We feel that jungle/hardcore breakbeat/dnb is experiencing a resurgence in Australia after taking a bit of a hiatus, with techno DJs dropping jungle and breakbeat in their sets. Is this pattern the same in the UK? It’s a pattern that is happening all over the world. As things become more chaotic globally, it’s vital that a night out becomes far more than basic escapism. It can be something life-affirming. I have often questioned why so many DJs actually censor their own taste and reduce what they do to such narrow margins. A large part of that is the fear of losing an audience – but I think many audiences are actually becoming bored with really predictable events and predictable music.
Many house and techno DJs that are playing one jungle or hardcore record at the end of their sets are doing it knowing it’s a limited risk – perhaps they should actually grow a pair of bollocks and be more adventurous. Ultimately, there’s so many different ways to play records – it doesn’t have to feel like a token gesture. I’ve heard so many DJs say things like “I love that but I could never play it,” – you can play whatever you like. Enjoy life.
What’s the difference between the Paul Woolford and the Special Request sounds? The material under my own name is primarily house and techno focused and Special Request is a much wider remit that takes in multiple genres as well as ambience, soundtrack and really quite intense experimentalism alongside the jungle and UK hardcore edges that perhaps its most obviously known for.
Why did you feel the need to separately name the two sounds? Mainly it keeps it more interesting. Also I can shape things differently with some independence between them.
Who would be your ideal guests to invite to a picnic? Francis Bacon, Tony Wilson, Miles Davis, Aphex Twin, Peggy Guggenheim, Dennis Hopper, Noam Chomsky, Shaun Ryder, Caravaggio, Bill Hicks, Carl Craig, Robert Anton Wilson, David Lynch, I could go on but that’s quite enough to deal with.
What would you say is your strongest music influence? I’m obsessed with Francis Bacon – in terms of being an artist, he’s the person that I think has created works of lasting potency that will endure way beyond. In musical terms, I’d say Richard James (Aphex Twin) has made the biggest impact for me that cuts across cultures. Half the battle is creating work that exists outside of its primary cultural location. But any artist can learn from everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you are looking at a painting from the last century, or listening to something on a USB that somebody handed you in a nightclub. I think dance music as a structure is a basis and in order for it to be worthy of being called an artform, there needs to be external stimulus – it needs to be illuminated by ideas from different areas, rather than being self-referential. It’s a vessel. We have to make beautiful work that makes people feel alive.
How did you feel playing at the 20 years of Planet E event at Berghain? Was Carl Craig a big influence on you in the early days? Carl has always been a huge influence and that tour was a once in a lifetime moment – we also played in Detroit at The Works and Carl opened up with Niko Marks from UR on keys, I played in the middle and Derrick May closed up the night. To have that honour was simply incredible. I’ll forever be thankful to Carl and Detroit Premier for bringing me in. The connection is something I don’t take lightly at all.
