Iron man on the wheels of steel

Local DJ Iznogood aims to set a world record

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

When DJ Iznogood puts needle to plastic, as the three-day Arrival fest begins on Friday night, he'll be firing the starting shot of a musical marathon he hopes will set a world record--for playing records. "It starts on Friday at 8 p.m.," he says, "and I'll stop on Sunday when they pull the plug. I'll try and do it as long as I can--officially the event ends at noon, but we should keep going until later in the afternoon. My sound system is independent, not hooked up with the rest of the rooms. If there's people left and there's energy in them, we'll try to keep them until seven or eight Sunday night. The way I see it, it'll be about 48 hours. If we can do more--why not?"

Iznogood admits there are precedents--"Carl Cox has done 36 hours, and Paul Van Dyk 25"--but hard drugs were a factor, one the Guinness people won't abide. "We called the Guinness Book of World Records, and there's no record holder yet. I'm the first to do it. I know of five or six DJs who've played more than 48 hours straight, but they were on something. I mean, on speed I could play for a week non-stop. The challenge is doing it without drugs. Someone from Guinness will be drug-testing me before and after. I'm not even smoking weed right now. Also, they want it filmed on two cameras with timers. You send them the whole file and they decide whether you've broken a record or not."

Coffee remains legit, so Iznogood will be knocking back the ulcer juice like crazy. On the other hand, herbal ecstasy and natural speed are ixnayed, despite Iznogood's altruistic nature-boy motivations. Proceeds from the donation booth go to charities for the homeless, stemming from Iznogood's vision of an eventual outdoor benefit rave on Mount Royal. At the same time, the record-setting will show the world's doubters that outdoor raves can be a healthy, positive thing.

While the 48-hour set will be physically taxing, Iznogood's more worried about throwing his back out hauling his crates of vinyl from the parking lot to his DJ booth. "Mostly what I play is trance--I believe in the power of trance. I'll play hardcore techno, something 90 per cent of Montreal promoters won't touch. Drum & bass, trip hop, records played backwards--I'm bringing at least 3,000 records." Looks like he'll be needing each and every one, too. :