Tall Paul

Tall Paul is a British electronic music DJ and producer, born in 1971 and from the United Kingdom. He works in house, trance and related dance music, and is associated with the group Gypsy Queens.

DJ career and early work

He begins DJing in 1987, playing office parties at his father’s nightclub, Turnmills. Around the same time, he runs a pirate radio station called Touchdown FM and also secures a slot on Sunrise FM. He later gets a one-hour set at Turnmills’ Saturday all-nighter Trade, and in 1990 gains his first residency. His early reputation is built on playing hard-edged house music in club settings.

After his Trade residency, he takes a residency at the Zap Club in Brighton, where he meets Shelley Boswell. This leads to regular appearances at Gardening Club’s Club For Life.

Recordings and productions

His first vinyl release is the white label Love Rush in 1992, a Trade anthem. He later receives the name Tall Paul from Red Jerry of Hooj Choons, who links it to his height. Under that name he releases Rock Da House, which is later reissued in 1997 on VC Recordings and reaches No. 11 in the UK charts.

He also produces a series of club and chart records, including Escrima’s Deeper and Train of Thought, and Camisra’s Let Me Show You, which becomes his highest-charting release and enters at No. 5. Other productions mentioned include Common Ground, Be There, Freebase Precious Heart and Everybody’s A Rockstar.

Albums, compilations and mixes

His debut artist album, Back & Forth, is released in 2001 and includes several of his own tracks. He also appears on compilations such as Virgin’s The Gallery Modern Masters, Club Nation 1998, Cream Anthems and Fantazia’s House Collection.

In 1999 he signs an album deal with Ministry of Sound and releases a series of mix compilations, including Dance Nation 6, The Ibiza Annual 2, Millennium Annual, Dance Nation 7, Headliners, The Annual and The Clubbers Guide to 2001 & 2003. He also releases live mix series such as Gallery live sessions, Globetrotting Peru and Live in Bulgaria.

Remixes, radio and recognition

Tall Paul remixes records by New Order, Stone Roses, Erasure, Human League, Marc Almond, Wild Child, Hyperlogic, Cappella, Duran Duran, Nalin & Kane, Blondie, Bizarre Inc and Dina Carroll. He is repeatedly included in the DJ Magazine Top Producers Poll and appears in the DJ Magazine Top 100 from the start of the poll in 1997. He wins Muzik’s DJ of the Year in 1998, and BPM magazine readers vote him 8th in a 2006 poll of favourite DJs in America.

He also presents The Mix Down Session, a Thursday night radio show on Kiss FM, and DJs internationally across Europe, North America, Asia, South America, India, Dubai, South Africa, Japan and Australia.