Music Talk : Music Industry Interviews, Advice and tips for DJs & Producers · Grahame Farmer

Music Talk 057 - 30 Years Behind the Decks An Interview with DJ Paul Sawyer

·1 hr 12 min·4 clips

Paul Sawyer's first proper gigs came in 1993, after driving his brother to raves and missing the needle on his first record.

1. Music Talk 057 focuses on Paul Sawyer's 30-year DJ and production career, plus a 30-track February 2023 release. 2. Graham Farmer hosts the episode and Paul Sawyer appears as the guest, bringing the perspective of a DJ, producer, and Crafted label founder. 3. The episode asks how Sawyer moved from driving his brother to raves to running labels and releasing music in 2023. 4. Sawyer says he learned his way into DJing by driving his brother to hardcore gigs in the late 80s and early 90s. 5. He says house music became "more my thing" after the rave scene fell apart. 6. He bought 1210s, practiced every day, and landed his first proper gigs in 1993. 7. His first main booking was House of Windsor, where he says he was "absolutely shitting myself". 8. He recalls a mistake on the first record when the sound engineer told him he had not put the needle down. 9. Sawyer says an Ibiza invitation followed that summer, with Carl Cox resident at the same club and The Prodigy also playing. 10. He says he warmed up for them at Star Club, now Eden, and learned by playing nearly every night to about 3,000 people. 11. He says those Ibiza sets were a massive learning curve because club sound and crowd pressure were different from home practice. 12. Graham and Paul discuss vinyl, CDJs, and the shift from record boxes to digital libraries. 13. Sawyer says his musical upbringing on piano and violin made chord structures easier when he started producing. 14. He says he did not focus on production heavily until 2012, after years centered on DJing and events. 15. Crafted began after he and Darren Braddock decided to join forces and simplify several label names into one brand. 16. Paul says advice from Proton in San Francisco helped them understand why one searchable label name mattered. 17. He describes Crafted Underground as the more progressive-home for bigger names and Crafted Digital as the deeper, more organic side. 18. He says Crafted Records, run by Simon, covers the chilled side and that a first drum and bass release is planned under the vicek name. 19. The conversation feels like a live interview with track playback, audience questions, and a practical tone about DJ life and labels. 20. Listeners who like progressive house history, label-building, and DJ career stories will likely stay with it, while people wanting short news-style clips may skip it.

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