and Festival Spending Power
38:25 Back to the Old Pool Festival: Risks, Costs and Crowd Control
51:24 Trolling on Social Media: Abuse, Misogyny and Promoter Hate
01:03:09 The Syndicate Superclub, Blackpool (5,000 Capacity Era)
01:18:37 BCM Mallorca and Breaking Into the Balearic Scene
01:29:46 How Early Facebook Changed Ibiza Forever
01:32:19 Music Production Today: Remixes, Samples and Industry Laziness
01:40:36 One More Tune: Final Track Choices and Podcast Wrap-Up

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For guest invitations, sponsorship proposals, and collaboration enquiries, please contact Dexter:

[email protected]

Ian Van Dahl on the pressure, politics, and reality of making timeless dance music

Few tracks define an entire generation of club culture quite like Castles in the Sky. For many, it was a soundtrack to first nights out, Ibiza summers, and the emotional peak of late-90s and early-2000s trance.

In this episode of The Dexter Jones Podcast, I’m joined by Ian Van Dahl to revisit the story, sound, and legacy behind one of the most influential dance music projects of its era.

We explore the rise of euphoric trance at a time when clubs were built on emotion, release, and collective energy. From early aliases and studio pressure to record label politics and creative control, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what it really took to create records that still resonate decades later.

This is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake.
It’s about understanding why this music mattered, why it connected so deeply, and why it continues to hit differently today.

If you lived through the golden era of trance, this will resonate.
If you are discovering this music for the first time, this episode offers vital context into a moment when dance music felt truly timeless.

🎧 Take your time with this one.

We talk about:

🎶 The story behind Castles in the Sky

🌍 How Ian Van Dahl broke through globally

🧠 Making music before laptops and DAWs

⚖️ Record labels, pressure, and creative control

🪩 Eurodance, trance, and why the UK scene was different

🔮 Why modern DJs struggle with identity

Chapters:
00:00 Intro and meeting Ian Van Dahl
01:31 How the name Ian Van Dahl was created
03:16 Early music career and multiple aliases
10:50 Making music in the 90s before laptops and DAWs
22:02 Eurodance vs trance and why the UK was different
30:04 The Ian Van Dahl project and Castles in the Sky
39:24 Record labels, pressure, and creative control
54:35 European club culture and the rise of Eurodance
1:19:22 Why modern DJs struggle with identity
1:29:00 What’s next for Ian Van Dahl as an artist

For guest invitations, sponsorship proposals, and collaboration enquiries, please contact Dexter:

[email protected]

What happens after Ibiza?

For many, Ibiza is a moment in time.
For others, it becomes a turning point that quietly shapes everything that follows.

In this episode of The Dexter Jones Podcast, I’m joined by Lisa Good, a former Manumission performer, to explore what life really looks like after the lights come up and the music fades.

We begin where it all started.
The Manumission years.
The madness, the freedom, and the surreal experience of living in Ibiza during one of its most iconic cultural eras.

But this conversation goes deeper than nostalgia.

Lisa shares the journey that came after Ibiza, how travel, the ocean, and a series of life-changing experiences led her away from the party world and towards a new purpose rooted in environmental action, community, and long-term legacy.

This is not a charity pitch.
It’s an Ibiza story that didn’t end when the island chapter closed.

At its core, this episode is about evolution.
How a place like Ibiza can change you, challenge you, and quietly influence the rest of your life in ways you don’t always recognise at the time.

If you lived through Ibiza in the late 90s and early 2000s, this will resonate.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens after a life built around music, freedom, and excess, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Sit back, take your time, and enjoy this next chapter.

To find out more about Pure Sea, visit: www.puresea.co.uk

We talk about:

🪩 Life during the Manumission era in Ibiza

🗺️ What happens when that world ends and reality returns

✈️ Leaving Ibiza and searching for identity afterwards

🌊 How the ocean became a turning point

🎗️ The connection between music culture and community action

🎧 Ibiza DJs and creatives giving back

Chapters:
00:00 Ibiza, Manumission & Losing Identity
02:03 Welcome Back: Life After Manumission
05:43 When Ibiza Comes to an End
08:18 Travelling Thailand Changed Everything
10:04 Swimming With Sharks in Thailand
12:09 Australia, Diving & Marine Conservation
16:20 Cage Diving With Great White Sharks
19:29 From Ibiza to Ocean Activism
23:09 The Birth of Pure Sea
27:23 Why Registering a Charity Is So Hard
32:47 Beach Cleans With DJs & Fatboy Slim
34:00 Cleaning Up Camden Lock
40:38 Teaching Ocean Awareness in Schools
45:15 Why Helium Balloons Kill Wildlife
51:22 Why the Education System Must Change
57:04 Animal Testing, Activism & Awareness
1:01:43 Food Waste & Overconsumption
1:03:53 Why Everyone Should Watch My Octopus Teacher
1:07:21 One Last Tune From Manumission
1:09:45 A Labour of Love

For guest invitations, sponsorship proposals, and collaboration enquiries, please contact Dexter:
[email protected]

Who documented Ibiza before everyone had a camera?

Before podcasts, before social media, and long before everyone had a camera in their pocket, Ibiza’s club culture was documented by a small group of presenters, hosts, and storytellers working quietly behind the scenes.

In this episode of The Dexter Jones Podcast, I sit down with Katie Knight, one of the most influential yet often overlooked voices in dance music media, to explore how Ibiza’s club history was captured during its most important years.

From her early days at Amnesia Ibiza to hosting interviews for Amnesia TV, Boiler Room, Ibiza Global Radio, the International Music Summit, and live broadcasts for Amazon Music, Katie has spent over a decade documenting the artists, venues, and moments that shaped Ibiza and the global electronic music scene.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on the media side of dance music. We talk candidly about working inside Ibiza’s clubs during the 2010s, being thrown into high-pressure interviews with artists like Carl Cox, Marco Carola, and Steve Aoki with little or no preparation, and why presenters and hosts play a critical role in preserving dance music history.

We also explore career advice for aspiring presenters and podcasters, the importance of communication and public speaking, the realities of live broadcasting, radio versus filmed interviews, cultural and language fluency in Ibiza, online abuse in the modern era, and why nostalgia-driven storytelling resonates more than hype.

This is not an episode about trends or algorithms.
It’s about legacy, documentation, and the responsibility to tell the story properly.

If you care about Ibiza, club culture, dance music history, or the people who built the scene behind the scenes, this episode is essential listening.

🎧 Take your time with this one.

We talk about:

🇪🇸 Life inside Ibiza clubs before social media

📺 How Amnesia TV documented a generation of artists

🎤 Being thrown into interviews with no training or prep

🪩 The unseen role of presenters in dance music culture

📻 Radio vs filmed interviews and the power of storytelling

❌ Misogyny, online abuse, and resilience in the industry

🎬 Why nostalgia content connects more deeply than hype

❤️ Preserving Ibiza’s cultural history properly

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Katie Knight
02:00 Wanting to be a presenter from the age of five
06:00 Growing up in Spain and becoming bilingual
10:00 Discovering Ibiza and early connections
14:30 First steps into Ibiza club culture
19:00 Life inside Amnesia: press, social media, and long days
24:00 Amnesia TV begins: thrown in the deep end
30:00 Interviewing artists every night, seven days a week
35:30 Ibiza mornings, terraces, and club culture nostalgia
40:30 Why Amnesia still feels like family
46:00 Boiler Room, press rooms, and the smell of Ibiza
51:00 From Amnesia to radio and global platforms
56:30 Radio vs filmed interviews: storytelling with the senses
1:01:30 Interviewing global stars and handling entourages
1:06:30 Misogyny, online abuse, and resilience
1:11:30 Podcasting, editing, and the unseen workload
1:16:00 Why nostalgia interviews outperform hype
1:20:00 Presenting around the world: Middle East and beyond
1:24:00 Legacy, pride, and documenting Ibiza properly
1:27:30 One More Tune

For guest invitations, sponsorship proposals, and collaboration enquiries, please contact Dexter:
[email protected]