Paul Oakenfold: David Guetta Takes Dance Music To A “Different Level”

Legendary DJ Paul Oakenfold recently spoke exclusively to MTV News in Ibiza

Oakenfold sat down with us shortly before taking the stage in front of 5,000 people at Amnesia’s 20th Anniversary party, where he reminisced about playing the historical venue for almost two decades, and assessed the dance scene as it is today.

“The first time I came to Ibiza I was 18-years-old.  I ran out of money, ended up sleeping on the beach  and couldn’t eat - but that’s what you do when you’re young,” he said.

“When I came back I was resident at Amnesia on opening night and I’ll always remember it.  All my friends came over for the party, and what a party it was!”

Credited with starting the trance movement from Ibiza in the early 90’s, the Grammy award winner revealed how he was in the eye of the storm, explaining  “You don’t realize how big this is at the time, it was purely for the love of DJ’ing and I never expected it to be this big.”  

The 46-year-old then acknowledged his surroundings as playing a major role too, saying: “this is the club where the whole scene started.  It attracts a cross-section of teenagers to 50-year-olds, from all over the world and there is no other club that can capture that audience.”

Now living in LA, Paul’s day job is as a movie score composer, but that hasn’t stopped him from keeping an eye on the new breed of superstar DJ’s emerging, including a certain chart-topping Frenchman: “David Guetta’s done incredibly well in America and taken it to different level for what he’s doing”.

When pushed to predict the next to score cross-over success, Oakenfold chose MTV’s 2010 VMA house DJ: “My money’s on Deadmau5 if he adds some more commercial songs”.

For more from Ibiza check out Ibiza Rocks on MTV, 9pm Friday 3rd September, and head to www.amnesia.es for more of Oakenfold’s Amnesia set.