DJ Tall Paul Profile

DJ Tall Paul Newman is a big man.  At 6ft 7ins tall he's not the kind of guy you'd want to mess with and what's more he's also one of the best DJs around.  Ranked No. 18 out of the best DJs in the world in a people's choice vote for DJ magazine, the recognition of his brilliance on the decks is clearly widespread.   A strong love of music led the teenage Tall Paul to try to play the piano.  But he couldn't learn it quickly enough to keep him happy, and it wasn't long before he started on the decks.

When he left college at the age of 18 he worked himself onto the roster at London venue, Turnmills.  Here he mixed numerous pop hits of the 80s, throwing in the odd gem from the likes of Derrick May, Rhythm is Rhythm and Jamie Principle.   One of his first residencies was at London's premier gay night, Trade in 1991 and this saw him  on the way to becoming an established DJ.    Together with Tony De Vit and Blu Peter, Tall Paul has helped the gay sound get to a wider audience.

In 1992 Paul's first single Love Rush and the Trade EP were released and this was followed with a collaboration with Red Jerry of Hooj Choons, who gave him the title Tall Paul.    This partnership spawned the 10,000-selling mega hit Rock Da House on Effective Records, a tune set to be re-released on Virgin at the end of March.   East 17, Capella, Erasure, The Stone Roses and New Order are just some of the artists Paul has worked with and he is currently working on the House Collection 5 album with Allister Whitehead which will be out on the Fantazia label on February 24. 

Tall Paul gave us a few minutes from his busy schedule to answer a few questions.

Why do you DJ?
I love it, its got to be one of the best jobs around.

Have you always wanted to be a DJ?
Well, I've always wanted to be in music and my interest in music sort of evolved into me becoming a DJ.

How would you describe your music?
Upfront pumpin house, not massive on vocals and not garage or techno.

What do you need to be a good DJ?
You need to persevere, it takes a lot of hard work to make it.

What advice would you give to budding deck wiz?
Get mixing and establish your choice of music early on, flogging your tapes all over the place is also vital as it gets your name around you have to be persistent.

What's the future of music going to be?
Down beat, hip hop, slow music.  But the thing is it keeps on changing and recreating itself.  Someone goes into a studio and comes out.  Someone goes into a studio and comes out with a completely new wave and it just keeps on going on like that.

Your biggest achievement?
Owning my own nightclub, getting my record on Radio 1 and getting as far up the charts as no. 26.

Whom do you idolise?
No-one in particular but Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling are good.

Where do you see yourself in five years time?
Still around playing whatever music is in at the time.

How much do you earn?
Quite a lot but nothing I can tell you guys about.

Do you listen to the same music at home that you do at work?
No, definitely not. I listen to pop, classical and hip hop.  If you start listening to the stuff you bang away on a Sanctuary night it would do your head in.

Links to Fantazia

Tall Paul played at the Fantazia events:

Fantazia Return of a Legend

A copy of his set from this event can be purchased here
Tall Paul also mixed the Fantazia House Collection 5,

A copy of which is available here