#275. Ibiza Promoter Kidnapped By London’s Criminal Underworld - Trace Harris
en
January 29, 2025
TLDR: Ex-club promoter Trace Harris shares his experience being set up in a big ecstasy deal, including stories from Fabric, Turnmills, Ministry of Sound, Amnesia & DC10, and his personal journey after encountering Ayahuasca. He also discusses connections with boxer Nigel Benn and gangster Dave Courtney.

In the latest episode of Eventful Lives Podcast (#275), host Dodge Woodall sits down with club promoter Trace Harris, who opens up about his tumultuous career and the harrowing experiences that shaped his life. From his rise in the London nightlife scene to his frightening entanglement with London's criminal underworld, Trace shares a captivating narrative filled with insights and life lessons.
Early Beginnings in the Nightlife Scene
Trace Harris, who has been at the forefront of club promotion for decades, started his career with the birth of Smarty Party in London. Key points from Trace’s early career include:
- First Ibiza Experience: Trace recounts his first trip to Ibiza, playing at the iconic Privilege nightclub, which marked the start of his love affair with the island.
- Rise of Smarty Party: Launched in 1994, Smarty Party quickly became a hit, showcasing Trace's knack for foreshadowing trends in electronic music.
- Ministry of Sound: His relationship with notable clubs like Ministry of Sound and Fabric not only solidified his reputation but also launched his career internationally.
The Dark Side of Promoting
As Trace’s career flourished, so did the dangers associated with club promotion. He discusses:
- The Ecstasy Drug Deal Set-Up: Trace shares a harrowing experience where he was manipulated into a drug deal, which resulted in a near-fatal encounter with London’s criminals.
- Kidnapping Incident: After being set up, he was gassed and robbed, facing violence that changed his perception of the club scene forever. This moment served as a wake-up call, leading him to reflect on his lifestyle choices.
Meeting Dave Courtney and Life Lessons Learned
While navigating the criminal elements, Trace found an unexpected ally in notorious figure Dave Courtney:
- Friendship Dynamics: The relationship offered a glimpse into the complexities and paradox of loyalty and friendship in high-stakes environments.
- Support During Crisis: Dave helped Trace recover from his traumatic ordeal, offering insights into resilience and survival in the harsh underbelly of promotions.
Transformation Through Ayahuasca
One of the most profound shifts in Trace's life came from his experiences with ayahuasca, a powerful psychedelic brew:
- Healing and Reflection: He describes attending ayahuasca ceremonies, which led him to confront the grief of losing his mother, and ultimately helped him gain clarity about his life's direction.
- Impact on Relationships: These experiences also deepened his connection with family, especially after he learned to approach challenges with a softer mindset.
Current Life and Future Aspirations
In the aftermath of his chaotic past, Trace has found balance in his life:
- Emotional and Financial Stability: After overcoming significant adversities, including bankruptcy, Trace emphasizes the importance of mental well-being and emotional resilience.
- New Chapters: Now living in Ibiza, he cherishes his time with his young son, experiencing a fresh perspective on fatherhood and legacy.
Key Takeaways
Listeners can garner vital insights from Trace's narrative:
- The Importance of Choices: Every decision can lead to transformative consequences, both positive and negative.
- Resilience: Overcoming dark moments can pave the way to new beginnings, emphasizing the need for personal growth.
- Self-Discovery: Tools like ayahuasca can provide valuable introspection, helping individuals confront their past and find peace.
Trace Harris's story is not just about the party scene; it's a testament to resilience, transformation, and the power of accountability in one’s life journey. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricate ties between nightlife, personal struggle, and the pursuit of a meaningful existence.
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Airport, a car, a hotel, the club. Off my face, out, out of London. And I'm like, I think it's great. Tell me the journey with ministry. How did that work for them to say what? We want you to travel around the world with us. When I got my first Ministry of Sound Check.
It was a big thing, you know. One of his best outside promoters ever. And Danny will quote that. So we'll talk a little. I love terminals. I used to throw parties at terminals. Great clubs. Smarty high blew up like crazy. I don't want to say you should take this, but let's be honest here, MDM maker at football violence. Yeah, 100%. I gassed you. Yeah. I've got gasps. I don't care how tough you are. I was gassed. Yeah, you can't see. I'm in trouble there. There. There. And underworld. It's terrifying. Yeah. Which led to me meeting David Courtney.
Welcome to the Eventful Lives podcast. I'm your host, Dodge, and I'm the founder of Bournemouth Sevens, the world's largest sport and music festival. On this podcast, I speak to proper characters who have all lived eventful lives. Do us a favour and hit that follow button and be sure to check us out on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at Dodd Woodell, where we've now had over 100 million views. Trace Harris has been a club promoter for the past few decades and exposes a story that was set up on a big ecstasy drug deal.
from Fabric Nightclub, Turm Mills, Ministry of Sound, to Amnesia and DC-10. Trace also talks Nigel Byrne and Dave Courtney in the arches and shares how taking the drug ayahuasca completely changed his life. This is the eventful life of Mr. Trace Harris.
Trace, welcome to the show, mate. Nice to be here. Yeah, very much looking forward to this one. Time in is ridiculous. Absolutely perfect timing for this one. We'll go on to that a little bit later. Okay. Let's roll all the back. When was the first time you came to Ibiza? The first time I came to Ibiza is I was doing my smarty party in London. It'd been going about five years and I'd started moving around Europe with it. I did a summit in Italy and these guys called Moderno said, Trace, they rang me. Do you fancy doing something in Ibiza? Never been before. I don't know why I've never been actually. It's ridiculous that I've never been.
So I kind of said, oh, I think about about it. And then his last line was, well, it's privilege opening. Biggest club in the world, very popular then. And I had to pause and say, try not to call. I let you know. My first time here was at Millennium, opening a privilege.
So smarty put, he just blew up. And I did privilege, which was such an iconic club, and it might be again when the DJ booth was in the swimming pool. So that's where I first came to Marshall Jefferson. That's a certain welcoming to Ibiza, isn't it? I never saw nothing, though. I was on the beach, I saw my fly being given out, and my eyeballs explode in. I felt like I was on X or 2 without X or something.
It was just ridiculous to see my fly. I think he even gave me one. I didn't have the nerve to say, but that's me. So that's my first intro to Ibiza. So just roll back there. You mentioned Smarty Party. You're the original promoter for Smarty Party in London. I am Smarty Party in London, which came about off of my tours with ministries, percussionists. In those days, in 1993, 94, we went to places like Dubai, et cetera, and kind of dance music was
kind of newish. And I'd often be set up as a percussionist right at the front and pour our Roger Sanchez a bit out of the back or something like that. Or, you know, they made a feature of it. And I was in all the papers and Jazzy M particularly ministry resident used to take the piss out of me because I was in the papers and he wasn't. It was quite cool. And I capitalized on that. I walked through the doors of every opportunity I could and went back to all the countries I went with them with my own brand. I created it just as an idea in my head. Smarty party was born.
So what year was Smarty Party Boom? 1994. 1994. And what were you doing previous to Smarty Party? You said you mentioned you're working with Ministry of Travelling the World. Give me some examples where you travelled what clubs you did. OK, off the back of playing percussion, I've always been a drummer. I've found myself in a club in London, Bagley's. In terms of drummer, like Bongos on the competition.
Tim Barley is the whole set up plan along with the DJ. But I've gone from my bedroom to playing in front of with Danny Ramplin. I think it was the mud club. And then ministry, someone was in there off duty because ministry staff and never let a party in the ministry them days. Someone give me a card. I get a phone call. And the next thing, I said, try to do a tour for us. And the next thing, there's five years of touring. All I've well been in love parade countries. I can't even remember.
So you've got yourself, you've got yourself, you've put in the door at Ministry. Ministry loved you, right on the right place. I remember seeing photos of you back in the day, you had a long blonde there. Yeah, you got it there, but you were in great shape, still in good shape now. But you were in great shape, you were like a face of it. What did they see in you? What did you see in them to make a long relationship with seven years working with Ministry? Well, I think
A lot of it might be, and I was a bit of a showman. I've done bodybuilding shows, so I kind of played up to it. This sounds ridiculous now, but often in a lot of clubs I played, I played my show off all the muscles hanging out, but I can play. So I wasn't just something to look at. And I would always help with setting up the drums where I was supposed to be a bit of a star, you know, and all that kind of thing. So I followed up on it. I guess any opportunity I saw, a cup of the M, I seized the moment and capitalized on that.
What clubs did you do that really spring out to you in London? We mentioned Bagley's a minute ago, it was a fantastic club. The clubs really really spring to your mind when you look back. Legends, Hanover Grand, Ministry of Sound, as a punter, then as a percussionist. The laser drone, that's a really old one. Stretting, I think it was. Nearly the initial pasture in London. I think every club, not fabric, was that kind of as my
My fame was going where it went. Fabric was the new club in London. It's the only club I hadn't played in. Turmils. Turmils, I had a residency there as a promoter with five years. Danny Newman, a very good friend of mine, liked my old school promoting. And I became, he said this himself, one of his best outside promoters. And Danny will quote that. So we'll talk to you after.
I love terminals. I used to throw parties at terminals. Great club. Great club. Love it. Yeah, great club. You know how many rooms are out there? Go on. Yeah, there's loads. Yeah, five. I remember we had Paul on the podcast last week and we were talking about it. Yeah, six. Crazy little rooms everywhere, wouldn't it? I've had people going to my party for three years. Didn't find all the room. No, yeah.
Tell me the journey with ministry. How did that work for them to say what? We want you to travel around the world with us. Name some of the countries that you travel with. Okay, I think the first country was a tour of UAE, United Arab Emirates, and I went to Dubai, Oman, Musca, Abu Dhabi.
with them. Again, it was new days then. It was just their brand, me as a percussionist and whoever DJ was coming. Some big names of course. And then I went to Austria, as I said, Berlin, La Parade, don't think it exists now.
And I just was non-stop. I'd get a phone call. I'd say, is your passport up to date? I didn't say where am I going? Or tell my girlfriend then where I'm going. I just would turn up at the right time with the right kit and the right clothes and say, let's go. Sometimes it was a mini bus. I thought it was getting on a plane. We'd go to Scotland and play the tunnel club. And Hacienda, what a gig. Can you remember how much you were getting paid a gig back then?
Yeah, this is quite a good story. I think ministry, when I got my first Ministry of Sound check, it was a big thing, you know, because a lot of people say in them days, oh, I play for Ministry of Sound, you'd see them, I would visit somewhere in Austria and there'd be a Ministry of Sound party, but it's not, it's a fake one. And someone say, well, you're fake, I go, well, there's my check, I work them, about 150 quid, until once I played somewhere and Ministry sent me, and I said, Trace, can we give you the same money we paid for you for Ministry?
which was about two grand. Whereas I get 150 clean, right? So I'll get about 150 clean. I've got two grand. Well, that's yours. Then I started charging two grand. There's a lot of dough back there. A lot of dough now for a bomb go. It's ridiculous. I mean, I understand I was worth two grand, but the more I charge, the more gigs I've got. One of the hardest things in business is knowing how much to charge. How did you know back then you go? You know, I'm going to go in for two grand a pop.
If you think about this, when I was an active professional percussionist and someone said, trace, what's your job? I'm a percussionist, but it wasn't a job. If I didn't get paid, I'm still doing what I love doing. When I started getting paid first for a couple of beers or a guest list or bring you 20 mates, I quickly realised I brought 20 people to this club. They're all paying 15 quid and drinking whatever money they spend.
and I'm getting 10 quid on nothing. So I pushed it a bit and started bringing my own people and realised in my own worth. And then when I got a country offered to me, I didn't really want to go to Turkey. I took tall Paul to Turkey. And he's tall Paul, right? And he's a superstar. I think at that time he was one of the biggest DJs in the world. And I didn't know what to charge. And he was two and a half grand or something like that. So I said the same. And I just didn't blink.
I was two and a half grand, I was doing this for nothing. And I didn't always do it for money, and I still don't what I do now, but sometimes it was ridiculous. I play for a guy once, I can't remember if it was Danny clockwork or someone.
And he, maybe it weren't, Danny Cook got worked, sorry, Danny. But he was off of his head. And I decided to start charging per hour, so I could get free gigs in, legends, ministry, termmills, maybe, wherever, an hour. And I was playing somewhere in New Year's Eve. And after I said, I'm going there, he'd give me my money. He said, we stay another hour. So I went, all right. And I think he's off his head, right? And he gives me another 500 quid or something. And then I said, right, I'm packing up next day. And I ended up being about five grand.
more than the day dry and it was ridiculous but he was off his head so excited he just kept giving me the door money it was crazy what was your what your movements then you're seeing your friend parties everyone's phone parties around you the promoters are taking the door money yeah you're in there is the entertainment what was the point when you thought you know what i've got a lot of context i want to start throwing my own parties what year was that
Around 1994, so after Philips long gave me this slot to play in Bagley's, I'm quite sure it was with Danny Ramplin from my bedroom to Danny Ramplin, right? And I bought a lot of people up because I was proud. There was no thinking of money. And it was clocked how many people I knew. And I clocked that as well for, hang on, this is not a job, a long word job. This is a living here. I've just made this club four grand, not much now, isn't it? It was them.
So from then on, when I got this boat party, boat moored up, I decided to do my own thing, make my own name, Smarty Party, off the back of the name of ecstasy. In fact, I got tugged by the police at one of my nice legends, I was firing, and I said, can we have one of your flyers, please? I thought, fuck.
So I'll give him one of my flyers, smarty put party or pictures of smarties on it. And I say, oh, yeah, what's this? I said, smart is smart dress, smart people. I mean, you're all right, go on. And then there's not going to be any trouble with ecstasy, right? And then blooming cocaine. So anyway, so off the back of that, I then started bringing coaches up.
And then when I got my first gig in the ministry, which also led to more doors opening, I bought four hundred people. But I didn't get none of that money then. So I put it on the ministry. Look, I'm on a little boat here. I'm filling it up. I'm earning some really good money. What do I have to do to have my own room here? I'm your percussionist. I tour with you. Let me do it. And they was really tight then with who they would let share their fame.
But they did, they gave me a little back room, probably about 50 people, and I got 600 people. They couldn't even fit in the room. And I put it on them again and said, give me another room. And they went, well, because they're really snobby. Sorry, Hexa. Really snobby. That's so snobby, weren't they? I would just try to get that club in 2000. I phoned him up.
Yeah, six times a day for like three weeks to get a meeting, wouldn't ever work. In the end, you're like, let's just have them meet and end up hiring the club from it. But yeah, you're right. They were really snobby. Yeah. Snobby told me a lot. Go to that place, talk me a lot. But anyway, I said, look, if you don't, I lied, actually, I said, I'll go, I'll go and see termials. Yeah. So they give me two rooms now. And I still got 700, 800 people. Then I said, I want the whole club.
And I was there for four and a half years. I was like, gave you a night today. I'm a smarty party, blew up like crazy. But then my money was 10 quid to get in on 15 on the door. I wasn't really worried about the money. I was worried about the popularity of my ministry, my name rising. And they made me put my door price up to 12 quid. I said, I ain't charging 12 quid. I know why they did that to cut my numbers. I was getting too much power.
Well, okay. If I could bring 800 people to the ministry, I can take them elsewhere. Yeah. Because they're coming to me and my music and my DJ is not necessarily to whoever's planning the main room as good as the club was. Do you remember that? Do you, were you taking all the doors? Is it a split or have you given them a higher thing? Not a ministry. Not a ministry. I don't know. Very small money. I loved it. But then that's when, when they put my fee up, I know I could get out of it. Okay. I also raised a profile.
It raised my profile and it was a great step into what I did. And I approached Danny Newman at turnmills. I went to see him, lovely bloke, and said, that Danny, I want a night here. And he was on this, he said, trace, everyone wants to get in there. It was so hard to get in there. I said, give me the back room. I wasn't a back room promoter. I said, give me a room called the Juno room. It's the old gym room. I said, but I want you to be here on the dog dog with me. This is the owner, right? Danny.
And he was, and I got 400 people brought my concession pass. But at least 200 people said, Trace, I don't care about paying 15 quid. So I said, did you see that? Give me the club. And he'd give me when there was five Saturdays in a month once, and I blew the roof off. And then I went, I left ministry, but listen to this, my last night at ministry, my last night at ministry, they had all screens in them.
And I promoted turmills inside ministry and no one clocked it. So I'm inside ministry. In October the 10th, smarty party moves to turmills for a new era in our history, on the screens, all night, on a loop. And no one plugged it. And when I did ministry, sorry, when I moved to turmills, I had no idea how well I was going to do. I remember tone.
Not Tony Truman. Anyway, so I'll go to Turmils. My first night, I'm ready as a thousand people before it opens and I'm like, wow, we've arrived. Was that the point when you went, I'm going to do this full-time? Yeah, because Turmils, Danny, you gave me complete
Obviously it's his club, but I everything from everything. My door, money, his higher fee was about three and a half grand. And I tried to do what I've done in a few smaller clubs. I said, well, you're getting a 25 grand bar. Yeah. You can never miss with someone. You can never miss with someone's bar though. It's easy. It was a promoter to go. I'll take the door. You take the bar. A lot easier. Clean it. I respect what he says. He's a good operator, Danny.
He's amazing, everything's on the ashtray. He's staying on the ball. His dad taught him everything. He's really cool. And he became right, but he used to come in my night to all pause on his way back from house to the end or something. I went down here to do my do my lights. I think once you're off, he trays, and he almost got a cheeky cheeky off. I went on a fucking drug, do you know I'm your promoter? You know what I mean? But I'll find you off. Tell me some other parties on your journey.
Well, I'm kind of moving forward a bit. After the term he was ending, Danny asked to see me to trace we're not renewing our licence. We was flying there. I could have had fabric then already. Was that roughly 2008? Yeah, 2008 was it? Yeah, but he asked me as a mate.
Please don't jump ship, because it would give a bad impression. I said, tell me what month you're finishing, even if it's four months before, because I need a plan. It was a heartbreak for me. It was such a cool club. The end kind of closed down. I didn't want to go back to ministries to step back and all that.
leisure lounge you've gone, I couldn't find the right venue. So my last night at Turmills, I have a video of this. I was 15 quid on the door. I don't like charging more, right? There's about 4,000 people coming. And Terry used to run the door downstairs for Danny. He said, Trace, you've got to get rid of this crowd. You've got 1,000 inside or 2,000 inside. And they just keep coming. It's the last night. And he said, you've got to put your price up.
So I sent it along the line, word of mouth. It's 25 quid legs, sorry, because it makes me feel greedy, right? And no one left. There was people coming in half hour before it shut. I think trades started the next day. So they're trying to nudge me out so they can begin. You know how you used to work? They'd push you out the T2, that would open, and they tried to shut me early.
a trade, I think it was. I think it was. And I said, I ain't shutting now. I've got this till nine in the morning. And there's 2000 people in there. Nine in the morning. Nine in the morning in that wild. Great. And everyone was still there. Ministry used to be like that last tune, CJ McIntosh or whoever, Tony Humphreys, whoever, everyone's still there. Which is kind of by the way, when I started my
Another night could open when shut. I started an after party. Where did you have the after party? Do you used to get the arches? Well, that's where I started. You had it. Yeah. Okay. It was called open when shut. I had Nigel Ben plan for me. He didn't even want to pay in all these people plan for me. My first night, Dave Kortner's turned up, of course, I knew, said, trace me kind of support. We've all just come to the ministry. There's thousands of us. The police raided it before I even got it open. He had to leave, right? Because of who he is, what was blessing?
and my night at the DJ on about 300 inside thousands of cars come in the police had told her I had to show it and start again a year later I started a year later. Did you ever get yourself in the journey you're in? You're a character, you're likable, a lot of people know you. You know a lot of people. Do you ever get yourself in trouble when you were along the line? Yeah. Yeah. I guess, God, this is a story. On in one of my parties, some girl gave, gives me a pill.
kind of quite normal and I don't drink and all that and I bit half of it and it blew my head off right and the other half I gave to someone I didn't want to it was kind of illegal but not illegal one pill all right anyway the next thing this girl comes back to trace the doorman when I see you I went what what I said what why I ain't selling drugs she said they want to know where you get these from so I'm like
Arthur Pills work working, right? So I'm all loved up, even with violence, I suppose. So I go and see him in the toilet. I'm going to say, who, what or why? He said, Tracy, you ain't in trouble or nothing. I said, well, I shouldn't be. I've got Arthur Pills on me. And I'm so sorry. And I'm playing percussion. Where'd you get this from? I made an introductory, an intro to someone. And I just introduced two people. And you know they are, I'm going to say, that's how they are. And you know they are.
And they know they're one of my near now. They said me to trace, we want X amount of these things. Now I'm illegal, right? Or am I? If we give you the money, we're going to get them for us. So I thought, no. So we give you five grand just to drop that off and get that. I know it's wrong. I know it's wrong. But I thought, all right. And getting my white BMW and my ponytail while the party's going, drive off to Gantseil.
to do this exchange, right, which ended up not illegal because they didn't have the pills. They guessed me. They guessed you. Yeah. I've got gas. I don't care tough. You are. You want gas. Yeah, you can't see. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where were you in the car? In the back of the car parked in the cinema. Talk me through. Talk me through that evening. OK, range to meet them. I've got renaissance on the stereo.
Stereo, is that still there? Right, and I'm kind of buzzing all crazy, right? I've known, I can kind of handle myself, but forget, get that. I could have took a heavy with me, give him a grand, watched my back, didn't think, you know, I pulled up at Gangxil to get these pills, and two lads had come up to my car, tapped on the window, right, said, Trace, can we just drive around the back? All right, get in my...
in my BM, drive around the back, I thought, what's that going on here? My five grand under the mat, the money for them, the 28 grand, I think it was, right? And the next thing I said, oh, this lad is going to put up in a car, give him the money, all a bit strange, right? But you kind of, the kid turns up, wind my electric window down, thinking, 10 seconds, I'm off with five grand, he gasses me.
And it's horrendous, horrendous, shocking, and I've had some shock, right? I'm trying to, I'm trying to comprehend what's happened, I'm scared, am I gonna get shot stabbed, the blokes have gone, loads of noise, dead silence, dead silence, free in the morning. Got to the back of my car, managed to get some water out to wash my eyes, it was strong stuff, my hair was coming out.
I'm in trouble there, there, there. I'm in a world I have a beautiful life. I play percussion for a living and I'm fucked. And I kind of knew I was fucked.
then this is a long story. I can't go too much into it, but I'll make a few phone calls. The people that gave me the money, they said, they really can't be danced. They traced, where are you? We're coming to see you. They're still on the boat running the door at the place. They come to see me. They obviously, I'm gassed, could have set them up, right, for that amount of money, but they're no fault. The car stinks on there and I said, we're sold, it's out for you.
And I'm, you know, what the fuck does that mean? So I'm pushed into a world, an underworld that's terrifying, which led to me meeting Dave Kourtney. Love or hate him. I think it's amazing. He'd done a favor for me. He'll never forget. I like him a lot. I like Dave a lot. People slag him like fuck. But also a lot of people love him as well. And it's only when you get to know him that you realize that he's such a proper character. I like him. People to have a laugh. I like him. You know, I mean, people not having a laugh these days. He had a laugh at every moment.
There's a bit in my book which I can talk about later about him. I, before the, you know, he took his life, right? I asked him a while back, I'm going to write about how we met. Are you all right with that? Because it's him. I don't even call him Dave Courtney DC in my book, but it's him. He said, yeah, I'd love that.
Because I'm in these book, Raven Lunacy, about the story. But I said, don't use my name. This is how we met. I got gassed. Someone said, I can get this sorted out for you. They take me to London. I'm kind of scared, but I'm not a little boy. I go to date. I was wondering roughly at this time. Believe me, Neil, 35. I never took any pill or any drugs. I was 35. Yeah, OK.
And I meet Dave Courtney. I know he is. He's playing pool with one end in his pub. And I'm with these two blokes you're supposed to introduce me to him. He looks at me. He goes, you had a bongo player from the ministry, isn't you? Did I relax? I would not relax if you shit myself. Oh, yeah. He said, let's go, haven't it?
whoever his letter was, who ironically was the ones that set me up, but I didn't know that. The very people that brought me to him set me up to get the money, because if we'll have this mug, he sorted everything out in such a way that it was unbelievable. I know exactly how he sorted it out. I'd write about it in detail. He kind of became my friend, but I never would go over to him in the ministry of his champagne.
He kind of liked the fact that I wouldn't hang around him and all that. And every now and again, he'd come to one of my gigs. When he came to Turmille, Danny said, what the fuck's Dave called me doing in my club? Because he wanted to support me. But it's him, right? And he's being followed. I fucking love the blow. Anyway, when he went to Belmarsh, I was a character witness for him.
and I shipped myself, this is the favor of return, no money. He sorted all this thing out for me. So he sorted the whole outfit. Yeah, I lost about 11 grand, but he sorted it out because his lads from East London was saying, ah, we gassed this stupid idiot with a BMW, they mouthed it off. He found that out. He got his sorted for me. And he got the money back and worse than that, because that led to me getting a gun put to my head by the people that did it. So you don't think we was involved, do you? Oh, mate, where was that? How long ago? How long after the incident did that happen?
Well during, I was knee deep in this year. I was in a mess. I was living on Cambia Island Essex then. And the bloke threatened me, come up and he's black beam. Sorry, rain drove, I black rain drove. It's like the Essex boys. Can I see you? This is the bloke that
did it and stuck a gun in my face. Said, you think I was involved? I mean, what'd you say when they do that? You don't go, oh, no, no, no, no, no, I don't want anything to do where she's going. I know you're fucking done.
an odd boy really, but he set me up and then he got a visit because of the back of that and it got well sorted and I know Eric got sorted. I know what happened and everything Marcus has told me, who's from Kent one of Dave's. Marcus Redwood. And Dave then... Marcus is a great lad. Great human being. He gave after a favour back and God did I own a favour. When he was in Belmarsh, I was a character witness.
and his lawyer kind of asked me to, I can say this now, to write a letter saying, my name's Trace, I'm a promoter. I put events on all over London. I often invite Dave Courtney to my events, not to sell drugs, but to stop little scum doing it, because he's a deterrent. And I wrote this in a letter at Belmarsh, when I went to Belmarsh, I didn't realise the strictness of that place, but Karl was lifted up.
wow yeah i'm in a room thinking shit there's all people around wondering why i'm there yeah and i'm dead quiet because they're there to see this kind of celebrity right and a lot of people got envious the fact that i was there for him and i was my letter got read out in cool in cool in belmarsh and i believe it contributed to help
because he was inside for supposedly trafficking cocaine. And his argument was, I was protecting Jules, I think. I don't know what was in that suitcase. And he got away with it. Yeah. You know how clever he was. Yeah. It was shot up on him. Yeah. And I kind of, not distanced myself, but after that thing with the gun in my face, and when it finally got sorted out,
He came to see me in the ministry, he said, Trace, don't ever get involved in this shit again. You're probably one of my success stories, stick to your bongos. And with his little charm and smile, he said, now fuck off back to your drum. And I fucking loved him. He's dancing out for me. Where were you on the day when someone turned up putting a gun into your head? In my flat on gambling. You opened the door and I did it. I went downstairs, I want to have a word with you.
by the very people that said, we'll help you. Wow. They found out that they said they're about you over. Yeah. And then he knew, I didn't tell him how the gun puts my head. He said, they got to you and they took a movie from Shawshaker. So they got to you and then I went, I was scared to tell him. He said, they got to you and they went fucking mad. So they're going to pay for this.
Why was he so supportive, do you think, of you? Me? Yeah. I think if I was in a relationship, then we'd Claire for 17 years, we started Smiley Pike together. Still friends now. He likes the fact that I did leech off of him, I think. Or could I? And he liked the fact that I said, don't put my name in your book. I think he liked the fact that I didn't want to be in his movie. I said, I want to be in that. You think he
I don't know how to say no to stuff, but it's not going to say yes to everything. Everything. I don't know what I'm doing. I'll just go, yeah, I'll be there. I want to know what's going for your mind. You're 35. Yeah.
Probably thinking, right, I met when people are like, I got to do an easy run. There's the money there. You get gas, you set up, you got done over. You then got to deal with the paranoia. What's the paranoia like for you? Well, I had a real problem with this because if you think about it, there was no pills there. It was just to gas my money. So I kind of wasn't doing anything illegal unless giving over money is illegal. So my conscience told me I ain't a drug dealer. I'm just a fucking idiot.
fixable maybe. So that lesson I learnt from that in the years and years to come, if I was ever in the ministry and I wanted to have a half appeal.
I was scared that I was breaking the law. So I would spend half an hour just to get that out of appeal with my mapper, saying I'm eating chewing gum or something like that. Well, we used to put them in the middle of the polo. No, the polo in the polo. Someone brought out some pills once that popped in there. So you take the pack apart, pop your dealers did it as well.
So I used to put my three pills or two pills, but I never kind it, you know. I always had an off switch, I always thought that's enough for me now. Let's get back to my drum before I knock them off the stage, come plough and kettlemen. And I'll definitely put them on cocaine, get aggressive and all that stuff. Anyway,
So, I kind of always had a bit of a restraint. I'm not a drinker. I've always can go, that's enough, even when I first come in. I go to DC 10, I'm an easier cocoon and all that with a bit of MDMA. I'd always have some at the end and give it to someone walking out. I won't go on and on and on.
Sorry, good. The reason for that is I've got a good life. I've got a lot of good stuff, right? I don't take a drug to heighten my life or feel better. I feel great anyway. So my come down is back to feeling, I feel great anyway. So if there's a time to take it and a way to take it, that's it. The enhance in something that's already quite magic, because it is. I don't want to say you should take this, but let's be honest here, MDMA cut out, football violence, probably. Yeah, 100%.
and I think they're all having tear-ups in the day and all loving each other. They'd look at each other, he's a bash each other, he's a nasi-ender, eating shoe, more spectrum, or whatever, he ain't going to bash you, he's going to cuddle you. So when he sees him on the foot, and he's mates, he can't camp him, he can't give him a kiss.
Man, isn't it? I always said a joke on a couple of TV things I've done. In the old days, they should have got bush, bin lard and all them lard and sprayed them with MDMA. Maybe. What was the 11 grand for? You said you were a Jew 11 grand. Yeah, right. So they spent nearly half the money, even about three days on prostitutes and cocaine. He found out who the lads was. He got to the lads, forced them. And I know why he did quite quite.
Who got you to do this and they squealed this Dave and they squealed and told him who did it, why they did it, but they spunked off the money. So that 11 grand was what Dave said he paid the debt. I don't think he paid the debt, but he took the debt on. So you're out of this now, I'm dealing with this. He probably didn't sort them out, but he
He didn't put it on me at all when I'm not crits owned, but I had to swallow 11 grand of it. I believe I end up giving him my motorbike as well. I'm sure I'll give him my motorbike. And I've got him on television as well. I briefly worked for The Trisha Show and The Vanessa Show until I hated it, because it puts people against each other fighting. The Trisha Show, none of The Vanessa Show before her, said, asked me for ideas. I did one on DJ Superstars and they used to pay me for ideas. I said, what about London Underworld?
And I sort of die even a few others. And then he ends up being on there with Jenny. She's still loves him a bit. I saw her in DC 10. She's come on the podcast. She's really cool. I saw her. Good DJ as well. She's really cool. I'm going to completely flip the coin here. I did many years ago, Ayahuasca here. Ayahuasca, what's that like? How do you explain to the listener and myself what Ayahuasca actually is?
I wasca, if you take a magic mushrooms? No, right. Suppose you're an alien and you go, what's a little wasca? It would be something like this. I wasca is an ancient herbal, it's a drug they call it a medicine to get over that thing from the forest of Peru, etc. When you consume I wasca in a ceremonial setting, it's not for clubs.
It's not to take in an industrial area because everything, even a Ferrari, would look ugly. It kind of opens your mind up. Is that real or is it not? It doesn't matter. It's a placebo effect. That tree, if it was on ayahuasca as you're coming up, best way to describe it, would start moving. Is it moving or are you moving it? But it's mind blowing out. When I took ayahuasca,
I took it because my brother, who I love, had just broken down, went to mental asylum. And it was called a mental asylum ambassador. I thought I was going to lose him. Someone knew my story here. He said, Trace, would you accompany me for an eye wasca ceremony? I never heard the words. Googled it a bit. I'll go. All they said was dressed in white and make me in a car park. Did I wear on going? Could have got gassed again.
So I go to the serum moment and it was mind-blowing. I consume the most horrible liquid you can. And then the feeling comes. The first feeling for me to describe, I'm quite clean, no alcohol, nothing in me, is you start to hear, or you think you start to hear, insects walking around. And people breathe in a long way away. And conversations from miles away don't know where. You hear things and you're kind of hallucinating, trippy.
I tried to control it being a promoter and I can be a manipulator. I tried to control it to research my own brain while it was happening. So I closed my eyes and you see the most ridiculous visuals and I try and make a move and I throw up. I didn't find out too late or you don't interfere with this. So you're going to journey. Everyone is private. Everyone is individual.
What I saw on this journey was my mum who I lost when I was 21. We can get to that. She was 50. And I've got photos of her with me as a baby. And my mum came alive in my mind. But in reality, I'd see people within the ceremony as about 20 of us. And on their face was my mum. So it was a very cheap projection of a virtual image over someone's face. And it was my mum. And I could talk to her.
And it didn't scare me, it could scare you this, it could flip you, I reckon. You look at your mum and I said, sorry, I couldn't save you from cancer. And she asked his back. It's all right, Chase. It's all right. And I was like, what the fuck is this? It's so different to any other buzz of a drug you can ever imagine, really. A lot of people use it for PTSD as well, don't they? A lot of people leave the army, they've got serious trauma in their lives. It's not for everyone. No, okay.
It's not nor is MDMA nor is most drugs. Look at alcohol, right? But it's not for everyone. I've done it three times. I won't do it again. I don't need to do it again. I've got from it what I wanted. Who would you recommend from your experience who you feel would be good for them?
But my brother's had a lot of trauma. I wouldn't want him to take it. I tell you why. His little daughter, bless him, got killed in front of him, two and a half years old. Same age as my son, car. Went to the little end of a safe road. Woman buys her a lolly, sits on the curb. My brother knows she's outside with her older sister.
He goes out, weren't even panicking. 20 yards from his house. He says, Rainy, stay there. She's eating a lollie. She gets up behind the milk, the ice cream lorry, walks towards him and gets hit by a jeep. Five yards from him.
Now if Eto took it, it might reveal that again, or some kind of message in it, or something. I don't know what it would feel. He wouldn't do it anyway. But I would avoid him if he said to me, brother, you've taken Iowaska. Do you think I should take it? I say, please don't. So they say it can help by polar or alcoholics, possibly. I think it depends on your life journey. Was you a Roman, a proper Roman, I mean, not just Nick Summett and Krashta Khar and him in Rob to Sweetshot?
wrong, but our wrong. But if someone who's really got a dodgy pass that's hiding it, it's going to bring it and slap you right in the face. And you're fucked. And I saw it around me, people screaming. I saw two twins, two Spanish, I think. One girl just sat there like that, the other one was screaming, I don't think it was terrifying.
Can you come off it? Is there any way of coming off it? And how long does it last for? Can you cut the journey short? Yeah. No. So you're in the journey? How long has that last for? Well, in a typical serum, man, only all the one I did, of course, the people say it's got ixanial fending in the jungle where I do it here. It's a really special place in Israeli family. It's amazing. I don't know what to judge it against, but the whole thing was amazing. You drink, you're supposed to drink three cups. I can only get to two. It's so horrible. It was so extreme.
But I never, nothing bad happened, right? And when I said about my mum, there's one person helping every person to the toilet in a nice way. I got up, it's like you're hovering, you're floating. I walked out to the outside of the dome. I held onto my mum's rings, which ironically got stolen off me in DC 10. That's another story. And I just said, mum, girl, I love my mum, Dolly. That's what this book's about.
I love you. And again, I think I said, I'm sorry, I promise you, I was back in the seat. Now, of course I walked there. I didn't fly there, but I have no recollection of being outside that dome to inside there. Now, this is what I was going to get to with Jenny. The next day, a little old lady comes up to me when it finishes, said, Trace, stay awake for 24 hours. I'm all dressed in white. You can drive. I come down. I go to DC 10.
and I know the doorman and all that, but I like paying DC's head. I could probably gain for nothing through Charlie Chester. I like paying. I enjoy it more. When I can walk in a pasture where 20 people can't stand it or whatever, I pay on my own. I go in there.
And I had, in a little silk purse, I didn't even know I had it, the dormant of every searching in there, half a pill would Dutch girl give me about a week later. I don't take stuff much now by this half a pill in my pocket in a little silk purse. She sent me, this is really special. But I don't know why I wore them trousers and why I had it on me, but I found it in DC 10. I'm still kind of high from my wasca.
I go in the toilet, in DC 10 you go like that. I'm sorry. Take it. The combination of that. While I was in there, I met a family that come up to me and say, hey, Tracer, you know, really, it's an ego thing, but I love people, you know, these come up and say, Tracer, how are you? I was all dressed in white. I was dressed a little bit weird. And they kept saying, you look amazing.
Well, I felt amazing, but it was nice, you know, I was 40 odd years old then. I was 50 odd years old. God, how old am I? Right. And the girl said, Tracy, I know it's really nice. Wanted to buy me a drink. And then one of their phone drinks and the girl cries her eyes out. I said, well, why are you crying? She said, oh, my mum's just come out of a cancer scare.
And I lost it. Cancer, I'm not losing it. I lost it. I cried my eyes out uncontrollably. You know, you're trying to put it together, right? Hold it together. I was scared, the ceremony, the half appeal. I lost it. And they was all around me, said, you're right. But yeah, I'm really happy that your mum's all right.
It was really bizarre. Next thing, I'm in DC 10. I love going there on my own. Jenny's come up to me. I haven't seen her for years. I've avoided seeing them people. Dave was still alive then. I had no idea what was going on. Then she comes up and he said, Tracey, you're fucking great. And it's Jenny, right? She's quite cool with all these people. She's really lovely to me. And I'm blown away by all these people, right? And I'm in DC 10 and then I thought,
I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna go home, just lay somewhere. And that whole experience is mind-blowing.
God, if you could put that in a film, I don't really know, it could, maybe Stanley Kubrick could. It was just beautiful, the whole thing, I'll never forget it. And so that ayahuasca thing, get to the point now, come dragging it on a bit. My brother was in in asylum. I was going back and forward to try and help him, but I was tough, love, come, he's a tough boy, my brother, he's older than me. He could snap out of it, in asylum, and he was just quiet, he was gone. I was kind of not aggressive with him, but shake out of it, what's the matter with you?
The ayahuasca thing, one day later, I still hadn't slept. I get a phone call from someone. Your brother is going to take his life. Oh, no. I was... Can you get to him? Tell him, wait for me. Book a plane. I think I ain't even washed yet, but I still kind of looked all right. I felt all right. Get on a plane. I go to the city airport, Tilbury, Buzzard, and cab to the hospital. I'm walking to my brother, just like I had done 10 times before.
But I changed. I realized I had to be soft. We lost our mum, right? I had to be soft, rather than aggressive. I'd get to him and I just don't talk. In fact, I just cuddled him. And my brother said, just like other people, he said, you look great, you've changed. Yeah.
You know what I learned? I'm tinged in all over. I knew I had to try and be like my mum would have been and she'd have been alive. He lost that. I lost that. My dad's really tough. And I just yelled him. I said, please don't take your life. That's my brother. Wow. Wow. And then I even said, if ever you do, do it with me there, what a conversation.
And it kind of contributed the ayahuasca. Maybe bringing my ego into balance. I think it helped him. I was softer. How are you in the club days? How are you in the club days as a person? You come into a load of money.
Load of cash. It was all cash back then. How did you deal with all earning all this sort of amounts of cash? It's a great question. I like to divert. I like people, right? So, although it'd be my event, I'm in that DJ booth. I've got 3000 people there, if it's Scala or something like that. But I'm in that DJ booth. It's kind of VIP, right? I'm a VIP. I'd go out there with them.
A lot of DJs used to do that with me, Alex P, Brandon Block used to not just go out and grab their money off me at all, Paul, they used to go out and dance with us. So you'd be dancing with these people rather than the VIP thing. I don't like that. Nothing wrong with it, I don't like it. I kind of like DC 10 still. VRP's out of the back. I think they made that piece of puffed daddy queue up once. I'm looking at it now.
Yeah, good. And pay, I think. I know they throw Madonna's boyfriend out once. I like that club. So I would mix with the people. I'd get involved with the people. I was touchable, approachable all the time. And then obviously money, right? I mean, I had this beautiful house in Whooping on the Thames, a Ferrari up the drive, a Mercedes. So Ferrari, did you? I bought it cash after millennium. Did you like banks? I didn't know what to do with the dough. Sorry, tax man.
Yeah. Right. I didn't say that. It's not the six years. Listen, when I bought my Ferrari, I bought it from a guy next to Johnny from Ross's house. My girl, how old are you? How old are you when you bought that Ferrari? And what made you want to buy a Ferrari at the time? I've always had nice cars. Yeah. I'll run a classic car club here. Oh, there you are. Yeah. I'll put it on Saturday. OK.
Here, I've always had a nice Jaguar, because I used to just deliver eggs and potatoes around farms. So I buy from farms, deliver around houses. I found some really good cars, brought them back to life. Always loved cars. My Jaguar was too precious to use in London. And I wanted a nice car. And I wanted a Ferrari. So I took, this is kind of sounding weird now, I don't like Paul cheese, but I thought, let me get that out of the system. Paul cheese is lovely, it's a great car. Maybe the best, but it's not Ferrari.
And I wanted a Ferrari, but my girlfriend class, oh, God, what are you going to put by now? She, after one of our events was in bed, I'd make a message to somewhere in London, see a Ferrari. And I wanted to get it out of my system. I wanted to dislike it. I didn't want to buy it, but I had to sit in it.
Big mistake. To say you owned it. Yeah. What's your opponent back then? 70 grand. 70? Yeah. Colour? It's a three, four, eight spider. What colour was it? Yellow. No, but yeah, no. Everyone said, I get a red one. I've got no yellow. I like yellow. It's my favourite colour. And the first race in Ferraris, I believe, was yellow. What other parties did you throw? Tell me, when did you come to our booth and start throwing parties here? Well, what was the magic of the island that made you live here for them? How many years you lived here for now?
11. 11 years. Well, made you come here and go, you know what? I'm spending the rest of my life here. Well, after the initial thing, I said, come in here to be at privilege. I never really saw anything. I saw the airport, a car, a hotel, the cloud off my face out, home, London. And I'm like, I think it's great. I didn't see a beat. I saw a plaid embosser because I was giving out my flyer. I didn't really see anything. Didn't take it in, but it planted a seed.
And then, our eye properly ended up here. After that, I did privilege again, space for Alec Pease, birthday, thank yous for Dave Vincent, quite a lot. But then I realized I want to do parties here no more. But I was still going back and forward, right?
What's rough for you? We're talking here. I'm a millennium old. I used to go to Bora Bora. Alex Miles was the programmer and DJ there then. And all my DJs will be with me dancing, all wasted. We've just been to wherever we've been. And Bora Bora was quite cool then. Yeah. And Alex, yeah, I was
Uh, hi again. I said, Alex, do you want to play for me in London? He said, where? Turmils. Yeah. He said, I'd love to play there. So I said, let me have a DJ here for a bit, for when Brandon, all he needs to get go there, Cole Cox, and everyone needs to play just for a bit, for a right. He said, anytime you want, he said, you can have the whole day if you want. I was like, fuck. I said, all right, then.
at the end of September. He said, all right. I said, I'll book you as soon as I can. So it's all right. Trace is really cool. I must have had five DJ mates around me. And I can only fit for you. I mean, I went to Matty Wells and a couple of others, one of my friends said, Matt, you're right. I said, I'll put you enough to play you. I went, yeah, listen to this, right? I've tinged in that crazy. He said, Oh, it's all right. Trace. I said, well, you are September. He went.
I'm playing here. I've just given him Wembley. I've just given him the greatest, and he'll say this himself, moment of his life. And we did it. We did it for four years. Whenever I wanted to do it. Give me an example because it's a listener, they understand exactly what that party was like in Bora Bora. I never, I don't even think they give me a free drink, but I put 400 or 500 people extra on that beach. And it was amazing because it was,
It was a free party, right? On the beach. They'd shut the fence later on, and they'd want to try and get in. And it was really, really nice, because it was a build-up to a pre-event or whatever. We'd go inside as well. But to do that, I had nothing. I probably just lent fire on the quid.
And I'm bringing all the people and they spend in a fortune and they are the ignoniest just and then the DJ booth was where the fucking burgers are. It was tucked away till they changed it. And the thrill of doing that without having to worry about money and how many people even because it's always busy. It blew my mind. That was my nirvana. That was my moment that captured, captured it. Everything I do to enjoy myself. Lovely.
And I had the power to put DJs on there. That's a lot of power. Absolutely. You know, just to do that, I was offered holidays in Italy and Australia and Malta and everywhere in Greece. Give me a set there and I'll give you an holiday. For you and your girlfriend. And we can hold you.
What's your day-to-day and world like at the moment, even on the island? You obviously, there was so much more we can speak about. There's so much the countries, the people, you've lived a proper eventful of. But rolling through now, your life has completely changed from being the promoter to who you are today. How would you explain your world today? I'm going to flip this really quick. When I was 50, which was the age my mum died,
I was only 21. When I got to 50, I read out how young that is. You'll find out in two years. You're the best you can be. 13 years. 13 years. Right. When I got to 50, I looked at me properly and I'm so young. My poor mum always going about my mum. I lost her. And she's 50. I'm going to change my life. So at 50, I had a house on the Thames.
I owned a house, a part house in a Mallorca and a nightclub in Caledor, Mallorca, I owned that. I had so much stuff. Do you own the nightclub in Mallorca, did you? Yes. Sound Republic, I named it that, the name from London. It was called Chick Palace. I bought that in Caledor, Mallorca, with a business partner who ripped me off, but never mind about that, that's another story. I bought that. How did you rip yours?
When I had turnmills at my peak, there's a club open next to fabric. It was called Meat Bar. My friend, very good friend of mine now, Mason. He approached me and said, Trace, do you want to put on a little event here? There's a pre-party to turnmills. So I said, I looked at it, nice little venue. I said, I'll run this place for you. Give me the Saturdays. I want 500 quid.
every Saturday, and I'll fill it for you. Minimum 200 people, you can knock me. You'll get a 10, 20 grand bar spend. You can knock me because I don't know what the tool says, but I want 500 grid. You'll agree to that. I'll put people in here to prove to me they can fill a room because I can give them a room at turnmills where they all want to get into. Connected and so many other guys got involved with me and they're massive now. So that's what I did.
It's another Ferrari store, it is. So Mason set me up with the owner. Every Saturday, I'd pack it with a promoter that I had the power to take out because it's a smaller club. Mason said, hey, if you're running this club, why don't you buy it?
you've got the glass house, that's folding soon, you're doing really well, do you want to buy it? So I approached, I thought it was a friend of mine, Jez, Jez Millbank, I said, Jez, do you want to buy a club? He said, well, I said, I'm already running it, I already owe money from it, I know the bar spend now, do you want to buy it? And I'll run it for you, because I was doing that anyway. Cut long stories, why don't we buy it?
We bought it. My house went in as equity. It became my business partner. And over the next three years, siphoned off, conned me, ripped me off. Didn't even know because I was owning so much money. I didn't notice it. And the club got in right trouble. I had to go and see Riley upstairs about it because it would become dark. And I wanted out of it. And then he stitched me up.
Pissed off to Australia, left me with half a million pound debt. No. I lost my house. My relationship was fading anyway. Bless you, Claire. And I lost everything. And I mean, I'm really lost everything. Don't matter about the Ferrari and all that. I lost everything. First time in my life, I knew much petrol costs and what a coffee cost. Yeah. Everything went, because the bank foreclosed on me, because I was my inequity holder. It was actually 480,000. So I lost the club. Big store story. Have you seen Mason since?
we become really good friends. At one point, you've become good friends after them. Very good friend. It wasn't Mason's fault. He just said, you want to buy it? And I'm one that said, yes. So who stood you up then? My business partner. My business partner. Oh, I brought in. He didn't even know Mason was. Oh, I see. OK. Mason's a very good friend. Right. Now, who was you? Have you seen your business partner since this all happened? He went to Australia. His own parents ain't even seen him. He manipulated and stitched this up. And this is too complex to get involved. He sold my club about me knowing. Right.
God, that's ridiculous, right? So were you, for someone to sell the club without you knowing? Yeah. Were you bang on the ball right then? No, okay. Didn't care. I was scatty. I was doing a right, angry shit. Yeah, okay. I kind of took that from a Muhammad Ali book. Everyone's ripping you off Ali. I don't care. I'm all right. Yeah. I don't know why I've copied him. Yeah. Yeah. I met him at my point. But wait, so anyway, that happened. Am I well fell apart? Lost my house sleeping on something? How old were you at that time?
This was 55. No, 52. When I had this reality, this is what happened. I said earlier that 50 were trying to change my life. I went too far. I tried to become a cash millionaire. Work on my mobile phone. I didn't need it.
club in Mallorca. I didn't need that club. You doing it for ego? Of course. It was. My ego was out of control. And how are you more and more and more? I was chasing the money. Wrong. It's a bad thing. Since change. Let me fly ahead and then we can get get to it. So after that happened, I was in hell. I lost everything.
At one point, at one point, I had a breakdown, I suppose, and I went to see my 86-year-old day as a dad on fuck. He said, what's the matter, son?
I said, I've lost everything. He said, sit down. He said, what do you mean you lost everything? He said, you still got that silly yellow car? No, it's just a car dad, but I've lost everything. My dad made me write on a piece of paper, all my shit. And there's some shit there. And my dad's looking at me, clap a man, my dad, God, I miss him. Now tell me your good stuff. And what do you mean? He said, you got good stuff. Turn it over.
Still play the bongos, you got it out. Yeah, good. Still got friends, yeah. Said, you're not drinking a night now. Anyway, good stuff. And he stopped me, said, you're smiling now. I said, what are you not smiling? She's just smiling now.
He said, what's changed? I said, I don't understand. He said, nothing's changed. You're mine. He said, focus on that. I'm dead. I drove away from tingling again. I drove away from that meeting with my dad and my life changed overnight. I changed my thinking. I'm all right. I'm healthy. I've got nothing, but I'm no fool. And the Olympics came to London. Now we're gay.
Getting there. And some is our way. I end up working for a massive sports media company called Aberdeen House, the Heidi Gromen. I became a fixer, a finder, a helper in London. Rolling on here. You've got a book that's coming out. Yeah. You're a book that you've written, walking through doors. Yes. How long did that take you to write? I started writing that book when I was living in Israel. It wasn't a book package. It was just notes. Yeah. I used to see all these Americans writing diaries and took the piss out. What's that? It's a diary.
So I started writing notes before Mac, before computers, just pieces of paper in a bag. And then about when I always got this 30 years ago, I met a friend of mine, Alan Garcia. I said, Tracy, you writing a book? I went, we're not a book.
It's just something to leave behind in case I die and someone might find me interested. I don't think I'm going to have a child. Also, the book would be my child, right? But I started writing it properly. Max came about the big orange computer thing. I think my mum was blue and I started writing on that and I put a bit together. This Alan gasses it. Can I read it? I went, could my spellings wrong? My grammar's wrong. So when's the book coming out? December the 10th, my birthday. And that is your birthday.
And what other date, 7th of December really sort of hits with you? What else happened then? You launched the brand? I started smarting that party. I had a recollection of losing my mum at 50. I changed my life at 50, overstepped the mark of my ego, tried to get too rich, followed the money, met my dad, grounded myself. Fantastic. Olympics came to London and the money came again. But this time, this time, I had a vision, I had a wish. When this is over, the Olympics, I'm going to live in India and sit in an ashram.
I'm going to sit in the field. So half of your limb picks, I cleared all my debt, won't even my debt. I paid the 480 grand, even though once I was offered it back from some dodgy people, said we'd found him in Australia, they offered me quarter of a million quid to buy my debt.
And I said, no. I said, no. I told my dad I said, no, I'm good for you. And then the Olympics finished. The thing is, that could always backfire later in life. Would have done. As you sit today, you're 65 years old, 65 years young. You look fantastic. And you've just had a kid. Yeah. How amazing is that?
How old is he? Two and a half. Two. Zam Trace Harris, my name is Tracy Harris. This book originally started, it says it on there in honor of my mum, Dolly. And my dad died, bless him, not a story, in honor of my dad, Tommy and Dolly. It's called Walking Through Doors on Amazon, UK. Sorry for that. Anyone out there, go and check it on Amazon Walking Through Doors. This is some powerful book. We haven't touched the sides and half of these stories. No, you haven't. But Trace, I've really enjoyed this.
I thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you. Just before we finish off here, you're living out in Ibiza. Yes. Beautiful wife. Yes. Just briefly give us an overview of your world out here. Right. I now have a son that's 65 years old. Imagine that. I'm not a grandfather and dad in one package. Some people go, wow, you shouldn't have a kid at that age. He's not going to look up at him and go, fucking, oh, my dad's old. He just loves me and I love him. I get 23 hours a day with him. I only get 22 today because of this, but it's worth it.
I go home to him, he sleeps in the middle of me and my wife, he's beautiful. He's like me and reincarnated. As I watch him grow, I see me and my mum and my wife and my kid. I'm looking at me growing again. And I can't describe the bliss of that. I've now got a book I thought I was going to leave behind instead of a son. I can leave this book behind on my right, another one. And he'll read that and he'll see stories. And hopefully I go, my dad was a boy. He was a bit wrong there though, but I like him.
and he'll know more about me than giving the post knows about the Bible. Trace, this is fascinating. Thank you. Absolutely fascinating. And for you to write, this is one of the books, guys. There's three of these. It's available on Kindle in one thing. It's available on Kindle and Amazon. Go check it out, but Trace really enjoyed this. You're fascinating. You've lived in an eventful life for sure. And living out on the island, loving life. Beautiful life. Good for you, man. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Cheers. Take these, Trace.
Hi guys, I really hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. Can you do us a favour and leave us a review as it massively helps us grow the show? Cheers guys!
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