Paul Brogden has two obsessions. Music and Sound. At age 6 he surprised his parents when he sat down at an old piano and started picking out tunes he’d heard on the radio having never played before (they immediately sent him to piano lessons). In his early teens he became fascinated with sound recording and was frequently seen dismembering old reel to reel tape recorders to work out their inner mysteries. Paul decided the BBC would be the ideal place to combine his love of music and sound. He joined as a maintenance engineer and scaled his way to a position where he was recording bands live (including 5 years at Glastonbury Main Stage). Heaven surely… … Well, not quite. Paul’s desire to write his own music was growing stronger. His passion turned towards the dance scene. As far back as 1978 Paul was listening to Kraftwerk - ‘The Man Machine’. It seemed to him that in this genre there were very few restricting rules and Paul started his own label ‘Seismic’ in 1993 as a means to release his music. The label has no set rules but explores the more melodic and funky side of trance. “As far as I’m concerned, if a track gives me goose bumps or has a floor moving groove then it’s passed the Seismic test. Originality is also very important, what’s the point in copying a successful tune just to try and make money - I don’t think any truly great records are made that way and it certainly doesn’t advance the scene. There’s way too much snobbery now on the dance scene where each style is strictly defined - good music is good music and should be judged on it’s merits alone”, says Paul. Musically, Paul has built himself a strong following with his solo work as POB, with such classics as “The Essence”, “Strata” and “Boiler / Beast”. He collaborated with DJ Taylor from L.A. on a track called “Baba” (on Distinctive Records and included on the Renaissance compilation mixed by Anthony Pappa) More recently, he worked with DJ Patrick Reid on the single ‘Bluebottle / Fly’. This found favour with both Sasha and John Digweed - Sasha using the track ‘Fly’ on his Global Underground in Ibiza compilation and John Digweed choosing ‘Bluebottle’ to play in the dance culture movie ‘Groove’. His most recent work ‘Waah!’ was snapped up by Sasha and Digweed for their ‘Communicate’ album before the single was even pressed! Paul is no stranger to remixing. Highlights include the Raze anthem “Break For Love”, Sasha’s “Magic”, Slacker’s “Scared” and Bedrock’s ‘Heaven Scent’. He also works with Claudio Giussani as ‘Granny’ (check out the Granny remix of Anomaly’s classic “Calling Your Name”) and with Simon Berry as Clanger (the team responsible for the quirky “Seadog”). Paul finally released his debut solo album as POB in 2001. ‘Essence’ is a work which serves to highlight Paul’s distinctive touch of genius, alongside slick collaborations with Patrick Reid, Art Of Trance and Taylor. First single from the album was the euphoric ‘Luna’, a collaboration with DJ Boyd Westerman, and a track which served to highlight Paul’s open-minded approach to new sounds. While the typically slick production was Pob through and through, ‘Luna’ also opened the door to some new, exciting elements, not least Boyd’s gorgeous, ethereal vocal. Almost predictably, Sasha and Digweed loved it, with Diggers in particular making it a staple tune at Bedrock. |
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