‘Chopper’ Paul Batten is among the special guests for the upcoming FlashPoint 5th birthday party at Requiem. Paul shot to fame in 2006 when he won a poll for best up-and-coming DJ and landed a residency at the award-winning hardhouse after-party Twist. His recent studio productions have also caught the ear, and his ‘Sloppy Jaloppy’ (written with Brow) was named Tune of the Year 2007 on HarderFaster. We tracked him down to ask him about his approach to DJing and why he feels it necessary to get his chopper out on a regular basis…

Hi Paul, Twist regulars will know all about you, but ‘Don’t Stay In’ punters will want to know some basic stuff. How did you get into dance music?

I’ve been listening to dance music since the acid house days, pretty much the beginning of the rave era. Since I was about 10 years old it used to fascinate me. I used to listen to loads of pirate stations and sit by my stereo like some sort of music junkie doing my mum’s nut in. As time went on I started listening to the Prodigy, Altern 8, Toxic Two, Sonz of the Loop da Loop Era and buying the old illegal pirate radio albums. I’d say the Prodigy where definitely one of the biggest influences into the dance scene for me. Absolutely amazing I still listen to their albums today and their tracks still blow my head off now.

How would you describe your approach to DJing? Perhaps you could explain your propensity to get your chopper out on a regular basis.

My main objective with my DJing is just to enjoy myself and have fun, plain and simple. Obviously I want to do it in a professional way, but the club scene to me is all about having fun. You work hard all week and the weekend is that time to let your hair down and have a laugh with your mates etc. I think if a crowd sees a DJ having fun and enjoying themselves this is given off in the crowd too. I think if you’re that passionate about what you do it shows when your playing. When I’m getting right into a set I don’t know what I’m doing half the time, just loving it! That’s when the chopper comes out! Ha ha!

Your award-winning track with Brow ‘Sloppy Jaloppy’ has the instantly recognizable vocal hook ‘think I’m gonna overdose’. Why on earth is it called ‘Sloppy Jaloppy’??

That track was named ‘Sloppy Jaloppy’ before the track had even begun. I was just sitting in the studio with Brow and I just said to him ‘I’ve always wanted to make a track called ‘Sloppy Jaloppy’’ , he was like ok then sorted. So we just cracked away at it until it was done. It was something me and my mates used to say at school and when we was out, let’s just say it wasn’t the most charming of things to say to a female. We’ll leave that there me thinks. Ha ha! Let your minds ponder on that one, eh? It’s a really catchy name and we both love it!

‘Cake mix’ is another one your other tracks with a funny title. What’s the inspiration for the tracks you produce? And how do you think of their titles?

Me and Brow both have very similar tastes in music but went to different paths through those musical tastes whether it be house, jungle, garage, hardcore, techno or hardhouse. We’re very passionate about our music and we’re trying to create our own trademark sound. We input into our tracks sounds and ideas from various styles of music and fuse them together in the most fluid way possible, we want to get an energetic but different sound to other producers. I get inspiration from anywhere really whether it be old ‘Wu tang’ albums I still listen to, to old jungle tracks or even films. As long as you’ve got an imagination you can get ideas and inspiration from pretty much anything really, the possibilities are endless.

As for the titles, it’s normally something funny that’s happened in the studio that can relate to the track or just a mad random bit of cods that’s been spoken which sounds good for a track title. Think it’s a good thing to have catchy titles that people are going to remember or find amusing.

You became firmly established on the hardhouse scene a couple of years ago but have been playing out longer than that. What has been your favourite DJing moment? The birthday set(s) you played at the Justin Bourne farewell/Twist Hardhouse History must have been pretty special…

In total I’ve been DJing for around 15 years. The first ten was just as a hobby in my bedroom or at parties or just for the love of the music. We used to run a local night with a few mates called SWOG years ago where it was all hardhouse, trance and house orientated parties, they were always a good night. Then broke into the scene more by getting a few early sets at Wired at George the 4th then progressing to Fuel then Wildchild where I played in Ibiza at Es Paradis then Twist.

My favourite DJing moment is an easy one it was definitely my back to back set with Justin Bourne. He has been the biggest inspiration to me by far in the hardhouse scene, every set I’d hear him play he would get that room rocking! His mixing was always spot on and he got so much energy into the mixes it sounded amazing on a dancefloor, he’s like a machine!

But to play back to back with him was like a dream come true. Our styles are quite similar and we bounced off of each other really well. I don’t think it could have gone any better to be honest, it was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it. Without doubt the best moment of my career so far and it will take some beating! Thanks to Jazz, Jenny and Steve for that moment, it meant a lot to me!!!

All the times I’ve seen you play has been in line ups of top quality hard DJs who all play proper (‘dirty’) hardhouse without cheese – not least the highly talented Twist residents (Karim, Superfast Oz, Tom Basquil, Steve Maynard) How do you manage to be distinctive yet fit in with such DJ line ups?

The funky techno warm up sound I play was something new to twist so I guess that is distinctive in that way. But on the other side I like very energetic, groovy, uplifting but dirty hardhouse. I like to play stuff where a dancefloor can get their heads down and get proper stuck in to it, love it! I definitely think the productions we’ve been making have made my sets distinctive too, such as ‘Sloppy’ and ‘Cake mix’. Everyone at Twist has theire own unique style and I think there is the perfect balance between all the residents. I think it is very important as a DJ to have your own style or sound because it gives you your own identity.

This brings us to Requiem, which is again an all-star cast: Marc Johnson, Jupe, Chris Comben, Tom Parr, Dave Curtis, Kauz… What will you bring to the party?

I’m really looking forward to this set because I haven’t played a full on funky techno set for a while. It will be very chunky and tribal at the beginning with a party feel and a lot of driving rolling percussion, building up to some evil uplifting monsters leading into some funky hardhouse for the next on the line-up. I’m going to bring a different style to the party (funky techno) but I think it complements hardhouse perfectly as a warm up. Really looking forward to it!

Ok, some quick fire questions now:
All-time top three tracks?

1) Prodigy - Your Love (Remix)
2) Sonz of the Loop da Loop Era - Far out.
3) Exodus to Paradise - Rock it

Top three tracks currently in your box?

1) Brow & Batten – Zama
2) Diddy -Give Me Love (Adam M Rmx)
3) Karim - Rancid

Hardhouse or techno?

Techno by a whisker because it is a more diverse sound and explores a lot more avenues. But I do love my hardhouse in the way you can get right stuck into it. Oooof! That’s a tough question actually.

Party or after-party?

Both, might as well make a weekend of it eh?

Hardcore! Can you tell if it’s butter or margarine?

I think Margary Buttermere is the only person on earth who can tell them apart to be honest. Ha ha!

You must introduce me sometime… ;o) Ok, what’s next for Paul Batten??

Just going to keep plugging away like I am and generally just loving every minute of it. Want to push the production and experiment as much as possible really this year. My brother is over from Australia for the month too so he’s going to be in the studio with us for a couple of tracks. He’s got some mad ideas - should be very interesting to see what we come up with, looking forward to that! A production mix will be up very shortly too which I’m very excited about too. Watch this space!!!!

Thanks Paul – see you at Requiem!

Say you’re coming to see Paul at Requiem!: Requiem 3 - FlashPoint 5th Birthday Tour

Keep an eye on his Chopper!:
Paul Batten's Chopper's

His Space for his music!:
www.myspace.com/djpaulbatten