Paul Oakenfold: Bunkka Down.

Bunkka is in stores now.

Along with fellow DJs Danny Rampling, Johnny Walker, Trevor Fung and Nicky Holloway, South London-born Paul Oakenfold journeyed to the Spanish island of Ibiza during the northern hemisphere summer of 1987, where they first discovered the twin joys of house music and Ecstasy. Upon their return to Britain a few months later, Oakenfold and his friends wasted no time in attempting to re-create the good times they'd experienced in Ibiza by establishing pioneer clubs like Rampling's Shoom, thus setting in motion 1988s legendary Second Summer of Love and laying the groundwork for the current, worldwide dance music culture. Over the course of the 1990s, Oakenfold established a formidable reputation for himself as one of the world's most successful and highly paid DJs as well as becoming one of dance music's most sought-after remixers and producers, whose credits, in collaboration with engineer Steve Osborne, include Happy Monday's classic Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches album and the groundbreaking Perfecto remixes of U2's Even Better Than the Real Thing and Mysterious Ways.

Less successful, although by no means a failure, has been Oakenfold's Perfecto label whose roster to date includes BT, Grace and Oakenfold spin-off project Planet Perfecto. However, 2002 is shaping up as a banner year for the label: Loud, the impressive debut artist album from German wunderkind Timo Maas was released in April and was soon be followed by Bunkka, Oakenfold's inaugural album under his own name.

"I've never really felt comfortable making a record under the name Oakenfold," he claims when I quiz him about why he took nearly fifteen years to release a bonefide debut album. "I've made many records under pseudonyms. It was just a matter of natural progression. I didn't want to do a DJ based album. I wanted to do something with songs. Something that reflected my experiences in the record industry and what I've learnt."

Oakenfold also cites "a natural progression" when I quiz him about why he chose to work with vocalists on all but one of Bunkka's 11 tracks. "It was going to be hard but it was something that I felt I needed to do," he explains. "Not to do a DJ instrumental records with a couple of samples. I wanted to do full songs with people I respect and admire and provide a cross section of where I am musically. That's why you've got a track with Ice Cube as well as a track from Perry Farrell because my background is hip-hop and rock."

So how did Oakenfold recruit rock musicians like Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell and Grant Lee Philips, who respectively perform on Time Of Your Life and Motion?

"I was always a fan of Jane's Addiction and as Perry started to get more into dance music, I bumped into him one night and told him a few ideas I had," recalls Oakenfold. "He liked the ideas and approach and was like 'I'll do it.' And I was familiar with Grant Lee Philips' work with REM and when I read an article in Rolling Stone in America which voted him best male vocalist, I was like 'wow, I remember him from before.' So I tracked him down, talked him through the whole process and he was up for it."

Meanwhile, Get Em Up, Oakenfold's collaboration with former NWA rapper Ice Cube was originally recorded for the Blade II soundtrack.

"We started doing the track for Blade 2 and then I decided to do a more laidback version for the album," states Oakenfold. "Ice Cube was excellent. He came in, knew exactly what to do and just got on with it."

In fact, Bunkka's origins lie in the impressive soundtrack Oakenfold composed for last year's under-rated Swordfish, which included specially commissioned remixes of Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock and N*E*R*D*'s Lapdance.

"I definitely used Swordfish as a trial run," admits Oakenfold. "The music from Swordfish is very representative of where I am musically on this album. There's breakbeats and guitars and they're very filmic pieces."

Especially Ready Steady Go, Bunkka's first single, featuring raps from the recently-incarcerated So Solid Crew rapper Asher D, which neatly echoes John Barry's seminal James Bond signature tune.

"It's totally based on James Bond," notes Oakenfold. "I was looking for something that represented British youth and So Solid Crew are really cutting edge. They really represent what is going on with the minority in England and I'm a fan of what they do. I like where they're coming from and what they're saying musically. I know Asher. We spoke about it, he then came by the studio and we did it."

However, Oakenfold's favourite track on Bunkka is Nixon's Spirit which features a haunting monologue from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas author, Hunter S. Thompson.

"Hunter S. Thompson was the first outlaw journalist in America," states Oakenfold. "He spent a lot of time on the trail of the Presidents and especially Richard Nixon. I spent two nights with Hunter, which was an incredible experience. I learnt a lot from the gentleman and felt that what he has to say is relevant to youth and to my generation. Lyrically, it's a very heavy track but it gives people all around the world an indication of what's going on in America, even today. The way the country's being run. It's down to people to make their own opinion but if you read between the lines, we're basically saying that Nixon is George W. Bush. America, from the '60s to now, is run exactly the same way."