Paul Emanuel
Paul Emanuel

Nationality : United Kingdom Genre : House

DJ/Producer - Paul Emanuel, alongside production partner Seamus Haji, is one of the most in demand remixers in dance music. Their trademark Haji & Emanuel electro-funk sound has spawned many an imitator and made club hits the world over. Their own productions "Weekend" (a cover of the Class Action classic sampled and made famous by Todd Terry in the mid 80s) and "Take Me Away" (one of the biggest vocal tracks in Ibiza last year) have been benchmark records.

Paul began life in the music industry as an engineer at the infamous Battery Studios in London. From the most menial of duties he quickly graduated to engineer and as the only person there with a passion for Dance Music he became the man for Dance and Pop working with R. Kelly, Jocelyn Brown and remixing Backstreet Boys, amongst others. He then went on to engineer for such diverse artists as Grace Jones, Tom Jones, DInfluence and Mood II Swing.

A parallel career as a club DJ had seen him play soul, funk and hip hop at London venues such as Legends and Central Park but he soon turned onto house music after one visit to Notting Hill Carnival and hearing the KCC Soundsystem, later playing regularly at Sunday afternoon stalwarts Relish and Happy Daze.

While producing for one of the scenes most prolific labels Nice n Ripe, he met Jeremy Sylvester and together they formed Club Asylum in 1997. Once the term "UK Garage" was coined, Club Asylum were at its helm as remixers, propelling Shola Ama and K-Ci & Jo Jo into the national charts.

Meanwhile, their other moniker Class A, signed to reputed label Azuli, enabled them to indulge their love of the US house sound and it was only a matter of time before Paul would hook up with Seamus Haji, who was then over the road at Defected Records. In 2002 they formed 11th Dimension releasing three tracks on Seamus new Big Love imprint, which proved hugely popular among tougher DJs such as Xpress 2, Nic Faciulli and Roger Sanchez. From this, their partnership cemented and their sound developed.

Haji & Emanuel are currently one of the UKs hottest production teams, comfortably ripping out some of the coolest tracks around, whilst retaining that essential commercial touch. Massively in demand as Remixers, in 2006 H&E lent their magic touch to Chanel’s "My Life", which Pete Tong played 6 weeks in a row and entered the UK top 40. Other remixes last year included Those Guys "I Walk Alone", Degrees Of Motions "Do You Want It Right Now" and Sugababes "Easy", all having found their way onto radio A-lists around the world.

This year began with the re-release of Seamus "own single" Last Night A DJ Saved "My Life" and it was the new H&E mix which led to the track being signed to Apollo and going top 15 in the UK National Charts. 2007 has so far seen the boys remixing for the likes of The Brand New Heavies, Roisin Murphy and Rihannas huge hit "Umbrella", while Paul has meanwhile gone solo in remixing Alex Gaudinos "Destination Calabria" which sat firmly in the UK Top 10 for many weeks. Haji & Emanuels current release "If" featuring the vocal talents of house legend Robert Owens is already gaining large support from DJs as diverse as Pete Tong, Joey Negro and The Freemasons.

2007 has also seen Paul collaborating with Born To Dance Records main man Gav McCall to remix Bionic Phunks "In My Head" and their own productions "Gotta Get Through" featuring Katherine Ellis on Born To Dance and with DJ Jamesie (Loving Life) "In This Silence" featuring Rita Campbell, soon to be released on Ministry Of Sound.

As a DJ, Paul utilises his unique talents and broad musical tastes to bring a refreshing slant on house music. Technically proficient of course and a whiz on the CDJs, his set is filled with his own edits of great tracks new and classic. A two hour set belies hours of homework, his uplifting yet eclectic blend makes him a dancers DJ not a head-nodders DJ. Continuing to set himself ever higher standards and with increasing production and DJ demands, 2007 remains a busy year ahead.