Through his work as DJ, Producer, Dancefloor experimentalist, Remixer, Collaborator and label owner, Paul Woolford has succeeded in bringing a rare level of artistry to the world of modern dance music and in doing so, made an enduring global impact. 2009 studio clients include DFA, Environ, Gigolo, Systematic and Mute. His name is synonymous with high-quality.

As a DJ, Woolford tours the world constantly as a guest of the finest clubs and festivals (such as... Tokyo's Womb, Madrid's Goa, Berlin's Panaramabar, Venice's Il Muretto, Chicago's Smartbar, Paris' The Mix, Manchester's Sankeys & The Electric Chair, to name a few.. and has a frequently exhausting schedule that runs into overdrive in the summer when his main weekly residency at WeLoveSpace on Sundays in Ibiza starts.

Irrespective of your position on the dancefloor or listening at home, Paul Woolford's tropes and idiosyncrasies are unmistakable and he has become a force to be reckoned with in modern dance music.

In the lead up to his gig at Wax:On's MAGiCBAG label launch on the 6th June, which sees him share deck space with the likes of Steve Lawler and Dusty Kid amongst others, we caught up with him to get the lowdown, the latest and the soon to be news....

Hey Paul, how are you and how’s 2009 been going for you so far?

Hello, I'm very well thanks, and yourself? Well this year's shaping up as being my best yet in terms of the quality of studio projects. Mixes of Morgan Geist's "The Shore" for Environ in January and that led to the band Delphic for R&S, then Juan Maclean for DFA in New York, some production and mixes for Maps and tommorrow I start remixing DJ Hell feat. Diddy from his "Teufleswerk" album. In between this I've been making some full-on dancefloor singles again, I had a break from this to do some experiments last year, so it was about time for the bangers to come out again! We've had some excellent reactions and an amazing email from Francois K about the "Pandemonium" track. I'm finally getting the work I always wanted.

How did you get in to electronic music scene in Leeds?

Organically I suppose. I'd always listened to the radio throughout my childhood and that kind of pushed me onwards as I have a quiet inquisitive nature. I had keyboards and things when I was young, and learnt how to play up to a certain standard, but then I was seeing things on the TV that inspired me, breakdancing and things, but it was always the music that got me. So I kept listening to the radio, and eventually heard things like Herbie Hancock "Rocket" (on Annie Nightingale's Sunday evening show on Radio 1 aeeeeeons ago!), which just sounded from another world. Gradually you'd hear more and more dance music on the radio, and then when things like Inner City charted, I was blown away. I'd save up my pocket money and then go to the local HMV shop and buy these compilation albums with 12 tracks on them, and my fate was pretty much sealed. I just kept on imitating these tracks on my little keyboards in my bedroom, and then as time went on, I bought a Yamaha CS5 analogue synth, I was about 16 then, and a 4 track Tascam recorder, and then I was off. In terms of the scene, there has always been a healthy music scene in Leeds but I wasn't a part of it as I was too young and shy to get involved. I was hanging around Crash Records though, which to this day remains close to my heart. The smell of vinyl in there is amazing! Slowly I was absorbing things, and then I bought the first 2 Warp 12"s one day and they fucking floored me. They way they sounded and looked just blew my mind.

2020 Vision - are you still involved? How did the collaboration influence you?

In many ways I honed my craft with my releases on 2020 Vision. I think we've done about 9 singles and 2 albums over the years or something. It feels like home and I love how they have built the label, and kudos to them for weathering the storms in recent times. They also have a wide enough view of the scene to do their own thing and occasionally dip into the trendy pool of talent without being mere followers, as many labels seem to be these days. I have more respect for those that carve their own niche and 2020 have done this. We've been talking recently and I'd like to put together a new Bobby Peru record this year so we'll see if I get the time.

What’s been your ultimate highlight over the years and where would you still love to play but haven't?

There really are two many highlights to mention but my Exit Festival gig in 2007 was awesome, looking forward to being back there in July. My summer residency at Il Muretto in Venice with Nic Fanciulli was a highlight, Womb in Tokyo last year was amazing, and the summers are a season-long highlight. Space is incredible. Panaramabar in Berlin is a law unto it itself, there's so many...

Who has been a real inspiration that you’ve worked with?

Again, so many people. And for a lot of different reasons. Underworld are very creatively open people. Ali Dubfire and Sharam from Deep Dish are great inspirational people and touring with them opened my mind up to how far you can take this. Ali talking to me about working with Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac underlined this all. For any musician, to transcend boundaries and go from making underground records to that level of success is an achievement. I had a remix project many years ago for Freeform Five and the parts were particularly good, I then found out that the keyboards were by Vince Clarke from Erasure/Depeche Mode, so that one caught me off guard. And recently, the project that's inspired me the most was the remix for Morgan Geist from Metro Area. Again, incredible parts, the vocals were amazing - Jeremy Greenspan from Junior Boys - and I didn't want the project to end! I picked 4 mixes of about 9 to submit and we've had some great feedback from across the scene, people like Ewan Pearson, Luciano, Hell & Francois K have enthused about it.

Erotic remains a true classic, do you still get a huge reaction off crowds when you play it or do you stick to playing new material these days?

I've played it once this year and once last year. It's funny, I keep hearing records that use that delay technique, and I had always wanted to make a record that had such a firm impact. I love the track, but it's just for special occasions now for me... Or at least that version is... :)

What would you be doing if you weren't working in music right now?

I'd still be working creatively. I have a strong interest in art so I'd probably be pursuing that full time but I couldn't imagine not being involved with music.

What is a typical Sunday night spent like?

I'm either travelling to Ibiza, or I'm already there having dinner and preparing for Space. It's an amazing feeling going there at the end of the weekend...

Are you looking forward to the Magic Bag event?

I can't wait! It's been 6 months since my last gig in Leeds and the line-up is very special.

What's lined up for the summer Ibiza/festival wise?

Ibiza/festival-wise I'm doing weekly again for WeLove at Space on Sundays in Ibiza, the Exit Festival again in Serbia, Glastonbury on the friday and Bennicassem also which I've always wanted to play. Elsewhere I'm also doing some work with Casio G-Shock at the moment working on a Ltd Edition design for summer and also the hook-up with my Intimacy label and the Electronic Poet label will be back in Oki-ni.com and Selfridges in summer... It should be an interesting year!

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PAUL WOOLFORD VISIT: myspace.com

TO BUY SPECIAL £12 ADVANCE TICKETS FOR THIS MAMMOTH EVENT VISIT: ticketweb.co.uk??