Paul Oakenfold, pictured above doing a Bono impression, has spoken about his “delight” to be still getting work despite becoming irrelevant to the dance music scene in the latter part of the last century.
The dance music legend, who mostly gigs in the US, said he thanks the EDM movement for keeping his touring schedule busy.
“I couldn’t be happier,” claimed Oakenfold. “I came to America in the early noughties to retire from the dance music scene by remixing pop records and scoring Hollywood films for money. I thought that’d be it for me but then the EDM explosion happened and my stock has risen with American audiences.”
Enthusing about his current status in the US the famed remixer continued, “I keep telling anyone who’ll listen that Las Vegas is the new capital of dance music,” asserted Oakenfold. “Not because it’s a hotbed of creativity like Detroit in the 80s or Berlin today. But because it’s got all the garish commercialism of late 90s “superclubs” and appeals to an undiscerning pop market. It’s perfecto.”
“It is in no way a place where ageing musicians can go for a final payday when they’re winding down into the twilight of their careers,” the DJ assured interviewers.
Oakenfold continued to forcefully deny accusations that he was past his best, “That couldn’t be further from the truth, I placed at number 69 in the DJ Mag Top 100 for last year and we all know how much of an accurate barometer of musical ability that is.”
The DJ admitted, “I find it does get tougher to remain relevant with the young crowd so I don’t try as hard as I used to. And besides the effort of trying to remain innovative gets in the way of my real passion – making generic dance remixes for pop acts, like Madonna and Cher.”
