Vegas is the new Ibiza (From Halesowen News)

Vegas is the new Ibiza

7:00am Saturday 1st November 2008

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World-renowned DJ, Paul Oakenfold, discusses his life in music and long-awaited residency in the entertainment capital of the world.

What is the appeal to setting up residency in a club in Las Vegas?

Well for me I think Vegas is the future. I think Vegas is the new Ibiza. I love it; that it's a 24-hour city. It is what New York should be, but isn't. I think it's the future, not just domestically, but internationally. So I had a few offers of various residencies and I felt the Palms was right, because it's youth-oriented and that's what it's all about for me. I think what we're doing is bringing something different to Vegas -- certainly in terms of music, because all the clubs tend to play top 40 and we're focussing on underground music, so it's a big difference.

What can guests expect from Perfecto at Rain Nightclub that is different from other club environments in Las Vegas (knowing that Vegas draws a large mash-up and hip-hop crowd)?

That's exactly what the difference is -- it's usually mash-up, hip-hop crowds. We're playing international, a lot of European music. We're bringing the flavour of Ibiza to here. We've got a produced show. We've got visuals. It's a production. We know what we're doing on the hour, every hour. It's not just a DJ turning up and playing music. You'll see a flying opera singer. You're gonna see some things. We've been working with some of the trapeze artists so they know when to come on. There will probably be a few things we have to iron out, but it's really important for the locals to support it. I really want to emphasise that the locals are an important part of it and I want them to feel proud of it. I'm travelling the world promoting the Palms and Las Vegas now and when I'm on CNN, MTV, I'm talking about, 'listen you should come to Vegas.' I've suddenly become this spokesman for Vegas ... I was in London doing a show and found myself saying, “Come to Vegas”.

How does the Las Vegas club-goer differ from those in other cities?

One of the differences is that a lot of people in this city work in this environment -- from bars, to restaurants to casinos to whatever. So I would hope that if they did get Saturday night off that they would look at this as their place, where all their friends come and they hear serious new music so their educated but entertained, and not hearing the same old thing that I tend to find when I come here. I hear the same old music all the time.

Do you plan to have special guest DJs during your residency?

Yes, very much so. We're in talks with a few guest DJs. In talks with David Guetta, Pete Tong, Tiesto, people like this, so when I'm not around, these guys will fill in. We've got a DJ called Sandra Collins, who in my opinion is the best skilled DJ out there. She's great at what she does. So we wanna support her, and we also support the locals, so if there is any good local DJ, they would be the opener. Also, because Vegas is sexy, we want to bring a celebrity element. So maybe one week have a celebrity 'kinda DJing.' So we wanna mix it up, but first and foremost is the new music, and everyone kinda realizes they can come here and express themselves in those terms. Whether you're a dancer, whether you're a DJ, whatever you are - the idea is not to hear top 40 and not to hear the music you hear everywhere else.

You set up residency in Ibiza years ago. How does this differ now, 15+ years later in terms of what audiences expect?

This is the new Ibiza. I've gone on record saying this a few times, even being in Ibiza last month. What I like about Vegas is that it's 24 hours but what I also like--in Ibiza, no music during the day. Here there is. Also, in Ibiza, the clubs close at 6 o'clock. Here, you can go after hours and do what you want. I like the idea that you could come here, relax, hang out by the pool, go back to your room when the sun sets, take a shower, get dressed, go for dinner, maybe hit a bar, and then come to a night club at 1am in the morning. I like that idea, it's very European, actually, especially in what they do in the summer, lounge by the pool or the beaches. You haven't got the beaches, but ... who knows?

What was it like performing at the Great Wall of China?

Rainy. Really strange. It took us a year to put together, in terms of the show. We had to get permission from the government. We went there when SARS had just hit. It was a really big deal and we were a bit worried. So that was a bit difficult. We were following CNN, when things were escalating out of control in terms of this epidemic and virus, so we got in touch with the World Health Organization, and they said, 'Listen, half of what they are saying on TV is not factually correct. You'll be fine. Go.' And we went. And then I did BBC World and MTV when we came back and explained that it's not as bad as it was made out to be. But what was amazing was when we got there and did the show, halfway through the night, we're on the wall with all these wires, and these clubbers come in from all over the world, and it starts to pour down rain. I'm on a wall, and rain is coming down and in China, rain means good luck. We're trying to find umbrellas, and the Chinese are dancing in the rain. So we had this really weird situation.

How do you spend your time in Las Vegas when you aren't working?

I've got friends here. Go to their places for dinner and to hang out. I don't necessarily go to other bars unless my friends wanna go. What I've been doing is going to their houses in the suburbs and eating locally and trying to get a feel for what Vegas is all about rather than just being on the Strip. I saw Ka last time I was here. I think it's great; wonderful. I think in terms of production, any of the Cirque du Soleil shows are great. I think I will see shows here because we're always looking for things to improve, and as you can see we have a lot of trapeze artists; we've got guys on stilts. We're always looking to improve what we've got, so by going to some of those shows you might see ideas and think, 'you know, I could take that and for the first time ever put into a nightclub.' We want you to feel as if when you come into this place, it's called Planet Perfecto. You've come to a completely different planet and a completely different experience. That's the approach of it, it's like a show. That's why you could only really do it in Vegas.

Tell us a bit about technology and how it affects your skills. Are you still a traditionalist and mix on vinyl, or do you mix digitally?

I think the majority of DJs have moved on from vinyl. Still, to me, there's nothing better than vinyl in terms of the sound and the feeling of when you play music. But we're now into CD and into laptops. I'm trying not to go into laptops and various different new technologies because I think from a crowd's point of view, you look up at the DJ and it looks like he's checking his emails. And a lot of it is done with new software, so you literally could do a set without mixing. So I still want to kind of keep to CDs. It's a step up from vinyl, but you've still got a lot of movement on the mechanical side of what you do, in terms of mixing, arranging and structure.

Can an audience hear the difference between the two?

No, the audience can't, but DJs can--because vinyl is a much warmer sound. You can hear the fidelity when you scratch. CDs are mainly digital and it's a lot cleaner and brighter.

You graduated from Culinary school? Any tips on cooking?

If you are gonna roast a meat - which could be pork, turkey, lamb, chicken, beef - always turn it upside down. If you slow-roast it, the juices seep into the breast, and that's the juiciest part. What a lot of people do is cook it by the way the chicken looks, so all of the juice goes into the tray. Flip it so the juices go into the breast. ... There are so many great restaurants [in Vegas].

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