Born in East London, Paul grew up in children’s homes all over England.
A keen sportsman with a passion for football, he played for Charlton youth, Tottenham youth, Middlesex County and ran for Haringey. A natural-born athlete.
He used to dance in the pre-mixing days and still does in the box, he would hurdle over the decks, boogie-down and jump back just in time to cue the next record!
Paul started-off playing at the time of the Sound System days…
As well as a DJ he was a soundman. He followed Chicken, Scrap Iron and Fat Man around in those days. Paul had a sound from his uncle, a reggae sound that was converted into a soul sound. They called it ‘Troublefunk’ and this is where he acquired his stage-name ‘Trouble’.
Around this time he met George Power, one of the founders of Kiss FM, who asked him to be a warm-up DJ at several venues. He was best respected for his jazz-funk at Crackers.
Paul had a fresh, funky sound and was playing at many clubs, including The Maize Club at Ronnie Scott’s, Bumbles and Red Box, to name a few.
Trouble was instrumental in the development of the London music scene, and helped to establish clubs like Crackers, Spats, The Embassy, Global Village and Electric Ballroom Legendary.
In the mid 80’s he championed his ‘Trouble Funk Sound‘ and brought his sublime blend of dance music to the Warehouse scene.
In 1985 he was asked to join Kiss and found the prospect of promoting dance music on-air an exciting one. That is when he really began to develop and expand his creativity and skill. To all his fans, Paul has an amazing ability to make you want to move, the way he makes the music come alive and his brilliant mixing skills.
Paul also found time for the studio and lent his remixing skills to Nomad’s UK No.1 ‘Devotion’, Junior Reid’s Jamaica No.1 ‘One Blood’ and remixed for Blaze, Pet Shop Boys, Soul 11 Soul, Thelma Houston, Byron Stingily and many more.
At his own night ‘Trouble’s House’ at Legends, a major star in London’s club land, he had many big-name guests like Ten City, Todd Terry, DJ Pierre and David Morales.
In 1990 Kiss went legal and Paul took over the Saturday night prime-time spot from 9-11pm, which continued as ‘Trouble’s original mix show’ for 8 years. Then followed changes in the station’s music policies, so Paul reluctantly decided to leave.
He still delivered his unique sound to the fans through his night ‘The Loft’ at HQ that ran for ten years, with weekly guests like Loleatta Holloway, Jean Carne, Jocelyn Brown, Masters at Work, Tony Humphries, Rosie Gaines, Michael Watford, Darryl Pandy and Barbara Tucker.
‘The Loft’ was voted No.1 midweek club for 3 years running, by magazines like Time Out, The Face and the Evening Standard newspaper. Paul had a dedicated following, who made Wednesdays at ‘The Loft’ a priority. Later HQ sadly closed down.
In 2000 Paul released a live mix album ‘Trouble’s House’ on R2 Records, which features an inspired collection of soulful uplifting favourites mixed with Trouble’s flavour. Paul also continued ‘The Loft’ vibe with ‘The Loft 2’ at Madam JoJo’s in Soho.
Paul has since been playing a big role in the Italian club scene, as well as having a close link with the fashion world. To name a few, The Julian Macdonald show at London fashion week and Chanel at the Milan Fashion Week. He worked for Italian fashion TV for 2 years. He has also been photographed for Italian Vogue with Giorgio Armani.
Recently he performed on a Ministry of Sound tour in Italy with Howard Donald from Take That, and has done a few guest radio shows for Radio 1, Virgin FM, Jazz FM and The Ministry of Sound. He was also interviewed by Channel 4 for a documentary about the influential club Crackers.
Now in his 37th year of DJing, he is still going strong, still refusing to be labelled and maintains that, a House is where you live and a Garage is where you park your car!
Paul’s projects at the moment include setting up his own Record label ‘Troubled Soul Records’, mixing his own album with his own songs, writing an auto-biography and ‘Pauletry’.
He also run his own nights, ‘Trouble’s Loft’ and ‘Back To My Roots!’ All successful in their own right, they have a reputation for fantastic music, a great atmosphere and a friendly, happy crowd. He brings in live PA’s and guest DJ’s from all over.
Paul is currently working on some new projects, including his own music. So that is something we are all very excited about!!
One of the main attractions of Paul is his way of mixing classic gems with freshly-cut acetates. His passion for the music stands out bright and clear. As an artist Paul has a restless soul, coupled with the dedication to carry on championing Dance music at present and far into the future!
Not Old-School, All-School, Still Present! Troubsolutely! Natroubley! Bless!
