Paul Oakenfold Biography

Paul Oakenfold was born on August 30, 1963 in London, England. He is a record producer and one of the best known DJs worldwide. Oakenfold has admitted to struggling with dyslexia since the age of 1 and has stated his intention to help dyslexia in children.

Oakenfold first started playing in clubs as a teenager and soon built up a reputation as a top party DJ. But it was not until the 1990's that his name was associated with the DJ Elite. This was cause by the public's interest in the new breed of dance music called Trance. Paul Oakenfold found this from the beaches of Goa in India and combined it with the European dance music style.

His career really began in London, his rising reputation led to a job as an A&R rep at the UK-based Champion label. Oakenfold's first signing was Will Smith (when he was still part of Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince ). His second signing was with Salt N'Peppa. After stints at Profile and Def Jam (this is where he perfected the talent scouting skills that eventually led him to start his own Perfecto label in 1991), he returned to DJing.

Oakenfold became mainstream in 1994 when he created a two hour set for BBC Radio One's Essential Mix, the set became known as the Goa Mix. It was not until 1997 through 1999 that Oakenfold really began to build an audience in to United States. In 1998 he released Tranceport. It was well received by the States's trance music fans, and they even garnered him modest acceptance in the Mainstream music scene.

Oakenfold's success grew thanks to his work on the film soundtracks of Swordfish, The Matrix Reloaded, and Die Another Day for which he remixed The James Bond Theme. He also worked on the James Bond game, Golden Eye: Rouge Agent and contributed to the soundtrack of the anime, Appleseed in 2004.

2002, Q magazine named Oakenfold in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Oakenfold released his first solo album, called Bunkka featuring artists like Nelly Furtado's The Harder They Come, Ice Cube's Get Em Up and Shifty Shellshock, then the lead singer of Crazy Town's Starry Eyed Surprise.

Later in 2004, Oakenfold's song, Ready Steady Go was remade with Korean lyrics for the movie Collateral. The song was also used in the Saab commercials and featured in the film The Bourne Identity during a car chase scene. Paul Oakenfold's mixes have also been in international brands, such as Saab, Coca Cola, and Motorola.

Paul Oakenfold's latest album was released April 11^th, 2006; entitled A Lively Mind. The first single Faster Kill Pussycat is a collaboration with the actress Brittany Murphy, released on May 2, 2006.

Oakenfold's 2006 CD was released by Maverick, a Warner record label previously owned by Madonna, Michelle Branch, the Prodigy and Alanis Morisette.

Go to Top