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TheBeatRanch.com - Interviews - Paul Maddox


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Finishing off our interviews this month we have the legendary Paul Maddox.

With hundreds of tracks produced along with countless remixes, Paul Maddox has been a driving force in the hard house scene, producing tracks not just for himself but for artists like Paul Glazby, Lisa Lashes, Anne Savage, Miss Behavin, JP & Jukesy, Ingo, Steve Hill, and the list could go on and on. When he is not producing like a machine, Paul has been behind the decks with gigs all over the world including, Canada, Russia, New Zealand & Australia to name just a few.

Now with out any further ado the one and only Paul Maddox

Welcome to The Beat Ranch Paul. You are no stranger to us here as many of your tracks have been featured on our mixes, and your name being mentioned on many of our interviews. Lets get the ball rolling then. When did you get into hard house? Was it a track or an event that got you into it?

I first started going out to Progress in Derby and OneLove in Mansfield, where they were playing hard house every weekend and it just grabbed me.

You have been inspiration to many producers and DJs out there, I know myself I would kill to have a 1% of your talent.. however.. who has inspired you?

Thanks! On the hard house front, Paul Janes, BK, Nick Sentience and many others have influenced me, but I've always listened to lots of different music too, so draw ideas from all over the place.

You must get loads of tracks from producers of all skill levels, what are some of the common mistakes that you have noticed with new producers? What advice would you give them?

I think an easy trap to fall into is getting too bogged down with effects, piling too much onto every sound. If you've picked the right sounds in the first place they shouldn't need a huge amount of work to get them to sit together.

Can you give us a run down of your studio? What are some of your favorite VSTs to work with?

My main setup is Cubase 4, with Kontakt & Battery for sampling. My favorite VSTi at the moment though is Sylenth1, I find myself turning to it pretty much all the time.

How do you go about making a track? What are some of the first things you do?

It varies from track to track really. If i've got an idea in my head, be it a riff, bassline, vocal or whatever - I'll usually start with that and build the rest of the track around it.

You have engineered for countless producers and DJs, as well as your own material. Do you have a rough number of how many tracks you have worked on?

I really don't know, It must be in the hundreds though I should think.

Your latest release was "Paul Maddox meets..." on Tidy's Music Library where you and a handful of other producers/djs collaborated on some killer tracks. What have do you have you been working on recently?

I'm currently working on a new Olive Grooves EP for tidy as well as a collaboration with the Tidy DJs - both need a little more work still but should surface before too long!

You have produced under a few names, such as Barely Legal, Azure, Tomorrow People, Olive Grooves to name just a few. Can you give us a run down of the differences between each one?

Barely Legal - Collaboration with Guyver

Azure - Slower, more trancey stuff

Tomorrow People - Collaboration with Lee Haslam

Olive Grooves - Funkier, Groovier Hardhouse

Abandon - Generally a bit tougher than Paul Maddox tracks, but with a bit of crossover.

On the DJing front, you have played countless events in the UK and around the world, where has been your favorite place to travel to?

I did a tour of New Zealand and Australia last year which was really good fun, some great gigs and awesome people. Russia is probably the most interesting though, it's a totally different world to over here.

What made Russia's scene different then the rest of the world?

The whole culture over there is just completely different, there's a real "live for the moment" kinda mentality, which is great for a club night!

Whats been your worst DJing experience?

Probably years ago when I played at a club called Claire's in Torquay; I stopped the wrong CD deck TWICE in the same set!