Paul Maddox - The Most Talented Producer In Hard Dance?
Reported by benz
/
Submitted 01-02-05 01:33
Paul Maddox is widely recognised as a producer to be reckoned with. Having shown his ability to create tracks in several different moulds, from chunky groove infused techno and hardhouse, to elegant trance anthems and harder trance cuts, his tracks are filled with inspired touches, catchy hooks, and infectious basslines. Having been signed to Tidy Trax in his late teens on the strength of his bootleg remix of N-Trance's "Set You Free", Maddox went on to be appointed their in-house engineer, helping some of the scene's biggest names to produce hard dance gem after hard dance gem, all the while releasing a slew of his own immensely innovative productions. February 12th sees him bring his live PA experience to London for the first time, at the huge Frantic Brings You More at The SeOne Complex. If his cornucopia of tasty tracks are anything to go by, this stands a fair chance of being the most exciting live PA on the circuit. I for one am immensely excited about seeing it. Paul took a few minutes out of his busy production schedule to answer these questions for us...
What formed your introduction to music? And how did you progress into dance music?
My first introduction to music was like many people from what my parents listened to, which consisted of a mix of rock from the likes of The Who, T-Rex, Status Quo etc and stuff like Tears for Fears and Ultravox which looking back was probably where I got the taste for electronic music as a whole.
I can’t remember exactly how I got into dance music, but tracks like Camisra “Let Me Show You” and Energy 52 “Café del Mar” were amongst the first tunes I remember really being into.
You are established as one of the most talented and innovative producers in hard dance. Have you always been a very musical person? Is it something that runs in your family for instance? Can you play any instruments particularly well?
Not really, although I’d love to be proficient in an instrument. I can just about muddle through playing keyboards, but only with the aid of sequencers – I’d be useless in a band!
February 12th sees you bring your live PA to Frantic Brings You More at The SeOne. If I remember correctly your only other live performance to date was at Creamfields last August. How was the experience for you, and what was the feedback like? What have you learnt from the experience?
I’ve done a few PA’s since the Creamfields debut, and its all been a learning process. It was a great experience, although using a PC on stage will never fail to make me a little nervous! Feedback so far has been great, but I’m not one to rest on my Laurels and I’m constantly adding bits and pieces to the setup to make it more interesting and different from just playing the tracks in their original form.
Who else will you be checking out at this massive 5 room event?
Definitely Tinrib, as he knows a thing or two about doing a live show, Ben Kaye who I’ve worked with before but never seen DJ and my friend Ayresy who’s playing in the Pure Bounce room.
What equipment do you use in your set up? Have hardware and software advancements in recent years enabled producers to create truly ‘live’ sets?
Its all based around a laptop running Ableton live, with a couple of other bits and pieces to control all the loops and effects. The advent of powerful PCs and software like live has really opened doors for doing live sets – its still not live in the sense that you’d see a live band, but its definitely a big step up from traditional DJing, and I’m sure I’m only just scratching the surface of what’s possible.
Who was the first live PA you ever saw and what were your thoughts upon seeing them?
It was Weirdo, at a club in Derby. He played an awesome set – really involving.
We don’t see you DJing down here enough. Do you think there is still an unnecessarily large North-South gap in the world of hard dance?
Its not so much a North/South gap as a London/Rest-of-the-country gap – Its inevitable really as London is so self-contained and has its own scene.
What do you play in a typical DJ set? Quite a range of styles I imagine?
Yeah, a bit of everything depending when I’m playing. I’ve always believed that sets have to have more than one dimension to them – throwing in a melodic track after a few tougher or groovier tracks can work really well (obviously this depends on choosing the right tracks!). I play everything from chunky Scott Mac / Untidy stuff through a bit of European Tech Trance stuff to the harder UK stuff.
What have been your proudest production moments so far? As an engineer or otherwise…
The runaway success of the “Sunset” bootleg I did under the Azure guise was phenomenal, and as an engineer, seeing the impact of “Hostile” that I engineered for Glazby was fantastic too.
What do you listen to outside of hard dance? What other styles of music do you have ideas about producing?
I listen to bits of everything really – I want to produce more trance stuff under the Azure name this year, and I’m also working on a more leftfield project with Ingo & Colin Barratt called Livestock which is starting to yield some interesting results. Might also have a dabble producing some Psytrance too as artists like Electric Universe and Skazi have heavily influenced my recent hard dance productions.
Tidy Trax recently announced their plans to cut back on the amount of vinyl they release whilst simultaneously launching their exclusive online MP3 distribution service. Does it sadden you to see the gradual demise of vinyl?
It does sadden me a bit, but the way I see it there’s no point fighting the inevitable. I regularly play the majority of my set from CDs so It’s only a matter of time before vinyl leaves my bag completely.
Which other producers on the scene do you admire? Have you learnt production tips or techniques from anyone in particular?
BK really is in a league of his own when it comes to production quality but I’ve learnt things from every other producer I’ve worked with, Nick Sentience, Colin Barratt, Ingo & Guyver have all taught me great tricks ways of working.
What forthcoming productions can we expect to hear from you in the not too distant future? Is the new Synpase label going to be getting some more action?
The next release is a 4-track EP on Tidy which is out sometime in may, followed closely by Goosebumps – a collaboration with Guyver under the Barely Legal moniker on Synapse which comes with a cracking remix from Lee Pasch. Sometime after that is Maddox & Rumble – Party People also on Tidy.
What are your opinions on back to back sets? Have you taken part in many? Who would you ideally like to DJ alongside?
They can be great, but only with the right person. Sometimes even if the DJs styles are similar the back to back can still be a bit lacklustre. Probably the most enjoyable ones I’ve done have been with DJ GRH & Ingo.
Do you still have the same passion for clubbing as you did when you first discovered it? Where do you go out these days?
I don’t get as excited about it as I used to but still enjoy going out. My favourite club at the moment has to be Urban Gorilla in Sheffield, consistently awesome music and atmosphere – if there’s a Friday night when I’m not playing out I’ll more than likely be there! I’ve not been out to a Hard Dance night that I wasn’t playing at for a while, but I always have a good session on the dancefloor at the Tidy Weekenders.
And finally, the hard dance scene is full of weird and wonderful characters. Who’s the most bizarre person you have met in your days in the scene?
Proteus would have to be up there – DJed alongside him in Finland last year and I’ve never seen a performance like it!
With thanks to Tidy & Frantic for the images
Frantic Brings You MORE
|
|
On:
|
Saturday 12th February 2005
|
|
At:
|
S.E.One [map]
|
|
From:
|
20:00 - 06:00
|
|
Cost:
|
£14 + B.F. Limited Early Bird Tickest
£16 + B.F. Saver Tickets
£19 + B.F. Standard Tickets
More On The Door
|
|
Website:
|
www.franticuk.com
|
|
Ticket Info:
|
Ticketweb 08700 600 100 / www.ticketweb.co.uk
Frantic HQ 07949 618 035 / amanda@franticuk.com
Never Enough 07813 684 399 / neverenoughmaria@hotmail.com
E-List www.e-listlondon.com
Club Tickets 0870 246 1840 / www.clubtickets.co.uk
|
|
Buy Online:
|
Click here to buy tickets
|
|
More:
|
Frantic proudly present their first event of 2005 with an emphasis on excess! That means More Filth, More Bounce, More Hardcore, More House & Breaks, More Lasers, More Free CDs, More Friends, More Funktion One, More Live PAs, More Decor, and More Fun than ever before!
We've got 5 rooms of exhilarating dance music for the clubbing connoisseur, and some very special appearances in store. The might of the Frantic Main Room brings you an exclusive Paul Maddox live PA - never before seen in London, and only performed once before - as well as 2 more breathtaking live performances from The Nu Energy Collective and the god of Hard House, Captain Tinrib. And at long last, The Funktion One soundsystem will be present in the main arena!
Room 2 sees the launch of our brand new promotion, Pure Bounce – dedicated 100% to the unbeatable sounds of bouncy Hard House! We’ve got some absolute legends of bounce for you, including Lisa Pin-Up, The Tidy Boys, Lee Haslam, and one of the most important people in the history of bounce – Ingo! The bounce is most definitely back.
Room 3 sees the return of hardcore to Frantic, with the most respected crew in the whole scene hosting this arena – Freeformation. The guys behind the mighty Nu Energy Collective don’t often put on parties, but when they do, they are nothing short of spectacular. A second 100% hardcore N.E.C. Live PA heads the incredibly strong line-up, with the country’s two most popular hardcore DJs Scott Brown and Sy alongside some of the most innovative and fresh sounding hardcore DJs on the planet.
For those of you with a passion for the slower, funkier sounds of dance music, Room 4 is House & Breaks forever. It does exactly what it says on the tin! House sets from Phil Reynolds and Eduardo Herrera as well as tasty breakbeats from the likes of the in-demand Steelo.
Oh and if you thought that this event wasn’t hard enough already, Room 5 will host our tough little sister night, Convergence! Illogik, Karim, Lucy Fur, Type 1, *Ting*…just some of the immensely popular hard DJs we’ve got lined-up for you in this no-holds-barred arena.
This event will be our showcase for 2005 – lashings of hard music, the best new talent alongside established scene leaders, groundbreaking live PAs, and the high production standards that you have come to expect from Frantic events. This is our last SeOne event for 6 months! If you want MORE than the average club night out, you know what to do…
|
|
Flyer:
|
 - 
|
|
|
| |
![[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!](/images/mainbanner_top1-xmas.gif)
