Dancestar USA was the largest televised electronic music and clubbing lifestyle event in history! Created by Andy Ruffell, in 2004 the event was televised around the world to over 50 countries. Billed as the ‘Oscars Of Electronic Music’ the TV Broadcast featured 16 award categories and 8 live performances. The award winners were decided by you!, with over 650,000 online votes. Award winners included, Paul Oakenfold, Madonna, Fat Boy Slim and Tiesto.

The event ran from 2000 to 2002 in London and 2002 to 2004 in Miami USA. The Hosts included superstar DJ’s and Hollywood stars Roger Sanchez, Juliette Lewis and Carmen Electra. Award presenters included Lenny Kravitz, J-Lo, P. Diddy, Dallas Austin and Paris Hilton.

Dancestar was a window to the world for electronic music and the clubbing lifestyle. MTV, broadcast the event on MTV2 in America, and in 50 countries across the world inc. Europe (MTV Europe all feeds), Star Channel also broadcast the show across Asia including China. In total, the estimated TV audience exceeded 400 million households, not counting the 5,000 clubbers, DJ’s and industry players who attended the event. The value of exposure for DJ’s and their music ran to many millions of dollars worth of media coverage.

Dancestar Is Coming Back! Watch this space for info! wdma2012.com

iiO perform their monster hit ‘Rapture’ live at The Dancestar Electronic Music Awards UK..

While 17 years old, Nadia Ali was working in the New York offices of Versace, when a co-worker introduced her to producer Markus Moser, who was looking for a female singer to collaborate on some of his original dance music production.^[2] The two teamed up and started a group that was originally named “Vaiio,” named after the Sony laptop Nadia was working on. They later dropped the “va” to avoid causing problems in the future with Sony. Working with Moser, she wrote the lyrics and the vocals for the songs.^[3]

iiO is best known for their debut single “Rapture“, released in 2001. The video for “Rapture” was directed by Andy Hylton. iiO followed up “Rapture” with several successful remixes of the track by producers John Creamer & Stephane K, Armin Van Buuren and Deep Dish. A large number of bootleg and white label remixes ensued, including a Paul Van Dyk remix.

After “Rapture”, the duo followed with At the End in 2002. The release featured remixes by The Scumfrog, Johnny Vicious, Saeed & Palash, Michael Woods and Frank Bailey. The duo subsequently released Smooth in 2003 and “Runaway” in 2004.

iiO’s first album, Poetica, was delayed several times and released independently in March 2005 on Made Records, and worldwide in June 2006. By the time the album was released Ali had left iiO to purse a solo career, while Moser continues to released material featuring her on the vocals. These included the single “Kiss You“, which was released to promote the album, followed by “Is It Love?“. Moser followed these with “Rapture 2007″ and Reconstruction Time: The Best Of iiO Remixed in 2007, and finally Rapture Reconstruction: Platinum Edition in 2008.^[4]

In 2010, Ali re-recorded “Rapture” for her remix compilation, Queen of Clubs Trilogy: The Best of Nadia Ali Remixed, featuring remixes produced by French tastemaker/producer Tristan Garner, British DJ Gareth Emery and Swedish DJ Avicii. In addition iiO reemerged from hiatus in December 2010 with Moser release new remixes of the band’s second single “At The End (Metropolitan Mix)”.^[5]

On April 1, 2011, iiO announced that their new album, to be called ‘Exit 110′ and featuring Nadia Ali, is set to be released on April 19.

The amazing Tim Deluxe performing live at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards UK

Tim Deluxe went from being just another British DJ/producer to being a brand-name hitmaker as he released one smash single after another during the early 2000s, bringing much acclaim to Darren Emerson’s Underwater Records in the process with big, big vocal-driven tracks like “It Just Won’t Do” and “Less Talk, More Action.” Deluxe began his road to fame as a club DJ, a pastime he initially pursued while working at a London-based record store during the ’90s. He then began producing tracks as well, collaborating with Omar Amidora and Andy Lysandrou in the short-lived group Double 99. The group scored itself a huge hit in 1997 with “RIP Groove,” an anthem that got spun everywhere from London to Ibiza and also got compiled on myriad compilations. Following this remarkable success, Deluxe ventured out on his own, producing tracks for Cross Section Records (“Moments,” “I Know”) before moving on to the better-known Underwater label, where he debuted with “Sirens,” and then struck gold with “It Just Won’t Do.” A singalong vocal track highlighted by Sam Obernik and a Latin touch, it became one of the hottest tracks at 2002′s Winter Music Conference and set the stage for his next big hit, “Less Talk, More Action!,” a collaboration with Terra Deva that in turn became one of the hottest tracks at the following year’s WMC. Moreover, Deluxe continued his DJing, for which he was likewise acclaimed, and also did a lot of remix work for big names like Basement Jaxx, Layo & Bushwacka!, Kylie Minogue, and even the White Stripes. All of this culminated in 2004 with Underwater’s release of Deluxe’s full-length debut, The Little Ginger Club Kid, which compiled many of his more popular singles as well as several new productions like “Mundaya (The Boy).” ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Tiëstowins ‘Best International DJ’ at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards Miami USA.

Tijs Michiel Verwest, OON (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtɛi̯s miˈxil vərˈʋɛst]; born 17 January 1969),^[1] known as Tiësto (pronounced [tiɛsto]), is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto. On his latest productions, however, he has dropped the “DJ” label and is now known simply as “Tiësto”,^[2] an alias which is a twist of his childhood nickname.^[3]

In 1997, he founded the label Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the Magik and In Search of Sunrise CD series. In 1999 and 2000 he collaborated with Ferry Corsten to create Gouryella. His 2000 remix of Delerium‘s “Silence” featuring Sarah McLachlan exposed him to more mainstream audiences. In 2001, he released his first solo album In My Memory which gave him several major hits that launched his career. He was named “World’s No.1 DJ” 3 consecutive times by DJ Magazine from 2002 through 2004.

Just after releasing his second studio album Just Be in 2004 at the Summer Olympics, he performed live at the opening ceremony in Athens, Greece, becoming the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympics. Tracks he made especially for the Olympics were mixed together and released as the mix compilation Parade of the Athletes later that year. In April 2007 Tiësto launched both his radio show Tiësto’s Club Life on Radio 538 in the Netherlands and released his third studio album titled Elements of Life. The album reached number one on the Dutch album chart as well on “Billboard Top Electronic Albums” in the U.S. and received a nomination for a Grammy Award in 2008.^[4] Tiësto released his fourth studio album called Kaleidoscope in October 2009.

Telepopmusic play live at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards in Miami USA ‘Breathe’.

The electronic outfit Télépopmusik followed in the footsteps of Air, Les Rythmes Digitales, and Dimitri From Paris and established their own musical stylings in the arena of French dance music. The core trio of Fabrice Dumont, Stephan Haeri, and Christophe Hetier formed in 1997 after burning out from playing with other bands. Dumont founded the dream pop group Autour de Lucie, whereas Hetier used to be the popular DJ Anti-Pop and Haetri played with Planet Zen. As Télépopmusik, the group contributed their newly fresh electronic sound on “Sonic 75″ to a SourceLab compilation in the same year. Their acid house electronic jive was far more impressive on Genetic World, which appeared on Capitol in April 2002. Debut single “Breathe” was popular among the club circuit for several months, but by early 2003 the song became a mainstream smash thanks to its inclusion in television ads for the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV. In February, the group embarked on their first ever American tour. Angel Milk appeared two years later. MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi

Sandra Collins wins ‘Best DJ’ at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards in Miami USA.

Before I started spinning, I went on the dancefloor and watched everyone. They were all smiling and happy. It was almost like everyone’ inner child was coming out. And I thought ‘Wow… this is what I wanna do. I want to create this.’” Sandra Collins (Sweater, 1997)

Put simply, Sandra Collins is one of the US’ finest Progressive House and Trance DJs. Dubbed “The Trance Goddess”, Sandra has captured the imaginations of dance floors around the globe with her driving beats, hypnotic grooves and mesmerizing melodies. Her rare ability to combine a powerful groove for the body and an elevating journey for the mind continues to win the loyalty of fans throughout the world and looks set to make her one of the biggest names in global dance music today.

Sandra’ ability to inspire the crowd stems back to her early years. Born into a famous Las Vegas show business family, Sandra is no stranger to the spotlight. She began DJing in Phoenix in 1989 and demonstrated a rare flair for working the dance floor. Her talent was soon recognized in the underground scene and her name became synonymous with ground breaking parties including the historic New York “Storm” raves with Frankie Bones and The Fifth Column with Josh Wink in 1992.

Sandra’ relentless passion for dance culture led her to Los Angeles in 1992. Here, she again proved herself as one of the originators of the underground sound with three year residencies at LA’ legendary “King” and “Sketchpad” afterhours. During this time, Sandra was a regular guest DJ on Powetools 106FM, as well as helping to set up the first US office for the German Trance label Eye Q – Harthouse. From 1995 to 1998, Sandra also held a three year residency at LA’ most popular weekly “Metropolis” alongside Doc Martin and former partner in crime Taylor. It was here that Sandra befriended Sasha and played alongside greats such as Carl Cox, Chemical Brothers, Paul van Dyk and Orbital… just to name a few. Sandra’ popularity continued to soar over the years as she DJed to enthusiastic audiences across the US and overseas. Whether doing international tours of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, or headlining the US Electric Highway Tour with the Fluke and the Crystal Method, Sandra was more in demand than ever before. Having DJed in a Coca-Cola commercial and graced the cover of ‘XLR8R’ magazine, she has also been featured in Urb, Option, Jump, BPM, Sweater, Mixmag, UHF and Fix magazines.

In addition to extensive touring, Sandra found time to record her first mixed CD “Lost in Time” on Fragrant Music in 1997. Described by Option magazine as “A beautiful sensual journey through the realms of hard house and trance by one of America’ best known DJs”, the CD continues to receive rave reviews throughout the US and was grounds for her nomination as “Outstanding Electronica Artist” in California’ BAMMIE Awards and “Best Trance DJ” in the forthcoming 1998 Global DJ Awards. Continuing her growth as an artist, Sandra has also begun recording her own tracks. Her spectacular first release, “Ode to Our” b/w “Red” through Fragrant sold out in Europe and the US in one day and was named Trance Release of the Month in XLR8R magazine.

With fervor continuing to grow about Sandra’ scorching sets, she was invited to move to New York and take up a residency at the prestigious Twilo in early 1998. It is here, alongside fellow residents Sasha & Digweed, Paul van Dyk and Carl Cox that Sandra Collins has firmly entered the upper echelon of international DJs… where she is destined to become a key player in the global dance scene due to her profoundly positive attitude, driving creative force and monumental sets. Sandra’ popularity continued to soar over the years as she DJed to enthusiastic audiences across the US and overseas. Whether doing international tours of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, or headlining the US Electric Highway Tour with the Fluke and the Crystal Method, Sandra was more in demand than ever before.

Sandra has become an ambassador for American trance, she landed on the covers and pages of every major U.S. dance music magazine, as well as in magazines like Spin, Gear, Urb, Option, Jump, BPM, Sweater, Mixmag, UHF and Fix

Continuing her growth as an artist, Sandra has also begun recording her own tracks. Her spectacular first release, “Ode to Our” b/w “Red” through Fragrant sold out in Europe and the US in one day and was named “Trance Release of the Month” in XLR8R magazine.

Other nominations

“Outstanding Electronica Artist” – BAMMIE Awards California

“Best Trance DJ” – Global DJ Awards

“Best Female Artist” – URB Magazine

Her ability to be both a crowd-pleaser and connect emotionally with her audience won her the daunting opening night slot at Woodstock ’99. Spinning after Moby, she admirably held her own with a six hour set in front of the 80,000 mostly-neophyte dance music fans, and by the end of her set had by all published accounts won them over.

Now with residencies at Chicago’ “Crobar” and Las Vegas “Utopia”, Sandra is one of the progressive dance music’ most in-demand DJs, travelling to raves and clubs across the country and around the world, from Little Rock to Lima, Peru and now finally Finland.

Now with Tranceport 3, Sandra marks the first time an American (and woman) has been behind the decks for the genre-defining trance series. Following up the global trance introduction of Paul Oakenfold’ Tranceport 1, and the deep, end-of-the-night vibe of Dave Ralph’ Tranceport 2, Sandra’ installment turns up the emotions and lets the melodies and beats pulse with a vibrance that’ somehow both introspective and anthemic.

Tranceport 3 is, like her life, a journey to places both brightly familiar and darkly exciting, mapped out by progressive underground anthems and new tracks of her own that point to the future of trance, in America and the world. The journey, as always, is as much ours as it is hers.

Sanda Kleinenberg wins ‘Best Remix’ at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards Miami USA.

Kleinenberg is not only an artist who declines to stick to a single, easily defined sound, he also utilizes more than one medium to create a night out. Long at the forefront of integrating video imagery and other visuals in his DVJ sets, Sander includes Pioneer among his sponsors for these innovative performances. The manufacturer has been involved with outfitting select clubs around the world with the SVM-1000 audio-visual mixer (which Kleinenberg helped develop), DVJ players, plasma televisions, and other custom video installations exclusively for his performances.
Integrating music and images single-handedly requires sharpened skills and on-the-fly invention. “Now, in the process of DJing, I am in control of another dimensions. The thought processes are not just about music; there is a visual element as well.” Which allows his to shape his identity, and stimulate crowds, in a host of fresh ways. “This is a whole new way of looking at what you do creatively. In the end, that is very challenging. It makes you more versatile as well. I love keeping on my toes.”
Sander will continue to show off his aesthetic flexibility at residencies around the world during the course of the year, including Pacha in Ibiza, Avalon in Los Angeles, Discoteque in Moscow, and Melkweg in Amsterdam. Each of these gigs affords him unique creative opportunities; the exclusivity and luxury of Pacha elicits different impulses from him than the storied, historic Avalon, pristine sound quality of Discoteque, or the iconic pop temple status of Melkweg for example. Which is how he likes it. “Residencies are like laboratories: You can go in and experiment. As you get to know the sound system and the clientele, and become comfortable, you have more faith in each potential change of direction.”

The year 2011 will be the year of the release of Sander Kleinenberg’s debut album ’5K’.
This is what Sander has to say himself about the album:

”I’m sure the listener will find the ambivalence between the DJ in me trying to make a soundtrack for Saturday night and the writer in me trying to write a substantial song with more depth to it.” Sander explains, “The internal battle bothered me for a long time and it’s obvious that I’ve been struggling to chose sides. As a matter of fact I’m still not sure but simply had to move forward. I noticeably tried to marry the two on this album and in my humble opinion succeeded, which resulted in this exciting ‘5K’ studio album on which I’ve been working for the past year and a half. It’s been great working with such a variety of extremely talented people in order to make this happen.”

Those “extremely talented people” include British jazz singer/songwriter Jamie Cullum, an artist whose involvement in Sander’s album may well turn some heads. In fact, it represents exactly what Sander wanted to achieve with his LP and in-turn Jamie admits “I’ve watched Sander for many years from the dancefloor as a fan, so it was an absolute dream come true to work with him! He’s an amazing producer to work with.”

Across 5K you not only get a true account of all the sounds that are currently exciting Sander, but you get all the experience and wisdom that a 20-year DJ career has brought, This really Is Sander Kleinenberg. Starting with a nod towards his first love of De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest, ‘This Love’ featuring Ace Reign opens the album in style with a high-energy rap of the highest quality. Flowing smoothly into ‘Remember When’ (the Jamie Cullem single) and then into ‘Follow Me’, Sander quickly sets his stool out that this is not an album consisting of 10 instrumental dancefloor bangers, in fact, despite it’s very danceable sound it’s quite the opposite, packed full of character and radio-appeal.

Another point worth noting is the flow that Sander’s achieved on 5K, deliberately choosing not to use gaps between each track, the album (although not seamlessly beat matched) builds in a way not too dissimilar to a DJ set. With the opening three tracks sucking you in, Sander then drops ‘The Healer’ – a straight up four to the floor banger – into ‘The Journey’ featuring Kraak & Smaak and Ursula Rucker – a classic Moroder-like analogue-synth journey – and then the huge summer club anthem ‘M.A.N.I.A.C.’ – the biggest dancefloor-focused track on the album.

From there Sander diversifies again, drawing on his love of epic rock, ‘Closer’ featuring Neil Ormandy could easily be mistaken for U2 or The Killers. Followed by Sander’s “attempt at being French”, the 80’s-inspired vocodered ‘R.Y.A.N.L.’ (Rock you all night long) and then into ‘Disko Riot’ ft Jon Fugler, which is, in Sander’s own words “a techno protest song written strongly to stand up against what the world of money has done to us all – how bankers obsessed with wealth have fucked us all over… and still do.”

‘Chemically’ featuring Ryan Starr is strongly influenced by The Prodigy, with rave breaks providing the backdrop to Ryan’s perfectly suited vocals – a real standout on the album. With the brilliant Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee, providing his services for an almost dubstep reprise with ‘This Love’, the album then draws to a close with ‘Wish I Said’ featuring Miss Montreal – a deeply personally song dedicated to Sander’s mother and all the things he wanted to say to her before she passed away.

It’s an emotional end to a very personal album. An album that’s been developed and worked on for a lot longer than most, we only hope that the follow up is not too far in the future. You already knew Sander Kleinenberg the DJ, you now know Sander Kleinenberg the artist.

Paul Oakenfold performs live at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards in Miami USA ‘Ready Steady Go’.

Paul Oakenfold’s musical career started from admirably humble beginnings, playing soul and rare groove cuts in a Covent Garden wine bar in the late ‘seventies with mate Trevor Fung. By the early ‘eighties, having decided that NYC was the place, Paul decamped there armed only with the chutzpah to blag his way into a courier’s job in West Harlem. At that time, more than any other, New York was bursting with musical invention: hip-hop was the freshest street sound around, and Larry Levan – arguably the first ever superstar DJ, inspiring a frenzy in the crowd that some guy playing records had never inspired before – was packing out the Paradise Garage every week with the revolutionary, hypnotic mixing style that would become the acid house DJ’s stock in trade.

Returning to London, Paul became one of the UK’s leading authorities on hip-hop. During his stint as an A&R man for Champion he signed the as-then unknowns Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and Salt N’Pepa. Oh yeah, and he appeared on Blue Peter with a breakdancing crew who he was looking after at the time.

In 1985 young Paul spent the summer on a beautiful Balearic island called Ibiza. Ever heard of it? Oakey is as much responsible as anyone for making it the clubber’s paradise it is today, as two years after that first trip he, alongside mates Trevor Fung, Nicky Holloway, Ian St Paul, Danny Rampling and Johnny Walker, went there for a week to celebrate his birthday. If the first visit had been good, this one changed their lives forever. Dancing in the warm night air beneath stars at the then open-air Amnesia to the oddest mix of music any of them had ever heard, courtesy of island legend Alfredo, Paul’s urge to import this incredible experience – and the Balearic sound – back to England became too great to resist.

Acid House Explosion

Prior to his Ibiza trip, Paul had been running a successful soul/jazz night at The Project in Streatham. On his return from the white island he persuaded the owner to let him run an after-hours ‘Ibiza reunion’ party. An attempt at a Balearic music policy had failed Paul one year earlier: the crowd just hadn’t been ready to hear so many musical styles mixed together in one night, let alone in one DJ’s set, but by 1987, and coupled with Paul’s sheer enthusiasm and showman’s talent for setting a musical mood, attitudes were changing. The night was a complete success, and led to what was to be – alongside Danny Rampling’s Shoom – one of London’s, and England’s, first major acid house nights: Spectrum at Heaven in Charing Cross.

Spectrum grew out of Future, a night held in The Sanctuary, which annexed the much bigger Heaven club. Many never thought Spectrum (suitably subtitled ‘Theatre Of Madness’) would succeed: a 1500+ capacity club on a Monday night? Forget about it. And at first they looked to be right. For the first few weeks, attendance was low, leaving Paul and co-promoter Ian St Paul in dire financial straits. Then, suddenly, the vibe was out and the queues were literally going around the block. And a new phase in club culture had begun.

Spectrum continued for a couple of years, changing its name along the way to Land Of Oz. New initiates to the scene (as almost everybody was) marvelled at the full-on atmosphere of the place: hands reaching up into the sweat hazed air, laser lights pulsing and washing over the smiling crowd. Alex Paterson (later of The Orb) DJed in the VIP chillout area (the White Room), while Paul created his now trademark fervour in the cavernous main room.

Alongside running a seminal club night, Paul’s production career had also begun by 1988 under the name Electra, working with long-time collaborator Steve Osborne. By 1990, with his work on The Happy Mondays’ frugadelic Wrote For Luck and then Hallelujah (on the Madchester Rave On EP), Paul had created two of the cornerstone records of the indie-dance scene, a hybrid that demystified acid house for kids who’d been raised on a musical diet of guitar, bass, and drums. Paul was one of the guest DJs at The Stone Roses’ legendary Spike Island gig, and his work with Osborne on The Happy Mondays’ classic Pills, Thrills And Bellyaches LP (NME’s 1990 Album Of The Year) won the pair the 1991 Brit Award for Best Producer.

Remix galore followed, for Mondays labelmates New Order; Massive Attack; The Shamen, and Arrested Development among others, as Paul and Steve began trading under the name Perfecto. If the name was little known at first that soon changed with the 1992 Perfecto mix of U2’s Even Better Than The Real Thing. The track, with delicious irony, attained a higher chart position on release than the original song, thus signalling a watershed in the history and growth of dance music.

Superstar DJ!

1993 saw Paul hired to provide the warm-up sonics on U2’s Zoo TV world tour, and as a result the de facto arrival of the superstar DJ. The past decade has seen Paul rack up a dizzying blur of firsts and foremosts, including, not least, his being voted the number one DJ in the world by the readers of DJ magazine, and has heard the name “Oakey!” yelled hoarsely from clubs, fields (including an epoch-making set on the main stage at Glastonbury Festival, no less) and arenas in every corner of the globe.

On the production front Paul began to release his own tracks as well as continuing to turn in remixes, while Perfecto expanded into a fully-fledged label. Its offshoot, Perfecto Fluoro, became the label of choice in the mid-‘nineties for the harder, trippier Goa trance sound. Today Perfecto boasts artists as diverse as Arthur Baker, Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero, and Timo Maas on its roster, and has gone from strength to strength by refusing to pander to only one style of dance music. Alongside the building of the Perfecto brand, Paul released a string of superlative mix CD’s, amongst them his awesome New York set for Global Underground – still the series’ biggest seller to date. And who else would have been commissioned to write the theme for what was certain to be the biggest TV show of all time? How did you guess? Paul wrote and produced the Big Brother theme, as Element 4, with Andy Gray.

On the club front, well, time for a deep breath…Ready? OK, here we go: Paul undertook a legendary two-year residence at Liverpool’s Cream that took residencies in general to another level, from the personally designed DJ booth to die-hard fans (dubbed ‘the Oakenfolk’ in the press) who would travel the length and breadth of the country week in, week out to hear him whip up a magical musical storm, that would still be ringing in the ears and exciting the mind in the office or the lecture hall on Monday morning.

Ever keen to push himself further and harder, Paul decamped in 1999 to become Director of Music at home, the multi-million pound superclub built defiantly – and, as it turned out, problematically – in Leicester Square, the heart of London’s West End. That club’s immediate downturn in popularity after Paul’s departure goes to show the extent of his impact and following. There are but a handful of DJ’s in the world who attract the fervour and create the excitement that he is capable of provoking in a crowd. You only have to be there when he plays to feel the electric charge in the atmosphere, more akin to the devotional than the merely appreciative.

Leaving home was a difficult decision for Paul, but he risked his UK and European profile, not to mention turning down the certainty of serious amounts of cash, to decamp to America, one of the few places in the world – ironically, given that it all started there – where dance music is yet to be championed and grasped in the way in which it is elsewhere around the globe. But this was a move typical of the man: where others would sit on their laurels and bathe in their hard-won glory, he has always taken the tougher option, sustained by his belief that greater effort means greater rewards.

It’s this attitude that saw him leave a huge fanbase in Britain to start all over again in the U.S.; that has seen him play to crowds in the low hundreds in isolated Alaska; and that led him to take a pair of Technics with him when he went on holiday to Cuba, and organise a free, unpromoted and not strictly legal party, purely to spread the word of great, life-affirming music and good, good times. This man lives, breathes and eats his art.

The Future

So what now for a man at the pinnacle of his profession, the world’s premiere DJ? Why, upward, ever upward of course. 2001 has seen Paul score the Joel Silver-produced and John Travolta-starring Swordfish, remix the theme to Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes, DJ on Moby’s Arena:One U.S. tour, and make a triumphal return to his home shores with a free gig that left tens of thousands sweat-soaked and grinning like Cheshire Cats on London’s Clapham Common. October sees a club tour of the UK, and the New Year? Well, like we said before, the best is yet to come, so stay tuned and prepare to be amazed…

Paul Oakenfold: Bunkka

Two years ago, just as the new millennium was starting, Paul Oakenfold decided to get back to his roots. Oakenfold was very probably the world’s leading DJ and certainly one of the crucial figures in the relentless rise of club culture, yet there was still no album that truly represented his own personal landscape and musical vision. Despite his long and distinguished work as a re-mixer and producer, the real Oakenfold had still to be revealed as an artist.

“For the past 10 years I’ve been creating music under various different names, but I was never comfortable with putting out an Oakenfold record,” he says. “It was, however, an idea that I’d been thinking about for a long time and Steve Osborne, my colleague in some of the production work I was doing at the time, kept putting pressure on me, saying ‘you should do it, you should do it’. So eventually I felt it was time to make that record.”

The result is Bunkka, the first genuine Paul Oakenfold album, released by Perfecto Records in the summer of 2002. It is an album that will confront most people’s pre-conceptions of Paul Oakenfold. While much of the musical vocabulary is borrowed from dance technology, Bunkka is no conventional dance album. “I’d always wanted to do something that represented by own musical background,” he says. “I grew up on pop music, I love guitar bands and I was very influenced and involved in hip-hop during the early days, so I wanted to build from those roots upwards rather than doing a contemporary dance record.”

By his own admission, however, Oakenfold is no singer. To help realise his ambition he enlisted a disparate collection of talents, ranging from Jane’s Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell and Shifty Shellshock of Los Angeles rock-rap band Crazy Town to Ice Cube, Tricky and Nelly Furtado.

There are also contributions from Asher D of So Solid Crew and Grant Lee Philips, founder of 90’s LA rock band, Grant Lee Buffalo. Bunkka also provides a platform for three rising young vocalists, Carla Werner, Tiff Lacey and Emiliana Torrini, although the album’s most surprising contributor is Hunter S. Thompson, the infamous creator of gonzo journalism and the author of ‘Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas’.

This sheer diversity of this music, and his eclectic choice of contributors, shouldn’t come as a surprise. Indeed, Oakenfold’s restless imagination has been evident throughout his career. His signature can be seen in everything from the early rise of hip-hop and the re-invention of British dance culture to the Balearic explosion and the birth of ‘Madchester’.

Most recently, Oakenfold’s talents have also been recognised by the American film industry. Oakenfold scored the music for John Travolta’s 2001 movie, Swordfish, and also contributed to director Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes.

His career began in London at the end of the Eighties, when Oakenfold learned the DJ craft in small clubs around the city’s West End. Oakenfold’s rising reputation led to a job as an A&R man at the UK-based Champion Records where his first signing was Will Smith, then performing as the latter half of Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Oakenfold’s second was Salt n’ Pepa.

From Champion, Oakenfold moved to the London offices of the Profile and Def Jam record companies. By this time, however, Oakenfold priority reverted to his DJ career, an ambition soon to be amply fulfilled.
Oakenfold changed European youth culture in the late-Eighties and early-Nineties. He was among the first DJs to start regular club sessions on the Spanish island of Ibiza, leading to a new sound in dance music and the now annual pilgrimage of European youth to the island each summer.

Oakenfold also started regular ‘Balearic’ club nights in London, attracting not only the regular London dance audience but also a cross-over of youth culture and styles, including the UK rock bands Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses which were subsequently to become pivotal in influencing British popular music.

In 1989 Oakenfold and his production partner Steve Osborne were asked to produce Happy Mondays. The result was the Madchester Rave On EP, a record that inspired a whole generation of UK artists. It preceded the biggest album of the band’s career, the Oakenfold / Osborne produced Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches in 1990.

It was the start of a long connection between Oakenfold and rock music. He was the DJ at several significant British rock concerts and, along with Osborne, re-mixed such UK bands as New Order, The Cure and Massive Attack. Indeed, the Oakenfold / Osborne team were nominated by the BPI – the UK equivalent of the American Grammy Awards – as Best Producers in 1990.

A year later, in 1991, Oakenfold was approached by U2, who were then finishing the Achtung Baby album. He ended up re-mixing Even Better Than the Real Thing and Mysterious Ways, giving the band an entirely new dimension.
Indeed, Oakenfold’s mix of Even Better Than the Real Thing was released as a single in its own right, reaching higher in the UK chart than U2’s original version. These activities were the start of Oakenfold’s very long partnership with the band. He was, for instance, invited to DJ on the historic ZOO TV tour and, most recently, Oakenfold re-mixed Beautiful Day, a number one hit for U2 in the American dance charts.

Determined to control his own destiny, Oakenfold launched his own UK record label, Perfecto, in 1990. In the subsequent years, Perfecto has been not only a conduit for Oakenfold’s own re-mix activities but also a platform for new talent, encouraging such European DJ talents as Timo Maas and Hernan Cattaneo.

As a re-mixer, Oakenfold has been attributed with an enormous number of credits, working with everyone from Arrested Development and Snoop Doggy Dogg to Madonna, for whom he re-mixed, What It Feels Like For A Girl.

It is now probable that Oakenfold is the world’s number one DJ, if there was any precise way of quantifying such a claim. Certainly, Oakenfold has travelled the world – among the places he’s played are Anchorage in Alaska; Beijing; Bombay; Rio de Janeiro; Buenos Aires; Punta del Este in Uruguay; South Korea; Macao in China; Manila in the Philippines; Johannesburg; Egypt and Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam.

Running concurrently with his burgeoning film career, Oakenfold recently had
five albums in the American Top 50 Electronic Chart. They included Perfecto Presents Another World which, when released at the end of 2000, became America’s biggest-ever DJ mix album. Oakenfold was also the headline DJ on Moby’s massively ambitious Area:One travelling festival tour of North America last summer.

So how will the dance crew accept Bunkka? “I hope they realise that in any forms of music you need to push the boundaries,” says Oakenfold. “I’ve been inspired by all kinds of music, from hip-hop to guitars to dance, and hopefully the dance audience will understand that.”

Paul Oakenfold wins ‘Best Compilation’ at the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards Miami USA.