Paul Oakenfold might be the most famous DJ in the world today. He's one of those people who always seems to be in the right place at the right time: Harlem during the birth of hip-hop, Manchester when rave culture was in its infancy, Ibiza during the resurgence of dance music there. He's also proven to be the most sought-after remixer in the biz, re-tooling everything from U2 to Justin Timberlake. I caught up with him last weekend, just before his show at Paolo Solari.
SFR: It feels like people respond to the genre of house music differently in the States versus globally. How do you feel about that?
PO:
Do they? I don't think they do. I've noticed a lot more Americans travelling to Europe than when I come here. I see the enthusiasm and the numbers of attendance are pretty big. I don't see anything that's different. I like coming to America and playing. I think people are really responsive. They realize you've come all this way to play and they enjoy themselves. Whereas in England when you have someone on your doorstep all the time you become quite jaded but here they don't seem to be because [DJs] are not here all the time.
Do you think that the quick advancement of technology affects DJing in any way?
It doesn't affect it. If anything, it certainly makes it easier, down to the basics of carrying boxes of records. If you're playing on CD or vinyl scratch then you're obviously not lugging around boxes and boxes of records. It's also easier for people to make music, to encourage singers, songwriters, producers. A hell of a lot of DJs make their own music these days because of how accessible it is with the technology we have today.
How do you think remixing and DJing has changed in the past 10 years?
Well for me they've always been an important part of what I do as a job. I might work in the studio during the week and at the weekend, play it out. You have a direct link with what's going on. On a weekly basis you can test records, you can see what doesn't work, what does, arrangement, structure, point of view.
I'm curious about what the process is. How do you remix a song?
Well usually the record company gives you a brief. They tell you what they want. Then you work to that brief, put your expertise in and tell them how you see it and what you want.
And then, creatively, what do you do from there?
From a creative standpoint what you do is sit down and listen to the original track. Decide, first of all, whether you want to do it or not. If you do want to do it, then you take away everything on the original track that doesn't work. Usually I take away the drums, keep the bassline. The arrangement, the structure will completely change. I'll do loads of additional production in the respect of, maybe take some vocals off, add some guitars, add some keyboards, strings and make it fit the genre they want it to. On average you get maybe 24 tracks on a record. I sometimes will change 22 of those and keep maybe the lead vocal and the backing vocal. I've gone as far as to keep only the lead vocal and change 23 things out of 24. There's no set rule for what works. When I was working on U2 I wouldn't keep the bass and the drums. When I was doing the Rolling Stones I just really kept the vocal. But then again on one of them-Justin Timberlake-I kept a lot that was there and just changed the arrangement and the structure. It depends, really, on what you think will work.
You began by discovering hip-hop in the '80s. Does that old school stuff influence how you work today?
I was 16, just out of school and working for a record company. So I was aware of this new sound coming out of America and I was very much into that sound at the time. I found it really interesting, the whole breakdance movement. So I was trying to sign stuff here and I wound up signing the Will Smith record with Jazzy Jeff, Salt 'n' Pepa, LL Cool J. I was running Def Jam, so, very much involved with that whole area. At the time it wasn't old school. What influences me and what I'm into is new stuff so, you know, I'd be out looking for new music now. At the time that was brand-new, different culture, different scene and it appealed to my age and demographic. I'm not into going back and finding the retro '80s bands, or '90s bands. I'm into finding the next big act.
How do you go about doing that?
You just look really. Keep your ears open. You have a network of A&R people you speak to. There's no certain way really. I really encourage promoters, if there's a young singer or songwriter or DJ who want to branch out of his local area, then by all means approach me and give me your music. Then I listen to it, and if it's worth getting involved in and taking another step, then we would do it. In the last seven, eight years I've signed a band from Russia, from Poland, from Germany. So it's work, but the Russian act had a top five song in the UK and sold 300,000 records. I like to find new music and I'm in a position where I can do it, so who knows?
Does that ever get tiresome?
No, because that's the excitement of doing it. It would if I was looking at old stuff, because I've been there, done it. If you're a scientist and you're trying to discover new things, that's part of your makeup. I really enjoy that process and I probably will 'til the day I die. I love it when I hear something for the first time. That's what music's all about: sharing and giving.
