So Paul. How long have you actually been DJing for, and what got you into it?

A: I got bitten by the bug at a very early age and got my first pair of ‘twin decks’ when I was around 14, they were a pair of mono decks enclosed in a single unit called a FAL 50, I bought some lights and amps and with my own sound system I used to do house parties and gigs at school but nothing very seriously, I never really started playing professionally until much later.

What would you describe as your first big break into the industry?

A: Although I had been hosting small parties and events since the mid 80’s I guess my first real break came around 1994 when I worked briefly for a record distribution company in London, I was selling records to all the main stores in Soho and made loads of contacts, I used it to my advantage to get some gigs in London and get my name known.

Back in 1995, you opened Uptown Records. What inspired you to open the store?

A: I worked in a record store since leaving school at 16 so I knew the retail side of things like the back of my hand, the distribution company had also given me experience with distributors and as a result I was approached to help start up Uptown.
We did our research and we could see there was a gap for another store in the West End of London and so Uptown was born.

A: Firstly I do not own Uptown, It’s a common misconception because I have been behind the counter since day one and managed the store I seem to have become to many the ‘face’of Uptown – As for my record collection, well I have never bothered to count it but I have a room full of records in my studio at my house and a further two rooms full at my parents, they even have records in their bedroom cupboard as well as under their stairs! God knows how they have put up with it for so long.

What label / artist is always in your record box?

A: My records change constantly but I cannot remember the last time I didn’t have anything from the Soulfuric guys in my box, they just seem to have been the most consistent label over the last few years.

The store is one of few in the world to stock advance promos of Soulfuric releases. When and how did you first become acquainted with the Soulfuric guys?

A: I first met Brian and Mark around the time that ‘Deliver Me’ was released and we hit it off straight away, Brian and my tastes are very similar and he shops at Uptown and has even played in store on a couple of occasions.
I started looking after the promotion of Soulfuric in the UK initially as a favour and now look after them and other labels professionally as FourFour Promotions.

You also collaborated with ATFC last year under the alias “Shere Kahn”, are there any plans for any future collaborations or any solo productions?

A: Producing my own tracks had been a dream of mine for some time but I had never had the opportunity to do it, One day I was playing through some old tracks and found this sample that I really liked and played it to Aydin (ATFC) and he loved it. We started on the track and for various reasons shelved it for ages because we were both so busy doing other things, we actually had two vocals written and recorded for it and eventually settled on the Bootsy Collins accapella sample that just seemed to fit, the whole process from start to finished vinyl took nearly two years.

What sort of feedback did you receive on “Jungle Juicy Funk”?

A: I was very surprised and extremely happy with the response ‘Jungle juicy funk’ received, the track sold really well and even got licensed and appeared on a Defected compilation. I still get people asking after it and also asking about a follow up! As a result I have recently set up a studio at home so I can work on some tracks, I can see a follow up to Shere Khan coming sometime in 2003.

A: As I mentioned earlier FourFour Promotions started out as a favour to Soulfuric records, I was simply making sure that their promo’s reached the right people and I guess other labels started noticed that I was getting results. I started FourFour to fulfil a gap and give these labels the service they deserved, I choose to only work with a select number of labels and promote to DJ’s, Press, A&R etc and hopefully the results speak for themselves, for more info check out www.fourfourpromotions.com

How many residencies do you currently have & where?

A: I currently have three residencies, these include ‘Hustle’ (London), ‘Soundsheavenly’ (Maidstone) and ‘The Kindergarten Klub’ (Southsea), I have also just been asked to take on a new residency in the North of England next year – but I don’t want to say anymore until it’s all confirmed.

One of your latest ventures is a night called “Hustle”. Is this the first night you’ve been behind, or have you promoted other events before?

A: I have promoted several nights in the past, mainly in the early days as a means to get behind the decks; I still believe this is the way for any up and coming DJ’s to get established.
I remember I used to run a Thursday night event called ‘Smile’ above this small wine bar in Surrey, we had guest DJ’s like Bobby & Steve, Sarah HB and even Judge Jules who was playing sensible house music back then. The night became so popular that one night I can remember being in the bar below and looking up at the ceiling creaking under the weight of all the people dancing above, it was an old listed building and I was genuinely worried that the roof would cave in!

‘Hustle’ is my new baby, and although I don’t really get involved with promoting nights anymore it’s a nice change to play in a bar with no pressures, basically I can play whatever I like, it’s building slowly and I intend to continue having some great guests every week as well.

A: I am sure that most DJ’s have experienced the obvious ones that include decks jumping, CD’s skipping, or even taking the stylus off the record playing! only a couple of weeks back I was left with a club full of people staring at me in silence when somebody pulled the mains supply out of the mixer by accident mid set, I won’t spill the beans on who or where it was but we are all human and we all make mistakes.

There is a lot of talk at the moment about the club industry being in trouble & our scene in particular struggling. As someone who is heavily involved in the industry and witnessing things first hand, where do you think things need to go from here?

A: It’s a fact that times are changing and people move on to other things, soulful garage/house music spawned the UK garage scene and the younger generation don’t get to hear style of house music that is basically the roots of most club music today (techno, jungle, deep house whatever.) It would be great to have Radio One behind soulful house again but after the departure of Danny Rampling it looks unlikely.
As far as the clubs are concerned I think there is a shift in how people want to spend their weekends, bars are more popular than ever and the best club events that I have played recently have all been the venues that hold less than 1000 people.
Soulful house music has never had true mainstream success, it’s always been ‘underground’ and it’s survived this long and certainly the music produced is as good as ever, like most things the cream will always rise to the top.

Is there anything you would like to see more or less of in the House music scene and why?

A: To be honest I would like some of the producers, artists especially achieve wider success, don’t get me wrong I don’t want the scene to sell out but it would be great to see artists get the recognition they deserve. I despair at the state of the record industry with the current trend for manufactured pop idol style artists, to me they have no longevity.
I would also like to see clubs take their sound more seriously, it constantly amazes me how clubs get by without maintaining and looking after their equipment, the sound system is at the very root of the whole clubbing experience and it so often gets overlooked.

Your site, paulfarris.com gets an average of 1000 hits per week – how important is an Internet presence these days?

A: I think a presence on the web is absolutely essential, I have had a website now for three years and the latest statistics now show a weekly hit rate of just under 2000 a week! the site is especially useful to people outside of the UK who cannot get access to house music through radio or the normal means.
The forum on my site now gets around 1800 page views a day and I am constantly amazed how many people e-mail a me from all over the world, it shows that house music really does touch people across the globe.

What other sites do you like to check out regularly? (Other than jjazproject.com of course!!!!)

A: Of course aside from jjazproject.com I also have to check the Uptown site regularly as well as Soulfuric’s site, the Defected site and I also like the burnitblue.com website for general music news.

If you want to find out even more about Paul and his nights you should check out his website. You can access the site through the link on our directory page or by clicking in the space below this text.