With an approach and attitude that is slightly different to most, Paul Woolford has established himself as one of the most original dj/producer/remixers that house music has exposed in recent times.
Paul’s Djing style takes in the more energetic abstract approach of layering tracks in key to make a third sound, which he blends with the more straight forward club-rocking approach to make a very well-rounded and eclectic program that takes in underground house, techno, electro, breaks and whatever suites the moment, all through the focus and context of a house set. Over the years he has developed his technical abilites at the same time as his programming and so everything builds towards a more emotional climax, and it’s with longer sets that Paul’s truly original technique shines.
An avid buyer of vinyl since the age of 8 with a deep-seated passion for music, he’s what you might call a vinyl junkie. The backdrop to all this has been the radio, which has been permanently switched on in the Woolford household. At the age of 12 he acquired his first turntables and, having already discovered home keyboards, he set about re-creating the rhythms that had been on constant rotation from those early house compilation albums that were all somebody on pocket money could afford at the time.
After a brief flirtation putting together pause-button megamixes consisting of huge amounts of other records, Paul’s focus shifted as he soon realised that not only did he want to be a dj, he also wanted to produce records. Paul’s first visit to Dave Beer’s infamous Back To Basics sealed his fate in many ways, being as it was the place where he heard so many of the records in his own collection in the full club context, which felt to Paul like jigsaw pieces falling into place. “I remember clearly the first time I walked in, I think I was only 17; the only way to describe it was bedlam. And the overriding thought was ‘I’ve got to play in here one day!’”. From that day on, Paul began to fiercely develop his dj skills. Today he holds a residency at Basics inbetween his guest spots globally, and a DJ style and ability beyond the reach of most that takes an underground sound and twists it into public conscience.
Woolford released his first record at the age of 21, a collaboration with his friend and studio guru Tony Senghore. They went on to form a partnership and released a succession of 12 inches and an album that were picked up on by the more switched-on house djs such as DJ Sneak and Mark Farina. Their fusions of house, electronica and hip hop sensibilities were widely acclaimed across the dance music media (Single Of The Month in Muzik, Album of the Week in Seven magazine), and paved the way for an open-minded approach with which Paul carries through as the common thread throughout his music.
After these initial releases Paul began his Bobby Peru project for 20/20 Vision, and in February 2000 on the release of his debut LP “Death Of A Player”, was once again on the receiving end of widespread positive acclaim from the press (Album Of the Month in DJ magazine amongst other excellent reviews). This was the project that really put Paul on the map both with the press and with many djs and dance music fans, and ensured that Bobby Peru as an artist was developed further, and is now an on-going part of Paul’s studio life.
His studio skills sharpened and he put these to further use on collaborations with Yousef for the esteemed Junior label (10,000BC “Whatever”), again a pivotal move and one that opened many doors, and he also collaborated with Steve Mac on a release for Junior Sanchez’ Cube label in the States. Both these collaborations have continued and thrived even though the tracks have varied widely in their scope, and this is an important part of Paul’s outlook. Darren Emerson also invited Paul to collaborate on an unreleased Brother Brown remix around this time that was a huge inspiration.
From there things snowballed, and whilst many labels have offered a home for Paul’s music, he’s been selective and given his quality singles to 2020 Vision, Underwater, Junior Boys Own, Subliminal, Soma’s Freelance Science imprint, and most recently Mark Brown’s C2 label. These releases and his remixes have made fans of his production from a wide range of djs from across the board including Laurent Garnier, Andrew Weatherall, Pete Tong, Derrick Carter, Paul Daley (Leftfield), John Digweed, Danny Howells, Erol Alkan, Dan Ghenacia, Nic Fanciulli, Erick Morillo, Lottie, Dj Heather, Slam, Ralph Lawson, Yousef, Dave Seaman… the list continues and this is testament to the quality control and a signpost of Paul’s long-term wider aims. Simultaneously the list of labels Paul has remixed for grows all the time and so far Paul has been involved in the production of around 80 records.
Throughout all of this studio time, Paul has also built up his global dj bookings and clocked up the airmiles taking his unique style of djing across the world from Chicago to Berlin and all points inbetween. He is universally regarded within dance music as someone who djs as well as they produce and sees himself very much 50% DJ and 50% producer. The clubs and events he’s played at and rocked speak for themselves: Fabric London, Pacha in Buenos Aires Argentina and Ibiza, Smartbar Chicago, Crobar Miami, Berlin Love Parade, Space Ibiza, Peter Pan in Rimini Italy, Piekarnia in Poland, Centro 360 in Singapore, Creamfields UK & Buenos Aires and Cream Ibiza at Amnesia, Homelands consecutively for the last 4 years. These are just a few from an ever-growing list.
In December 2002 Pete Tong awarded Paul the accolade of being one of his “Heroes Of 2002” and invited him onto the Essential Selection to spin a 30 minute hotmix which furthered support and really kicked off Paul’s bookings. Altogether Paul has recorded four 30 minute hot mixes for the dance shows on Radio 1 which have all been wildly different and varied in both their content and stylistically. Not only this but there has been huge support from Radio 1 for Paul’s remixes and productions and this will continue as Paul’s profile soars. The inevitable Essential Mix debut was made in April 2004 to absolutely fantastic feedback and saw Woolford tear through around 33 tracks in 2 hours.
2005 was a turning point in Paul’s already enviable career. He played knock out shows for We Love… in Ibiza, made some seriously outstanding music in the form of ‘Erotic Discourse’ and saw his global DJing schedule rocket. 2006 continued with the same momentum with a Radio 1 minimix for Annie Mac, the 5 minute mix contained over 60 tracks all blended with seeming ease by Paul. A three part release deal with NRK followed, entitled ‘Modernist EP’ with numbers 1,2 and 3 to be released in April, May and June respectively. Extensive touring of America, Australia and Europe have now become the norm and the summer season will see Paul invited back to We Love… in the form of their newest weekly resident.
Paul is currently Djing and remixing with the usual energy as well as working on his own album material for 20/20 Vision under his Bobby Peru moniker. Watch this space …
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