DJ Will

Charity isn't big in Japan. Clearly it never came into vogue in the same way as it has for the western world's Bono, Live Aid, save- the-world-by-having-a-huge-party obsession. In fact, streaming Chris Moyles' breakfast show this morning from the relative comfort of, once again, Robin's floor, I hear there is a children in need gig with the likes of dizzee rascal and Cliff Richard tonight in London if anyone's interested... Robin, being half welsh and half Japanese, bridges the gap of cultural divide, notably by organising and hosting the 'Cows for cows' charity event in Omotesando last night.

I'm not entirely sure what the charity does, but the general gist is straight forward enough. Each party aims to raise enough money (roughly £600) to buy a cow. But it doesn't end there. The purchased cow then enters into a life of mixed reward at the hands of impoverished Cambodian farmers for a period of a few months; enjoying a rigourous work routine and, with a little help from mother nature and a randy bull, producing a baby that the village can keep. The cow then gets taken off for its next tour of duty at the next village, and so on. A bit like pay it forward... but with a cow. Someone had the bright idea of hosting the event in a bar called the Pink Cow. I think the reasoning speaks for itself.

The Pink Cow is a kooky, bohemian feeling bar. It has one of those vibes that makes you feel as though it would be ok to start an impromtu freestyle poetry battle, in a suit made from hemp and radical thinking. This was confirmed when I saw the open mike night sign up sheet. Two acts, one of which was called 'Chit', both described their genre as 'New age folk vocals.' Hippy bashing aside, it definitely seems an appropriate place to attempt to woo the Japanese populus into charity. Robin ended up hosting the event himself becuase the main man behind the charity had decided not to show. Whilst working an inumerate number of jobs and going to university, he managed to secure a stand-up comic/ magician, a singer, an apres-ski style cover band called 'V1 Rocket'...and DJ Will (thats me...)

Cut back to the day before the event. I recieve a stressed call from Robin saying that he has lost the DJ.... careless really. Would I be interested in filling in? 'No.' For two main reasons; One, I have never touched DJ decks in my life, and two, I only had mincy little headphones that just wouldn't make me look like a hardcore DJ at all. Of course, I gave in to peer pressure and spent that evening frantically trying to learn how to use 'Virtual DJ' instead of trying to learn Japanese vocab. I achieved neither, and ended up babysitting a playlist that would have been right at home in any of the Edinburgh clubs that require you to say 'Will Dobbs' on the door.
I ended the night winning 500yen off of the lead singer of the V1 rockets at poker and eating a luke warm bacon cheeseburger alone in Robin's Kitchen at 3am. Apparantly not all DJs get all the girls. I just got Robin and a futon.