talent including Allen Stone, ZZ Ward, Miguel and — somewhat surprisingly when we first heard it — Azealia Banks of ‘212’ fame. If internet reports are to be believed, there are plenty of big name stars too. “I’ve got blues, I’ve got soul, I’ve got rock, urban and pop,” says Paul on what to expect. “My first album ten years ago, I had Ice Cube on it, Pharrell and Nelly Furtado. I have had a lot of different people in different genres.” Putting this open-mindedness down to the wide remit of BBC Radio 1 in the UK, the national station that most kids grow up listening to, he’s also recently produced and co-written a new Cher song, ‘Woman’s World’, following the work he did on Madonna’s last album (“She is inspiring, I think, for all of us in some shape or form”). “My artist albums are always on major labels, as they are much more of a commercial record,” Paul continues, referring to the separation from his own imprints his signing to Sony offers. “On Perfecto Fluoro we are doing really well with the underground stuff,” he adds, name-checking Federation as one of the label’s most popular acts when pushed, “and we have a lot more tracks on Perfecto that are like big room tunes. We are doing very well at the moment.”
NEXT ANGLE
While doing “very well” could be considered business as usual for Paul, he’s still constantly looking for the next angle — be it in music, film or technology. Hosting monthly events at his house, he invites leaders from various fields to help pool their knowledge and resources with the aim of aiding innovation. “If I found a great record or club I’d be like, ‘You’ve got to check this out’. Now everyone’s trying to keep everything to themselves,” he explains. “This approach is going back to bringing the best people in art, film, gaming, music and tech together and picking a subject to talk about.” The outcome is a database of information shared amongst all participants. “So if you want to meet the marketing manager of Coca-Cola and we have a discussion on brands, we might ask ‘How do brands and electronic music fuse together when big major brands are worried that our scene is about drug culture?’ How do we work together to make sense for both companies?”
With the energy of a man half his age (he’s 50 in August), there’s the sense that Paul’s drive to remain at the forefront of popular culture, whatever that may be, won’t be waning for the foreseeable future. In fact, if anything, he’s never been more in the driving seat, influencing trends and leaving his own unmistakable mark wherever he goes. The US might be his current home but he knows that there are more areas that will one day experience the dance music revolution. “South America is huge on the electronic scene, so is Russia, Asia and Australia,” he says. His whole career is a living example of confidence and success, but we still finish by asking Paul what advice he has for those seeking to emulate his vast achievements. “Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing,” he replies. “Focus on what you are doing, and if you do it really well, your time will come. That gives you credibility, that gives you depth and it gives you an understanding of how to have a long career with what you are doing, and that it’s what you want. What happens in the DJ world is everyone is running about like headless chickens and they are all wanting to do this and that, moving sounds and shifting about.”
You’d be taking a real gamble not to listen to the man who made Las Vegas.
018
djmag.com
Perfecto 90s
Classics
Perfecto The track that launched a thousand remixes and re-releases, not to mention a cover version by The Klaxons, Grace’s 1993 spine-tingler is still a trance anthem.
Grace ‘Not Over’
Perfecto Allstars ‘Reach Up (Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag)’
Perfecto Featuring what were probably state of the art graphics in 1995, but now look suitably antiquated, skeletons fly around on trumpets in the video to this brassy homage to Pigbag’s ‘80s punk-funk staple ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag’.
BT ‘Flaming June’
Perfecto US producer BT might, like Oakenfold, have gone on to work on film soundtracks, and was even nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for his album ‘These Hopeful Machines’, but for most he will always be best remembered for this 1997 smash.
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