Paul Oakenfold is a 3 time Grammy nominated pioneer of trance who we recently had the opportunity to speak with about his upcoming North American tour, “Trance Mission” and its accompanying album. It was incredibly enlightening to hear the perspective of an artist who has not only been in the industry for decades but played a key role in crafting what electronic music has become.
In this interview, Oakenfold reassures us that he still has a steady hand in the future of the genre he helped build and is working towards not only progressing into something new but revisiting the past to cherish the music that brought about moments to remember.
As Bob Marley (another great musician) once said, “In this bright future, you cannot forget your past.” Paul Oakenfold implores us to heed that message as he takes us on a journey to the past by reviving old classic tunes, reliving those big moments in trance history and bringing a different perspective to a scene all too distracted by the show rather than the music.
The title of your tour is “Trance Mission”. What would you say is your mission with this tour and the impression you hope to leave on fans?
Well I’m bringing an underground sound to and through America. It’s not about big production or big rooms. It’s about connection with the crowd and then towards February/March there will be an album of those big moments, those big tunes that we grew up with in Europe that the current generation may not be familiar with. I’m taking some of those old familiar tracks and reworking them, reproducing them and for a word I’d say covering them. I want to share them with a current generation that is not aware of these songs. That’s it in a nutshell really.
I see you have over 50 songs in mind for the album that will accompany your “Trance Mission” tour. How do you plan on narrowing down your final selection?
With great difficulty! (laughs) It’s just finding those classics that were classics for me that I will play in a new way, a more current sound that will relate to a new generation.
How do you plan on innovating those classic songs (if at all) so that they are more relevant in today’s age?
The only way is to cover them and totally redo them with modern technology.
You have over 2 decades of live performances under your belt. How do you plan on reinventing yourself for this tour? How will these shows stand out from your past performances?
I wouldn’t say I’m reinventing anything. It’s just sharing great music. These are tracks that I grew up with and your parents grew up with. You play your friend a track that she’s never heard and this comes from me being exposed to electronic music in Europe that was part of our culture, part of our lives when it wasn’t in America. I want to share it and that’s all it really is.
So it’s actually the opposite of reinventing yourself and going back to your roots.
Yes, I have two albums that will release next year (realistically). One is the “Trance Mission” album. I’ve never done cover. I’ve never redone a record in my life. I’m going to take songs/tracks from 10-15 years ago and redo them so I’m excited by that. It will be a challenge. Can I improve them? What can I add to them? How can I make them different? How can I make them relative? Will people like them?
That’s all a big challenge and then like you said, getting from 50 down to 10 is difficult. Those moments with all of those 50 over the years mean something to me but we’ve got to get to that point.
At the beginning of next year or the end of this year there will be the artist album that will be more of the same like my last two albums which will be songs, first and foremost, singers, great singers and the direction is not necessarily big names. These are artists and singers that I believe in and I want to work with and I feel lucky to record with. Also cutting edge records. What’s changed? House music has become pop music so this album will be perceived as more of a pop record but nothing is actually different from the last two records. It’s almost the same, it’s just that times have changed. So we’ll see how it does. We’ll see if people like both of them.
When I say house music is “pop music” I mean that it’s popular. You hadn’t heard it on American radio until the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga embraced it. With them embracing it and with them having success with it a lot of artists have decided to use electronic rhythms, uptempo sounds (which is house music) to sing over and that is why America has caught up with the rest of the world.
You’ve been in the industry for some time now and with that experience how do you plan on influencing the dance music scene in the United States differently than other popular trance pioneers have recently?
I don’t really. I’m not doing it to influence anything. I’m not going down that road. I think first and foremost it’s a great sound. Second of all, I want to share it. I believe in it. It touches me. I think the people will enjoy it. It’s very stripped down. Just me, you and the music. It’s not big production. It’s not big lights. No flashy things that tend to be where the community is going. It’s the opposite. Come feel the music and dance. It’s that simple.
So you feel at a smaller venue, the fans will come to appreciate the music more and fall in love with it the way that you did.
Yes, exactly. You summed it up really well there. I totally think that. I think a lot of the stuff that we grew up with in Europe touched millions of people and I can’t play those tunes again. I don’t even want to play those tunes again. I’m sick of those tunes in their original format, because I’ve played them SO much.
So why not take them, completely redo them and make them current, make them fresh, make them exciting, make them new, make them different and share them?
Do you expect that this tour and the accompanying album will have a lasting impression on modern trance?
I don’t know. You call me in March and tell me. (laughs) That’s not my goal with though. It’s a challenge to go into the studio and make these tracks. They’re not necessarily big tunes. There’s a big difference between a classic and a big tune. For instance I’m doing Simple Minds’, “Theme for Great Cities“. Would you ever think that a rock band would do a trance record? I’m using sections from movies. I’m taking underground records like “Push” and “Tilt”. There are bigger moments.
A lot of thought has gone into this album so we’ll see but what it does give is other DJs and colleagues the chance to play these tracks that maybe they would never play or have never played in their original format, because I will make them current. It will be easier to play and it will give the audience the chance to embrace something that they may have never come across. It will give a generation that is not necessarily into or understanding of trance the chance to get involved.
Would you say this album is more for veterans to reminisce over those old favorites or for the newest wave of listeners that is virgin to this sound?
No no I hope not. This is to share with the young and new. Of course the older crowd or the “veterans” (as you call them) are important. They know the original and go, “wow that’s an interesting take on a track that I knew.” or “I don’t like that version. I like the original.”. It’s certainly not for one demographic. First and foremost it’s for the current generation and the next generation to get into the sound that we’ve grown up with in Europe for many years and love.
What is the message you’re trying to send to those younger listeners about trance? Why did you fall in love with the genre?
When they come and they listen and they dance… they’ll understand. I’m not here to tell anyone what to do or what to like. Come along, have an open mind, listen, see if you like it. If you don’t then you don’t.
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