1. What are you expecting at the big return of Gatecrasher’s Summer Sound System this year?
Paul:
Big fun and a lot of excitement with Gatecrasher being a very prestigious clubbing brand it is sure to be an amazing event. Also a chance to meet up with my colleagues and hang out as we are usually traveling all over the place and festivals are a good place to catch up.
2.The line up is a veritable who’s who of artists old and new. Where will you be dancing when you’re not playing and who are you most excited about seeing?
Paul:
I will be dancing to everything. I like all sorts of music and this festival is a good festival having well established artists and also showcasing new talent.
3.This year Gatecrasher is celebrating 20 years of acid house. How significant was 1988 to you?
Paul:
1988 was not that significant personally for me as I lived in East Germany at the time and my only real connection with music was via the radio.
4. There are over 450 festivals in the UK alone. What do you think makes Summer Sound System special?
Paul:
Wow I didn’t realise that there was that many, that is impressive. With Gatecrasher they were the first clubbing brand to enter this market and have made a lot of ground breaking decisions over the years. I expect this year the organizers will also have a lot of nice surprises up there sleeves which I will be looking forward to seeing that.
5.What is your all-time favourite track to play and which is your favourite to listen to in your own time?
Paul:
That is a hard question as this is changing all the time. I suppose the tracks which go down really well at festivals are the all time classic anthems such as ‘Born Slippy’ Underworld and ‘For an Angel’ the crowd always like it when I play that. To listen to in my own time it depends what mood I am in. If I want to chill out, I like proper chill out music, not the pop stuff they try to pass off as chill out, but if I am up for some rock and roll I love listening to bands such as the wombats. And of course electronic music will always be my favourite type of music so I listen to electronic music all the time.
6.Who would be in your fantasy line up?
Paul:
It is very hard to say as I would not know where to start. I have the highest respect for festival organizers as they do such a great job, but one which is also very difficult
7. What’s your favourite festival memory?
Paul:
I have so many, one was one of my first ever UK festival in 1998 when I was not as well known and I have just come out of the studio after burning the remix of ‘For an Angel’ straight to CD and when I played it the crowd went wild, that was an experience. Another was at the Gatecrasher Summer Sound System, when England were playing Germany. I was DJing at the time and England beat them. I turned the music down and the whole crowd was going mad and pointing and chanting at me, me being the only German there at the time.
8. What are your top 3 festival essentials?
Paul:
It has to be a mobile phone with an extra battery as you are almost guaranteed to lose your friends. Proper Shoes, for girls no matter how pretty high heels are they are not the best type of shoes to wear to a festival. And a bottle of water.
9. Mypace are partners with the event this year – how important is myspace in to your career and you fans?
Paul:
For a lot of my colleagues it has helped them build there careers but when I started out there wasn’t a Myspace and I was fortunate enough to build a good solid fan base through clubs and venues. For me Myspace is a very important tool for interacting with my fans as they are able to contact me and communicate directly with me through Myspace.
10. Music moves in cycles and reinvents itself every 10 years – discuss.
Paul:
I don’t believe it is every ten years, I think it is more like every 2 _ to 3 years especially with electronic music. Over the 15 years of my career I have seen many ‘men of the moments’ come and go, having a year to build their careers, sustaining for 1 year and then never hearing of them again. However there are some who stand the test of time who have real substance and have the discipline to live this kind of life.
11. Mark Ronson and Hotchip have been recently added to the line-up - who will you be watching?
Paul:
Hot Chip definitely.
12. Have you ever Gatecrashed a party or had your party Gatecrashed?
Paul:
When I was about 13 years old I used to try and get in the local night club, but I was too young so I started sneaking in the back door. They soon found out though.
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