Sultry of face and tatted of arm, Paul Morrell ’s one of the industry’s most promising talents, both behind the decks and in the studio. He’s taken his urgent, sun-chasing sound to some of the world’s most iconic venues, from Islington to Ibiza.
Now he’s dived headlong back into the gay scene, with a new spot at cavernous bear’s den of hedonism XXL. Dylan Jones spoke with him about backstage glamour, sizzling island parties, and tall handsome men.
SO! You’re officially a new XXL DJ! Are you an XXL regular?
I am indeed – I’ve been a regular clubber at Birmingham XXL at The Core venue for a number of years, but until recently I’d never been to the London venue. The club is phenomenal. I’m extremely excited to be playing for such an iconic gay brand. The crowd at XXL are so up for it, and seem to really get my sound and the music I playing. The fact that last time I was there I performed the closing set, and the guys stayed till the end, was a brilliant endorsement!
What other venues have gigged at?
My other London residency is The Gallery at Ministry of Sound, where I’ve been a regular for almost a decade. That said, I’ve performed at clubs and events around the world since I was about 16. Some iconic brands like Judgement Sunday, Cream, Sundissential and Godskitchen etc. I’ve also been privileged enough to support some major DJs and artists like Paul Oakenfold, Armin Van Buuren, Mark Knight and Boy George. Always a great thrill.
We hear you’ve worked with Mutya off of the Sugababes! What’s she like? She seems like a laugh!
Mutya is a great girl to be in the company of – she’s feisty, opinionated, pocket sized, but also a true professional. I had the honour of recording my track ‘Give Me Love’ with her as the featured vocalist, and spent several long days with her, and a couple of crazy nights as well. Her vocals are absolutely impervious, and she literally came into the studio and performed the track in a couple of takes. Mutya was one of the very first vocalists I worked with as a producer, so I set the bar quite high. I’ve since gone on to produce tracks with a host of other brilliant divas including Sonique, Kimberly Wyatt, Katherine Ellis, Lisa Maffia and Maria Nayler, all of whom are brilliant.
How would you describe your sound?
I began as a DJ in the mid 1990s in Coventry. At that point I was playing trance and hard dance, but quite early on I discovered that the trance scene was dying in the UK, and that I would have more longevity as a house DJ. My sound has always been influenced by the harder edge of music, and I’m currently playing more EDM/Future House sets. One of my close friends described my remix of the new All Saints single as sounding like ‘If Oliver Heldens and Martin Solveig had a baby, that’s what it would be.’ I kinda liked that comparison, and thought it was quite an accurate description of my sound.
XXL caters for gorgeous hairy beary men…who would be your ideal man?
Chris Robshaw. I’m a big guy myself (6’4” tall), so would love to date a strapping guy like that. But in general tall & handsome.
By the sounds of it you’ve been able to get a real insight into the music and DJ industry…what are the most interesting things you’ve learned?
I’ve had some amazing mentors over the years, and one of the best pieces of advice I have been given is ‘always concentrate on what you are doing, don’t worry about other people’. This is such a good piece of advice, as the music industry, and in particular the DJ industry, is extremely cliquey. I’ve never been one for cliques, so I just get on with my own thing. Because I spent several of my teenage years as a warm up DJ in a big commercial club, I also learnt how to become a crowd pleaser and really work a dance-floor instead of massaging my own ego by playing music nobody had heard of. At the end of the day, people are on a dance-floor in front of me to have a good time. I like to ensure that they leave the club as a hot sweaty mess always wanting more.
“One of my close friends described my remix of the new All Saints single as sounding like ‘If Oliver Heldens and Martin Solveig had a baby, that’s what it would be.’ I kinda liked that comparison.”
What’s been your most glamorous backstage encounter?
I don’t really get ‘star struck’ anymore, as I’ve been DJing for a long time and have met some amazing people. That said, the first time I performed with Boy George was quite memorable, as I was only very young (19 or so) and he’s a British icon! I was also lucky enough to be invited to his 50th birthday party where I met some amazing people including Jocelyn Brown and Philip Treacy. I recently hung out with Lisa Stansfield and DJ Fresh at Birmingham Pride as well, which was very cool. But I have as yet had no real ‘shocks’ or surprise encounters. A lot of the DJs I admired when I was younger are now personal friends of mine so I am really lucky in that sense.
What’s the craziest gig you’ve ever done?
I’ve done a few crazy gigs over the years! Birmingham Pride is always amazing because of the scale and line-up, however I also played a 50 capacity boat party on the river Avon, which was absolutely insane! It all depends on the atmosphere, the vibe and the people in the venue at the time. I’m performing at the 35’000 capacity Weekend Festival in Helsinki next month with Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto, and it looks set to be one of the most memorable gigs of my career so far.
We’re sure you’ve been to Ibiza. We’re thinking of going next year…is it all it’s cracked up to be?
I think it was – I’m not so sure it is anymore. The club scene has evolved massively over there, and is nowhere near as vibrant as it was in the late 1990s / early 2000s. I used to play regularly for Judge Jules’ event, Judgement Sunday in San Antonio – he was responsible for breaking some fantastic names and road testing huge records out there. In my opinion though, the club scene has become extremely commercialized in Ibiza, and the small, underground club nights that used to make Ibiza so special are now long gone. Massive venues and complexes like Ushuaia have drawn people away from San Antonio, and it just isn’t the same anymore.
What do you make of the London gay scene at the moment?
To be honest, as I live in the Midlands, I don’t often get the chance to visit the London scene very much at all. When I come down to London I mainly arrive at the hotel, go for dinner and then straight to the gig. I have a lot of friends down in London, and moving here is something I’ve considered for a long time. I just think it will be a matter of time before I take the plunge and become a fully-fledged city dweller. Every time I’ve been out on the scene I’ve had an amazing evening, and I particularly love some of the cool little bars in Clapham etc.
What advice would you give to DJs starting out on the scene?
Be yourself, and don’t compromise your style. Christian M (Resident at XXL) told me to ‘just be yourself’ when I first played at the London event, and again I think that this is excellent advice. If you have to change your style to fit into a venue, then firstly you probably won’t enjoy playing there, and secondly you are probably not right for the crowd that attend the venue anyway. The clubbers are the most important people in the venue, and not the DJ. Too many DJs have such enormous egos, so my main piece of advice would be ‘Remember what your job is – to make people dance’.
• Paul Morrell is at XXL London – Pulse, 1 Invicta Plaza, SE1 9UF – on Saturday 9th July.
