Artist of the Week: Paul Oakenfold

Paul Oakenfold, or Oakey as misty eyed Merseyside clubbers call him (more on that later), is one of the pillars of the global dance music scene. A DJ who has pulled crowds repeatedly for the past four decades, he’s a bona fide member of the elite and remains a fixture on only the biggest stages (check out his upcoming events here).

Starting as a soul DJ in the late seventies and early eighties, Oakenfold balanced his time between London and New York and worked as an A&R for Champion Records, signing hip-hop double acts Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince and Salt & Pepa. Although gaining a degree of success as an industry player, it would be a holiday that would change the pattern of his trajectory, and dance music as a whole.

For some of us going away for a bit of sunshine abroad is about recreating the scenes from a certain BBC3 programme, but Oakenfold helped shape a movement. His trip to Ibiza in 1987 is widely held as one of the pivotal moments in acid house being discovered by British audiences, as after seeing Alfredo DJ on the terrace at Amnesia, then called Ku, Oakenfold along with his friends (Danny Rampling being one) came back determined to establish the sound in the UK.

They would go on to do just that. His legendary sessions at Spectrum helped shape acid house in the country, packing thousands in on a Monday evening. It was part of a wave of events that included Rampling's Shoom and the infamous Hacienda in Manchester which ensured the nation was caught by the electronic dance music buzz.

The success of the clubnights aided him to focus more on music, starting to work with Steve Osborne and also setting up Perfecto Records. The duo would produce and remix the likes of Massive Attack, U2 and The Happy Mondays, combining to produce the latter’s ‘Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches’ album. Oakenfold would open for U2 on their world tours, including the first DJ to ever play the main stage at Glastonbury, but it would be a residency which would ensure his status in dance music pantheon.

Between 1997 and 1999 Oakenfold played at Cream almost every week. Like the Ibiza inspiration in 1987, he was once again incorporating the music of other global scenes when he started experimenting with the psychedelic trance played on the beaches of Goa in India. At Cream he took trance to its pinnacle and helped establish it as the dominant genre in dance music, eclipsing even house, with other superclubs such as Gatecrasher and Godskitchen following suit. Week upon week his acolytes would pack into the club, feverishly chanting Oakey during the breakdowns.

Oakenfold’s immaculate control over the emotions of the punters was the main reason for such a special connection, and it’s difficult to think of a residency in this country that has captured the hearts quite like it since. He still retains a special bond with the club as well, returning to the infamous Courtyard on the twentieth anniversary last year and playing for them again this summer, notably in Ibiza for their opening party on June 13^th.

His status as a pioneer extended well into the twenty first century as well, consolidating his early forages in the States to pre-empt the EDM explosion of the past few years (his debut performance was at a dance festival that attracted 80000 people, and he was one of the first to hold a residency at a Las Vegas club). Even now he has a monthly radio show on Digitally Imported, one of the biggest online statsions in the US.

He remains a crowd drawing selector with the ability to shape emotions in an instant, his signature blend of house and trance still capable of getting hands in the air and one of the ultimate arena DJs. Whether you were there as a wide eyed raver in Cream in the late nineties or a newcomer to the Oakenfold cult, he’s still worthy of your attention this summer, where he will be wowing the crowds at Cream Ibiza, Global Gathering and Creamfields.

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