Paul was born and raised in London, England and began mixing at the age of 16
with friend Trevor Fung playing soul and rare-groove at a basement bar in Covent
Garden. His musical roots expanded while living in West Harlem, New York in the
80’s. Hanging out in various clubs during this period and working as a courier
for local dance radio stations exposed him to the birth of Hip Hop. Back in
England Paul landed a job at Champion Records as an A&R man his keen ear ensured
he quickly signed Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Salt n’ Pepa, which saw Paul
then move to the London offices of Profile and Def Jam.
Paul became more interested in DJ’ing and producing as time went on. In the late
80s Paul spent most summers in the Balearic island of Ibiza - a hippie-inspired
community with an over-indulgent club scene. Legend has it that Paul, Danny
Rampling, Nicky Holloway and Ian St Paul after spending holidays in Ibiza,
returned to England with a new Balearic sound that kicked off the now prominent
dance scene. Paul and his counterparts began running club nights regularly in
London promoting the new house sound. Paul’s club nights (Future at the Sound
Shaft, then Spectrum and Land of Oz at Heaven) were hugely successful.
Paul’s DJ’ing skills coupled with his A&R experience made him a natural
producer. In 1991 he produced the Happy Mondays first album Pills n’ Thrills n’
Bellyaches giving the band a dance friendly sound. Although continuing to DJ in
clubs, the taste of producing pushed Paul into the studio more often. Along with
studio partner Steve Osbourne they produced and re-mixed major artists including
U2, Simply Red, New Order, the Cure, Massive Attack, The Rolling Stones, Stone
Roses and Snoop Doggy Dogg - to name but a few. The Oakenfold/Osborne team were
nominated by BPI as Best Producers from 1990 to 1993. Paul’s success as a
producer led to him starting Perfecto as a record label in 1992. He still runs
and finds talent as well as releasing remixed material under the Perfecto banner
which is now evolving.
His big break however came with his remix of U2’s "Even Better Than The Real
Thing". U2 repaid Oakenfold by inviting him to act as the opening DJ on their
Zooropa world tour. After this Paul held DJ residencies at Cream in Liverpool
and Ministry of Sound in London. Paul’s reputation for playing great sets to
large crowds made him the obvious choice to be the first DJ to play on the main
stage at Glastonbury.
Paul’s artist project is Bunkka, the first genuine Paul Oakenfold album,
released by Perfecto Records - summer 2002. The album confronted many people’s
pre-conceptions of Paul Oakenfold, while much of the musical vocabulary is
borrowed from dance technology, Bunkka was no conventional dance album. Bunkka
features vocals by artists such as Nelly Furtado, Ice Cube, Tricky, Hunter S.
Thompson, and Perry Farrell. Bunkka was the recipient of ‘The Best Album’ award
at USA Dancestar Awards in 2003. Bunkka’s follow up is currently being recorded
and set for a mid 2005 release.
In response to feverish demand for Paul’s live performances in the United
States, the mix album “Another World” was released exclusively state side in
2004 and has certified Gold status, selling over a half million copies – the
highest ever selling dance music compilation album.
2002 saw Paul embark on the Heineken Music Releases Thirst tour – a global
talent search combined with an incredible show, which enabled Paul’s DJ set to
take on a unique live element – incorporating a phenomenal production including
five screens and a touring crew of twenty three. In 2003 and 2004 over two
thousand five hundred DJ’s from 35 countries competed with 60 DJ’s being crowned
by the judging panel in their country
Paul’s latest groundbreaking achievement came with the nominations for the
47th Annual GRAMMY® Awards announced December 7th 2004 – which nominated his
latest album “Creamfields Mixed By Paul Oakenfold” in the brand new category
Best Electronic/Dance Album. The album was released August 2004 in the UK with a
global roll out including the US, the album was compiled of exclusive remixes
and reworks of tracks Paul had undertaken especially for the project. The 47th
Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on February 13th 2005 in Los Angeles and will
be broadcast live in the US on CBS.
This is the latest in long line of US successes for London boy Oakenfold in both
the realms of music and film. Paul is currently producing material for the long
anticipated “The Pink Panther” movie from MGM Studios. Under his belt for 2004
was work on the phenomenal “Shrek 2” and the Michael Mann Tom Cruise movie
“Collateral”, and the yet to be released “Elvis Has Left the Building” (by the
team who created “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”). Paul also scored the Warner
Brothers movie "Swordfish" produced by Joel Silver (Producer of The Matrix).
Paul’s move into the world of Hollywood music production has been remarkably
rapid; within a three year period he has earned credits on many movie projects
including “Golden Eye”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Signs”, “Austin Powers”, and “Matrix:Reloaded”.
2004 saw Paul also achieved recognition for his scoring of video games –
receiving a nomination for a ‘Spike TV Video Game Award’ for his soundtrack
contribution to the Electronic Arts Game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent.
Paul is currently featuring in a new TV series in the US - "The Club," which is
currently showing on Spike TV and is a series of 10 x one-hour shows chronicling
all the trials and tribulations that go into running a nightclub as it undergoes
a makeover to compete with the gaming hotels on the Vegas Strip. Paul had
complete control over the design of the music and lighting rigs for the refurb
of the venue and installed the ultimate sound and lighting system made
completely to his specifications. The makers of The Club have followed Paul
throughout this process and even managed to sneak into a couple of his gigs
(including Madonna’s appearance at Slane Castle in Ireland). Behind "The Club"
is the team who brought you "The Restaurant," “The Club” is set to be aired in
the UK early 2005 - details to be announced soon!
Paul still continues to be one of the world’s leading re-mixers. Recent projects
include remixing for the second time U2’s “Beautiful Day” whilst still working
with the world’s top recording artists including, Madonna’s (Hollywood), Justin
Timberlake (Rock your Body) and the one and only Elvis (Rubber Neckin) in
addition to working on tracks by Michael Jackson Jennifer Lopez, Natasha
Bedingfield’s ‘If Your Gonna’ and The Doors.
“Film and music are very important to me and now I feel I’m able to combine both
worlds” Paul says, “DJing is still crucial to me – and the feeling when spinning
my own track to a crowd who can sing along is fantastic – the follow up to
Bunkka will I hope, be true to my fans and be a pleasant surprise to my
critics.”
Paul is currently in the studio recording his second solo album in addition to
his relentless gigs and production projects.
Source: pauloakenfold.com