Published in the September 2009 Issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 22 - Number 9
By Emily Tan

Not much can be written about Paul Oakenfold that hasn’t already been published in magazine, newspaper or book form.

But for the very few uninitiated, here’s a very short version of his professional life: After starting out as a London “soul boy” DJ, Oakie transitioned into hip hop and other dance forms, and—always a hustler—he began finding and promoting dancefloor records on both sides of the Atlantic. He produced seminal acts like Madchester’s Happy Mondays and later pioneered the style of electronic dance music today known as trance and was largely responsible for discovering and appropriating the Balearic sound of Ibiza, ultimately bringing it with him around the world.

Oakenfold, 45, has toured with U2, Madonna and Lenny Kravitz, to name a few. He’s DJed atop the Great Wall of China, had the biggest-selling DJ compilation with Perfecto Presents: Another World in 2000, had his first studio album, Bunkka, go platinum, and his second, A Lively Mind, go gold. He’s headlined every festival main stage than can be counted and he entered legendary status with his residencies at Liverpool’s Cream and London’s Ministry Of Sound. He’s scored major motion pictures and worked with full symphony orchestras, all the while DJing, producing, traveling, breaking new records, championing new producers, and making some lucky records into anthems.

Love him or blame him—DJs are funny that way—it’s impossible to deny that the term “superstar DJ” was long ago coined to describe jocks like him.

Back in April, Oakenfold approached DJ Times and graciously offered the magazine an opportunity to become involved with his Planet Perfecto party at the Rain Nightclub at The Palms in Las Vegas—an astounding showcase of music and performance. (Think Cirque du Soleil on acid.) Ultimately, it became the host venue for the magazine’s America’s Best DJ closing party, set for September 12. The winning DJ will open the party and a lucky ABDJ voter (+1, of course) will be treated to a spectacular evening.

Coincidentally, Planet Perfecto marks its one-year anniversary this month. As America’s dance music lovers have become more savvy and open to international DJs and producers, Oakenfold felt the time was right to introduce the Balearic sense of showmanship to the U.S. by way of Las Vegas, which has quickly become America’s club capital.

Before meeting up with Madonna to open summer stadium dates for the European leg of her “Sticky & Sweet” tour, Oakenfold connected with DJ Times for an hourlong, trans-Atlantic chat. When it was over, we were reminded of the difference between DJs who are good, and those who are great. Enjoy.

DJ Times: Following your artist albums, Bunkka and A Lively Mind, it’s good to see your return to the euphoric, progressive style of dance music with your new Perfecto Vegas compilation. Is this a vindication of sorts of the progressive trance sound?

Paul Oakenfold: In some respects. But I think it’s strange. Being in the U.K. and playing a bunch of shows, electronic music is so different here, now. It’s much more band and guitar-orientated, dirtier. Do you know the record [by Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden] “Bonkers”? That’s certainly more of the sound of over here right now than the euphoric sound. But with the club [Rain Nightclub at The Palms in Las Vegas], my sound works very well.

DJ Times: Why choose Las Vegas as the city to hold your first U.S. residency, as opposed to another American city?

Oakenfold: I personally think Las Vegas is the future, I do. I got offered a residency in L.A. and I think L.A.’s great. We did Electric Daisy, which was a huge success for them and very well done. It was over 100,000 people there! But I think Vegas has more clubs than any city. The tone has changed. Vegas is very young. It’s a lot more happening than a lot of cities I’ve been to in America. I felt, what I wanted to do was put on more of a show, use elements of the show, and Vegas was the perfect place to do it. So it was new, fresh and had the mentality to do that. If you look at what Ibiza was before the laws all changed, there were a lot of beach bars and music during the day. That’s what Vegas is now.

DJ Times: How so?

Oakenfold: Every hotel has reinvested in its pools. In Vegas, you’ll get there, get up and go hang out at the pool where music’s playing. Then, you roll into the late afternoon and they have various big-name DJs playing a lot of sunsets. You can have anything up to 3,000 people at a pool, which really reminds me of being in Ibiza at the beach. Then, you go until sunset. Then you change and shower, go to dinner, and then go to bars and clubs, and the clubs go ’til 4, 5, 6 in the morning. Then, there are afterparties until 9 in the morning. Then, you can literally start again. You can’t do that in New York or L.A. Vegas very much reminds me of Ibiza. It’s a city where a lot of people from all over America and internationally come. There are a lot of clubs, but also restaurants, bars, and so on. I felt that that was the best place.

DJ Times: You integrate a considerable amount of performance into your Perfecto parties at Rain at The Palms. Did you feel that that was something lacking in American clubland?

Oakenfold: Yeah, for sure. I wanted to do a residency that was fresh, different and new. I could’ve done New York, L.A. or Miami, but I felt that Vegas was the place to do it. We’re doing really well in hard times. We did upwards of 5,000 people on Memorial Day weekend. Labor Day is my next big week. I felt that Vegas understood the mentality of the show, and that is important. We’ve got fire in the club, snow, performance art, ex-Cirque de Soleil performers who work there…

DJ Times: I was at a gig where Tommy Lee and DJ Aero spun at Perfecto when you were out of town, and everyone was flipping over the men dressed in Army fatigues repelling upside-down from the ceiling wearing gas masks with red lasers coming out of their eyes. I remember these performers dangling from a horizontal ladder suspended high above the floor. I thought they were going to fall off. It was kind of surreal and like nothing I’ve seen in the U.S.

Oakenfold: We’ve changed the show in some respects. We moved it on in terms of performance art, though we still have that aspect. I said to Dave, who works in that area, I’m like, “We have no safety nets, here. These people are dangling in the air!” He said, “Look, they’ve had years of experience and they know what’s going on.” Some of the things they do, I’m like, wow. That’s what I like, that it’s different. That was one of the ideas of why I went to Vegas to do it.

DJ Times: How many times have you changed the show since you started?

Oakenfold: We’ve changed it twice so far since we started. I have a two-year deal, so there’s another year. We’ll be one year old in September.

DJ Times: What’s your DJ gear setup at the moment?

Oakenfold: To be honest, I’m not one of these DJs who’s moving more towards laptops. For me, it works really well using CDs and the mixer and Pioneer CDJ. What we do is pretty much standard for every club, unless a DJ’s using Serato. It’s pretty much standard for clubs around the world to use CDJs now. I saw Sven Väth, and he was using vinyl, and it was a really warm sound with vinyl and that’s important to the art of DJing. You can go too far and lose the art of DJing by using a laptop. What exactly is the DJ doing on his laptop that’s open in front of you? That’s not me passing judgment on other DJs, that’s just the art of DJing for me and what comes of playing from vinyl to CD.

DJ Times: So, the music on your Perfecto Vegas double-disc compilation is what you play at Rain?

Oakenfold: Yeah, it’s a lot of the music that’s been played at the club, and I felt that it fit more comfortably in terms of the time than putting bigger tunes on the CD. There are tracks that I definitely go out to break, at the club.

DJ Times: You still feel it’s important, as a DJ, to go out and actively break new records?

Oakenfold: It is important to break new music and it’s important to support new tracks, by whomever, that are really good. There’s sometimes a way of introducing the track where I turn and I let the previous track run out, and I let it go to silence, and then I play the new track. We get a lot of regulars at the club, and I steer towards looking at them. That’s always been an important part.

DJ Times: There was a period when you weren’t DJing so much and instead doing movie soundtracks and other non-club projects. Are you experiencing a renewed passion for DJing with your Perfecto parties at Rain, or has that love for DJing never dimmed?

Oakenfold: It’s difficult at the moment, because—I’ve been doing shows with Lenny Kravitz before this latest Madonna tour—it was a really tough audience to open for Lenny. As a DJ, I had to really dig deep, because Lenny’s crowd is a totally different crowd. When you’re warming up shows and it’s the bigger stadiums, you play a completely different set. I’ve always liked that challenge. It’s tough because you’re out of your comfort zone. In anything you do that’s difficult, it’s a challenge for me.

DJ Times: How has this round touring with Madonna been?

Oakenfold: We just started. I’ve got 29 shows with Madonna until September and I’ll be on the road with her ’til then. What the record company’s doing is releasing a greatest hits album [from Madonna], and there’s a bunch of songs that I’m producing for her that are new.

DJ Times: You produced her new songs from scratch? Not just remixed them?

Oakenfold: I produced them.

DJ Times: When will her new album be released, or can’t you talk about it?

Oakenfold: Nah, I can talk about it, but I’m not sure when. I presume it’ll be around Christmas.

DJ Times: Is Kevin Antunes still there? He’s amazing.

Oakenfold: Yeah, her musical director. That’s the thing—the people that she hires are the best at what they do.

DJ Times: You’ve gone on tour with U2, and with Madonna, more than once. You’ve also headlined your fair share of festivals and gigantic shows. Is it possible for a DJ breaking into the industry today to reach that level?

Oakenfold: I hope so. Sure, I don’t see why not.

DJ Times: How are you shopping for music these days? Do you even hunt for music anymore, with all the promos that get sent your way?

Oakenfold: The same as most people. The majority of it is online. I do get sent loads of music, but I go to Amoeba Music—the shop in L.A. It’s the most wonderful place to get lost in. It’s a place to go one afternoon and spend hours and buy tons of music. It’s the biggest record shop I’ve been to. That’s why I think it’s important to support it.

DJ Times: So what’s your favorite track of the day?

Oakenfold: I suppose, off the top of my head and without looking at my CDs, I think there’s a bunch of stuff from the Perfecto Vegas record that would be in my “top 10.” I just got this mix of [Michael Jackson’s] “Thriller” that someone sent to me that’s really dark, which I really love. It’s probably a bootleg.

DJ Times: Who are your favorite producers of the moment?

Oakenfold: Robert Vadney, Adam White and Tim Summer. Tim’s an unbelievably talented guy. His style, his approach, his arrangements. And he takes it to the next level. He has a strong image. He has it. He certainly has passion and a desire to be a great DJ.

DJ Times: Are you working on your next studio album?

Oakenfold: Yeah, I will. But I’m going in a different mood now when it comes to studio records. I’m thinking of going more commercial, more song-based, much more radio-friendly. That’s the challenge for me. The record that you have [Perfecto Vegas] is much more underground. It represents what we’re doing at the club. We’re very much a team. There’s loads of meetings.

DJ Times: I was about to ask you how involved you were in the day-to-day.

Oakenfold: There’s a song I made for the club called “Club Perfecto.” But with my next artist record, I’m gonna go much more song-based. That’s the challenge for me. To go and do a club record, for me, is not inspiring.

DJ Times: Few others do progressive dance music as well as you, though…

Oakenfold: The first artist album I’ve done [Bunkka] sold over a million copies. With A Lively Mind, I did as well as Bunkka; I did 650,000. I think that’s the idea for me in terms of an artist record, to do something that’s challenging to yourself. The DJ-mix albums represent a certain style and what I mainly do, but I wanted to…I enjoy challenge. You can make a song that does really well on radio and become successful. I like songs, I like melody. That’s what I grew up listening to. It’s not easy to do it well. I don’t find it easy, and that’s why it takes me so long to make a record.

DJ Times: You’re a long way from Cream in Liverpool. Do you have any favorite memories from that period?

Oakenfold: Yeah! That was my second. Ministry [Of Sound] was my first residency, Cream was my second residency. That was a very special time for me. I always do have great, fond memories of Cream. I still have people who were regulars at Cream who come to Vegas. I have this clan of people who book their holidays around the world where I play. A bunch of people come to Vegas to see me.

DJ Times: What did you do out of the ordinary to promote your Perfecto parties?

Oakenfold: We deliberately went around Ibiza to promote Rain, in the U.K. and Ibiza. I’m very involved in it. It’s very important at this time to look at clubs in a different way. Clubs now were not what they were 10 years ago. The approach to a lot of things has changed. Some for the better, some not. I’m not one of the people who are like, “Oh well, the good ole’ days...” Why live in the past? I don’t take nothin’ from the past. What happened was then. But if you can touch on the past and take good elements, then why not? I have a remix of “Bullet In The Gun” that someone had done. I don’t know how they got the parts. They sent it to me…and I started playing it and have been playing it at the club. I’m getting a really good reaction to it, too. I wonder who did the remix.

DJ Times: What’s next for you?

Oakenfold: After the Madonna tour, I go back to L.A. to start work on a movie called “Burlesque.” Then, back to the club. It’s a 45-minute flight to Vegas from my home in L.A. and I work all day with a full symphony orchestra [for the film].

DJ Times: You’ve been DJing for what now, 25 years?

Oakenfold: [laughs] No, less. Don’t give away my age. [laughs]

DJ Times: Do you ever feel unfairly judged because of your fame? Lesser known DJs aren’t subjected to constant analysis of every move they make.

Oakenfold: I understand how it works. It’s a shame that we do this—we like to build people up and then knock them down. I’ve certainly seen that living in L.A., but I think it’s not as bad as in the U.K. It’s strange, just falling back into the rhythm of England. Just reading in the papers the whole Michael Jackson thing and seeing how we lose our focus on the music. People are more interested in the drugs he was taking and the playing around with kids than in the music. We’re such a small country in the U.K., but for some reason, we like to build people up and knock them down. It’s silly to take it personally. That comes with success.

DJ Times: Do you attribute criticism to envy?

Oakenfold: It’s a fine line with DJing, because if you have success, people say you’ve sold out…when that’s what they want for themselves! I’ve always believed in doing it for the right reasons. I’ve never gone into music for the money. I suppose a few people do. My dad once said to me, “Why do you think it’s called the record business?” I woke up and realized I’ve gotta learn that side of it, because I was involved in a very successful project and never saw anything from it.

DJ Times: What is your most important legacy?

Oakenfold: My residency in America is so important to me. I hope that becomes a new trend. I think America can do that. That’s what was so important in England—Godskitchen, Cream. Hopefully, other DJs will go and do it. Electric Daisy was so successful. Ultra Music Festival has been hugely successful over the years, so why not have some of America’s best DJs get back to being residents and establishing themselves. It’d be good for all of us to have residencies, especially in New York. L.A. is great in terms of clubs and how well they’re doing. Saturday nights at Vanguard, that Dave Dean is doing, it’s packed to the rafters every Saturday. Dave’s been a very important part of establishing the West Coast scene. From opening a club in San Francisco, I did a big show on Hollywood Boulevard, he does these New Year’s Eve shows.

DJ Times: The Giant New Year’s Eve parties in L.A. when the streets are shut down? Will you be doing that again this New Years?

Oakenfold: I’ll be at Rain. We haven’t advertised it yet. We don’t need to. We’re in a good position. We worked to get to that position. I worked very hard at the club to establish good sound, visuals. There’s a lot of work that goes into it.

DJ Times: What’s the sound system at Rain? Do you bring in extra sound for your nights?

Oakenfold: We don’t bring it in. Part of my deal was, when I went there, to do the complete opposite—not to bring anything. It was to have a great sound system from the beginning. I thought, “Let’s start from scratch and build a great sound system.” That’s what a lot of clubs were built around. That was the essence of a great club, to have a great sound system. At Rain, there were a lot of things that were changed from the old venue. They gutted it and built it over again.

DJ Times: Just for you?

Oakenfold: Yeah. The old dancefloor was horrendous. There was a massive podium that you walked up onto. There was no focus point for the DJ. The DJ was on the side by the bar. I was like, “None of this works.” They needed extra sound in certain places. So we started again and built the sound out and changed it. Now, there’s a point of focus. Rain is a great team to work with. The owners, the Maloofs, are great. Mike Fuller is also a really good man. He’s a hugely important part of why I went to this club. There’s nothing bad about working with a good team. Certainly, the success of the club is not me, it’s us—the performers, the people who work there when I’m not there. I’m under contract and I have to work there most weeks, but I’m like, “I’ve been offered to tour with Madonna.” They see the bigger picture of being associated with her tour.

DJ Times: As a DJ, what gets you off nowadays? Do you have any great “moments” lately?

Oakenfold: For sure. Touring with Madonna in front of 80,000 people. For me, I enjoy that. But with my club nights, to do a residency and have 3,000 people in the club every week is really tough. I put a lot on the line. I have friends who’ve asked me, “Why are you doing this? You don’t need to do this.” You question yourself. You realize it’s the passion to play, and that’s what I need. I stopped focusing on DJing at a certain time. It’s my main source of income now. I miss being in a club on a weekly basis, I miss that. I miss breaking new records. When people talk about Cream or Ministry, it’s because you had a residency there and you established a sound there. I miss that thing that I had…when a DJ goes to play at a club, you’re only as good as that night. When you establish a residency…that really takes it to the next level.