"I haven't had a weekend to myself in 15 years" quotes Graeme. You'd probably want a weekend off at some point soon if you were as busy as Graeme Park.
From his humble beginnings as a Sax player in a local band, Graeme Park went on to become one of the most infamous DJs at the now legendary “Hacienda” in “Madchester”.
These days, Graeme travels far & wide dropping his unique style of house music. Whethers it’s funky, classic, big room, electro, vocal or disco, if it’s house music, it gets played!!
You’ve been DJing for over 20 years now and seen lots of changes (good and bad) but what’s been the best & the worst in your opinion?
"The best thing has been the way dance music & house has always embraced new sounds and styles and technology to move forward and stay fresh.
The worst thing is how that same technology (which has become cheaper and more accessible) has lead to a glut of unoriginal, uninspiring and utterly uninteresting tunes that all sound the same. Nobody seems to want to try something new anymore.
"
You must have seen some pretty random things in your career, especially at all the early raves. What’s the most memorable and / or random thing you’ve seen.
"People falling off of stages, scaffolding, speakers or trying to dance in thick, gloopy mud has always made me smile (assuming nobody gets hurt of course) and I’ve seen loads of that. It’s always particularly funny when they get up and continue dancing as if nothings happened."
The Hacienda… some of our younger readers may not know about this illustrious club – can you tell them a little bit about it?
"It was quite simply the greatest club that ever was. It was an honour and privilege to DJ there for 8 years. We will never see a club like it again."
What did “The Hacienda” mean to you & the UK dance scene?
"It was the first club in the UK to play house music and be totally open minded and supportive of its staff and punters. So rare to find any club that would do so these days."
In your early Nottingham days you played Sax in a local band, do you still keep it up & if the opportunity came around would you play in a band again?
"I still play either live or on productions. Most recently “Samba Party” by Park & Hussey which was a big tune last summer."
If you could go back in time and change anything about your career would you? and what?
"I don’t think I’d change much except for maybe some of the clothes I used to wear in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And I’d probably eat less as well."
I imagine you get asked to play “Hacienda” style sets a lot? How do you draw a line & find a balance between “classic” & “upfront” sets or do you combine the both?
"It always depends on the crowd. Older crowds require more classic tunes and a younger crowd less. But my ideal gig is where you have an open minded mixed crown that ranges in age so that I can mix up tunes from the 1980s, 1990s and now."
There’s a lot of new talent around at the moment. Is there a particular artist / band / producer or DJ standing out for you at the moment?
"No-one springs to mind as everyone sounds the same or similar because they all use Logic and therefore the same sounds and plug-ins. But I do like Juan Kidd, who I’ve been working with. Tunes to follow soon."
What are your plans for 2010 & do you have any resolutions?
"Look out for my tunes with Juan Kidd, my relaunched website, a new compilation CD and my frequent gigs that take me all over the place. The only resolution I have is to start running again. Which I did once in January, so I need to work on that one."
And a few for fun…
Brighton or Scunthorpe?
"BLACKPOOL!"
Behind closed doors, apart from house music, what’s in the stereo?
"Anything and everything."
Chips ‘n’ gravy or chips ‘n’ curry sauce?
"Neither!"
GRAEME PARK VOTED 14 IN THE MIXCLOUD BEST OF 2009 POLL
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