Richard Norris - Paul Oakenfold: The Authorised Biography

Contents

About the Author

Richard Norris is a writer and musician based in Lewes, East Sussex. He began his writing career in the late eighties, covering the emerging dance culture for NME, Echoes and Select. He releases music as The Grid whose singles include the Balearic anthem Floatation and the million-selling Swamp Thing and as Beyond the Wizards Sleeve, with Erol Alkan.

About the Book

Paul Oakenfold has sold over 5 million records, has played to over 50 million people and is, according to The Guinness Book of Records, the most successful DJ in the world.

Now, in Paul Oakenfold: The Authorised Biography, Richard Norris reveals the fascinating story of Pauls rise from South London soul boy to Hollywood superstar. Spanning more than two decades, Norris follows the twists and turns of Pauls career and, with it, the rise of the multi-million-pound industry that is club culture.

As we near the end of the first decade of the new millennium, Pauls star is still in the ascendant. With two Grammy nominations under his belt, he continues to work with the biggest names in music Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Snoop Dogg to name but a few.

Packed full of revealing interviews with the movers and shakers of the music industry, and based on two years of in-depth interviews with Oakenfold himself, this book tells the extraordinary story of a man whose life defines dance music.

Paul Oakenfold

The Authorised Biography

RICHARD NORRIS

For Sarah, plus one

Acknowledgements

Thanks to everyone at Transworld: Bill Scott-Kerr, Doug Young, Sophie Holmes, Rebecca Jones, Vivien Garrett, Sheila Lee, Sam Jones, Emma Buckley and all the team. Thanks to my editor Sarah Emsley for her skill and patience in helping shape this book.

Thanks to Gail Haslam for her help in getting this book off the ground in the first place without whom, etc.

Thanks to my agent, Antony Harwood, for getting it sorted.

Thanks to Marc Marot, Claire, Tracey and all at Terra Artists for their insight and help beyond the call of duty.

Thanks and much love to Sarah Norris for her inspired ideas, speedy transcription, LA driving and all-round inspiration.

Thanks to Dan Rosenthal, Mickey Jackson, Fozia and Alex Hill, Sheila Oakenfold and Sid Steele, Christianne Lambert, Gerry Gerrard, Richard Bishop, Geoff Barnett, Melanie McBride, Ricardo Vinas, Ben Turner, David Levy, Maria Hutt, Guy Oseary, Carl Cox, Greg Shapiro, Adam Clayton, Trevor Fung, Ken Jordan, TC aka Spitfire, Bez, Daniele Davoli, Shaun Ryder, Pete Tong, Kieran Evans and all at C-C Lab, James Barton and Gail at Cream, Andy Carroll, Lee Coombs, Abel Reynolds, Dave Little, Andy Chatterley, Bela Molnar, Johnny Walker, Alex Patterson, Kris Needs, Matthew Collins, Chris Salewicz, Chris Butler, Jonathan Richardson, Jill Pearson, Alan Lewis, Gary Crowley, Simon Ghahary, Ronnie Harris, Charlotte Harris, Nathan Thursting, Matthew Benjamin, Alfredo, Mark Lewis, Sandra Collins, John Fairs, Pepe Janz, Ian Paul, Lynn Cosgrave, James Nicholas, Nathan McGough, Nick Dewey, Neil Moffitt, Tony Wilson (RIP), Keith Allen, Rich Bloor, Charles Cosh, Nicky Holloway, Noel Watson, Matthew Collin, Josh Cheuse and Caro, Steve Osborne, Paolo Hewitt, Jonathan Peters, Else and Roman, Rustam Urmeev, Cello Kan, Pam Hogg, Phil Dirtbox, Steve Proctor, Erol Alkan, Robin Turner, Dave Ball, Jeff Barrett, Darren Hughes, Melanie McBride, Kenneth Thomas, Vello, Grant Fleming, Rowan Chernin, Chris Butler, Sean Rowley, Raymond Bloom, Elliot at Safehouse, Gary Stonadge, Bill Brewster, Mark Moore, Johnny Dropjaw, Lisa Horan, Ros Earls, Helen Mead, Jack Barron, Andy Crysell, Zeo Morse, Rob Davis, Steve Lamacq, Justin Robertson, the Bad Apples, Dino Psaras, Tim Sheridan, Ken Jordan, Steve Levy, Tim Fielding, Hernan Cattaneo, Roger Goodman and Jason Bentley.

Thanks to all the Oakenfold party posse who kindly shared their experiences: Craig J. Docherty, Tom Ribitzky, Martin Matthew Heaps, Michelle Monaghan, Graeme Platt, Evan Dilworth, Anthony Francis, Lesley Hall, Jourdan Bourdes, Lysa Oldhams, Jonathan Mosely, Kathy Wilson, Luis Filipe, Synthia, Kate, Angela aka Detroit Pixie, Maxine Richards, Johnny Chazz, Scott Gibson, Bonnie Star, Thomas Tam, Brenda Powell, Maria Chamberlin, Kevin Boyle, K.C. Ray, Wotyzoid, Odessa Aston, Boris Pfeiffer, Daniel Husney, Smokey Azhar, Brian Grecu, Cher Ingram, Ted S., Jamie Hicks, Will Hetzel, Katya Androchina, Stuart Wallace, Kim Dudek, Cheri Lucas, Travis Lewis, Andrew Warsaw, Melissa Gonzalez, James Campbell, Wesley Tran, Sergey Mayorov, Brenda Cullen, Denise Fernandez, Sarah Woefel, Rachel Blair, Nicole Ruskit, Abril Batallar, Elle Jackson, Steven Chapa, Kee, Rebekah Boan, Jean-Michel Hall, Myles Jacobs, Ashley Harrison, Mike Trelinski, Patrick J. Brown, Trent Smith, Steven Marquiss, Linda Nuanlaoong, Yee Vang, Carlos Martinez, Dan Ko, Justin Reach, Chelle Foronda, Kenneth Pranzo, Michael Neal, Christy Barnes, Steve Wittman, Cheridyn Flynn, Risk One, Natalie Nunez, Matthew Heiser, Christopher Miller, Estefania Montes, Christopher Scocco, Abe Andon, Don Chulio, Dominick Boldi, Beth Richardson, David Garcia, Jesus Gonzalez, Nadya Delgado, Jamie Binns, Kenneth Jarvis, Savanna Searles, Benjamin Mason and Peter Wallace.

Special thanks to Paul Oakenfold for his time, cooperation, diligence and top-quality after-hours sessions.

Into the Groove

The most successful club DJ in the world

The Guinness Book of Records, 1999

Its late summer, 2004. Slane Castle, thirty miles from Dublin, is the venue of Madonnas first-ever Irish performance. DJ Paul Oakenfold, opening act for the day, is running late. Hes stuck in a snaking queue along with the rest of the eighty-thousand-strong crowd, on a winding two-lane track that stretches back miles from the site. Hes flown in from his summer residency in Ibiza, via a triumphant slot at Liverpools Creamfields festival, and cant get anywhere near the castle. Since hes on first, this is a bit of a problem. Phone calls are made, word reaches the promoter, and soon the DJ and his crew are following a slowly rolling escort down the wrong side of the road. A whole parade of cars sets off in convoy Pauls agent, just in from New York, his management, DJ Daniele Davoli, a bunch of friends all dodging traffic, veering up the bank, speeding ahead.

Backstage, its set up with sleek efficiency like youd expect at this level theres turntables, a small PA, plants, comfortable decor, plus the kind of spread a passing rock and roll group might tuck into if they were a bit peckish. Its the same rider Oakeys had for years; nothing too excessive, just beer, wine, sandwiches, fruit. He didnt half get some stick when he first asked for a rider on a British nightclub tour, though the dance press was full of it. Who did he think he was, since when did DJs get treated like rockstars? That seems like a very long time ago.

A couple of members of U2 mill around. Madonna pops in to say hi, but its only a brief chat; shes getting her thoughts together pre-show, stealthily trying to focus. The DJ and his crew stroll up to the stage, and get their first glimpse of the crowd. Eighty thousand faces stare back. Its the size of a large Irish town.

The revolving stage is a blessing, allowing Oakey his own space to test the equipment where the crowd cant see. Hes got three CD players, three decks, mixer, effects, all on a large raised platform. Hes filled the available space with brightly coloured inflatables, a video screen, massive on-stage monitors, but even so, in a few minutes time, its just going to be him up there, without even a guitar to hide behind facing a town. How do you handle that?

Youve got to learn to hold the stage, he says with a shrug. You can shrink and disappear if you allow yourself to. So I build up my console, bring on the inflatables, the screens you fill the stage, then your presence fills the stage. I might come out from behind the decks and go towards the crowd; youve just got to have the confidence to do that. Thats when youre really naked, when you are out there, right at the front, waving your arms about. Thats the only time I can ever imagine what it feels like for Bono or people like that. Hes got his glasses to hide behind though