Tall Paul: I'm Not A Fan Of Breaks But I Like Electroclash

Making his debut and his name at the birthplace of hard house Trade when the club opened at the beginning of the 90s, Tall Paul has always favoured the tougher end of house though as the press release for his new mix CD Globetrotting says, he's nowadays equally known for spinning "feel good vocal house'.

Chatting to Benedetta Skruff this week, however, the notoriously reticent DJ admitted he's casting his musical net wider these days, though not just anywhere.

"I'm not a massive fan of breaks, I have to say, there are a couple of tunes I like, but that's all," says Paul.

"But I do like electro though, both the old style electro and electroclash, it's got that funky element that I like."

Live In Lima doesn't include any electroclash or breaks but varies from Mau Mau's tribal houser The Yao Project to Emanuele Top's trance anthem Mars.

"We chose tracks that hopefully are going to last a little bit longer than your average record, it's stuff that you can listen to for six months or a year and it will still mean something to you," he explains.

"We picked tracks that won't be on Top Of The Pops or all over the radio, and the mix is deliberately quite underground which will hopefully guarantee some longevity," he adds.


Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): You've done quite a few mix CDs over the years, what was the approach you used for this live in Lima mix-

Tall Pall: "We had an initial idea in mind when we decided to do another mix CD, then I went on tour in South America and the whole trip went so well, that we decided to record one of the live sets, and chose Peru. Then afterwards, we actually managed to clear all the tracks to use on the CD, which was really cool as getting clearance (permission) usually turns out to be a major headache. To make things easier, I deliberately didn't include any big tunes in advance that would have maybe caused problems, and it all came together quite smoothly."

Skrufff: What's the typical lifespan for a record you love-

Tall Pall: "It all depends, the bigger a record becomes commercially then the shorter is its lifespan. The ones that stay in the box the longest are ones we called "sleepers', they're big in clubs, but haven't been signed yet and so they get a nice, long stay."

Skrufff: You came at number 19 in DJ's Top 100 last year: how important is that poll these days-

Tall Pall: "It's nice to get some feedback from the people you've entertained for a whole year, either by them voting or buying your CDs. We've sent a few messages out from my web address, inviting people to take part if they wanted to."

Skrufff: Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk and Armin Van Buuren took the top 3 spots last year, how much has dance music's focus now left Britain-

Tall Pall: "Britain has been responsible for building all of these guys' careers and has allowed them to establish their names internationally. In Holland, punters all definitely vote for their talents, whereas people here are more reluctant to do so. Maybe British DJs could do with a little bit more support from their punters."

Skrufff: You're just about to return to America again for another DJ tour: are you on a mission to crack the States-

Tall Pall: "There's a demand for me to go there so I go there. I actually enjoy going there too."

Skrufff: Paul Oakenfold now splits his time half and half between the UK and America and said last year "In the US if you work hard and are good at what you do then people respect that, and say 'Well done'. In the UK we don't do that': would you agree-

Tall Pall: "There's definitely a different attitude towards business ideas there in comparison to what we have here in the UK. In America, it doesn't matter how stupid your ideas may sound, they will still take you seriously as long as it comes to business. There's a different attitude for sure which also comes down to our sense of humour. But I have a family here in England, I have children and my whole base is here which woul Tags

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