McRackin
Super Moderator
The Kandi man
May 28 2004
By Emma Johnson, Liverpool Echo
PACKING it all in and jetting off to Ibiza with a box full of vinyl is a risky business but, as Paul Wilkins testifies, when it works it is well worth it.
Former city slicker Paul took a chance on the White Isle and four years later he is a resident DJ for one of the country's best known house music brands Hed Kandi.
"I was working in sales, but I was running my own club nights and DJing too," explains the Londoner.
"Eventually it was getting a bit too hectic. I was DJing Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the boss was getting the hump at flyers hanging around the office.
"I decided to give Ibiza a go. I quit work, saved up and went. I didn't know anyone out there apart from a friend of a friend who picked me up from the aiport four hours late!
"I went everywhere with my CV and a CD. I treated it very professionally like I would applying for any job.
"Eventually I got a gig working in the West End of San Antonio playing party rubbish in a 70s and 80s bar but having a whale of a time."
From that humble start Paul found his way into one of Ibiza's freshest, hottest clubs, Eden, where as well as playing the role of Publicity manager he DJ'd in the back room for a night called Miami.
Then the fledgling Hed Kandi turned up. "That's how I met Mark (Doyle the man behind the brand) and the other Hed Kandi guys.
"They came over to Eden half way through the season. The next year they asked me to play for them." Paul puts his success in Ibiza down to determination and eagerness to work.
"If you go about it the right way it works," says Paul. "A lot of people have delusions that they are going to be discovered in Ibiza. I went out there to work.
"It was a bit of luck but mostly a lot of legwork."
Now rather than shooting around the M25 to meet businessmen, 29-year-old Paul is jetting around the world's sunniest climes and purveying Hed Kandi's stock in trade - the finest in funky vocal house.
In five short years the Hed Kandi name, which features the likes of Stone Bridge (the man behind this summer's Ibiza anthem Put 'em High) on its rosta, has gone stellar bagging residencies everywhere from Ibiza to Belgiumand Moscow and around the four points of the compass in the UK.
"Hed Kandi is doing really well," Paul adds, "Mark really knows what he is doing. But we are keeping our feet on the ground."
Next month Liverpool joins the list for a special one-off event when Paul guests at Society.
Not that he will have much chance to enjoy our Scouse delights.
From Merseyside he dashes off to Newcastle, then it's the Balearics to kick off Hed Kandi's Ibiza season at El Divino... oh and there's the small matter of a couple of dates in nearby Majorca.
"I do a lot of travelling," says Paul. "I do have a house though, I have to leave my records somewhere!"
May 28 2004
By Emma Johnson, Liverpool Echo
PACKING it all in and jetting off to Ibiza with a box full of vinyl is a risky business but, as Paul Wilkins testifies, when it works it is well worth it.
Former city slicker Paul took a chance on the White Isle and four years later he is a resident DJ for one of the country's best known house music brands Hed Kandi.
"I was working in sales, but I was running my own club nights and DJing too," explains the Londoner.
"Eventually it was getting a bit too hectic. I was DJing Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the boss was getting the hump at flyers hanging around the office.
"I decided to give Ibiza a go. I quit work, saved up and went. I didn't know anyone out there apart from a friend of a friend who picked me up from the aiport four hours late!
"I went everywhere with my CV and a CD. I treated it very professionally like I would applying for any job.
"Eventually I got a gig working in the West End of San Antonio playing party rubbish in a 70s and 80s bar but having a whale of a time."
From that humble start Paul found his way into one of Ibiza's freshest, hottest clubs, Eden, where as well as playing the role of Publicity manager he DJ'd in the back room for a night called Miami.
Then the fledgling Hed Kandi turned up. "That's how I met Mark (Doyle the man behind the brand) and the other Hed Kandi guys.
"They came over to Eden half way through the season. The next year they asked me to play for them." Paul puts his success in Ibiza down to determination and eagerness to work.
"If you go about it the right way it works," says Paul. "A lot of people have delusions that they are going to be discovered in Ibiza. I went out there to work.
"It was a bit of luck but mostly a lot of legwork."
Now rather than shooting around the M25 to meet businessmen, 29-year-old Paul is jetting around the world's sunniest climes and purveying Hed Kandi's stock in trade - the finest in funky vocal house.
In five short years the Hed Kandi name, which features the likes of Stone Bridge (the man behind this summer's Ibiza anthem Put 'em High) on its rosta, has gone stellar bagging residencies everywhere from Ibiza to Belgiumand Moscow and around the four points of the compass in the UK.
"Hed Kandi is doing really well," Paul adds, "Mark really knows what he is doing. But we are keeping our feet on the ground."
Next month Liverpool joins the list for a special one-off event when Paul guests at Society.
Not that he will have much chance to enjoy our Scouse delights.
From Merseyside he dashes off to Newcastle, then it's the Balearics to kick off Hed Kandi's Ibiza season at El Divino... oh and there's the small matter of a couple of dates in nearby Majorca.
"I do a lot of travelling," says Paul. "I do have a house though, I have to leave my records somewhere!"
