Sleepless DJ World Record Attempt Happening Now. 85 Hours and Counting.

Back in 2002 I stayed awake for a mind-altering 63 hours, mixing records without sleeping or taking long breaks in an effort to raise awareness for Toys For Tots. It was, at the time, a world record soon to be quickly dissolved by DJ King out of Brazil who persevered with a non-stop 5 day and 19 minute session. And now, another turntable artist is stepping into the arena to beat both of our attempts.

His name is DJ Smokin Joe and at the time of writing this article is moving into his 85th hour of sleepless mixing. According to his recent interview:

"On top of running, skipping and boxing almost every day, I have stayed awake and mixed tunes for just over 72 hours in order to prepare myself! I’ve also tried to lead a healthier lifestyle, eating raw, organic food as much as possible as well as avoiding excessive drinking and the other party scene temptations."

I've been watching his live stream today and I can honestly relate to his state of mind at this very moment. It was around my 50th hour that I began to start seeing things, having active conversations with the Christmas tree in the radio studio, seeing tracers and sipping out of a can of Red Bull even though it had been long empty days before. It's a good thing he is sitting down for the most part. I made the mistake of standing nearly the entire time, and as a result I have awful permanent bruises on both of my calves from the blood pooling due to lack of circulation.

It was long after I crashed (for a full 26 hours) that I realized that something had snapped inside of me. Even to this day, my sleep patterns are completely thrown off, most nights I'm up until 3am without even the slightest feeling of being tired, sometimes even going days without any proper sleep. I swear I lost brain cells in the process (which most certainly explains my weirdness).

Either way, I commend Smokin' for his brave attempt. I just hope he knows that after this he will never EVER be the same again. He's just gotta trust me on this one..