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Taul Paul On Re-Rocking Da House

Author: Skruff
Sunday, May 27, 2001
9 years after first releasing Rock Da House, Tall Paul Newman will shortly be re-issuing the pumping house classic, complete with new mixes by Fergie and Holland's Transetters. The track dominated his earliest sets when still resident DJ at Trade in the early 90s, then became a top 20 hit in 1997 for VC Recordings. Mezz caught up with leading British DJ last week as he started work on his debut artist album with long term sound engineer Larry Lush.

Mezz: Why did you feel the need to re-release and remix Rock Da House-
Tall Paul:"I was constantly being asked for it, especially outside London in places like Scotland and Ireland. It wasn't usually 'in the box' (ie his main record box), though I'd play it at the end of a set sometimes and it still got the reaction it used to get first time around. Fergie's done it, because he's always been saying that if ever we considered doing a remix, he wanted a go. I'd rather get on with something new myself and leave it for what it was."

Mezz: You've been touring America a lot recently, what kind of places are you DJing at-
Tall Paul: "Good places that are very similar to nights here (in the UK) like Gatecrasher, Godskitchen or the Gallery. The American clubbers really know their music and they like what I'm doing. I've played in Vegas in a club with about 3,000 people, and similar places in Boston and Washington. I also played at a big Halloween event last year that held 38,000 people. We've been going out there for the last four or five years but it's only within the last two years that it's really changed."

Mezz: Danny Rampling spent many years playing harder faster music before switching to house and garage several years ago, have you ever considered a jump to garage-
Tall Paul: "I like to touch on garage on the radio show (Kiss FM, Saturday evenings), though not so much garage as house. I can enjoy Danny's set. Sometimes I'm labelled in certain ways but I can change my style anyway, according to the club and the time I'm playing and all those logistics of playing. I played the first three hours at the Gallery last week for example and touched on lots of vocal, mellow stuff - there's no point on me going crash-bang-wallop, straightaway. I'd save that for a 4am set."

Mezz: Trade's new resident EJ Doubell chatted to Mezz recently and recalled being inspired by your end of the night sets at Trade from 10 years ago, because they were so uplifting, was that a conscious strategy for you-
Tall Paul: "I used to go on at 11am in the morning and by that point I didn't think people were interested in being educated on the latest sounds out there, although I did used to play a lot of new music. I'd always end the night on a high. I played at Trade for three years and had some fantastic times there. It became hard at the end because I'd being doing more gigs outside London each weekend and having to come back and play Trade every Sunday eventually took its toll, so we had to part company. I've got great memories of that club."

Mezz: Other famous Trade residents include Tony De Vit, Smokin' Jo, and Fergie, why has the club proved so influential-
Tall Paul: "It was a unique club when it started with a very unique guest-list as well, which was very cliquey and in-the-know. At the time there was a big vocal garage scene going on in London and if you liked any other music apart from that, you couldn't hear it in London clubs, except for certain gay and mixed/gay clubs. Trade became so famous because of the music they were breaking. In comparison, clubs like Cream and Hard Times were based around vocal house. Lots of European music was coming out then which wasn't being played in these so-called superclubs and Trade just filled that massive gap. It was also a great stepping stone for lots of DJs. If you were a Trade resident, that was name enough to get you bookings."

Mezz: Seb Fontaine was chatting about the pressures of fame rec
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