One third of Sleeper Thief (alongside Audiofly), and resident and host of the rather naughty Clandestino parties at The End in London (which take place on a Sunday night and go right through 'til 6AM Monday!), Miss Jools is quite the rising star in the deeper side of the house and techno scenes. With gigs at DC10 and Panoramabar under her belt too, her fame is starting to spread like wildfire. We talked to her ahead of her gig at The Cross for HALO on Saturday 15th September...

Where did you grow up and how were you first introduced to music?

Hey, how you doing. So, I grew up in the South East of England, in a small town. As a kid I constantly surrounded myself with all different genres of music. Around the age of 9, my elder sister was probably my biggest musical influence and I was forever sneaking into her bedroom, to play her vast 7 inch vinyl collection of now priceless disco, soul and old skool funk classic. I still remember the beatings from my sister that I used to get on a regular basis, ;-) particularly when I tried to steal her copy of Evelyn King, ‘Love Come Down’. To this day, is still one of my all time favourite tracks

When did you first get bitten by the dance music bug? Were you suddenly crazy about it or was it more of a gradual infatuation?

At 16, I left home to study photography, my then chosen career, and it was at the end of the ‘80s that I guess I really deeply submerged myself into the dance scene whist I was studying. Music was something that was always going to be a huge part of my life, but it was after years of relentless clubbing and organising my own low-key underground parties with friends, that I realised, without any force, that a career in music was a natural development, because of the intense relation I had with music.

So, Clandestino – what’s it all about then? Explain to us like we were a 5 year old...

Hmmm..ok.. if you come to my party, you can dance around with your best friends, and wear your best party frocks. Everybody is happy and smiles a lot. Then you can share some sweets with your best friends, and you will dance around and smile even more...and not want to go home to beddy-byes! ;-D

Hmm...intriguing. How would you describe the sound of Clandestino and/or your DJing in 5 words?

Deep house, tech, groovy minimal, techno, beats!

What’s the wildest parties you guys have hosted?

Clandestino has only ever till now, resided within The End, but even so, every party over the last nearly five years, has been different, and special in their own way. I guess the birthday parties each year have always pretty crazy, and packed out when we open up all three rooms of the club, and we also have very special line-ups, and things tend to get very wild and vibrant…. you must come to our 5th Birthday in November! :-D

You’ve been producing with the Audiofly boys since last year under your Sleeper Thief guise. Why do you work well with them?

Sleeper Thief has proven itself to be a good working musical formula between the boys and me. The beauty of it is that we do have different musical backgrounds and concepts, but we just manage to fuse that together and it seems to work really well. We are able to compliment each other pretty well I think. As DJs, our styles and sound are quite different, but in the studio we are able to communicate all our differences and lay down a fresh sound, that combines all our wants and desires musically, and thus produce the Sleeper sound.

You’ll be bringing your vibes to Halo at The Cross on September 15th. What are your thoughts on the closure of the The Cross, The Key and Canvas at the end of the year?

To be honest, I will be one among many who will be quite sad to witness the demise of three long-standing clubs in London. Love or hate them, all three venues have played a major part of London’s clubbing history and many great promotions and nights have taken place over the years in all three clubs. There are probably not many people in London, who can say they have not experienced at least one great night out, in either one or all three of the venues. I think to loose 3 clubs all in one go is a crying shame.

Halo pride themselves on featuring the whole spectrum of house music, rather than just one or two niches. Do you think more parties could do with being a bit more open minded musically?

I think living in London, we are very lucky and spoiled for choice sometimes. We’re able go out and hear so many different genres of music. I do have respect for promotions like Halo, who want to offer their crowd a wider spectrum of house music, but I also agree with promotions that offer a particular genre, because it’s what the people want and expect to hear from that particular party. At the end of the day though, there is no right or wrong and it’s all down to the concept that you have created for your own night.

What have been the best parties around the world that you have played at this year?

Highlights of this year’s gigs…this year there have been a few clubs that were amazing to play. Definitely playing at the Panorama Bar in Berlin was amazing. It’s just such an awesome club and the few times I have played there this year have always been memorable. You generally get to play longer sets, and thus you can really work and build the crowd and play a wider selection of music. Also DC10 was a great privilege and a very cool gig to do.

And finally, what’s the most random thing anyone has ever asked you / said to you while you have been DJing?

Probably when a guy came up to me, and asked me if he pulled down his trousers, would I sign his arse! He came with his own marker pen, got to give him credit for that!

Check out full details of Halo @ The Cross here....
http://www.dontstayin.com/uk/london/the-cross/2007/sep/15/event-135398