The Rooster is my fortnightly newsletter in which I recommend things behind a paywall.. this week I list all the things that have brought me joy, including a new favourite music video, a rap album, a classic tracksuit, a video that addresses the pain of school whatsapp groups and dancing spiders…If you want to subscribe or upgrade to a paid subscription you can do so here xx

We’re right in the epicentre of the changing of the seasons. My hormones seem to be as in flux as the weather and the current news cycle is enough to make me want to hide in a cupboard. Exercise is the only thing helping me to feel calm at the moment.

Physically I’m a bit of a mess. My hair is falling out. I have coldsores on my mouth. The baby toe on my left foot is almost definitely broken. The latter is my first football injury. I played our first league match of the season on Sunday and after being taken off in the second half, found myself removing my left shoe instinctively. By the time we were getting our photo taken after the match I was hobbling around in my socks. By the time I peeled my sock off at home my baby toe was the size and colour of a cherry tomato.

It turns out you can’t fix a broken toe. There’s no point in going to A&E. So I must wait. I’m trying not to think about how long I might be unable to play football for. The irony is I genuinely couldn’t tell you the point where I got injured in the match. Adrenalin floods me on the pitch, to the point where I don’t feel anything but my thumping heart. It’s only ever a few days afterwards that I notice the bruises all over my legs.. last week after our friendly match I had three deep scratches perfectly in parallel with each other running along the inside of my upper arm, as if I was clawed by a wild creature. Clearly one of my opponents had good nails.

I had a drink with my fellow school parent friends last week. We were all frazzled, tired, stressed from back to school admin and all the hormonal jumps and leaps that our kids are going through. One friend arrived emotional after an argument with her kid. She was sitting trying to figure out what was wrong with her.. why was she so emotional? Why did she feel so not herself? She concluded that she missed swimming. She had spent all summer swimming semi regularly in different places and now that life had got in the way, she missed what swimming did for her, what it did to her. I related so much. I get my fair share of exercise on the Pelaton and on the football pitch but swimming is different, especially in the sea or lake/pond etc.. I miss it too. I miss how it literally takes the weight off my feet, releases me from my emotions, how it how it reminds me that I am not an observer of nature but part of it… I went looking for Katherine May’s writing on the sea as I remembered that she rendered the experience perfectly in her book ‘Enchantment’.. in her book she is talking about missing swimming herself..

I miss the sense of worship that comes when I get in the sea. I miss the feeling that I am entering a vast cathedral, and, rather than sitting in its dry pews, that I am merging with it. I miss how when I feel the pull of the tides, I am also feeling the pull of the whole world, of the moon and sun; that I am part of a chain of interconnection that crosses galaxies..

That’s it.

I’ve been behind the decks a lot recently. Practising at home, figuring out sequences for sets. Last week I brought Before Midnight to Concourse in Warehouse Project .. it the first night in a new series of events with a no phone policy at Warehouse Project. This mean there were stickers stuck over peoples cameras on entrance. The atmosphere was on another level. Totally electric from the off. Some people still managed to use their phones but only very briefly and most totally respected and adhered to the ask, which was simple; Stay in the moment. Connect to the music with your mind and your body and your soul. I swear you could feel the difference. Whooping hollering, whistling, hands in air instead of phones In air. I felt it in the booth.

Later today I’ll be DJing at my Before Midnight event at Gunnersbury Park. You may very well be coming. If you hold any interest in these parties I put on then it is pertinent for me to tell you that we now have our very own instagram account, in which we will be keeping everyone updated on parties and tickets and resales as well as posting all the photos and videos form the parties afterwards. You can now follow us at @clubbingbeforemidnight

What with Irish singer, the Dunboye Diana herself Cmat taking over the world.. ( this week she performed on Jimmy Kimmel and her album Eurocountry was nominated for the Mercury Prize) , I wanted to highlight her episode of my podcast Changes that she did back in April of last year. For anyone who has discovered her recently this is a great all round revelatory conversation about her life up to now. We talked about her changing relationship with her body from her teenage years experiencing acne and eating disorders to being a pop star in the spotlight, societal pressures and social media, the problem with capitalism and Ozempic diets… the list goes on. You can listen here.. or read a full transcipt of the interview here

Also thanks to the school mums I learnt this week at the grand old age of forty seven that humans shed hair seasonally like animals. Did you know this?

And behind the paywall.. are all the things that have brought me joy this week, including a new favourite music video, rap album, pair of trousers, a video that addresses the pain of the school whatsapp group and dancing spiders!