Profile

A DJ since 1995, Paul has headlined gigs at top clubs globally for the last ten years. He is resident DJ and promoter of Floorplay, a monthly night at the glamorous Club NL in Amsterdam. He is also much in demand to perform at music conferences, festivals, fashion shows and numerous beach parties.

He mixed the 11 Years Of Silver Planet mix album in 2008, and has signed his first single entitled Landguard  (co-produced with Edgar Duijff) to Ferry Corsten's Aleph Records. The track was supported by Sasha, Desyn Masiello, 16Bit Lolitas, Hernan Cattaneo, Lucien Foort and many more. Since then he has released Weekender and Waveheat to Ferry’s label. Melodic hit Anorok followed on NYC’s Alter Image Recordings, followed up by house stormer Lucky Boy which is aimed directly for the more housier floors.

Paul has a long history of radio and for three years presented 365LiveRadio. The two-hour Friday night show was syndicated across the world by ID&T's Dance Tunes and featured live mixes and exclusive interviews with the top DJs and producers. Paul recently made the switch to hosting Global Dance Selection on Red Bull Music Academy. 

Paul is powered by Pioneer Pro DJ to perform his DVJ sets which offers a new and revolutionary audio/visual combination to clubland – the ability to spin with DVDs on giant plasma screens at clubs and festivals is one which is taking dance music to the next level and Paul is often booked exclusively for a DVJ show. 

This hard-working British DJ has incredibly played in the US, Israel, Sweden, Germany, Dubai, Russia, Bahrain, Finland and Belgium and his native UK in 2010. He has rocked tours of America from Conneticut to Cayman Islands, New Haven to New York, and Boston, Seattle, LA, Portland and Tampa. Unforgettable clubnights in Tel Aviv, wild beach party in Egypt (in 40 degree heat), reputable music conferences such London Calling, Stockholm Electronica and Amsterdam Dance Event, boat parties in Dublin, an intimate back street club in Edinburgh,  sell-out gigs in Honululu during Mardi Gras, DJing barefoot on the sand in Grand Cayman and many more experiences keep this focussed DJ at the top of his game as we head towards 2011.



Full biography
Paul's life has pretty much been shaped by music, from the tapes his parents played endlessly on the car stereo to the piano and guitar lessons he (grudgingly) took. Then he found a passion for drums, towards the mid to late 80s. He was blown away by New Order, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys during sneaky late night radio-listening sessions. He first got into dance music in 1990, inspired by the new wave of DJs on the radio, particularly Pete Tong, and the explosion of UK electronic music being pressed onto vinyl. His developed a real passion for vinyl, fascinated by how sounds could come from a stylus and a slab of plastic. The early 90s were all about a new sound and a new era; Paul quickly found that house music was to shape his life in a way he could have never imagined back then.



Paul aged 13
His formative DJ gigs took place in 1992, setting up a pirate radio station to play the latest sounds and promoting early basement parties with friends. He launched his first ever club night in 1994; no-one came and Paul wasnt asked back! He stuck at it, however, and began making a name for himself with his own club nights (Vinyl Frontier and Re:Mission) north of London in 1995, becoming quite an entrepreneur and promotor. By Autumn 1996, his events has slowly but surely started to take off. Word was spreading. Looking at other ways to further himself in the scene, he began pushing new European import 12inch tracks to record labels and distribution centres, building his contacts and gaining a reputation as a talent scout, his ears always after the next big thing. This willingness to knock on door saw him eventually appointed the high-profile position of job of A+R man for Ministry of Sound in 1998.

After many years of DJing all over the UK, including guest slots all over Europe, Paul decided to move to Amsterdam in 2000. He organised some of the cities top parties in clubs such as Panama, Sol, Club NL, 020, Strand West and Jimmy Woo. His reputation for high quality house music and his ability to promote a well-organised event with quality DJs saw him quickly booked to play all over Holland, including top clubs such as Mansion, Thalia Lounge, Escape, Studio 80, Kroon and many beach parties.

Paul began touring internationally from 2001, playing regularly in the US, Israel (Haoman17 /Ultrasound/ Coma2), Sweden (Stockholm Electronica), Germany (Stereo Garten, Munich), UK (various) and Dubai (Tangerine). America in particular is a point of popularity for Paul, touring the country 12 times since 2001, playing in New York, DC, Seattle, Philadelphia, Portland, Rayleigh, New Haven, Cayman Islands and even Honolulu recently for Silver Planet / 365Mag.

                      

A plane, great

Paul’s association with UK label Silver Planet began in 2004 when his track entitled Fun/Ladysparkes with Philly-based BCML was signed to the UK label. The track was a big hit with Sasha, Digweed, James Holden and Anthony Pappa, and Paul’s profile rose. The follow-up, entitled May Music, was released in early 2005, followed by La Loca a few months later. Now the 11 Years Of Silver Planet LP, which hits the stores in February 2008, is set to push his profile even further.



Silver Planet LP

Paul hosts 365LiveRadio, a weekly Friday night show (8-10pm) which is syndicated across the world by ID&T's Dance Tunes. The show has featured live mixes and exclusive interviews with Danny Howells, Sander K, Danny Tenaglia, Pako & Frederik, James Zabiela, Christian Smith, Skylark, Omid 16B, Nic Fanciulli, Paul Harris, Futureshock, King Unique, Booka Shade and many many more.

 

365LiveRadio

Paul also finds time to keep the music world up to date with a column for 365Mag.com, the globe's leading dance portal.

The 11 Years Of Silver Planet LP came out in 2008, and his Landguard single (co-produced with Edgar Duijff) on Ferry Corsten's Aleph label is pushing his profile higher, with the likes of Desyn Masiello, 16Bit Lolitas, Hernan Cattaneo, Lucien Foort and Nick K all supporting the track.

Paul has headlined gigs at the top clubs in the Netherlands and worldwide for over ten years. He also runs his own wildly succesful Floorplay parties, bringing in Nick K (Yoshitoshi Recs, USA) Schaamteloos DJ (Panama, NL) Timstr (Studio 80, NL) and many more top guests. 2009 already has some formidable names pencilled in, including a Little Mountain Recordings special on 24th January.

 

Floorplay @ Club NL

Paul tours the US in again in 2009, performing in New York and Tampa to support the Silver Planet 11 Years Release Tour. Watch out for more in 2009!
 


Discography
BCML & Paul Sparkes 'Fun/Ladysparkes' (Silver Planet, UK, 2004)
Fadoua Mae 'Signs' (MJPS remix) (2Recordz, 2004)
BCML & MJPS 'The Mule' (CDR, 2005)
Muzikjunki & Paul Sparkes 'Closer Than You' (F2 Records, Holland, 2005)
Ben Camp & Paul Sparkes 'May Music' (Silver Planet, UK, 2005)
Ben Camp & Paul Sparkes 'Bendy’ (CDR, 2005)
Ben Camp & Paul Sparkes 'Robots' (Silver Planet, UK, 2006)
PLX 'La Loca' (Silver Planet, UK, 2006)
PLX 'Spare Ribs' (CDR, 2006)
NGE & Paul Sparkes 'Landguard' (CDR, 2007)
NGE & Paul Sparkes 'Landguard' (Clouded Minds remix) (CDR, 2007)
NGE & Paul Sparkes 'Landguard' (MPI Project remix) (CDR, 2007)
NGE & Paul Sparkes 'Response' (CDR, 2007)
NGE & Paul Sparkes 'Logic' (CDR, 2007)
17C Project (Stephen Fox & Paul Sparkes) 'Anorok' (CDR, 2007)
17C Project (Stephen Fox & Paul Sparkes) 'Marker One' (CDR, 2007)
Edgar Duijff & Paul Sparkes 'Landguard' (Aleph Recordins, 2008)
Edgar Duijff & Paul Sparkes 'Weekender' (Aleph Recordins, 2008)
Edgar Duijff & Paul Sparkes 'Waveheat' (unsigned, 2008)